Verdict: 4.6 stars Capture One Pro is not cheap. It’s not designed for beginners, and it doesn’t have Adobe’s cloud-based ecosystem – yet. But it’s excellent for tethered shooting, it offers both session-based and catalog-based workflows and its editing tools and output are superb.
Capture One
Capture One is an all-in-one image capture (tethered shooting), cataloguing and editing software from Danish company Phase One. Born out of its medium format studio camera products, Capture One is now a professional RAW conversion tool for DSLR and mirrorless camera owners too. It’s a premium product and its closest rival is probably Adobe Lightroom.
Can you use DxO PureRAW with Capture One? Yes, and here’s how
DxO PureRAW integrates really well with Lightroom. You can send a RAW file to PureRAW from within Lightroom for processing and it’s returned to your catalog ready to use. It will even have any edits you’ve previously applied in Lightroom. Capture One does not offer an equivalent workflow, but there is still a simple way to send raw files to PureRAW and get them returned to your catalog.
The new Capture One AI Remove Dust tool in action: it’s very good!
Sensor dust is an issue with most interchangeable lens cameras, and some more than others. My old Sony A6000 was particularly badly affected, as this landscape image shows. The closer you look at the sky in the top left region, the more spots you see. In fact they are everywhere, all across this image.
The new Capture One AI Select tool and how it works
The Capture One Pro October 2023 update has brought a new AI masking (AI Select) tool to compete with Adobe Lightroom’s own AI masking options. So how does it work, is Capture One’s AI masking as good as Lightroom’s and will it really save you time and effort?
Referenced vs managed files in cataloguing software: what’s the difference?
Well, there’s quite a lot, as it happens, and it affects the way you store, access and organize your photos
Capture One to favor subscriptions in 2023, perpetual licenses downgraded
You can read the full details in Capture One’s official bulletin, though this offers so many alternative scenarios for existing users that they do become a little hard to follow – but perpetual licenses will no longer offer feature updates or even traditional upgrade discounts.
Capture One 23 review
Verdict: 4.8 stars Capture One 23 is a professional Lightroom rival that offers a step up in both image quality and editing tools, and supports a greater variety of professional workflows. The RAW processing is excellent, the editing tools are powerful and the new Cull view, layered Styles and improved Variant handling alone make the upgrade look worth it. Capture One is not cheap, but it’s designed for professional, quality-orientated workflows.
How to use HDR merge in Capture One 22 – and how well does it work?
Capture One 22 brings an HDR merge feature that quickly combines several exposures into a single fully editable DNG file with extended dynamic range. But how well does it work?
Cataloguing software explained
Cataloguing software can organize your entire photo collection, but how does it work and what do you look for?
The best photo editing software for organizing, editing, RAW and effects
Choosing the best image editing software can be complicated. It all depends on what you look for most in your photo editing software. Here are 12 programs with their own distinct strengths.