Capture One Pro or Lightroom?

[kkcsm]

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Yes I’ll take a look at the rumored Lightroom 6 when it ships before making a final decision, maybe Adobe improved the interface and workflow

 

I'm curious, what don't you like about the Lightroom workflow? I've recently switched from Bridge/Photoshop and actually like the LR workflow. I can quickly flunk pics I don't like, then with a click of one of the user presets I've made I can get my image close to what I want. Fine tune a bit (perhaps including some Nik tools) or not and I'm done.

 

I'll admit I'm already subscribed to Adobe CC so I have all those tools now and I don't want to purchase and learn something new.

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One thing worries me about Capture One is that it comes from a relatively small company depending on hardware camera sales, and the camera market is not exactly doing well these last years: I'm wondering how committed they are in the long term to the software side and in supporting other cameras in addition to their medium format ones. I don't want to move again to a new app all my pictures and redoing adjustments after a couple of years

 

This kind of uncertainty will always be around, it is possible, that Adobe switches Lightroom in the future to a monthly subscription rather than a purchase of the software, which would be a deal-breaker for me.

 

Stefan

[wlaidlaw]

I have been a Capture One user since Version 2. Lightroom and my brain just don't seem to be compatible. As I am temporarily having to use a 3G modem that Orange France have lent me (they managed to cut off my phone line completely while upgrading the service from ADSL to VDSL and it will be Monday at the earliest before it is mended), I have not even bothered to download LR6. The interface of C1 V.8 Pro is however not an improvement on V.7 and they have made the tools menu and customisation more complicated. The downside of C1 is that it uses ICC profiles not DCP like LR. You need very expensive software to make ICC profiles from colour cards, unlike DCP, where you get free software with a Gretag MacBeth colour checker swatch chart. 

 

Wilson

[thrid]

I've been a LR user since versions one and have grown increasingly frustrated with the program. In recent months I have begun to seriously question the IQ of the Adobe RAW converter and the way it handles color out of the 240. The reds are really out of control and the white balance seems off and difficult to control.

 

A few days ago i downloaded the Capture One Pro 8 demo and immediately saw a substantial improvement in my 240 files.

 

Gone are the bleeding reds and magenta. Skin looks like skin and is easy to adjust. White balance seems more accurate and I swear that the files are now not only sharper, but have better tonality. The 3-way color corrector alone is worth the price of admission. Even grain seems to be properly applied with more in the shadows and less in the highlights, but I still need to examine that a little more. Processing is very fast on my somewhat older 15 inch MacBook Pro.

 

Overall I am very impressed with Capture One Pro 8. I'll give it another week of testing, so I can dig in to the library management a little. But in terms of IQ and the quality of the tools I'm already very much convinced of the superiority their software.

[Jeff S]

I've been a LR user since versions one and have grown increasingly frustrated with the program. In recent months I have begun to seriously question the IQ of the Adobe RAW converter and the way it handles color out of the 240. The reds are really out of control and the white balance seems off and difficult to control.

 

I've had no issues with LR since the upgraded M240 FW, along with generating custom profiles.

 

Jeff

[thrid]

I've had no issues with LR since the upgraded M240 FW, along with generating custom profiles.

 

Jeff

 

I haven't made a custom profile for the 240 in LR yet, but I wasn't completely sold on how it handled my D600 files either.

I'm going to run some of the NEF files through Capture One and see what I get.

 

But regardless right out of the box and without a profile I'm getting better results out of the 240 in Capture One. Especially skin tones.

 

You can download a free demo from their site. It may be worth giving it a try.

[Jeff S]

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I still have an old version of Capture One, but no need to use now given already effective workflow and print results, which is all that matters to me.  Whatever works for you or others is fine….different strokes.

 

Jeff

[jrp]

Capture One v Lightroom v Iridient Developer, etc, has always intrigued me.  I have never seen a consistent advantage of one over the other and so have stuck with Lightroom; C1 seems to have quite aggressive sharpening on by default and for architecture particularly, the lens correction features are more complete in LR.  Am I missing something?

[nggalai]

First, a caveat emptor. I’m the dude who’s Capture One Pro book will be out by early summer (German version) / late summer (English translation). I’m also what Phase calls an “Ambassador”, and have been part of the Beta team for C1 8. I have (rather, had) been a Lightroom user since the first public release, started considering C1 in 2010, switched for good in 2011/12, but still have LR5 installed. Just so you can put the following into perspective.

 

I love C1 to bits, especially with M9 files. I enjoy the results better than what ACR delivers, but more importantly, I get what I want quicker and easier. C1 suits my “workflow” preferences better than Lightroom’s everything-but-the-kitchensink approach. Still, when reading this:

As an Aperture user I'm trying to make up my mind as to which DAM/Raw developer is best for me to use since Aperture has been discontinued andthe new Apple Photo app is too limited for my needs.

… my question is: How highly do you value DAM functionality? Because Capture One is rather, haha, raw in this respect. Up to and including v6, there was nothing DAM-like about C1 at all: Capture One was a high-quality RAW developer focussed on tethered shooting, and using a folder structure, not much more. Phase bought Expression Media from Microsoft and released it as Media Pro for those who wanted a DAM that interlinked with Capture One in 2010. v7 introduced a catalogue mode for the first time in C1 history, v8 has improved, but still … it’s “fresh”. I miss things in 8.2 that were released with Lightroom 1.3.

 

I’m sure Phase One will continue improving C1’s catalogue in the future, but if you’re coming from Aperture, and highly depend on catalogueing at least on the level of Aperture right now, please do yourself a favour comparing the Lightroom 6 and C1 8 demos. C1’s current management feature set might suit you just fine, but then, it might not – and LR has quite a head start in this regard.

 

If you’re mostly interested in the RAW development aspect, and can wait out a more solid DAM experience, I’d say: go Capture One, and see (upcoming) future improvements to catalogue, file, and metadata management as a bonus. LR and C1 have much in common, but are rather different at heart.

 

Cheers,

-Sascha

[A B]

Thanks eveybody for the comments,

I was busy these days cleaning up my Aperture library and importing it into ..... Capture One (C1). All went well.

 

First, a caveat emptor. I’m the dude who’s Capture One Pro book will be out by early summer (German version) / late summer (English translation). I’m also what Phase calls an “Ambassador”, and have been part of the Beta team for C1 8. I have (rather, had) been a Lightroom user since the first public release, started considering C1 in 2010, switched for good in 2011/12, but still have LR5 installed. Just so you can put the following into perspective.

 

I love C1 to bits, especially with M9 files. I enjoy the results better than what ACR delivers, but more importantly, I get what I want quicker and easier. C1 suits my “workflow” preferences better than Lightroom’s everything-but-the-kitchensink approach. Still, when reading this:

… my question is: How highly do you value DAM functionality? Because Capture One is rather, haha, raw in this respect. Up to and including v6, there was nothing DAM-like about C1 at all: Capture One was a high-quality RAW developer focussed on tethered shooting, and using a folder structure, not much more. Phase bought Expression Media from Microsoft and released it as Media Pro for those who wanted a DAM that interlinked with Capture One in 2010. v7 introduced a catalogue mode for the first time in C1 history, v8 has improved, but still … it’s “fresh”. I miss things in 8.2 that were released with Lightroom 1.3.

 

I’m sure Phase One will continue improving C1’s catalogue in the future, but if you’re coming from Aperture, and highly depend on catalogueing at least on the level of Aperture right now, please do yourself a favour comparing the Lightroom 6 and C1 8 demos. C1’s current management feature set might suit you just fine, but then, it might not – and LR has quite a head start in this regard.

 

If you’re mostly interested in the RAW development aspect, and can wait out a more solid DAM experience, I’d say: go Capture One, and see (upcoming) future improvements to catalogue, file, and metadata management as a bonus. LR and C1 have much in common, but are rather different at heart.

 

Cheers,

-Sascha

 

I can survive with the limited DAM capabilities of C1 for now (keywords management comes to mind as an area that really needs improvements) but I like the C1 default RAW development results better, I like the tools and the highly customizable interface. I tried a few times to make me like Lightroom, I know it has a lot more features, some more mature than C1, but I just can't get along with the modal workflow and its "old" interface. In addition I don't like the all renting software model Adobe is clearly steering towards.

 

Thanks Sasha for your perspective, by the way if you are planning an ebook in English, I might be interested  .

 

best,

 

Al

[nggalai]

Glad you’re happy with C1. Enjoy! It’s sometimes a bit hard wrapping your brains about how C1 deals with stuff (say, your keywords example), but after a while you’ll get used to it.

Thanks Sasha for your perspective, by the way if you are planning an ebook in English, I might be interested  .

I don’t have much to do with the English edition, my German publisher sold the rights to another publisher I’m not directly in contact with. They do sell eBooks via their web site, though (not on Amazon Kindle mind), so I guess there will be an eBook version out. The German version will get one, so it would be weird if Rocky Nook went the print-only way.

 

Cheers,

-Sascha

[paulsydaus]

I am also demoing all the raw developers to see where to go after Aperture. Right now, I am doing some extensive testing on lowlight recovery. Perhaps I will publish my results some time. What is clear though, is how awful the performance of Aperture is in this area. If you are still using Aperture, stop right now! All of the competitors are far better.

DxO seems prone to introducing weird artefacts into the image which can't easily be removed by NR. Anyway, what I'm not so sure about is how custom camera profiles work, how to make/use them, and if I should be considering that as part of my new workflow? Can anyone provide some recommendations from experience?

[jbl]

Sascha, I went ahead and preordered your book (in English) on Amazon.

 

I have both Capture One and Lightroom. I was a Capture One user ten+ years ago when they were the only game in town. Now, I shoot with a P1 IQ250, a Leica M240 and M246.

 

When using the Phase One camera, I far prefer the output from C1, and I generally prefer the conversion from Capture One, but I'm unable to get something I like out of it with the Leica files.

 

Truth be told, I haven't spent a lot of time with it, but I really want to use C1 for my DNGs. Has anyone else had this experience? My P1 dealer, whom I completely trust, told me that Leica and Phase One had a bit of a falling out at some point around the MM and that may be why I don't care for the output of Leica files from Capture One.

[2wk]

I used lightroom for years. I only really used C1 on long studio shoots tethered. I always liked the results though, so recently I tried a quick test of both. I didn't even compare color, I just wanted to see if there would be any sort of difference with Monochrom files. I did a very quick edit of the same files, and then exported jpegs. It was a bit surprising that I actually prefered the C1 jpegs. I didnt think there would be much of a difference, and it is fairly small...but my collegues did agree with me. The rendering is more pleasing to me and there was a general sparkle that made the lightroom file look flat. I'm not saying that you can't get the same sort of file out of lightoom, but CaptureOne works for me. I'm going to switch. I just edited a whole job with it yesterday and I'm getting the hang of things. Plus, it is fun for me to learn a new software. 

[paulsydaus]

I am leaning towards Capture One, however it doesn't seem to natively support the Nik plugins.

Most of the Nik plugins can be operated as a separate application now which is good and nullifies this mostly. I must say the development of Nik software after the Google takeover has been disappointing to say re least...

The price of C1 is a bit hard to stomach though, IMHO they should price the software more aggressively to take advantage of the potential Aperture converts around. The asking price is a bit hard to stomach for not tethered shooting aka people who aren't running a full time studio...

[MarkP]

Does C1 have Leica lens corrections? My recollection is that it does not.

[jbl]

I also enjoy learning new software and decided to try and take the plunge today with the files from my Q. The initial look out of the camera was more in line with what I'm used to with C1 and the LR files looked a bit lifeless by comparison. Tomorrow, I'll try it with some M240 files which will be the harder test.

[indergaard]

Does C1 have Leica lens corrections? My recollection is that it does not.

 

It doesn't. With one or two exceptions. I think the 50mm Summicron is one of the exceptions.

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[mltx]

As far as I can see on my C1, the only Leica lense supported is Summicron 50mm f/2.

 

By the way, there are two versions of ICC profiles in C1 for M240: Leica M240 Generic and Leica M240 Generic V2. Does anyone know what the differences between the two are?

[jbl]

By the way, there are two versions of ICC profiles in C1 for M240: Leica M240 Generic and Leica M240 Generic V2. Does anyone know what the differences between the two are?

I've wondered about that too, though to my eye, v2 looks better.

 

Also check these styles out:

 

http://captureonestyles.com/#prettyPhoto

 

I think he makes use of the color shift capabilities in C1.

 

They're more subdued than VSCO (which I'm a huge fan of for non-Leica cameras) and others. They also have the only decent Kodachrome implementation I've seen. It adds a little punch, makes the tones just a bit creamier.

 

-jbl