M8 and Lightroom, Aperture, Elements

[HarryBaker]

I've used PC/Windows together with an old version of Photoshop and Capture One LE (which came with my M8) for

ages. I have never used Apple MACs. But my PCs are getting old and tired so I was seduced by the new iMAC and

bought one! I need to decide whether to load Photoshop (it would be Elements), Lightroom or Aperture. Question:

can any, all of these handle Leica DNG Raw files? Which of these do my Leica colleagues prefer? Advice gratefully

received.

[steve_unsworth1]

Lightroom 2 certainly can. I suspect that Elements can too, though since I use CS3 with Lightroom I can't be certain.

[george_spencer1]

I'm using Aperture 2 and Photoshop Elements 3 on my iMac. They both handle raw files. I am especially fond of Aperture

2.

[peter_mounier]

Here's a list of cameras that are supported by Aperture.

 

http://www.apple.com/aperture/specs/raw.html

 

Peter

[blakley]

My recommendation would be to go with Lightroom v2. The workflow and file management capabilities alone make this more or less a no-brainer. The ability to do (somewhat limited) spot editing, dodging, and burning remove the strongest argument against Lightroom as your only tool, and the new (beta) DNG profile editor will let you build custom profiles for your individual camera. Aperture is also probably a very good choice, but I personally have only played with it so I don't feel confident giving a recommendation.

[carbon_dragon]

Obviously you want to go with whatever tool supports your DNG files. But if both Aperture and Lightroom do, I looked at both and chose Aperture, even though I'm a long term Photoshop user. They both seem equivalent and Aperture was half the cost. Adobe didn't offer me a discount of any kind even though I'm a long term Photoshop and Illustrator user and have upgraded many times, and Aperture was nicely discounted on Amazon.com.

 

They both have trials. Download both and see which one you like.

[HarryBaker]

Many thanks for the helpful responses. I'm having great fun trying to understand the Mac! Although everyone says that MAC OS is much simpler than Windows, it isn't to someone who spent years with Windows starting with Win 3.1 and Word 2, both of which worked very well! Do any of my US friends who use MAC have a dual boot system running Windows as well as OS?

[chad_hahn]

I have used Windows for years as well, also starting with 3.1. I didn't have any trouble switching to a Mac. Don't fight it. Go to

the Apple store and talk to an expert about your problems. Just play around.

 

Chad