Aperture 2.0: Finally here, but no WOW!

Merely a few days after my previous post about Aperture’s woes, the new Aperture 2.0 was just released. The update is long overdue, as is Apple’s support for pro-grade camera models that have been on the market for months now. And while long-time Aperture users have numerous reasons to rejoice, and several good reasons to upgrade, 2.0 is more likely to be the cause for sighs of relief (finally!), than any loud and surprised WOW!-s.

WHAT'S NEW: Aperture finally catches up with the feature set of its arch-rival Adobe Lightroom, and — more embarrassingly — with features from Apple’s own lower-end, consumer-level iPhoto 08, but there is little new here that Adobe Lightroom users will look at with envy (note: please note that I said NEW; some features still have no match in Lightroom), especially since Lightroom itself is probably slated for an update this spring or summer (with version 2.0).

According to Aperture's product manager Joe Schorr (interviewed by Derrick Story in his podcast), the emphasis in developing this new version was on imaging quality and speed. And so, although some of the most important, software engineering  improvements, such as the totally new RAW-D2 conversion engine, or the newly implemented support for generic DNG files (even those created from non-supported RAW camera files) may not be immediately apparent, they will greatly improve the quality of images and the processing and workflow  speed.

More visibly, Aperture 2.0 now sports a new, streamlined interface, with a unified, tabbed panel on the left that replaces several previously floating adjustment panels; tabs are easily accessible via keyboard shortcuts, which, in turn, are now completely customizable throughout all of Aperture's commands. Borrowing and adapting some popular iPhoto '08 features, projects are now viewable in a way that closely mimics iPhoto's "events," and Aperture users will be able to upload files to .mac web galleries directly, without having to use iPhoto as a go-between; compared to iPhoto's web galleries, Aperture's will also allow for uploading (and getting from the web gallery) of full resolution jpg's and RAW files.

Among Aperture’s new image-adjustment features (in addition to new RAW conversion engine), the develop panel (left*) adds RECOVERY and BLACK POINT (similar to Adobe's identically named functions), introduces VIBRANCE (which mimics Adobe’s Vibrancy), and DEFINITION (which plays catchup with Adobe’s Clarity feature); there is a new cloning and spot-correction tool (which perhaps one-ups Lightroom by providing dynamic edge detection for its healing brush); specific colors in a photograph can now be targeted for tweaking (previously only a preset ranges of colors could be adjusted this way). It also seems that now Aperture's keywords support hierarchies. All these improvements, while important and welcome, will likely draw a big yawn from the Lightroom crowd that has had similar features for quite a while now.

The new Aperture also improves the three flagship areas where it has always had (and still maintains) a significant lead over the competitor. Not surprisingly, this trifecta is highlighted in three short movies (featured on Aperture’s newly updated website), which feature these still unparalleled tools, using testimonials from real, high-profile photographers.

This triple feature list includes the level-sensitive Smart Albums, whose interface has been tweaked. When used by experienced users, smart albums can be extremely powerful, and the elegant simplicity of this concept has no parallel in Lightroom.

The second not-new-but-improved feature, also clearly targeted at photo professionals (and specifically at wedding and similar event photographers) is the book printing module, which adds new templates and more page layout options, and allows for all develop settings to be tweaked directly on image instances placed on a book spread (this may or may not be new - I’m not sure - still it is quite impressive). Although Lightroom users have a very powerful print module, which makes generating single gallery prints and contact sheets a snap, photo books are something they do not have.

This is not an insignificant feature: for many special events’ photographers, elegantly printed photo books are a wonderful promo tool, and a high-markup, money-making item that makes their clients drool and and Lightroom users green with envy. Aperture’s books feature, although similar to its sibling in iPhoto, is by far more powerful, and also uses a different printing lab / technology than iPhoto’s more consumer-oriented books. Aperture also allows for ordering of single, large-format, high-quality prints directly from the application - again - no such luck with Lightroom.

The third feature is, of course, Aperture’s signature Light Table. For any photographer that produces editorial content (stories, photo illustrations to stories, etc.), this is a sine-qua-non deal clincher. It isn’t at all surprising, that for a movie that highlights this amazing, elegantly implemented concept Apple chose a National Geographic superstar photographer, Jim Richardson. And he drives it home like no-one else could. By the time he’s done, there is really no  room for any doubt left: if you do editorial photography, Adobe Lightroom simply won’t do.

Point well made, and taken. Except that there are very few magazines today like National Geographic. And in most, editors are not photographers, and they do their layouts and  mock-ups in InDesign (or Quark); and most photographers do not usually have to worry how specific three or five photos will look together on a page or spread. For those select, lucky few that do, Aperture remains the logical tool of choice.

This is just a short, highlight list of a few among Aperture  2.0's numerous improvements. Alas, it has no new WOW! features. Judging by the feature list posted on Apple’s website, not even one, actually. Slow-going evolution, not revolution. There is no perspective-correction adjustment (that some users hoped for) that would obliterate the need for photoshop-inclusive workflow, and no local-area adjustments of any sort (e.g., like those used in Nikon's Capture NX, and based on licensed technology). Even more surprisingly, no HDR-related innovations: with very inexpensive, new apps like Creaceed’s Hydra and Pangeasoft’s Bracketeer  coming to OS X software market recently, the  fact that a pro-grade software should be able to use and intelligently combine multiple, camera-bracketed exposures “in-house” is not an unreasonable expectation any more.

SUMMARY: While Aperture gets its feature set more in-line with Lightroom, and effectively even gets slightly ahead, it’s a small lead, and an evolutionary upgrade without ground-breaking innovations. And with Lightroom 2.0 looming on the horizon, Aperture 2.0 is not likely to steal any users from the competition.

Last, but not least, I was saddened to say good-bye to Aperture 1.5's exquisite website (far right): the new site (closer, right) for version 2.0 gets rid of the black  background theme that has always so effectively separated Apple's pro-grade apps from consumer-level applications (featured on pages with a white background). To be honest, the new design looks sloppy and rushed, and the excessive gaps on several feature pages feel like something is misaligning... If nothing else, Apple is synonymous with stellar design, and to have such visually stunning pages downgraded to something that looks so mundane (and is visually so indistinguishable from iPhoto pages) now is quite disappointing. :(

*Note: All Aperture screen-capture image thumbnails included in this post are from Apple's Aperture webpage and the movies included there).