Capture One Pro 8: Tips or Advice for trial users?

Hello,

I'm a long term Aperture user and hobbiest photographer. I tried lightroom but preferred the Aperture workflow. Now Aperture is discontinued I decided to try something else.

I must say, I am really impressed with the raw processing from Capture One and the adjustment layers.

I have about 20 days left on the trial and was wondering if any others made the change? If so, what does your workflow look like?

Do you miss anything in C1 vs some other raw editor?

I don't really have a workflow in C1. Typically in Aperture, I would import to a new 'project' and add some tags at import stage. I would have smart folders based on rating & then go through the images deleting or rating to post process (unrated end up in limbo) . 1 star for a batch edit, 2 stars a little more time, 3 stars a bit more effort etc.

I might well try Lightroom again as it seems to have more presets, and add ons but at the moment, I really like the look & feel of C1.

kierenlon said:

Hello,

I'm a long term Aperture user and hobbiest photographer. I tried lightroom but preferred the Aperture workflow. Now Aperture is discontinued I decided to try something else.

I must say, I am really impressed with the raw processing from Capture One and the adjustment layers.

I have about 20 days left on the trial and was wondering if any others made the change? If so, what does your workflow look like?

Do you miss anything in C1 vs some other raw editor?

I don't really have a workflow in C1. Typically in Aperture, I would import to a new 'project' and add some tags at import stage. I would have smart folders based on rating & then go through the images deleting or rating to post process (unrated end up in limbo) . 1 star for a batch edit, 2 stars a little more time, 3 stars a bit more effort etc.
I might well try Lightroom again as it seems to have more presets, and add ons but at the moment, I really like the look & feel of C1.

Click to expand...

I have used C1 only a month or so and still learning. After moving away from Aperture there appears to be a lot of learning with importing and organisation. I currently use referenced images- I organise the images into folders and then import. Perhaps it is not the best solution, but it works, for now. C1 has the intelligence for not duplicating images if I add images to a folder and then import.

Hope this is of help.

C1 8 is great and and i am also a aperture user. First i try Lightroom but i don't feel comfortable. I'm not saying that Lightroom is not good...but i say no.

You can find lots of information and videos to help you in phase one website. Don't forget the webinars from phase one... they are a great help and you can learn lots with expert photographers.

I am a Capture One user for many years.

I have found their short video tutorials are great to learn the product. I still refer to them from time to time to brush up on my skills.

http://www.phaseone.com/en/Imaging-Software/Capture-One/Tutorials.aspx

Start with the basics as it is a very extensive application.

I use about 10% of its capabilities but they work extremely well for me.

Works great with RAW Canon, Nikon, Leica & especially Fuji files.

Trevor Kloeden
http://trevorkloeden.wordpress.com
http://trevor.kloeden.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26503291@N03/sets/

kierenlon said:

Hello,

I'm a long term Aperture user and hobbiest photographer. I tried lightroom but preferred the Aperture workflow. Now Aperture is discontinued I decided to try something else.

I must say, I am really impressed with the raw processing from Capture One and the adjustment layers.

Click to expand...

Keep in mind that Capture One gives an initial image that is far more processed than LR and Aperture. In LR, for example, only minor sharpness and color noise only (does not affect sharpness) noise reduction is applied. You could set up LR to process imported images that will give you essentially the same results, though LR is better in some regards, such as the highlights tool.

I can't remember what you mean by adjustment layers in Capture One. LR and Aperture also work with layers but they are invisible to the user. In other words, each tool is essentially a layer and there is no traditional layers pallete to deal with.

kierenlon said:

I have about 20 days left on the trial and was wondering if any others made the change? If so, what does your workflow look like?

Click to expand...

I tried Capture One but I hated the interface and I feel overall LR gives better results. My only advice is to give any of the apps you are trying a real thorough comparison with a set of difficult images and enough of them to work with to get a true idea of what the workflow will be like. When I first tried LR I didn't like, but I didn't give it a fair enough of a trial. Once I did, it was an amazing revelation of finally finding a near perfect image editor/file manager.

kierenlon said:

Do you miss anything in C1 vs some other raw editor?

I don't really have a workflow in C1. Typically in Aperture, I would import to a new 'project' and add some tags at import stage. I would have smart folders based on rating & then go through the images deleting or rating to post process (unrated end up in limbo) . 1 star for a batch edit, 2 stars a little more time, 3 stars a bit more effort etc.
I might well try Lightroom again as it seems to have more presets, and add ons but at the moment, I really like the look & feel of C1.

Click to expand...

Yep, I highly recommend you try LR again, preferably side by side with Capture One. If I remember correctly there was one advantage to Capture One. It was noticeably better for color accuracy of Fuji X cameras.

I also was an Aperture user and am switching to Capture One. I absolutely hate Lightroom and it's workflow as well as it's raw processing. If I have to use it I will use the new roundtrip ability to go to DxO to process the raw files.

In C1 the best thing I ever did is to configure the Q(Quick) tab with all the tools I use and in order of how I use them in my workflow. The latest version also lets you roundtrip to other apps like Photoshop pretty seamlessly now. It works the same way Aperture did when roundtripping to Photoshop.

I use Aperture, DxO, Lightroom, and Capture One and I tend to default to Capture One now. The key for me was to set up the Q tab and now I can just stay in the one tab for everything now. It's very customizable.

Ted Wilson said:

I also was an Aperture user and am switching to Capture One. I absolutely hate Lightroom and it's workflow as well as it's raw processing.

Click to expand...

What don't you like about its processing?

Ted Wilson said:

If I have to use it I will use the new roundtrip ability to go to DxO to process the raw files.

In C1 the best thing I ever did is to configure the Q(Quick) tab with all the tools I use and in order of how I use them in my workflow. The latest version also lets you roundtrip to other apps like Photoshop pretty seamlessly now. It works the same way Aperture did when roundtripping to Photoshop.

I use Aperture, DxO, Lightroom, and Capture One and I tend to default to Capture One now. The key for me was to set up the Q tab and now I can just stay in the one tab for everything now. It's very customizable.

Click to expand...

I don't find the color as accurate, even using an X-rite passport to create a profile

Ted Wilson said:

I don't find the color as accurate, even using an X-rite passport to create a profile

Click to expand...

What camera?

Canon 5D Mk III

christom said:

Keep in mind that Capture One gives an initial image that is far more processed than LR and Aperture.

Click to expand...

Yes, I think this sometimes leads people to conclude there is a bigger difference between LR and Capture One than there really is. In fact, different default settings are a big issue no matter what raw converters you're comparing -- it's important to normalize those things as much as you can if you want a true picture of what is or is not possible with various converters.

Eamon Hickey said:

christom said:

Keep in mind that Capture One gives an initial image that is far more processed than LR and Aperture.

Click to expand...

Yes, I think this sometimes leads people to conclude there is a bigger difference between LR and Capture One than there really is.

Click to expand...

peripheralfocus said:

In fact, different default settings are a big issue no matter what raw converters you're comparing

Click to expand...

Not for LR and Aperture. As I said for LR, only very minor sharpening and color only nose reduction is applied. Zeroing those two out makes for no easily visible difference to your image, unlike with Capture One where zeroing out applied default settings make a dramatic difference.

peripheralfocus said:

-- it's important to normalize those things as much as you can if you want a true picture of what is or is not possible with various converters.

Click to expand...

christom said:

Not for LR and Aperture. As I said for LR, only very minor sharpening and color only nose reduction is applied. Zeroing those two out makes for no easily visible difference to your image, unlike with Capture One where zeroing out applied default settings make a dramatic difference.

Click to expand...

Well, sharpening and noise reduction are not the only two parameters in a raw conversion.

There are also big differences among raw converters in their default tone curves and color matrixing, their interpretations of in-camera white balance settings, even their interpretation of a custom white balance on a gray card (that one has always puzzled me).

I was talking about trying to normalize the overall raw conversion, not just the sharpening and noise reduction parts of it.

Eamon Hickey said:

christom said:

Not for LR and Aperture. As I said for LR, only very minor sharpening and color only nose reduction is applied. Zeroing those two out makes for no easily visible difference to your image, unlike with Capture One where zeroing out applied default settings make a dramatic difference.

Click to expand...

Well, sharpening and noise reduction are not the only two parameters in a raw conversion.

Click to expand...

No, they are not, but I have never seen any large differences between any RAW converter once adjustment values are zeroed out.

peripheralfocus said:

There are also big differences among raw converters in their default tone curves and color matrixing, their interpretations of in-camera white balance settings, even their interpretation of a custom white balance on a gray card (that one has always puzzled me).

Click to expand...

Outside of getting an accurate color for certain Fuji cameras, that hasn't been my experience. Comparing Aperture and LR, for example, doesn't yield any significant differences.

peripheralfocus said:

I was talking about trying to normalize the overall raw conversion, not just the sharpening and noise reduction parts of it.

Click to expand...

What do you mean by normalize?

christom said:

Outside of getting an accurate color for certain Fuji cameras, that hasn't been my experience. Comparing Aperture and LR, for example, doesn't yield any significant differences.

Click to expand...

Including the manufacturer supplied raw converters that I've used when reviewing almost 150 cameras, I've probably used and compared 15 different raw converters, maybe more. I've seen quite wide variations in default color, especially, but default tone curves are also quite variable.

White balance interpretation probably doesn't vary quite as widely, but, for example, it's noticeably different between Lightroom and Capture One 7 (haven't tried C1 8 yet). Granted, it's sometimes difficult to differentiate between white balance differences and color matrixing differences.

christom said:

christom said:

I was talking about trying to normalize the overall raw conversion, not just the sharpening and noise reduction parts of it.

Click to expand...

What do you mean by normalize?

Click to expand...

Set to the same starting point, or measurement standard. In this context, it simply means adjusting the defaults to match each other -- exactly what you're doing when you turn down C1's default sharpening, which is indeed set to a higher value than Lightroom's default. All I was trying to say is that it's important to do that to all parameters (or at least the ones whose defaults can be reset), not just sharpening, if you want to make a useful comparison between raw converters.

There's a good comparison of RAW conversions at http://www.nomadlens.com/raw-converters-comparison.

One reason I liked C1 (although I am not upgrading and moving on) is that for landscapes on my Olympus it seemed to approach what I wanted out of the box. Yeah, I could start with different defaults and in LR maybe I could make more use of presets, etc, but it was nice to have something that seemed to be a more acceptable starting point, for me, over a range of images.

But even with a bunch of adjustments YMMV as they say. For example, look at the site above and highlight recovery. He provides actual settings, and it's always subjective, but I like DxO better than the rest. But maybe not with some other chores.

Wow - thanks for all the replies.

Trevor Kloeden, I have tried some of the tutotials / web casts. I have found them very useful. Aparently the Phase One forums are quite good too but I am yet to search them out.

christom, Thanks. you make good points. I hope to try LR6. I must admit though, I do find it quite hard to struggle through with something new when I have something different that works.

The demise of Aperture has made me rethink my strategy for managing photos. I never printed, now I am printing and framing my favourites. Ideally I want to be totally in control now, not locked in. Hopefully I can be in a position where I might run C18 and LR alongside each other or maybe neither - just being able to to switch in out as I need to or as one product offers more of what I need (what ever that may be).

In fairness to LR, I probably would have felt the same about C1 had I tried it first. It was something new. I think when you have tried a few of the same type of programs you get used to the similarities and can adapt better. I suppose LR is like the friend that loosened the raw editor jam jar lid for me.

There are certain tasks where I need to just do a quick selection, batch edit and the odd bit of straightening - this are usually mass participation races. For that type of work, I want to be finished as soon as possible. LR will possibly be better at that as it has something similar to stacks. I will usually double up on a lot of group runner shots to avoid a blink. Stacks massively helps in the cull.

robgendreau - thanks for the link.

I found all the feedback valuable - even if I didn't mention you by name - thanks.

One thing which helped me was setting a keyboard shortcut to allow you to toggle between the grid view and a single image. (LR and Aperture have similar shortcuts)

To do this, I went into the CaptureOne, Edit Keyboard Shortcuts

I chose to use the letter "T" to toggle.







--
P. Guyton

kierenlon said:

Wow - thanks for all the replies.

Trevor Kloeden, I have tried some of the tutotials / web casts. I have found them very useful. Aparently the Phase One forums are quite good too but I am yet to search them out.

Click to expand...

kierenlon said:

christom, Thanks. you make good points. I hope to try LR6. I must admit though, I do find it quite hard to struggle through with something new when I have something different that works.

Click to expand...

Get past that, as comfort and habit can prevent you from realizing that there may be something better and/or new.

kierenlon said:

The demise of Aperture has made me rethink my strategy for managing photos. I never printed, now I am printing and framing my favourites. Ideally I want to be totally in control now, not locked in. Hopefully I can be in a position where I might run C18 and LR alongside each other or maybe neither - just being able to to switch in out as I need to or as one product offers more of what I need (what ever that may be).

In fairness to LR, I probably would have felt the same about C1 had I tried it first. It was something new. I think when you have tried a few of the same type of programs you get used to the similarities and can adapt better. I suppose LR is like the friend that loosened the raw editor jam jar lid for me.

There are certain tasks where I need to just do a quick selection, batch edit and the odd bit of straightening - this are usually mass participation races. For that type of work, I want to be finished as soon as possible. LR will possibly be better at that as it has something similar to stacks. I will usually double up on a lot of group runner shots to avoid a blink. Stacks massively helps in the cull.

robgendreau - thanks for the link.
I found all the feedback valuable - even if I didn't mention you by name - thanks.

Click to expand...

I'm a long time Aperture user. I trialed C1 this summer. Ran the same 900 images through Aperture, C1 and LR.

I shoot Fuji XTrans so Aperture and C1 would have an edge on the initial renders.

I found coming from Aperture that C1 is a fairly easy transition. I looked at several videos (local adjustments are quite different), customized the workspace to what I like and took right to it. Much of the terminology C1 uses in its menus is the same as Aperture.

LR was quite a different animal. Obviously many use it just fine. But my brain just looks at it and is baffled by the placement of its controls.

In the end I stuck with Aperture. The end results I was getting would give the nod to C1 so it remains my default migration path.