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anybody use aperture and/or lightroom? personally or professionally? anybody interested in lightroom 2.0?

"New in Lightroom 2.0 beta

An improved layout in the Library module allows for a more intuitive
approach to image organization by simplifying the location of the
features needed to find and filter photographs. A new feature called
Smart Collections automatically updates collections with images that
match desired criteria such as star-rating, keyword or other metadata.
"The Suggested Keywords feature eases the task of keywording by making
recommendations based upon keyword associations across a catalog as well
as the use of keywords in neighboring images."

Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 beta includes improved memory handling through
64-bit support for OS X 10.5 Intel Macs and Vista 64-bit operating
systems. Additional enhancements in Lightroom 2.0 beta include support
for a dual monitor configuration that maximizes a photographer's
workspace and can be easily adjusted to meet a particular workflow.
Additionally, the Develop module has been updated to provide the ability
to correct specific parts of an image without affecting other areas.
Now, fundamental photographic techniques such as dodge and burn can be
performed using the same non-destructive approach, allowing
unprecedented control within the Lightroom program.

Beta Availability

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 beta is available as a 30-day trial for
free download on Macintosh and Windows platforms at
http://www.labs.adobe.com/downloads."

comments appreciated for publication.

ddt

Adobe has turned me off as a user so much for a few years now. Flagging support of the OS X platform, refusal to play nice with some basics of OSX like the PDF plugin (I DON"T WANT IT!!! OK?), horrid user experience of upgrading applications, and a bloated and confusing Illustrator.

I used to use the Adobe suite a lot more than I do today as a web strategist and designer. I've used Photoshop since v1 and Illustrator since it was called Illustrator 88 (1988 y'all) and have kept both personal and professional/institutional licenses going. Since CS3 however I've chosen to NOT upgrade my personal licenses and instead make do with upcoming products like Pixelmator and VectorDesigner and others... and of course products from Apple.

I gain the fact of never having to experience on yet another machine the god awful process of application patching and Adobe's refusal to play nice with OS X (witness: open/save dialogs, bad icon previews, print dialogs, the persistent desire to install their PDF reader plugin, and the consistent lack of supporting OS upgrade features and always, always placing all the blame on Apple... not to mention Flash has been a consistent under-performer on the Mac).

So, my background as a photo artist turned multimedia designer and now web strategist means I have a history of taking tons of photos and I still take a ton of photos. I was using iView Media Pro when Aperture came along and redefined the market. I jumped on board. Then Lightroom became a follower. I still see it that way. Adobe tried to jab at Apple for not doing much in two years but in reality Apple did release about 15 versions, yes, many just to support new RAW formats or cameras but still ... Aperture 2.0 proved worth the wait. It's fast on my old G5 tower and my 1 yr old Intel MBP. I love how they've extended it with not only the file export plug-ins but now the image editing plug-ins.

The only big shortcoming from this casual but prolific photog is the lack of decent printing layouts. I'd like to easily be able to print an image 2 up, 3 up, etc... or other combinations and Aperture doesn't have this going for it now.

I just don't think Adobe is all that inventive. I don't see New or Improved all that often. I like a lot about how they changed Photoshop in CS3, I like a lot about where Flash has gone (even though I don't use it all that much myself as a dev tool), but at the end of the day, Adobe's not been nice to me, the customer for 20 years, not in their support of my platform, not in much of the latest updates, and certainly not in the Microsoftian confusion of product packages.

I'll still use portions of the CS3 suite but I will not update my personal licenses, not for that hell.

And for this I have no reason to use Lightroom at this point. Probably without all the headaches I would have done more than glance at the product.

A major complaint I've had about Photoshop Elements (at least up to version 3, haven't checked 4 or 6) is that I can't use CMD+H to hide the app. I know they have their own set of keyboard shortcuts for things, but can't they give me the option of configuring that so they don't trample a system-wide option like CMD+H?

For the most part I like the tools, though palettes are too many and the UI for them keeps shifting. Hate the Cmd-H not hiding. Hate all this bloated shit in the suite that I don't know how safe it is to trash. Adobe Bridge CS3, Adobe Device Central CS3, Adobe Help Center CS3, Adobe Version Cue CS3, Adobe Extension Manager CS3 OKAY WE GET IT YOU'RE ADOBE AND THIS IS VERSION CS3. Nearly a GIGABYTE for Acrobat? Fuck that bloat bloat bloat.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/02/2008 12:18PM by johnny k.

Can anybody here say whether Photoshop Elements 6 still hijacks CMD+H for its own nefarious purposes?

It probably does since all of CS3 does. I think the do it because they've always used it for hiding guides and stuff. You can change it in the keyboard control panel.

I have a Fuji E900. It takes fantastic images - it's easily the best sensor in a non-DSLR camera. 9MP, and no noise at all. The lens isn't the best Fuji's ever made, with a bit of chromatic aberration ("purple fringing") at either end of the unimpressive zoom range, but it still has that silvery glow and tack-sharpness that typifies Fuji optics.

The only trouble is, I hate taking photos with it.

For one, the viewfinder is a joke. The optical viewfinder in early Kodak Brownies offered a brighter and clearer view, and probably had less parallax to boot. I just can't get used to the LCD screen, and whine at anyone nearby when I'm using the damn thing that I miss DoF preview. For another, the flash situation is untenable. The built in one wouldn't make a vampire blink, and the P&S adapter I bought for my Metz unit has a lot of trouble reading it for an accurate exposure. I really need a dedicated hot-shoe with a compatible SCA module.

(A side note - once you use Metz, there really is no going back. More accurate exposures, warmer light, quicker cycling, and the =character= of the light - hard to describe, but you'll know it when you see it. Even through a diffuser. I don't pretend to know how the Germans do optics and imaging tech. They just do it... it's like describing what it's like to drive a BMW to someone who's driven pickups and econoboxes their whole lives. They're not going to believe you until they try it themselves.)

I really need to get a flickr album going to show you what I mean... but it's pointless, as my old photos all went AWOL after my last move (along with all of my dice - a nerd catastrophe bar none, considering the scope and breadth of my D-10 collection) and I don't care to take new photos, as it's a chore rather than fun.

I'm thinking that maybe, now before I'm paying a mortgage and saving for college, I should drop some change on a DSLR. Go back to my roots, get a SLR and a 50mm(equivalent) lens, and work from there. I'm thinking Samsung - same as Pentax, only cheaper. And they browbeat Schneider into formulating some original lenses for the APS-C in K-Mount - including a 50mm(equivalent).

SoupRisksThe Wrath

Soup, I could be wrong but I think that Samsung is paying Schneider to put their name on Pentax lenses. They appear to be the exact same formula in a slightly different casing. Not that thats bad, Pentax has some excellent glass, just saying...

I recently bought a K10D at one hell of a price and I am extremely pleased. The kit lens is fine for snapshots but I'm itching to get a couple of the compact Limited lenses and exploring what they can do. If you can squeeze it into your budget I don't believe you'll regret it.

Actually, it's tough to tell. Some of the lenses are identical clones of each other, others, while having the same zoom range and aperture, are visibly different lens designs. (The kit 50-200, for instance, is heavier than the Pentax lens, and scored better on Pop Photo's test, for whatever that's worth.) There's also a 35mm f/2 Xenogon that doesn't have an equivalent in the Pentax lineup. I don't expect them to have the same sort of mojo going for them that their medium and large format glass does, tho. They don't seem to be able to do small format lenses the way Leica or Carl Zeiss can.

But, in any event, yes, Pentax glass is excellent. A 21mm pancake lens would be part of the consideration.

~ Soop

DOH! After I posted I noticed the 35mm Xenogon. You are right there isn't anything like that in Pentaxs portfolio right now. That might be a nice option for my system, thanks for pointing that out!

Speaking of CZ, if you don't mind manual focus and can afford the price, they have a full lineup of k-mount lenses that I've heard are very nice. Never got within sniffing distance myself.

1,200 fps Casio camera

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/03/technology/personaltech/03pogue.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Pogue always reminds me of one of those beavis and butthead guys. Since I never saw B&B, I'm not sure which one he is.

So fast it captures pictures of what YOU MISSED. Or, can auto-attend - take shots FOR YOU.

What a journey.

Butthead.

These guys sound a bit like we do sometimes, except they're talking about cameras: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=483100

I have a confession to make. I recently purchased a Canon 5d, but NOT through B&H unfortunately it just would have cost a lot more to get it from B&H than to get it locally. A big factor for me is that I would have to pay import tax on anything over $500.

Having said that I am absolutely in love with it. All of my prior experience with SLRs is with a Pentax K1000 (with the f1.7 50mm) and a Pentax MEF with a 35-70 (which i usually replaced with a sigma 28-80). My experiences with the K1000 prompted me to start of simply in the lens department so I picked up the f1.8 50mm. I haven't been into photography so much lately and I was a little concerned about spending so much for something I haven't been so into but I think the only reason I haven't been doing it is because I only had a little 4mp IXUS and there is so much that I was missing out on using a compact P&S.

I also picked a copy of aperture 2 which is a little slow on my macbook, but I expected adding more ram will help with that since I still have the stock 1gb in it.

Simon-

Congrats on the 5D! That will be my next camera (as soon as I stop buying video equipment).

Re: Aperture on a MacBook, more RAM will help some, but one of the things slowing you down is the shared graphics. I would definitely take it up to 2GB, but the performance will always be a bit sluggish.

Hard Drive speed too... Even if it's reading previews it still has to pull them in from the HD. I run it on intel MBP with 2gb and it's not bad but HD speed seems limiting. My now 5yr old G5 at home feels faster with same library.


Wow you really treated yourself eh? A 5D not the "prosumer" line (do you bill with that toy?). I'd really have to hide that purchase...
Niiice.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/30/2008 08:16AM by rino.

Bill with it? I'd like to, not really sure how break into that though. Being single I don't have to hide purchases from anyone...might as well enjoy it while I can :) I read some descriptions of the 5d as a "semi-pro" camera. I guess they consider the 1d to be the Pro body. The 5d is definitely a treat though.

Thanks for the tip MM. I'd forgotten about the shared graphics on the macbook. I'm considering moving up to a 15" MBP anyway, but adding more ram will definitely be the short term solution.

The *D series is their Pro line. The EOS series are the prosumer models.

Actually, that might be confusing since the EOS line gets *D monikers in other countries.

Still, the 1D may be their TOP Pro model, but the 5D is no slouch. I would expect that most professionals don't spring for the 1D as it's overkill for most things.

Yeah in Australia they don't use the *D only EOS and IXUS.

http://canon.com.au/products/visual/cameras/digital_slr.html

actually I'm not seeing it on the canon USA page wither: http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ProductCatIndexAct&fcategoryid=111

*edit: actually I'm confused now.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/01/2008 12:11AM by Simon.

Err... yeah, be confused. I typed that wrong.

Replace the word "EOS" with the word "Rebel" in my previous post and then it will say what I meant it to say.

The SLRs are all EOS. I meant to say that the prosumer stuff here in the States gets the Rebel moniker while the pro stuff gets the *D moniker (1D, 5D, 10D, etc.)