Aperture upgrade costs

The wife and I are pretty interested in buying aperture.

I know there is a free trial and i fully expect to use that, just letting my wife's schedule free up some before we get that so she can devote some time to the project

After doing some searching for reviews and walkthroughs i came across this..
Predicting Aperture 4.0/X - ApertureExpert Tips - ApertureExpert.com
Which got me thinking, ok if they release a new version in the next few months what is the upgrade going to cost?

I went to the wiki page which described the purchase prices (MSRP) but not the upgrade fee for current users, if there even was one possible.

80$ isn't much, but my wife and I are amateurs at best. So compared to other purchases this could be considered a fair amount of money. It especially if we get into the program, and more digital photography.

So there in lies my concern. Upgrade vs. another outright purchase to get to future version?

thanks

The retail (boxed) version of Aperture sells for $199 in the Apple Store, so $80 is actually less than half price. Chances are the new version will be available in the Mac App store only and will cost the same, so even if you buy both that way, you've still paid less than a boxed copy sells for.

thats a very good point, thanks for your reply.

and this is assuming that we garner enough drive and knowledge to want to keep pursing a very minor photography hobby..

i'm just happy i finally have a better than crappy reason to give to the wife for the bump in ram!

Apple's recent strategy has been to price applications very low (the iLife apps, the iWork apps, Final Cut), much lower than you'd expect to pay for such functionality. Then every time there is a MAJOR new version, you just pay "full" price again.

I cannot say for certain that this is the strategy they will pursue if and when Aperture 4 ships; I can only say what they've done recently. So if that's your hesitation, I wouldn't hesitate. $80 is a fantastic price for Aperture.

Having said that, if you are "amateurs at best" as you say, what's wrong with iPhoto? It's quite similar actually, and free (since it's already on your Mac) or at best $15 to get the latest version if you don't already have it.

Really good photographers seem to use LR

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Trust me, what app/computer you use to process images has nothing to do with how good a photographer you are.

You use what works best for you, but in the end it all comes down to know well you know your camera and how to use it properly.

Now the reason why more photographers use Lr is probably because for the longest time Lr was the only pro player in the field of photo managing softwares, so they had to use Lr and now they can't be bothered to relearn some completely different software when they have other things to worry about.

McYukon said:

You use what works best for you, but in the end it all comes down to know well you know your camera and how to use it properly.

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I guess thats why there is a free trial for Aperture 3.

thanks for all the thoughts.

Ttaylor394 said:

I guess thats why there is a free trial for Aperture 3.

thanks for all the thoughts.

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Agree and +1 on McYukon's advice, and Chas_m's for that matter. I started with iPhoto and then did trials with LR and Aperture. Aperture was a better fit for me.

McYukon said:

now they can't be bothered to relearn some completely different software when they have other things to worry about.

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Nor do we particularly want to recatalog things, change workflows, and a whole host of other very good reasons that once you've made a decision on these things.. it takes a HUGE advantage to change..

between the two, there's not a huge advantage either way. It's all down to individual preference and workflow.

Dysfunction said:

It's all down to individual preference and workflow.

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I Had this impression, that in any given App it isn't whats in the App that makes it work for a individual, but its the way they used those tools to get the best result for there given task.

In a nutshell, sort of.

TattooedMac said:

I Had this impression, that in any given App it isn't whats in the App that makes it work for a individual, but its the way they used those tools to get the best result for there given task.

In a nutshell, sort of.

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Yea, this is very true. There are a few apps that are heads and fails above their competent, but these are very few and far between.

It'd take a lot for me to ditch Lr and Ps, but it'd also take a lot for me to ditch Nikon for Canon. Actually it'd take less for me to change computer types.

McYukon said:

Trust me, what app/computer you use to process images has nothing to do with how good a photographer you are.

You use what works best for you, but in the end it all comes down to know well you know your camera and how to use it properly.

Now the reason why more photographers use Lr is probably because for the longest time Lr was the only pro player in the field of photo managing softwares, so they had to use Lr and now they can't be bothered to relearn some completely different software when they have other things to worry about.

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Just did some searching on a photography forum and it looks like a few long time Aperture users tried out LR and now it's all they use. Some stated it was a huge upgrade

FLAWLS1 said:

Just did some searching on a photography forum and it looks like a few long time Aperture users tried out LR and now it's all they use. Some stated it was a huge upgrade[/COLOR][/FONT]

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In my experience, people think this about [program a] until [program b] makes a significant upgrade, then [program b] is the schizznit until [program a] makes a similar major upgrade.

Disclaimer: I don't use either Aperture or LR, but I've heard the arguments back and forth and even had a few people who switched back and forth and this summarizes their conversations perfectly. It's VHS v. Beta all over again as far as I can tell.

FLAWLS1 said:

For those using Aperture how would you compare it to LR? The reason I ask is because it seems that most of the really good photographers seem to use LR and most have MacBooks.

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FLAWLS1 said:

Just did some searching on a photography forum and it looks like a few long time Aperture users tried out LR and now it's all they use. Some stated it was a huge upgrade

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You seem to be buying into a common (and fallacious) argument that since the "Pros" use XYZ it's the best and I should too.


There are several problems with this, but I will only touch on a few:

1) Any tool has its Learning curve, a required investment in order to receive the benefit the tool is capable of delivering. Pros make that investment because the reward exceeds the cost. Most amateurs don't have the time and effort they are willing to put into their "hobby" to get the reward, nor the base to build on to develop the additional skills

2) Also, there are other factors in the Pro's decision than just which is the "best" from a technical performance view point. Remember, they are generally in this to make a living, so how the tool fits into their overall business model is important too.

3) Tools for the amateur on the other hand are designed to balance performance with ease of use. Pros use their tools continually; most of us (myself included) don't. As a result it makes sense for me to trade off a small amount of performance for the ability to pick up my tool and use it without having a significant retraining period every time

All of this is not to say that LR is significantly more difficult to use than Aperture, just that using the argument that the Pros use LR as your case for amateurs to do so makes little sense. The same argument would have all of us using Nikon D3s or Canon 5Ds instead of consumer grade cameras.

The bottom line is you need to try out the tools, using your needs and your background as the basis for deciding. You may very well find out that it makes sense to go with what all the Pros are using, but it is also likely you will find that an alternative is a better fit to your situation

Yeah, "the pros" spend $600 bucks on Photoshop too. Most Mac users would be ... let's say a bit HESITANT to spend that kind of money on software. But if you're using it to MAKE money, Photoshop pays for itself in as little as a few hours.

Razormac said:

You seem to be buying into a common (and fallacious) argument that since the "Pros" use XYZ it's the best and I should too.


There are several problems with this, but I will only touch on a few:

1) Any tool has its Learning curve, a required investment in order to receive the benefit the tool is capable of delivering. Pros make that investment because the reward exceeds the cost. Most amateurs don't have the time and effort they are willing to put into their "hobby" to get the reward, nor the base to build on to develop the additional skills

2) Also, there are other factors in the Pro's decision than just which is the "best" from a technical performance view point. Remember, they are generally in this to make a living, so how the tool fits into their overall business model is important too.

3) Tools for the amateur on the other hand are designed to balance performance with ease of use. Pros use their tools continually; most of us (myself included) don't. As a result it makes sense for me to trade off a small amount of performance for the ability to pick up my tool and use it without having a significant retraining period every time

All of this is not to say that LR is significantly more difficult to use than Aperture, just that using the argument that the Pros use LR as your case for amateurs to do so makes little sense. The same argument would have all of us using Nikon D3s or Canon 5Ds instead of consumer grade cameras.

The bottom line is you need to try out the tools, using your needs and your background as the basis for deciding. You may very well find out that it makes sense to go with what all the Pros are using, but it is also likely you will find that an alternative is a better fit to your situation

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Thanks for that post and you make some really good points. I haven't really tried any of the programs yet, but I do plan on taking a photography course next semester to fine tune my skills I don't have. LOL! I'll probably DL the free trials from each.

FLAWLS1 said:

Thanks for that post and you make some really good points. I haven't really tried any of the programs yet, but I do plan on taking a photography course next semester to fine tune my skills I don't have. LOL! I'll probably DL the free trials from each.

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An excellent plan IMO . . .