John Mitchell Posted December 12, 2023 Share Posted December 12, 2023 (edited) I received an email today announcing that Capture One Express will be discontinued on Jan. 30, 2024. Article here. I've been using C1 Express for Sony for quite some time, so this is a bit of a letdown, although not unexpected. There's no free lunch, as the saying goes. I found this bit of information (see below) somewhat disconcerting. Has anyone figured out what it means exactly? I'm assuming that it refers just to edited versions inside the C1 Express catalogue, not my RAW files in general. Very confusing. 😕 "Your RAW files and edits will still be available until the above-mentioned date – after this time you’ll no longer have access." Edited December 12, 2023 by John Mitchell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReeRay Posted December 12, 2023 Share Posted December 12, 2023 Quote - "Capture One explains that users will no longer be able to access Express from the Capture One website or activate an existing Express key" That would seem to indicate that you will not be able to get to your Raw files. If this is so, maybe you should retrieve and store them elsewhere. Just my thinking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted December 12, 2023 Author Share Posted December 12, 2023 29 minutes ago, ReeRay said: Quote - "Capture One explains that users will no longer be able to access Express from the Capture One website or activate an existing Express key" That would seem to indicate that you will not be able to get to your Raw files. If this is so, maybe you should retrieve and store them elsewhere. Just my thinking Thanks for your thoughts. I can't believe that this would be the case, though. Surely, it will be possible to access and open my RAW files with other image-processing software after C1 Express is shut down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReeRay Posted December 12, 2023 Share Posted December 12, 2023 59 minutes ago, John Mitchell said: Thanks for your thoughts. I can't believe that this would be the case, though. Surely, it will be possible to access and open my RAW files with other image-processing software after C1 Express is shut down. Not if you can't get at them ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted December 12, 2023 Author Share Posted December 12, 2023 (edited) 47 minutes ago, ReeRay said: Not if you can't get at them ! The RAW files are still on my hard drives, so I don't see why I wouldn't be able to access them after C1 Express expires in January. I'm assuming that they are just referring to the image catalogue within C1 Express -- i.e. it will no longer be accessible -- but it's not clear. Edited December 12, 2023 by John Mitchell 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Harrison Posted December 12, 2023 Share Posted December 12, 2023 Some information on Petapixel now: https://petapixel.com/2023/12/12/capture-one-express-is-being-discontinued/ Amazingly it seems that they will actually disable your (our) copy of Capture One Express entirely and that anyone who isn't happy with that is free to contact their legal team. Pretty high-handed to say the least. I haven't launched mine for ages in fact but it certainly doesn't endear me to them as a company. There is a support document to tell you how best to prepare for that fateful day: https://support.captureone.com/hc/en-us/articles/11019291187997 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin L Posted December 12, 2023 Share Posted December 12, 2023 (edited) John Only edits will be stored in the catalog/database so you won't be able to see those anymore or change them but as you say you will still have access to the raw files as they are still on your hard drive just not to any previous edits However I'm betting it won't be long before somebody writes a free conversion tool to turn that catalog (simple database probably) into something that can be used somewhere else. Maybe not exactly the same but pretty close as they are probably equivalent instructions to what you find in an XMP file. Edit: Harry got there first Edited December 12, 2023 by Martin L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted December 13, 2023 Author Share Posted December 13, 2023 4 hours ago, Harry Harrison said: Some information on Petapixel now: https://petapixel.com/2023/12/12/capture-one-express-is-being-discontinued/ Amazingly it seems that they will actually disable your (our) copy of Capture One Express entirely and that anyone who isn't happy with that is free to contact their legal team. Pretty high-handed to say the least. I haven't launched mine for ages in fact but it certainly doesn't endear me to them as a company. There is a support document to tell you how best to prepare for that fateful day: https://support.captureone.com/hc/en-us/articles/11019291187997 Thanks. I had a quick look at the article. Shall have to see if I can figure out what to do in order to prepare for the inevitable. Agreed, it is a heavy-handed move on the part of C1. However, my guess is that they have realized that most Express users are like me and have no intention of upgrading to the expensive "Pro" version. Too bad C1 won't be leaving the existing Sony and Fuji Express software fully functional. That would have been a nice gesture. I also have Affinity Photo, which has a decent RAW converter, so I'm going to start using it instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted December 13, 2023 Author Share Posted December 13, 2023 4 hours ago, Martin L said: John Only edits will be stored in the catalog/database so you won't be able to see those anymore or change them but as you say you will still have access to the raw files as they are still on your hard drive just not to any previous edits However I'm betting it won't be long before somebody writes a free conversion tool to turn that catalog (simple database probably) into something that can be used somewhere else. Maybe not exactly the same but pretty close as they are probably equivalent instructions to what you find in an XMP file. Edit: Harry got there first That's what I'm assuming. I don't care if I lose the edits, but I wouldn't want to mysteriously lose access to original RAW files on my drives. Stranger things have happened in the brave new digital world. 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReeRay Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 11 hours ago, John Mitchell said: The RAW files are still on my hard drives, so I don't see why I wouldn't be able to access them after C1 Express expires in January. I'm assuming that they are just referring to the image catalogue within C1 Express -- i.e. it will no longer be accessible -- but it's not clear. Good - no problems with re-using them elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDoug Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 (edited) FWIW, they're offering that you can buy a license at "40% off". https://www.captureone.com/en/campaign/express-discount Edited December 13, 2023 by DDoug clarity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Harrison Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 9 hours ago, John Mitchell said: Too bad C1 won't be leaving the existing Sony and Fuji Express software fully functional. I can't imagine why they think it's even a good commercial decision to do this. Presumably those still using it regularly, as you are, might well consider upgrading with the 40% discount without the threat of imminent lock-out, indeed their attitude would tend to dissuade me from doing so. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca Ore Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 19 hours ago, ReeRay said: Not if you can't get at them ! Was there a web-based version of Capture One Express? If images are on their servers, better download them to your own hard drive. I don't remember using Capture One Express for Sony with storage in the "cloud." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted December 13, 2023 Author Share Posted December 13, 2023 2 hours ago, Rebecca Ore said: Was there a web-based version of Capture One Express? If images are on their servers, better download them to your own hard drive. I don't remember using Capture One Express for Sony with storage in the "cloud." Interesting thought. However, the "cloud" is a complete mystery to me. I wouldn't know where to begin. As long as some cyber-ghost doesn't fly off with my RAW files, I'm happy.👻 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted December 13, 2023 Author Share Posted December 13, 2023 8 hours ago, DDoug said: FWIW, they're offering that you can buy a license at "40% off". https://www.captureone.com/en/campaign/express-discount Not tempted at the moment. There will probably be even more off come January. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca Ore Posted December 14, 2023 Share Posted December 14, 2023 20 hours ago, John Mitchell said: Interesting thought. However, the "cloud" is a complete mystery to me. I wouldn't know where to begin. As long as some cyber-ghost doesn't fly off with my RAW files, I'm happy.👻 I removed Capture One from my system and nothing appeared to go missing. Adobe is also doing some jiggery pokery with its cloud storage, but the only things I had on that were cell phone and iPad photos for social media posting. They're trying to encourage collective working systems. Really both are reminders that if you use other people's hardware, you're living with other people's business decisions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilkopix Posted December 14, 2023 Share Posted December 14, 2023 They'll lose photographers to Adobe .. the Creative Cloud photography plan is still really good value. It's more comprehensive and cheaper than the Capture One offering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted December 15, 2023 Author Share Posted December 15, 2023 On 14/12/2023 at 09:33, wilkopix said: They'll lose photographers to Adobe .. the Creative Cloud photography plan is still really good value. It's more comprehensive and cheaper than the Capture One offering. You're probably right about that. Capture One Pro has become too expensive. I bought Affinity Photo several years ago for a song (50% off), and it has a nice, easy to use RAW developer that integrates well with the rest of the program. Affinity is not as fancy as LR and PS, but it's very good software. There's no catalogue, but this doesn't bother me as I'm not a "volume shooter" (especially these days). However, you can easily add keywords and captions to images, which is useful. I'd recommend Affinity Photo to anyone looking for an inexpensive alternative to subscriptions and Adobe. No, I don't work for the company...🙃 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilkopix Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 On 15/12/2023 at 21:04, John Mitchell said: You're probably right about that. Capture One Pro has become too expensive. I bought Affinity Photo several years ago for a song (50% off), and it has a nice, easy to use RAW developer that integrates well with the rest of the program. Affinity is not as fancy as LR and PS, but it's very good software. There's no catalogue, but this doesn't bother me as I'm not a "volume shooter" (especially these days). However, you can easily add keywords and captions to images, which is useful. I'd recommend Affinity Photo to anyone looking for an inexpensive alternative to subscriptions and Adobe. No, I don't work for the company...🙃 Agreed .. Affinity Photo is very good and great value especially compared to Capture One. The Adobe Photo creative cloud (or whatever they call it) is also good value at about £10 per month (less if VAT registered) with Photoshop & Lightroom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 21 minutes ago, wilkopix said: Agreed .. Affinity Photo is very good and great value especially compared to Capture One. The Adobe Photo creative cloud (or whatever they call it) is also good value at about £10 per month (less if VAT registered) with Photoshop & Lightroom. That's about $17 CAN per month, which is more than I would want to pay. I believe that I paid only around $30 CAN for Affinity Photo after the discount. Given how little photography I'm doing these days, Affinity should fill the bill for the time being. I've thought about upgrading to the recently released version 2 of Affinity, but I don't see much in the way of new features that I'd actually use. Also, I'm still trying to figure out the basics of version 1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted January 14 Author Share Posted January 14 (edited) Part of the reason Capture One Express for Sony might have been discontinued is because Sony's own free RAW processing software Imaging Edge seems just as good. I downloaded the latest version and quite like it. There is everything you need for basic RAW processing and the interface is user-friendly. I've processed some images and am pleased with the results so far. Edited January 14 by John Mitchell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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