RAW Processors

I've just started testing out Capture One for processing my RAW files. I used it several years ago but frankly didn't think it was significantly better than ACR for my show formals and, at the time, it didn't integrate well with PhotoShop where I do my final editing. So, I've been sticking with ACR.

The current version of Capture One seems to have a lot more features and also seems to do a very good job of processing my more complicated files: nature and wildlife as well as landscapes. My question is really kinda simple: what RAW processor do you use and what type of images do you use it for? And, more importantly, how do you like the images you create with it and what is your typical workflow?

James, I know you use Capture One and I'm curious about how well it works for both your landscape images and your portraits.

TIA,

Jim

Hey Jim,

Every day I get more attached to Capture One. The cool thing about Capture One is that it was the first to allow you to do masking layers in your post processing (not sure if Adobe et al are now doing this). A perfect example of the utility of this is a couple of brindle mastiffs and a some brindle frenchies that some clients wanted on black backdrops. If it were not for the opportunity to quickly mask the files and brighten accordingly, I think the job would have been much harder in PS in fixing the .jpg file. It is pretty remarkable how effective it is. I will try (operative word) to post some samples in the pro forum as I am not yet ready to post anything here yet.

I have not used Lightroom in ages, so I cannot really speak about it as an alternative, and my last use of DXO was version 8 (which I did not like as a whole, even though I liked a bunch of the features).

James

James,
we've been masking in PhotoShop for years -- but keep in mind that we got into PhotoShop when we had an ad agency with 17 designers and bought our first Macs which were running PhotoShop 1.0. That was a long time ago but that tells you how long we've been operating in PS.

Lightroom is fine but I don't use it because I think it's greatest advantage is when you're going through a lot of images and need to sort, file, save and do basic first adjustments. For final adjustments, I still think PhotoShop is king. I think for Performance Dog Photographers, Lightroom would be perfect. But for me shooting shows -- even Nationals -- I'm going through about 3,000 images usually and PS/Bridge does it just fine for me.

And I feel the same way about Capture One. What I want from my RAW processor is the ability to recover highlights and/or shadow detail and reduce noise in a more elegant way than you can do using other 3rd party software like Noise Ninja. And important to me is the quality of the files both in terms of noise, dynamic range and in terms of overall look. What I'm finding with Capture One (very early reaction to stuff I shot several years ago) is that it gives a real film-like quality to the images and I mean that in the best possible sense. The colors and the dynamic range are not "brittle" the way some digital files look coming out of PS. I'm not sure how else to explain it and I'm usually not at a loss for words. But the files I'm seeing look the way I wanted them to look when I first shot them.

Having said that, I still have to figure out how to use Capture One more efficiently and more intuitively since I've been a PS guy for about a century LOL. But, so far, I'm seeing great image quality. And that's what I'm looking for.

More later with samples.

Jim

Hey Jim,

You are masking in the RAW file? Or the jpeg? I use layers in CS5 all of the time - but I do not have the ability to do make layers within the raw file and convert from the altered raw.

James

I use Photo mechanic for the import, tagging, selection, rating. Then Lightroom for raw conversion, everything else in PS. I have not used Capture one, my prior raw converter was Nikon Capture NX, since I shoot Nikons. I know that's not an option for Jim, as he shoots Canon equipment. I too disliked the DXO totality. I might go look at capture one....

Hey Robert,

Great to see you! I am still puzzled about ACR. Are you guys saying that you can process RAW files in layers? I do not seem to be able to do that with my version of CS5.

As to trying out Capture One I suggest it. I also want to take a look at DxO v9. This is one of those products that the pieces look amazing, but I find the over-all product feeling unwieldy in terms of speed and use. My experience with V8 was just that - though I love the film packs and the lens calibration tools.

James

Robert,
I'm nearing the end of my 60-day free trial of Capture One and I have some very positive results from getting to know it pretty well over that time. First a comment about THAT: who offers 60-day free trials? That in itself is remarkable but they know what they're doing because it takes that long to be able to use it well enough to really see the differences. Plus, by the time you've been using it for 60 days, it's difficult to say goodbye. It's a great piece of software.

I'll share images once the trial is over but I can tell you right now that I'll be adding it to my software suite. I've re-processed a lot of files, some that date back to my very first digital camera, the D30 back in 2000. And those files look remarkably vital and new after processing in C1. I've also re-processed and printed several of my favorite files from the past few years just to see how the prints compare in a direct A/B viewing and I'll have more to say about that later. All I can say is, if you really want to get the most from your files, and you shoot mainly RAW, give Capture One a trial. I think you'll be as impressed as I am.

Jim