[abruzzi]

A lot of jokes I could make on the title, but I won't. I'm still using Aperture because I'm comfortable with it, but in the back of my head I know I'm going to have to jump at some point. Specifically I want an application that is more than just a photo editor, but allows me to manage thousands of photos with tagging, searching, originals and versions, etc.. I'm wondering what asset management applications are out there? The important features to me beyond organizational ones are decent raw editing, non-destructive/versioning, and mapping. What I've found so far:

iPhoto: dead
Aperture: dying/dead
Photos: free, but I really don't like it, and it is pretty minimal in capabilities.
Lightroom: $150, or $10/mo for life. probably where I'll end up after a lot of kicking and screaming, but I don't want to reward Adobe for the hell they have put me through at work.
Capture One Pro: $300, I'd buy this in a heartbeat, but its mapping integration is way too bare bones for me.
DigiKam: interesting, but with my initial tests, it is slow and buggy on Mac (maybe better on linux, but I'm not a linux on the desktop kind of guy.)

Any other DAM capable apps out there for Mac, or should I hold out with Aperture (which I still love) for another year to see if any of the above improve, or anything else appears?

[jatrax]

Bite the bullet and get Lightroom. It will only hurt for a little while.
I'm on the $10 plan which also gives you Photoshop. Really did not think I would use PS but I am learning it more and more.

There are a number of good editors and RAW converters available, some better than LR. But I'm not aware of anything that does the asset management like Lightroom.

[pepperberry farm]

I use macphun's Luminar, plus also have their Creative Kit... it does a great job for me....

[boriscleto]

External Editors for Photos can make Photos better...

External Editors For Photos on the Mac App Store

But just bite the bullet and get Lightroom...It's not as nice to use as Aperture was, but I get better results.

[Alex645]

If you need something today, I really don't know anything that comes close to Lightroom and if you buy LR6, it will pay for itself in 15 months vs. a subscription. However, you won't get updates which could be problematic in 3-4 years.

Adobe and Apple have gone through cycles of competition and collaboration. I went through the whole Premiere for Mac phase out, switching to Final Cut, and then years later Premiere returns. IF Aperture is still working fine for you and you don't have to upgrade to a newer OS that may not support it, you may want to wait. I would be surprised if Apple doesn't reintroduce an amazing new Aperture when Adobe goes completely subscription on Lightroom. I don't have a crystal ball, but it's been a pattern on what Adobe has offered for Mac vs. what Apple has developed.

[RAART]

Maybe Corel Aftershot Pro 3

[abruzzi]

Right now, Aperture continues to work for me. I read people talking about lens correction profiles and default RAW profiles in Lightroom, so I know I'm missing things. But, having never used them I don't know how important or useful they would be for me. I've made some default tweaks so when I import a DNG from my K-3II into aperture, the image doesn't look so dull and lifeless. I've played with some of the free editing plugins that still work with Aperture. And when it comes to managing many thousands of files, I still like Aperture a lot.

To me the Lightroom rental is not a great deal because I'm not a pro, and I'm not the sort to upgrade to the latest version all the time. (after all, I'm using Aperture, and photoshop CS6!) So if I jump to Lightroom, I'll do the $150 version and use it without upgrading for 5 years (i.e. $600 worth of the rental model.) I will probably hold out for a while, and maybe add something like Luminar as an external editor and see if anything pops up. I mostly wanted to make sure that there weren't other things out there that I missed.

[Alex645]

Right now, Aperture continues to work for me. I read people talking about lens correction profiles and default RAW profiles in Lightroom, so I know I'm missing things. But, having never used them I don't know how important or useful they would be for me.

I mostly wanted to make sure that there weren't other things out there that I missed.

You may want to check out a trial version of one of DXO software:

Trial Version | www.dxo.com

They have plug-ins for PS and Aperture for things like lens correction profiles.

[microlight]

Hehe, I agree with jatrax, but with opposite reasoning - having gone Win10, I'm going with the plan because I want the latest Photoshop; not interested in LR... <ducks...>

[Rico]

A lot of jokes I could make on the title, but I won't. I'm still using Aperture because I'm comfortable with it, but in the back of my head I know I'm going to have to jump at some point. Specifically I want an application that is more than just a photo editor, but allows me to manage thousands of photos with tagging, searching, originals and versions, etc.. I'm wondering what asset management applications are out there? The important features to me beyond organizational ones are decent raw editing, non-destructive/versioning, and mapping. What I've found so far:

iPhoto: dead
Aperture: dying/dead
Photos: free, but I really don't like it, and it is pretty minimal in capabilities.
Lightroom: $150, or $10/mo for life. probably where I'll end up after a lot of kicking and screaming, but I don't want to reward Adobe for the hell they have put me through at work.
Capture One Pro: $300, I'd buy this in a heartbeat, but its mapping integration is way too bare bones for me.
DigiKam: interesting, but with my initial tests, it is slow and buggy on Mac (maybe better on linux, but I'm not a linux on the desktop kind of guy.)

Any other DAM capable apps out there for Mac, or should I hold out with Aperture (which I still love) for another year to see if any of the above improve, or anything else appears?

abruzzi have you ever tried using Adobe Bridge for file management. Since you have CS6 you can use the Bridge to manage your archive and ACR with CS6 for RAW editing. I am still using ACR with CS4. There are a lot of editing tools in ACR. Adobe will even let you use the latest version of Bridge CC 2017 for free.

[Paul the Sunman]

I loved Aperture, and have not bothered migrating my old photos from it. It still works (with the occasional foible) in Sierra.

But yes, LR has more bells and whistles now. It's not quite as user-friendly as Aperture, but I got used to it over time. I have LR free from work, so I'm not concerned about the recurring blood-sucking Adobe policy. If I had to pay for it every month, knowing that at least in Australia they keep jacking up the price. I doubt I would have chosen it.

I also have ON1 Raw 2017, which is a stand-alone (or plugin) RAW processor with many powerful features that even LR lacks (layers in particular). However, its basic editing is not yet up to LR standards (they bring out updates every couple of months, so it's improving). It is not really a cataloger though. It edits in-place; very quickly editing your files wherever you put them. Much quicker than LR in that sense.

[lsimpkins]

But yes, LR has more bells and whistles now. It's not quite as user-friendly as Aperture, but I got used to it over time. I have LR free from work, so I'm not concerned about the recurring blood-sucking Adobe policy. If I had to pay for it every month, knowing that at least in Australia they keep jacking up the price. I doubt I would have chosen it.

I find it interesting that few people complain about other subscriptions like magazines, forum memberships, auto clubs, your electricity, etc. While some are more or less necessities, post production is close to that for many of us.

I also have ON1 Raw 2017, which is a stand-alone (or plugin) RAW processor with many powerful features that even LR lacks (layers in particular). However, its basic editing is not yet up to LR standards (they bring out updates every couple of months, so it's improving). It is not really a cataloger though. It edits in-place; very quickly editing your files wherever you put them. Much quicker than LR in that sense.

Yes, On1 seems to be getting better all the time. Unlike LR, there is no "Import" needed which will solve one problem for those who have usage issues with LR. And as far as cataloging, it uses whatever folder or directory structure you set up. I have it in case the CC Photo subscription gets too expensive and to use a few of the Effects presets from time to time. I can see it being a full solution for pp at some point in the future.

[normhead]

I'm going to just stick my head in the sand until Aperture breaks. Every month that goes by saves me $10. I have 3 computers right now that run Aperture, one that can't be upgraded so, I'll always have a machine to interpret my current Aperture files. What happens if that sad day comes when Aperture no longer works is another question. Apple has code protocols in place that mean a piece of software will probably work for years after it is no longer supported. I'm still using iWeb that hasn't been supported for 7 years. We aren't talking about Windows software here.

[ajack]

For anyone using Aperture the obvious thing to try first is Apple's Photos app. No it's not as good as Aperture was, but it's free and will import your library without any fuss. No need to redo all your edits, recategorize, etc. Depending on how much work you've done curating your photos, switching to another program could mean a HUGE loss of work.

The Photos app is not that great but it does do raw support, non-destructive editing, basic cataloging like Albums and Keywords, etc. There are a bunch of improvements coming this fall in the next version of Mac OS ("High Sierra"), including more editing tools and better support for external editors if you want to tweak a photo more.

I would say start with Photos and see if it meets you needs.

[acoufap]

For anyone using Aperture the obvious thing to try first is Apple's Photos app. ...

If you work with curves, color channels, local adjustments etc. I think this would never be the obvious thing to do.

I owned Aperture 3 from day one and it still works on my Macs. Most tools I was happy with but I missed some functionality. So I was looking for some other flexible software short time before Apple discontinued Aperture. I was used to use a great interface! Lightroom's user interface didn't inspire me. So no option for me. But there were not many options with intergrated DAM. Capture One looked promising to me. So I tried and bought CO 7 ... and I really like it. Very good tools, even with layers for local adjustments that I wished Aperture should have had. Now I own version 10 and with every update it gets better and better - even the DAM and tagging tools.

So, Normhead, you don't need to stick your head in the sand when Aperture breaks. Unfortunately there's some serious money to spend and support of Pentax lenses still is to improve. That's the downside of the medal.