Jun 18

Jun 18 Should you switch to Capture One from Lightroom?

"Should I switch to Capture One?" is a question I get asked a lot. It's also challenging to answer, because everyone is different, and everyone's needs are different. So in this post, instead of answering that question directly, I'm going to try and give you the information you need to make that decision yourself!

Note: this post contains some previously published material.

I have a few different articles on this blog covering various aspects of this topic, but I wanted to combine them into a single report. So I have covered some of this before, but for this post, it has been re-written and updated.

About Capture One

Capture One was originally designed as a software front end and processing tool for Phase One's medium format camera backs. As such, it has always been a relatively high-end tool, but over recent years, the company has seen the potential to go toe to toe with Lightroom. They have begun pushing it more as a general-purpose image editor, and a possible alternative to Lightroom.

However, just viewing it as a straight-up Lightroom alternative misses out on some of the things that make Capture One what it is. In particular, the software shows strength in a few key areas:

Core RAW image engine is very good and offers quality that is as good as or better than Lightroom for most cameras.
For some cameras, especially Sony, it offers arguably better colours than Lightroom (But not for all cameras - see below)
Extremely powerful colour controls, allowing to do complex colour editing in the software without having to go to an external editor.
Built-in Layers are very useful and offer more options than Lightroom's selective edits, including the ability to copy masks between layers, apply styles to layers and for layers to include things like curves and levels. You can also control the opacity of layers.
Ability to work with Sessions. Sessions are for working on an individual project at a time. Rather than using a library, you can create a session for a particular job, and this creates a self-contained project structure on your hard drive. You can still work with a library like you can with Lightroom.
User Interface is completely customisable. You can rearrange tools on the tool tabs, you can create your own tool tabs, and you can even have floating tools. You can save different layouts and you can also completely customise the keyboard shortcuts. You can make the software work for you the way you want it to.

For me, number one on this list is the main reason I use the software. If you're a Fuji shooter, in my opinion, Capture One offers the best quality raw conversions currently available. While that is subjective, after lots and lots of testing of various options, that is what I think. For Sony shooters, Capture One's default colours are better than Lightroom's in my opinion, and it also handles detail from Sony files really well.

There are also a lot of unique and powerful features that I especially like about the software. Here's a quick outline of some of my favourites:

Three pass sharpening system
Sharpness falloff correction for correcting sharpness falloff on lenses
Ability to save "presets" for almost all individual tools.
Ability to save your own custom colour corrected colour profile for cameras
Ability to create a mask based on a colour selection. (Sort of like colour keying)
Three-Way Colour Corrector
Colour correct individual ranges of colours, allowing complex colour correction.
AppleScript support on the Mac
Flexible and highly customisable user interface
Grain tool is better and has more options than Lightroom's
Levels tool and Luminance as well as RGB Curves
Halo correction on sharpening
Clarity options are more flexible than Lightroom's and don't "halo" as much.
Extreme adjustments of highlights and shadows also doesn't create halos like it does in Lightroom
You can apply most corrections to layers, including sharpening and curves, and you can fade those layers with an opacity slider.
Modeless. You don't need to switch between different modes or modules when working in Capture One. All tools are active all the time.
Token based system for naming throughout the application allows complex sorting and naming based on metadata

Capture One Interface with Floating Panels

Why are people interested in Switching to Capture One?

Switching the Capture One from Lightroom has become more popular lately, and you hear a lot of discussion around this topic on various photography forums and discussions. The main reasons that people are interested in switching to the software are as follows:

They don't want to continue to pay for an Adobe subscription. This is one of the most talked-about reasons, and perhaps hyped is a better reason. Switching gets a lot of attention, but I'm not sure that this is the main reason in reality. Capture One is indeed available as a perpetual license, and there has been a lot of discussion about the relative values of purchasing Capture One outright vs a Lightroom subscription. Incidentally Capture One is also available as a subscription, for those who don't mind and want a lower upfront cost. If this is the primary reason you're considering Capture One, then you should be aware of some of the differences between Capture One and Lightroom. It's not merely a version of Lightroom without a subscription and is quite different in some ways. I will go into more of this in the next section.
Fuji Shooters wanting a better RAW decoder. In my opinion, Capture One is the best current RAW converter for Fujifilm files. If you want the best quality from your Fuji camera, I believe that Capture one will give you the best results, but you will need to learn the software and make some tweaks to get the best from it. It’s not just Fuji Shooters that can benefit though. For other brands there can be a noticeable improvement in quality and/or colour rendition with Capture One.
You want more a more powerful raw converter. Capture One as already mentioned, is a pretty powerful raw converter. Of course, not everyone needs this power, but if you're someone who will take advantage of it, and learn to use it to its fullest, then it can offer a step up over Lightroom in its core functionality. This is especially true if you work in high-end commercial photography or studio photography. Capture One's tethering is very highly regarded, especially when used with Phase one backs (which is where the software came from in the first place). The sessions functionality is also very useful in this environment. There are also helpful tools for leaving notes and instructions on mages when passing them on to a retoucher or another editor.

Tempering Expectations: Capture One is not Lightroom

This might seem like an odd thing to say in an article about whether or not you should switch to Capture One, but this is something that I think is lost on a lot of people, and causes a degree of confusion for new users. If you want the software to be a feature for feature clone of Lightroom, then you will be disappointed. If you're hoping that Capture One will be Lightroom without the subscription, then you will be disappointed. The software is quite different and has more high-end tools, aimed at a professional and more specific market. That's not to say it can't be used for amateurs or enthusiasts, because of course it can, and it still has most of the core features that most of the people need, but it is not a clone of Lightroom.

While Lightroom has a broader range of functions, Capture One has more tailored and powerful tools, but maybe just not as many overall features as Lightroom. I see some people complaining about Capture One lacking some of Lightroom features, but they don't mention all the things that Capture One does that Lightroom doesn't. It's essential to realise this before you purchase, and judge for yourself which you need more.

In some respects, I think pitching Capture One as a direct competitor to Lightroom is a little unfair to both applications. If you're considering switching, you should think about whether it is to take advantage of what Capture One has to offer, as if you just want to replace Lightroom. If you expect it to be the same, you may not be satisfied with the results. If you accept Capture One for what it is and use it as such, then you will realise that it is a powerful tool in its own right. It's just different.

I've seen some commentary from Lightroom users who seem to think that Capture One is just a poor imitation of Lightroom that has only come to people's attention because some aren't happy with the Adobe subscription. This is entirely untrue. Capture One has been around for a long time. It was around since before Lightroom switched to a subscription model, and has been the software of choice for high-end studio photography for a long, long time. It’s been in. You can see it on screen in various movies and TV shows for years. Long before may people had even heard of it, it was highly respected among the high end professionals who were using the software.

What are the reasons not to get the software?

As mentioned above, Capture One is not the same as Lightroom. It doesn't have some of Lightroom's key features, and so if you need these options more than you need Capture One's unique tools, then you may want to think twice about switching to this software, or you may need an additional application to make up the difference. In many cases there are workarounds, but these are important things to consider. Here are the main Lightroom features that Capture One currently does not have:

No HDR Merging. For this, you'll need to use an additional tool like Photoshop, Affinity Photo or Aurora HDR
No Panorama Merging. Again, you'll need to use an alternative option if you want to merge panoramas, although the Mac version has a script to combine images in Photoshop. You can also do this in Affinity Photo
No Book or Map Module Equivalent. An alternative to the book module could be to use Blurbs stand-alone book editing application.
While it has a plug-in architecture, it is not as well supported as Lightroom, and has very few plug-ins available. However, most Lightroom plug-ins work as applications in conjunction with Capture One's "Edit with" command, so this is less of a big deal as it seems.
No direct equivalent of Lightroom's publishing add-ons.
No equivalent of Lightroom mobile or Lightroom's sync service. No mobile editing apps.
No DeHaze or Texture sliders, although you can achieve Dehaze in Capture One using its built-in tools, and Capture One has a "structure" slider, which Lightroom doesn't.

It's important to remember that while Capture One may lack these tools, it also has many tools and functionality that Lightroom lacks (see above), and it's a matter of which are more relevant to you.

At the end of the day, Capture One is primarily an advanced raw conversion application, with some organising capabilities. Its core features though are raw conversion and core image editing. Lightroom is more of a jack of all trades and tries to be your one-stop-shop for everything to do with your images. One is focused and more powerful; the other is broader with more features but not as focused.

You can like Capture One without having to hate Lightroom, and visa versa. This whole topic has become somewhat loaded on Internet forums (isn’t every topic?) and some Lightroom users seem to get irate at people who even mention Capture One. If you point out any benefit of Capture One they seem to think you’re attacking Lightroom, and I guess they feel that by extension you’re attacking them for using it. Similarly, some Capture One supporters seem to get irate if you don’t “hate” Lightroom and the “evil Adobe”. This is all nonsense. They are both good applications, and both have advantages and disadvantages.

What else should I know?

There are a few other idiosyncrasies that you should know about. If you use an older camera, the colours may not be as good as newer ones. Images from my old Canon 5D Mark 1, for example, are quite off compared to the in-camera Jpegs. However, more modern cameras can look spectacular. Newer Sony and Canon cameras, in particular, are very well-calibrated and have better colours that they do in Lightroom, for example - especially as Lightroom doesn’t seem to include camera profiles for some of Canon’s newer cameras.

The library size is generally larger than Lightroom's, and the preview files can be quite larger (although for good reason - rather than Jpeg previews, it uses a system similar to Lightroom's smart previews, and can work disconnected from the original image).

The "Steep Learning Curve" Myth

There are a couple of myths floating around about Capture One, that just aren't true. One, specifically is that it's hard to learn, or that it's challenging to use. I don't think that this is true, but I can understand why it has this reputation. As mentioned earlier, a lot of the problems that I see people reporting on forums come from trying to use Capture One like Lightroom.

Capture One is different. Its interface is different from Lightroom, and if you try to use Capture One like you would Lightroom, you will get frustrated. Once you get past this and use it the way it is supposed to be used, you will realise that it's not really that complicated. Some tools just work differently in Capture One, and this can confuse people who try to use it exactly like Lightroom, which leaves a lot of people to believe that it's hard to use. It's not. It just requires you not to try and use it like you would Lightroom. I wrote a whole blog post going into this in-depth, and it covers some of the common issues. You can read it here.

Another thing that also might be a contributing factor to that myth is that often in Capture One there are many ways to do something, that might only have one or two ways in Lightroom. It's this flexibility with the software that I actually like and it makes it quite powerful, as you can tailor your way of working to your needs quite easily.

I recently wrote a detailed post on where to find learning material for Capture One.

Can you use Capture One and Lightroom together?

Absolutely. If you don't want to switch completely, there are different ways you can use Lightroom and Capture One together. You can share projects across both applications, and I have a tutorial on how to achieve this workflow. I would recommend this approach, especially at first.

Unless your primary reason is switching to Capture One to avoid an Adobe subscription, then it may be worth your while working with both until you figure out how to use Capture One fully. You can also still use Lightroom for things like photo merging panoramas and things that Capture One lacks like the book module. Once you're satisfied, you can remove Lightroom from your workflow.

Of course, this is highly dependent on each person and their needs and skill level. You may well be more comfortable going cold turkey and ripping the band-aid off, but for those who want to maintain both, there are absolutely workflows that can be used to use both applications together.

Presets and Styles

One of the reasons that some people are reluctant to switch is that they fear that there aren't many presets available for Capture One. This is true to an extent, but it's also the case that Lightroom has reached preset overload.

The equivalent of Presets in Lightroom is called Styles in capture one. (Presets are actually a different thing) and many vendors are selling Capture One styles, including some form Capture One themselves, Mastin Labs, Really Nice Images and I even have my own styles for sale. I also have a free eBook about styles and presets in Capture One.

There is a tool available that will convert Lightroom presets to Capture One styles. It’s far from perfect, but if you have created a lot fo your own presets, then this is an option that will help you move your library across.

Conclusion

I started this somewhat long article with a bit of a conceit. The question “Should I switch to Capture One?” can only really be answered by you, and you alone, but I wanted to give you the information necessary to help you make that decision. At the very least, I wanted to help you start your journey of discovery towards making that decision. I’ve been using Capture One for years now, and I love the software, but I also realise that it isn’t necessarily the best option for everyone. I also firmly believe that much of the frustration some new users have is from not understanding what the advantages of the software are before switching or are trying to use the application as if it is a clone of Lightroom and then getting frustrated because it works differently. Even the term “switching” is probably a bit loaded, because you can quite happily keep using both applications if you need to, which is what I currently do.

So why do I like Capture One? There are a number of features that I find indispensable for certain projects. The advanced colour editing options are one of the key features that I like. Another is the flexible layer system. When shooting Fuji Files, it’s a no brainer for me, as the results are superior than Lightroom without having to jump through any hoops. I also find that if you have images with strong solid colour and objects infant of them, like a pole in front of the sky for example, Lightroom has a tendency to produce halos around such objects when you do any kind of significant adjusting, and you don’t get this issue in Capture One. There have been times when this has saved an otherwise unusable edit.

I’ve been called a “Capture One Fanboy” by some people merely because I understand the software and share tips and tutorials for using it, but I would never try and push anyone to switch to the application. It would seem that in some circles, not constantly trashing certain software online makes you a ‘fanboy”, but to be honest, I would much rather someone not use it if it’s not suitable for them. I firmly firmly believe that people need to make up their own minds, and that goes for any software, not just Capture One. That’s why I wouldn’t make a very good marketing person!

If you do plan to switch, you can get your copy now from the Capture One store. If you want to try it first, you can download a 30 day trial from the website.. If you want more details about the various versions and which one you should get, I have a detailed post on that too!

Full disclosure - I am a member of the Capture One Affiliate programme. If you do decide to purchase through the links in this article, we get a small commission for purchases made, which helps run this site.

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