Aperture 2.0 with Fujifilm pro camera

Question

Can anyone explain me why Aperture is not supporting the 2.0 raw coding with the S3 and S5 pro
Thanks
Ettore

Answer 1

Fujifilm is using their own proprietary CCD sensor technology. Those sensors utilize two different sizes of pixels in their array, referred to as S-pixels and R-pixels. The S pixels are larger than the R pixels, and Fuji claims this gives them better signal-to-noise ratios and dynamic range.
Unfortunately, the non-standard sensor design means you can't just do a standard Bayer demosaic algorithm on the RAW data and expect it to work. Most digital sensors now in use are employing the standard Bayer array, so it's easy for a programmer to apply similar logic to all of the cameras (with some model-specific tweaks to get optimum results of course, but it's still possible to save a lot of time and money by reusing the code you already wrote for other cameras).
But for the Fuji sensors, Apple would basically be reinventing the wheel with a whole new algorithm designed just for those sensors. Fuji does use Bayer filtering of a sort, but because their pixel layout is so unique, it still represents a unique problem that requires a unique solution.
My guess is that Apple didn't see the economic benefit in developing the 2.0 RAW algorithms for the small enthusiast population standing at the intersection of Mac User Street and Fuji Shooter Lane. Or maybe they just ran out of time and decided to ship Aperture 2 without it.
But hey...at least your format is somehow supported. It's a worse situation for all those Foveon sensors that Sigma uses. Those are so different from the Bayer approach that Apple may never support them.
So if I end up buying the tempting Sigma DP-1 (due for release in a couple of months), I'll probably have to use another program to catalog those images.