We Need An Adobe Lightroom True Competitor Locked

koweb wrote:

To answer your first question "who has the balls to come out with a much better RAW converter that truly competes with LR"? Phase One does, and they came out with Capture One years ago.

Small addition: Capture One was spun off and these days (since 2020) is its own business entity. As you rightly say, its origins are with Phase One.

You've asked about workflows and I know there are differences in the workflows, but C1 actually has some advantages with workflows compared to LR (sessions are great), but also disadvantages (LR has more powerful cataloguing and indexing features). If you have experimented with C1, are the workflow differences a deterrent to your work? (I understand how they may be for some, but I don't know your specific situation)

For anyone who might consider C1 but is intimidated by learning an entirely new GUI, I'd like to add there are various resources for easing a potential transition. From importing LR catalogues, to a workspace preset that is specifically designed to resemble LR (Window > Workspace > Migration), and several support articles trying to assist in the transition.

As to the stated concerns you have working with RAFs in LR around color tones, sharpness and details? C1 is far superior to LR, in my hands at least. In many cases, C1 gets results that I don't know how to get from LR and I've used LR for 7+ years and C1 for ~2 years.

Have you tried Capture One? If not, I encourage you to download a trial version. If so, please report back on what you feel is missing.

I've not used Lightroom in several years, so I will withhold judgement of its capabilities today. But my experience certainly aligns with yours; I've been very happy with it since I migrated six years (I think) ago. And yes, sessions are great.

The overwhelming majority of photographers will find a workflow and output with one of the two mainstream RAW converters - images shared/published speak for themselves - so, in my humble opinion, dissatisfaction with both of them (especially when used in conjunction with add-ins and third party software) is likely a workflow issue or getting caught in pixel-peeping minutiae that make little actual difference in output.