How to poll Aperture lens data for usage graph - Filters?

Setup a smart filter that selects the camera(s) you're interested in and then go into the list view of the Browser and sort on either focal length.

Then select the first image using a particular focal length, scroll down until you reach the last image using that length and shift click it. All the images between the first and last will be selected. At the bottom of the list view window it will say how many images are selected this will be the count of how often you used that focal length.

Joseph Coates wrote:
My objective is to see which lenses are redundant and which are less used then sell the extras.

Seems you should filter by lens and not by focal length.



I keep a permanent set of Smart Albums, one for each lens I have. (Create one, then dupe it and change the Lens field and the Album name. Get the lens name from the metadata of a shot taken with the lens.) Periodically I check the totals to see my usage pattern.



I recommend also setting up a series of Smart Albums for focal length. (As above, create one, then dupe and change the filter field and Album name. Group them in one Folder.) If you use cameras with different size sensors, you might want to set up both an actual focal length set, and a "35mm equivalent focal length" set. Use whatever ranges you find meaningful.

Note that you can select any number of Folders to open all of them in the Browser and get a total number of images. Note that this number will change as you expand or collapse Stacks, and so the totals given depend somewhat on how you use Stacks. Note, too, that Smart Albums use very little overhead (the only thing stored are the criteria). Don't hesitate to make as many as you find useful.

Message was edited by: Kirby Krieger, added illustrations.

Sorry if my answer is out of place here, as it requires an additional piece of software.

The data you want is not available in aperture for the time being, but maccreate offers a $9.99 app that does this and a whole lot more when it comes to statistics on your aperture library.

You can break it don into lenses, cameras, Aperture, iso, focal length etc. and within customizable dates as well. So if yo uare into statistics ans Aperture, check it out.

The url is:
http://shop.maccreate.com/products/Aperture-Inspector-1.0-%252d-Find-Out-More-Ab out-Your-Photography.html

bordsenius wrote:
Sorry if my answer is out of place here, as it requires an additional piece of software.
...
The url is:
http://shop.maccreate.com/products/Aperture-Inspector-1.0-%252d-Find-Out-More-Ab out-Your-Photography.html

Not at all. Spot on, useful, and imho (if it works as advertised) worth the cost.

Thanks for the pointer.

I had a look at Photostats, I did not know about that one. One problem: I have all my pictures in the aperture library, and it would not scan my library. You'll probably need to have the files stored outside the library.

Aperture Inspector reads the aperture database, and in that way it uses the data that has already been processed by Aperture. So it does not matter how things are organized.

But one is free, and the other one is almost free, so I'll use both. My average lens costs more than $1100, so if they can save me from buying one I do not need it is a bargain. And I'm a bit of a statistics freak as well..