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Software: Phase One
In my experience, image software can do one of two things; it can speed up your workflow or it can slow it down. When you find software that speeds up your image editing then it becomes a godsend that you cannot live without. When it slows you down it becomes a major source of stress to the point where you become tempted to throw your computer out the window. Fortunately Phase One’s Capture One Pro Software is the former rather then the later.
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As a working professional I’m shooting RAW files about 99% of the time. For those who don’t know a whole lot about digital photography, a RAW file is like a digital negative. A JPG produced in-camera has had white balance, sharpening and several other forms of processing applied. A RAW file on the other hand is just that, a “Raw” monochrome file without matrix encoding applied and also without a linear tone correction curve. The downside to this however is that in order for a computer to read the RAW files there is usually a lengthy processing procedure involved.
This is where Capture One comes in and I can honestly tell you that it is one of the best pieces of software I have ever owned. This is obviously a piece of software that was designed by photographers to be used by photographers. Every image processing element that I could need is here and easily accessible. Setting up batch processes for large groups of images is a breeze and saves me a huge amount of time when working on large sets.
If any of you out there have ever used RAW processing software from other manufacturers (Canon, Nikon, Adobe, etc.) you can’t help but to have noticed that whenever you make any adjustments to your image the program has to re-process the file, and this not only takes time but is frustrating. A unique quality to the Capture One software is the fact that it uses a relatively small file that it uses simply for display purposes, performing all adjustments on it in real time. When you are done making adjustments and wish to convert the RAW file into a TIFF or JPG, Capture One will apply your changes to the main file. If you ask me this is an ingenious solution to a problem that most software developers are even willing to address, making this one of Capture One’s major selling points for me.
Color management with Capture One is handled remarkably well. Provided I’m working on a computer with a properly calibrated monitor, colors and tones come out of the printer exactly how I see them on the screen. Considering how many of my photographs have a heavy amount of varying skin tones this is an absolutely essential feature for me and I can’t settle for anything less then the best in this area. Capture One is incredibly savvy in this area and the custom profile feature is much appreciated.
Are there any downsides to Capture One? The simple answer to that question is just one. The software has a hard time running multiple tasks after about two or three hours without crashing. On the plus side, it always picks right back up where it left off when I restart the computer but it does get annoying and frustrating after awhile. I’m hoping this is a problem that Phase One will correct shortly. However, it still holds true that the developers at Phase One really seem to know there stuff and have produced a program with the working professional in mind. Quite frankly, it’s about time someone got it right.
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| Adobe vs Capture one?
Why would you need Caputre one if adobe does everything?
Posted at 14th Jun 2008 16:55 – mike |
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| RAW decode and workflow.
Hi Petter,
When I first came across your beautiful and natural images, I was stunned. I truly felt to be in the presence of beauty, rather than simply looking at an image. Your images are a gift to the world of photography.
I've been trawling through your "Gear" section and would love to ask if you have tried Apple's Aperture or Adobe Lightroom for your RAW workflow versus Capture One? I understand that your files must be enormous working with the P45 and I'd be interested to know if you have found Aperture / Lightroom up to the task. With Aperture, you get non-destructive workflow so your RAW is never altered and using versions you can manipulate the image as you wish with no cost in disk space. I understand that Lightroom works in a similar way though haven't used it since beta.
Many thanks for your beautiful work,
Kind regards,
Rufus Duffin
Posted at 11th Dec 2007 1:20 – Rufus Duffin |
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| Raw-Converter
Hallo Petter,
thanks for your faboulus Art, its unique!!
My comment about DNG: Capture one is great, but also Canon`s "DPP" Raw/Firmware goes the simular way since about a year, the Nikon Capture NX also goes in that way.
Nevertheless, You`re right, also for me is no alternative to the Raw-Format!
Sincerely
Peter
Posted at 27th Aug 2007 4:47 – Peter Buchner |
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