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Capture One Pro – (bad) impressions?


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14 hours ago, Sally R said:

 

Thanks very much John. I think I will give PT lens a go, just while I am still playing with Capture One Express. It is the one issue I cannot correct at the moment in CO Express, so I think this will be a quick fix for this while I contemplate whether I go down the LR/PS route. I took quite a number of building images in the city with my RX100 the other day, and as expected when close to tall buildings in a city environment, they have major perspective distortion. I uploaded a couple to Alamy yesterday where I thought the distortion wasn't so bad, but most will need correction. I'm pretty happy with the little Sony so far.

 

I used PT lens some time ago. Just be warned that when you have used PT lens it leaves a bit of a weird edge (only a few pixels) on the image which needs to be cropped back to get rid of it before submitting to Alamy.

 

How do I know?  Alamy failed one of my images after using PT lens.

 

Allan

 

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15 hours ago, Sally R said:

Thanks so much for this feedback Mark. Your problem with the Canon G15 profiles sounds exactly like what I am experiencing. I would also be very unhappy with no CA correction. By comparison, Capture One handled CA perfectly, and also rendered the RAW files noticeably better. I might keep playing with Capture One Express a bit longer, but PS/LR may be the best option for me overall, especially as there seems to be some issues with keystone correction in CO, and I really want to be able to do these corrections.

When LR added the perspective correction I thought it the most brilliant improvement of them all.

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36 minutes ago, Allan Bell said:

 

I used PT lens some time ago. Just be warned that when you have used PT lens it leaves a bit of a weird edge (only a few pixels) on the image which needs to be cropped back to get rid of it before submitting to Alamy.

 

How do I know?  Alamy failed one of my images after using PT lens.

 

Allan

 

 

You must have been using it to correct chromatic aberration. I wouldn't recommend the program for that, especially if a lot of adjustment is needed. Fortunately, most RAW conversion software now has automatic CR correction.

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I did the math and found that I'd spend on upgrades to Photoshop and Lightroom what I'd spend on an annual subscription (slight discount over  monthly).  I think that Lightroom Classic and Photoshop are just head and shoulders over the rest.  DXO and DXO Viewpoint are useful to have for edge situations.  I didn't buy the  DXO film simulations.   I use the Adobe Cloud for phone and iPad photos that I'm going to post to social media and want to see on a larger screen before posting, and programs for Android and iPhones and iPads come free with the subscription.  

 

I also bought the Nix Collection 3, but don't find myself using it. 

 

I use LensTagger for adding metadata about manual non-electronic lenses to the files.  I could guess which lenses took what, but this makes searching for Nikkor 105mm and Yashinon 50mm photos painless.   Best advice is to have text files for any lenses and copy and paste as needed.  I don't record what f/stop I used, but noting that down could be done, or could be done by recording a voice message about what f stop was used, then typing it in the program.   LensTagger works as a plugin for Lightroom. 

 

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On 08/09/2020 at 01:53, Sally R said:

 

I think you are right Michael. The Adobe package may in fact be the only option that really meets all my needs and does the best job overall. On1 do say that their product is a pixel editor, which I read in regard to their 2019 version https://www.on1.com/blog/on1-photo-raw-2019-an-all-new-photo-editing-experience-now-available/  However, given the frustrations I'm having with what seems to be inadequate profiles for my little Sony RX100, I'm thinking On1 is not going to be so good after all. I may have to just accept paying the ongoing Adobe subscription.

 

I'm very impressed with the Raw rendering in Capture One (Express for Sony), but I think overall Adobe may be the best way to go, and obviously CO for Sony can't handle my Nikon files.

 

Thanks so much for all the above advice. I really appreciate the knowledge and experience on this forum.


Don’t mention it Sally. I would advise anyone who is serious about photography to subscribe to the Adobe package but I am  aware that a lot of people are adverse to subscriptions. For what you get, it is incredible value and there is no messing about as long as your computer has the right specs to run it. I would go further than MizBrown and say that Lightroom on its own is head, shoulders and a bit more above the rest but when you throw in Photoshop, it’s head, shoulders and knees at least above the competition . Still it is good to see competition as it keeps Adobe on its toes. 😀

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14 minutes ago, Sally R said:

 

P.S. Sorry I just called you Mark instead of Michael! i think my brain has gone to mush reading about raw editors. My apologies!

 

No worries Sarah. My brain is mush too. 

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7 hours ago, MDM said:


Don’t mention it Sally. I would advise anyone who is serious about photography to subscribe to the Adobe package 

That is a big statement, what level of seriousness in your experience do you recommend?

I don't use Adobe, I now feel inadequate in that I am not serious enough about my photography.

 

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57 minutes ago, Martin L said:

That is a big statement, what level of seriousness in your experience do you recommend?

I don't use Adobe, I now feel inadequate in that I am not serious enough about my photography.

 

 

It is my opinion (as in I would advise) so not intended to make anyone feel inadequate. It is my opinion that having a strong grasp of post-processing is a vital skill for the modern photographer and I believe that Photoshop and Lightroom are indispensable in that regard. There are numerous other image editing programs, raw converters and DAMs but none with the level of features in Photoshop and Lightroom as well as the overall integration which in my opinion allows for a highly efficient workflow. There is no other equivalent set of programs and the subscription price is an absolute bargain. Again I stress the I would advise bit and my statement was not intended to make anyone who does not use these programs inadequate. 

 

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1 hour ago, MDM said:

 

It is my opinion (as in I would advise) so not intended to make anyone feel inadequate. It is my opinion that having a strong grasp of post-processing is a vital skill for the modern photographer and I believe that Photoshop and Lightroom are indispensable in that regard. There are numerous other image editing programs, raw converters and DAMs but none with the level of features in Photoshop and Lightroom as well as the overall integration which in my opinion allows for a highly efficient workflow. There is no other equivalent set of programs and the subscription price is an absolute bargain. Again I stress the I would advise bit and my statement was not intended to make anyone who does not use these programs inadequate. 

 

+1

 

I've often posted my dislike of Adobe's subscription scheme. I wish after a miminum period of subscription (for example 2 years) it was possible to withdraw from the subscription model and retain use of the current version at that time. The need to keep paying  a subscription has prompted me to keep investigating/testing the available alternatives in an attempt to escape from the subscription model. But it's a testament to the quality of the results that Adobe LR and PS provide that I remain happily paying my subscription. It's professional software that works and has done for years. Sure Adobe have had the odd problem, but what software hasn't? At least Adobe fix the problems. I've reported various serious bugs in other packages, but when a new version comes out (usually a paid upgrade) I download a trial and the bugs are still there as they've clearly prioritised adding new feature before fixing existing ones. There's a reason why PS has been an industry standard for years - it works. There's also masses of online videos and help out there from very knowledgeable experts, which can be a great help.

 

Mark

 

 

Edited by M.Chapman
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1 hour ago, M.Chapman said:

+1

 

I've often posted my dislike of Adobe's subscription scheme. I wish after a miminum period of subscription (for example 2 years) it was possible to withdraw from the subscription model and retain use of the current version at that time. The need to keep paying  a subscription has prompted me to keep investigating/testing the available alternatives in an attempt to escape from the subscription model. But it's a testament to the quality of the results that Adobe LR and PS provide that I remain happily paying my subscription. It's professional software that works and has done for years. Sure Adobe have had the odd problem, but what software hasn't? At least Adobe fix the problems. I've reported various serious bugs in other packages, but when a new version comes out (usually a paid upgrade) I download a trial and the bugs are still there as they've clearly prioritised adding new feature before fixing existing ones. There's a reason why PS has been an industry standard for years - it works. There's also masses of online videos and help out there from very knowledgeable experts, which can be a great help.

 

Mark

 

 

When I started doing video not so long ago, I wondered for 2 seconds or so about upgrading my Photography package but it is incredibly expensive (close to £50/month as against £10 for the Photography plan). Now I am very serious about videography but £50/month when I am not making anything out if it (yet). No way. So I bought Final Cut Pro X by Apple which cost £299 as a one off with free updates. It has the benefit of working very well on Macs. Apple have been really moving recently to take on Adobe and the other major video software vendors (Avid, DaVinci) with this. Which would I rather? Well the one off of course although I was spending about the same on upgrading Photoshop and Lightroom as I do now on the subscription. 

 

In fact it is a shame that Apple stopped producing Aperture as it was a very good raw converter although it was only that (no Photoshop, no database). I think it would take a company the size of Apple to take on Adobe but Apple have an advantage in that Final Cut Pro is Mac only, so they are tying users in that way as well, whereas Adobe are software only and have to keep on getting people to pay for their products. That is no doubt why they introduced subscription, as Photoshop in particular has plateaued out now in terms of features for years and people were not upgrading. But as long as they keep on producing excellent software, I am not complaining about £10/month.

 

 

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On 26/10/2018 at 10:30, MDM said:

I have no experience of Capture One Pro but I see you are using MacOs 10.14 which is very new and is probably not the best way to test out and assess software. An alternative way to do this would be to install an older version of MacOS on a fast external drive (Thunderbolt or SSD) and use that for testing. Capture One seems very expensive for what it is - I don't think I will be going that route in the near future myself. 

 

 

EDIT: quoted a post from two years ago!

Edited by Cal
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2 hours ago, M.Chapman said:

I wish after a miminum period of subscription (for example 2 years) it was possible to withdraw from the subscription model and retain use of the current version at that time.

I haven't seen that model suggested before, not that different from a one-off payment I suppose given that upgrades didn't used to go on for that long. You also cite the need to carry on using the version that you're on and for me that is far and away the most important factor but many discussions around the subscription model centre on the cost which for me is missing the point. I wonder whether Lightroom Classic is in decline, especially given the phone and social media friendly Lightroom CC (or whatever they call it) but anyone who has devoted a great deal of time to creating catalogues, collections, captions, keywords etc. just has to continue paying the subscription or see all their work set in Aspic.

 

Anyway, not the first time I've made that point, back to watching the tennis.

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4 minutes ago, Cal said:

 

"EDIT: quoted a post from two years ago!"

 

??? No comprendo. I must be having one of my stupid nights. The ole Covid-19 is acting up again and the brain is mush. 

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1 hour ago, Harry Harrison said:

I haven't seen that model suggested before, not that different from a one-off payment I suppose given that upgrades didn't used to go on for that long. You also cite the need to carry on using the version that you're on and for me that is far and away the most important factor but many discussions around the subscription model centre on the cost which for me is missing the point. I wonder whether Lightroom Classic is in decline, especially given the phone and social media friendly Lightroom CC (or whatever they call it) but anyone who has devoted a great deal of time to creating catalogues, collections, captions, keywords etc. just has to continue paying the subscription or see all their work set in Aspic.

 

Anyway, not the first time I've made that point, back to watching the tennis.

 

Maybe I have misunderstood but I think if you end your subscription you only lose the Develop module. So you can continue using the Library module with the catalog, keywords, etc. You have to do your developing elsewhere but can still import those images into the Library. No?

 

Paulette

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6 minutes ago, NYCat said:

 

Maybe I have misunderstood but I think if you end your subscription you only lose the Develop module. So you can continue using the Library module with the catalog, keywords, etc. You have to do your developing elsewhere but can still import those images into the Library. No?

 

Paulette

You are correct Paulette. The following is from the Adobe website in relation to what happens if you cancel the Photography Plan.

 

You continue to have access to all your photos on your local hard drive through Lightroom for the desktop. You can continue to import and organize photos and output your edited photos through Export, Publish, Print, Web, or Slideshow. Access to the Develop & Map modules and Lightroom for mobile is not available after your membership ends.

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9 minutes ago, NYCat said:

Maybe I have misunderstood but I think if you end your subscription you only lose the Develop module. So you can continue using the Library module with the catalog, keywords, etc. You have to do your developing elsewhere but can still import those images into the Library. No?

Thanks, but that wouldn't work for me, not being able to rework your existing images would make it useless. 

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23 minutes ago, Harry Harrison said:

Thanks, but that wouldn't work for me, not being able to rework your existing images would make it useless. 

 

Nor me but it should dispel the fear/misconception that all the cataloging would be effectively useless. Recall a lot of people think the images are held in the catalog as well. The killer for me would be losing Photoshop. I could live without Lightroom if I had to and use ACR or even something else but life without Photoshop ................

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Those on a Mac who liked Aperture may want to keep an eye on RawPower by Gentlemen coders. It's a work in progress, but it uses Apple's Raw conversion engine and the lead guy was on Apple's Aperture software develeopent team. It's fast, silky smooth, but is still missing a few key features. Unfortunately recent updates seem to have focused on improving links into Apple Photos library, which is a shame (unless you like Apple photos app).

 

Mark

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On 08/09/2020 at 17:23, John Mitchell said:

 

You must have been using it to correct chromatic aberration. I wouldn't recommend the program for that, especially if a lot of adjustment is needed. Fortunately, most RAW conversion software now has automatic CR correction.

 

Correct.

 

Allan

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4 hours ago, M.Chapman said:

Those on a Mac who liked Aperture may want to keep an eye on RawPower by Gentlemen coders. It's a work in progress, but it uses Apple's Raw conversion engine and the lead guy was on Apple's Aperture software develeopent team. It's fast, silky smooth, but is still missing a few key features. Unfortunately recent updates seem to have focused on improving links into Apple Photos library, which is a shame (unless you like Apple photos app).

 

Mark

 

I get the feeling looking at the website it might be a one man band running this one. The blog is all in the first person "In the past, I have released large feature updates about once a year, somewhat in line with Apple’s OS updates. This year, I fell far behind that schedule. I had a lot of improvements (like the UI changes) done almost a year ago, but there were too many essential features unfinished."

 

No doubt the guy is a a genius and the whole project very interesting as we see the ongoing integration of iOS and MacOS (apparently iOS apps will soon work on Macs). However, I wonder if it is feasible for it to become a usable professional tool, especially if it is just one guy running the show. At the moment it looks very much like beta software (he is asking users to provide bug reports) so more a fun thing to try out than something to rely on for actual work. Certainly not something I would spend money on. 

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14 hours ago, MDM said:

 

??? No comprendo. I must be having one of my stupid nights. The ole Covid-19 is acting up again and the brain is mush. 

 

sorry. I quoted you in the post and after I'd replied I realised I was saying something to a 2 year old post, so not only was it pointless but what I'd said didn't really apply (about the Mac OS version). I couldn't see a way to delete the post entirely so I just rubbed it out and wrote my edit reason.

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15 hours ago, MDM said:

bought Final Cut Pro X by Apple which cost £299

I hate to mention it to you now but it might help someone else.

The free version of Lightworks is fully functional except for a render limit of 720p. If you ever need to render in HD, you can simply subscribe for a month and then cancel, but 720p is quite adequate for a big telly.

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46 minutes ago, Cal said:

 

sorry. I quoted you in the post and after I'd replied I realised I was saying something to a 2 year old post, so not only was it pointless but what I'd said didn't really apply (about the Mac OS version). I couldn't see a way to delete the post entirely so I just rubbed it out and wrote my edit reason.

 No worries.

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