Capture One Reviews

Pros

Capture One works very well for tethered shooting on photo sets. It is responsive and works smoothly. I appreciate how Capture One renders colors and skin tones of raw files.

Cons

I feel like it's a bit expensive, and wish that I could export my raw edits easily to other applications like Adobe Bridge.

Alternatives Considered

Adobe Lightroom

Reasons for Switching to Capture One

Lightroom is the professional standard for a reason, nothing else worked as smoothly for long days on set or made editing as easy.

Pros

As a Fujifilm Camera System user, it is one of the rare software which allows proper compatibility it lacks Adobe Lightroom to use the Fujifilm Film Simulation, one of the significant reasons to invest in Fujifilm system which can't be achieved unless using JPEG. While editing RAW photos, those essential "Fuji" colors were lacking, but switching to Adobe Lightroom was an instant game changer. Colors were more vibrant, they had that Fujifilm look, and instead of presets, we could use Film Simulations and go from there to our heart content while editing.

Cons

There are too many tabs and they're not quite easy to understand in the development module. Export & Import time is quite long while Fujifilm offers an additional benefit, with Sony it doesn't offer anything special. With Adobe Lightroom being a widely used software, the lack of preset is another major lockdown for Capture One. Unlike Luminar or Adobe, it doesn't use AI for a better and more intuitive look which makes it feel outdated.

Pros

Capture One is a very robust piece of software, to say the least. It drew me in primarily for the tethered shooting capabilities and the applied editing upon import. At the time I was using the paid service for this software, Adobe Lightroom did not have much in terms of competition. Capture One was more advanced.

Cons

While Capture One was more advanced, it has a very steep learning curve. It is well laid out for the most part, but it is a very complicated software to learn. Ultimately for the cost + the time needed to invest in learning how to use it, to justify the expense, I decided to move away from it. Not to say that the software is not good, it was just too expensive to keep using it. I use more Adobe Products and was not willing to pay for both.

Alternatives Considered

Adobe Lightroom

Reasons for Switching to Capture One

I was using both software brands for different things. I simply went back to Lightroom for everything. Also, Adobe has upgraded its tethering features a lot since I left Capture One for tethered shooting.

Pros

One of the key features that stands out in Capture One is its multiple ways of editing colours. There is even a special feature for fine tuning skin colours, but it can be used for all sorts other colour edits. Two other highly useful tools are ability to do edits in layers and use masks for targeted editing. One can build masks from colour selections into separate editing layers with ease. Program is highly customisable to better suit own needs and editing workflow. One small feature that I really really like is an ability write annotations or small notes into photos/files. These are priceless when there are several weeks in between edits, I mean it is easier to remember where the edit was left and what was planned do for it, if there are some instructions written in photo etc. and those notes/annotations do not show in final exported version of the photo. Ability to duplicate files and copy/paste settings to multiple files are also great feature.

Cons

Camera specific ICC profiles (i.e Portrait, Landscape etc.) are missing for Sony ARW RAW files in Capture One Pro 20, instead there is only a generic camera profile for a camera say for A7RIII. For Nikon NEF RAW files such camera specific ICC profiles are there and they are many times much easier & convenient starting point for edits. Maybe version 21 of C1 Pro have fixed this and problem might be at the Sony end of things. Another annoying thing is very limited amount supported lenses for lens profiles. Here however latest Sony GM glass is well supported. Software is quite expensive and one has to purchase styles separately (and they are expensive as well) if that is something you might consider as important. There are some basic styles included, but not very many.

Alternatives Considered

Adobe Lightroom

Reasons for Choosing Capture One

I still have Lightroom, but rarely use it as a desktop app (I use mobile app from time to time). The way one can do quite complex non-destructive edits in C1 using layers is just much more flexible workflow than what used to be in LR. I also like colours and quality of files that I can get out from CaptureOne better compared LR. However, I must admit that roundtrips to Photoshop are easier to do with LR. Plus one is not forced into subscription model with C1 (but must say that upgrades are rather expensive with Capture One versions as well).

Switched From

Adobe Lightroom

Reasons for Switching to Capture One

After trying C1 out I just liked end results, features, controls and workflow better.

Pros

I could get better colors for my RAWs by default. I could restore the shadows from night images. Also, the interface it's more intelligent organized than other software.

Cons

Managing the library with tags is very basic. I would like to have better copy/paste options like other competing software.

Alternatives Considered

Adobe Lightroom

Reasons for Choosing Capture One

Quality of the revealed image of the RAWs and price.

Switched From

Adobe Lightroom

Reasons for Switching to Capture One

Price structure and quality of the processing.

Pros

The interface is very simple, minimalist. It has more advanced functions than competing software, even integrates functions of several of these software

Cons

You still need to incorporate some functions of other photography software, and as for the default developer settings, it is still in diapers

Pros

This software provides most features you will need for photo editing. If you are using Sony or Fujifilm camera, you can even download capture one express, which is free!

Cons

The required catalog file is pretty large and occupies some space. Also, unlike Lightroom, Capture One doesn't have Photoshop, so it might be harder to collaborate with Photoshop.

Pros

- the processing speed is very good
- the color profiles are better than other softwares,( like Lightroom )
- the tethered shoot function is a very good feature for studio photography
- the before and after function is very cool

Cons

- a bitt expensive
- some functions are hard to understand how to use them
- AI Subject separation is still not well developed

Pros

Capture One can handle a large volume of images in one session and qucikly loads previews when launching the program. Has a feature to colour tag images to highlight favourite shots or can star imagery to highlight.

Cons

Imagery cache can build up resulting in program getting slow. Manaul deletion of cache is require to resolve issue.

Pros

I've been using and training photo professionals on Capture One software since its beginning, and there's no better image capture and processing software in the market today or in the past for that matter.

Cons

None that I can think of, Capture One continues to keep up with all the latest professional camera files formats and computer OS upgrades.

Pros

Workflow management using sessions makes the process of editing easy to manage. The editing tools are incredibly powerful and with practice become easy and quick to use.

Cons

The iPad and iPhone versions of the software are promising but need further development.

Pros

Capture one remains the best solution for analyzing, developing and working with .raw files, as well as for studio photography in connected mode. The software is powerful, easy to use, once you have its logic and terribly customizable, which allows it to adapt to any user configuration.

Cons

Perhaps the most disturbing point is the force of habit. Like any new software, we have to get used to the UX/UI couple. Once this small effort is made, the software fully deploys all its quality and efficiency.

Alternatives Considered

Adobe Lightroom

Pros

I most like about this is film grain and grain tool and latest update for iPad support.

Cons

I least like about is pricing is little more than another app .

Pros

the way the app see the colours, the way the app its organized its incredible, the multiples options the program gives me to do what i need to, its really fast to work with it and i really love the app because i can reach colours i can't reach with other apps

Cons

actually, only the price sometimes makes me sad, but its not the worst, because the app has its value

Pros

You can add searchable keywords, tags or ratings to images, which makes organising and looking for images very fast and easy. Capture One offers a broad range of tools, manual as well as automatic ones, to adjust color gradients, correct potential lens defects and fix exposure issues. The interface is highly customizable, which is particularly practical for beginners. You also get a choice of either an ongoing subscription to the software or a perpetual license, which many other programs do not offer.

Cons

Capture One only offers limited support for older, lower-end and less popular cameras. The level of performance regarding image previews and final versions is also lower than that of similar softwares.

Pros

the color science, The ability to stack layers and build effects, the icc profile etc.

Cons

It lacks camera calibration sliders like Lightroom does have.

Pros

Color correctionNoise correctionIncredibly fastDark and brightest areas correctionEfficiency Librarys and sesions

Cons

The price is higher than Photoshop+Lightroom, but, believe me, it is worth it to use Capture One and Photoshop!Is not very intuitive at first use, but Capture One has many tutorials to leave Lr and start using this fantastic tool.Believe me: you won't regret the change.

Pros

As a user, I like the speed and stability of this program. I had no problem with slow loading of thumbnails, even with thousands of files. During the time I have been using this program, it has never stopped working unnoticed.

Cons

The program does not support hdr stacking and panoramas (yet).
There's lack of plug-ins at current time, and only few export options (jpg, tiff, png).

Pros

My camera is Fuji, and C1 is specially good for Fuji camera's. I also like layers. Think of best mix of PhotoShop and LightRoom.

Cons

Anamorphic pictures can only squeze up to 25%. Why limit that feature in the first place? WebP output would be nice. Specially with Google taking speed as ranking factor.

Pros

Love this software! As a hobby photographer I am now able to organize and consolidate all my photos in one place. I love that I am also able to easily use it with both my Nikon and Canon cameras.

Cons

The annual plan is a bit expensive and limits the number of users on each plan so if you’re running a business this might be something to evaluate to see if it’s cost worthy.

Pros

The setting seem pre-tailored to my lens and helped me drastically improve the quality of my images . The folder organization within the program is neat and you can easily maneuver and drastically reduce the time you spend on non-essential tasks .
It is very sensitive to the different needs of different camera types and supports all of them ( at least all of the ones I have tried ) .

Cons

There was definitely a learning curve to overcome at the beginning . The price can also be discouraging for small businesses. But after a while you find it was well worth it .

Pros

The raw processing is excellent, and there’s so much it allows me to do. It’s the core of my image management as well as basic editing.

Cons

It would be nice to not have to go into Photoshop, but that’s a different tool. Capture One does what it does very well.

Pros

One of the best features I liked about Capture one is their sophisticated user interface. Even though it is sophisticated user interface is very user friendly too. And another one is Tethered capture where it gives users the ability to shoot photos directly to their computers.

Cons

I wish there is a free tier where there are less features so the beginners who starting their career will be able to use this without worrying about the finance.

Pros

There are lots of functions and the user interface is very friendly and gives the ability to modify user interface.

Cons

The plans are a bit expensive. The documentation is not well organized.

Pros

I used the software for one service, for a photo shoot. I really liked the customizations. It reminded me a lot of lightroom, the image batch issue was also improved in the last versions, I saw some old complaints about it. I even received a discount after free to purchase the software. I didn't find it a very complex tool, but for beginners it can be a little tricky. It has some important information and well-tuned shortcuts to rotate the angle and everything. The texture adjustment is sensational. Customizing the workspace has streamlined my work.

Cons

The price is something average. Although I don't find it that hard to work with, I believe it needs more tutorials. I saw that the version you can buy by device something like for Sony