Aperture, Lightroom, or CS4 ??

Do I need to go to the expense of buying and learning CS4 or will Aperture or Lightroom do the trick for basic editing? For instance, are the tools to remove backscatter similar in CS4 vs. Lightroom...does one do a better job than the other or does CS4 just offer more options?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

Mike

Do I need to go to the expense of buying and learning CS4 or will Aperture or Lightroom do the trick for basic editing? For instance, are the tools to remove backscatter similar in CS4 vs. Lightroom...does one do a better job than the other or does CS4 just offer more options?

 

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

 

Mike

I would buy Aperture or Lightroom before CS4; yes they both do most of your basic editing and more. Most importantly they allow you to keep your images organized from day 1. If you do a search on this forum, there have been a lot of discussions on these programs.

Do I need to go to the expense of buying and learning CS4 or will Aperture or Lightroom do the trick for basic editing? For instance, are the tools to remove backscatter similar in CS4 vs. Lightroom...does one do a better job than the other or does CS4 just offer more options?

 

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

 

Mike

As Jeff mentioned there are othe threads out there. I have all 3 and recently started using Lightroom. I have been pretty impressed so far by the Tools in it.

What's the verdict on Lightroom vs. Aperture? I have Aperture 2 and used a trial of Lightroom....Lightroom seemed pretty easy to use, but I did not try any tools to remove backscatter...which does a better/easier job?

Thanks!

Mike

I use Aperture 2 and find the spotting tool for backscatter works well; much improved over version 1. There are pros and cons of Aperture vs Lightroom, but I see no compelling reason to change to Lightroom if you already have Aperture.

I am a mac guy and have progressed from iphoto to aperture 2, then to photoshop CS3, then lightroom 2 with photoshop CS4.

I like lightroom 2 better than aperture 2, it is seamless with photoshop and is non destructive to your raw file. Just knowing that I cant harm my original allows me to play around and if I don't like the result I can revert back and start over again. Basically you can process 95% of your photos with just lightroom and if you need further help you can use the photoshop tools. Lightroom is a more powerful program that aperture in my limited experience.

Elmer

I use Lightroom for most basic image adjustments, although for me, LR is more a photo-archive management software than a photoretouching one.

Nevertheless, for those basic adjustments (colour temp, exposure, levels, curves, tone balance) does the job wonderfully. I only use Photoshop for very specific image corrections.

I tried Aperture 1.x and LR 1.x - LR 2. Definitively, I prefer LR. They quite similar, but the fact that LR exists also for Windows (I'm a Mac user), makes me think that somehow, LR would some kind of standard (as Photoshop does).

Thanks everyone! I just got back from a trip with Alex Mustard in GC and was able to get a LR lesson....It seems to outshine Aperture in my opinion. A couple of the guys on the trip said they don't use CS anymore as LR does everything they need to do.

Mike

I use Aperture always as my first tool to work on the raw image. IMHO always go with a non destructive editing tool such as Aperture or Lightroom first, then move onto Photoshop later when you already have the basic adjustments done, it's just an easier workflow. Filters I use in Aperture are Fisheye-Hemi to reduce the barrel distortion of my 10.5mm lens and Noise Ninja for pictures taken at higher ISO settings.

I move onto Photoshop only when I need to use a filter that I don't have in Aperture. A professional photographer told me that dodge&burn in Photoshop are superior to Aperture but I am not experienced enough to comment on this. I like Photoshop for the wand tool, cutting things out and blurring backgrounds, however I only use it on 25% of the pictures I take, the rest is happy with a crop, exposure adjust, levels, colors and straighten in Aperture.

Have no experience with lightroom. Honestly, if you find something you like and find easy to work with: don't change or ask if there is something better

If it works for you, it works!

Cheers,

Simon