The LR5 beta is available:

http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom5/

It appears they are addressing some weaknesses in LR that were once Aperture’s advantages–books, slideshows, and clone/healing tool–and adding a few often requested features.

Sure hope the Aperture developers have been busy. Their uphill climb to relevance got got steeper.

Adobe’s timing also keeps LR in the conversation if Apple was planning on WWDC for any “pro” hardware/software announcements.

I just saw a video showing LR5 beta’s upright feature that deals with lens corrections and perspective distortions. This is the first time I’ve had some lust for LR… it looks quite powerful and extremely useful for my architectural images. You can view it here:
http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/04/15/adobes-lightroom-5-beta-gets-p…

Based on a brief session w/ LR5:

Agree with both Charles’ and Philip’s comments. Regarding the “upright” feature… it’s pretty good. The automatic mode does a good job, even on high-angle group shots taken with a wide-angle lens. The other improvements are a bit underwhelming based on my brief use with it so far. Slideshow improvements are minimal, and the book module still lacks much of what Aperture offers. The clone/healing tool still doesn’t measure up to Aperture IMO, but again I probably only scraped the surface with it’s use.

Doesn’t mean Apple should continue sitting on their hands. They need to make a really, really big splash with their Aperture announcement (assuming there will even be an Aperture announcement), and it needs to be sooner than later.

I’ve been an Aperture user and a certified trainer since version 1. Until recently never before have I been compelled to seriously consider Lightroom. I just finished a 21 day documentary shoot together with another collective of photographers who are Lightroom users, and thus I worked with it for this project.

I was positively impressed on many regards, and today’s announcement moves me closer to the edge, not because of any particular feature (although editing over smart previews without being connected to the master images and synching when you connect looks promising and powerful), but rather due to the lack of evidence of Apple working on anything significant on their end.

These are some of the things I’ve come to like in Lightroom that would like to see implemented in the next version of Aperture:

(1) Being able to apply Exposure as a brushed adjustment it’s a very powerful tool that extends the power of Highlights and Shadow recovery.

(2) I really like the implementation of Neutral Density Filter. When the images are exposed properly, it can bring back a dull sky and significantly enhance an image.

(3) I liked and used a lot the perspective correction, and the new features I saw today seem like a major improvement.

(4) I feel the noise reduction in Lightroom is superior by far to Aperture.

(5) I don’t mind at all the lens profiler, the ability to fix some distortion (not critical for me since I shoot mostly with a 35), but also work on Chromatic Aberration based on the specific lens characteristics.

(6) Although I have significantly used and enjoyed and Aperture’s book and layout module, I would love to see export support to Blurb, which for me and my kind of work it’s by far the best print on demand provider.

(7) I like Lightroom’s Printing Module a little better than Aperture’s. I find it more clear and versatile. Among other things, I really like the ability to pre-select which Printer Profiles do you want to display in the soft-proofing menu, making selection more effective.

(8) The import module allows for the possibility to take a combination of import presents from and save them all together under a general import profile. I find this very valuable and comfortable.

(9) I find the Quick Collection functionality very comfortable.

(10) Before and After options in the develop module are also something I would not mind seeing in Aperture.

(11) Still, although some improvements from Apple, a much better response rate in providing RAW support for new cameras. This is rarely an issue for me since I don’t change as much, but I just got a Leica MM, which was released LONG ago and Apple still lacks support.

All this being said, the modal approach (working in modules), the crowded UI and the organizational features are very far behind Aperture. Nothing compares to the clean UI and experience in Aperture.

I hope Apple is listening and reading, and most of all, ready to deliver some meaningful improvements in a version 4 sometime very soon. I really don’t want to switch… It’s been a long time issue for me the sense that Apple ‘secrecy’ which serves them very well on many fronts, I believe it’s far from ideal for a Pro product and audience.

My two cents… Martin Herrera | www.martinhsphoto.com