I don’t get the "hairy" ONE either!

During the early wild and wooly days of digital image processing there were quite a few different raw processing programs. Some have fallen by the wayside, and new ones have come to the fore. Manufacturers continue to provide and promote proprietary solutions, mostly sub-standard compared to the market leaders, at least in terms of workflow and productivity.

One of the market leaders, both in the early days and still today, isCapture One from Phase One. It’s not inexpensive, and it’s not all that easy to learn and use. But C1 consistently produces raw conversions that are state-of-the-art, and as good as and often better than those from anyone else.

On October 28, 2009, Phase One introducedCapture One 5.0, its latest revision to their flagship program. This is a brief first look at what’s new in C1 5.0, not a review. I hope to have a hands-on review within the next 60 days.

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Why is Capture One Important?

Besides being one of the best established raw processors on the market, Capture One is unique in that it was originally designed for that company’s medium format backs, but now supports a very wide range of cameras, including most pro-level models from Nikon, Canon, Leica and others. C1 5.0 also supports selected Leaf back models, now that Phase One owns that company.

Capture One 5.0 now provides RAW file support for the Leaf Aptus-II 5, Aptus-II 6, Aptus II-7, Aptus-II 10, Leaf AFi-II 6, 7, 10. Phase One plans to introduce additional features, such as tethered support for these digital back models in an upcoming Capture One version. In addition, file support for all Leaf Aptus backs will be added in the next version of Capture One PRO.

One of the other strengths of Capture One is the popularity of Phase One backs among many working pros. Because so many of them own or rent Phase One backs, the vast majority of camera assistants in the industry, at least in the U.S. and Canada, are completely familiar with Capture One.This is especially true when it comes to tethering in the studio.

What this means is that a pro can fly into another city, rent a medium format camera system and Phase back (or bring ones own Nikon or Canon system), hire a local assistant, and know that they can hit the ground running when they reach the studio or location. With time being money in this business, as in most others, being able to work on location with unfamiliar gear and assistants, yet be productive right from the get-go, is very important.

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Pricing and Availability

Capture One 5 PRO is available via download for $399 USD and 299 EUR throughPhase One’s Online Storeand through leading professional photography dealers worldwide. Capture One 5 is available for $129 USD and 99 EUR.

Existing Capture One 4 PRO customers can upgrade to Capture One 5 PRO for $99 USD and 69 EUR. Existing Capture One 4 customers can upgrade to Capture One 5 PRO for $299 USD and 229 EUR. You can visitPhase One’s Online Storefor other upgrade options and free trial offers.

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So – What’s New?

The following is taken from Phase One’s publicity material. This list will primarily be of interest to photographers who already know and use Capture One. For others, drop into the Phase One online store and download a free trial version to see what the program is all about.

When I have had an opportunity to work with C1 5.0 for a month or so I’ll follow up here with a detailed analysis and my own perspective.

Live Preview – Enhanced

Use Live Preview to control the camera from your computer and adjust exposure settings, lightness, white balance, and image composition. Manually focus the camera while zooming in for easier viewing from long distance. Makes it possible for the photographer, art director, client, and others to easily view an image on a computer screen at the same time, in real-time. Live Preview is now available for both Mac and Windows and comes with improved performance.

Focus Mask – New

Accelerate your image selection by using the Focus Mask for fast verification of image sharpness and focus. The Focus Mask is applied both to the image(s) in the viewer and to the thumbnails in the image browser. The Focus Mask is perfectly suited for portrait, wedding and fashion shoots.

Focus Tool – New

Get an instant, true view of image sharpness with the Focus tool. Use it as part of your fixed tool tab or drag it out as a floating tool.

Workflow Accelerators – Enhanced

Handle large volume shoots even faster with new and enhanced workflow accelerators. New functionality includes improved session handling and an improved importer, which makes import more simple and intuitive as well as an improved progress indication, which provides a quick visual overview of application tasks.

Camera Support – Enhanced

Capture One supports image files from the most popular DSLRs from Canon, Epson, Fuji,Konica Minolta, Leica, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax and Sony, as well as Phase One digital backs and selected Leaf and Mamiya digital backs.

Workspaces, Tools and Tool Tabs – Enhanced

Customize your Workspace, Tools and Tool Tabs to make your personal workflow more efficient. Included in Capture One is a selection of best practice default workspaces.

Viewer Margin and Proof Margin – New

Improve evaluation of image composition and colors by setting a viewer margin (and proof margin).

Local Copy & Apply – New

Easily copy and apply individual image tool adjustments to other images and save time. Completely integrated with the Adjustments Clipboard for a seamless experience and improved efficiency.

Skin Tone Enhancer – New

Achieve perfect, smooth and soft appearing skin tones with the Skin Tone Enhancer.

Remove dust spots – New

Easily remove dust spots with a single click.

RGB Levels and Curves – New

RGB Levels and Curves provide a tool, which enables you to adjust individual color channels easily and to be creative with colors.

LCC based Light Falloff – New

With LCC based Light Falloff you are able to even out differences in the light and compensate for lens fall off.

Creative Vignetting tool – New

Add vignettes to the edges of your images for artistic effect (follows crop).

Advanced Color Editor – Enhanced

Adjust colors in a smooth way with the Color Editor – and keep changes all natural with Smart Saturation. You have the opportunity to adjust colors either in larger areas using the basic tool, or select a narrow color space in the advanced color editor tool. The Color Editor can also be used to tweak ICC color profiles.

Metadata Editing – Enhanced

In Capture One, metadata refers to data that describes your image and how it was taken. You are now able to access and edit an expanded set of metadata fields.

Watermark – New

Enhance image rights protection and watermark your images. You are able to add a watermark with your logo or other information to every photo you output.

.EIP Enhanced Image Package – Enhanced

Enhanced Image Package is a convenient way of packing your master file for smooth cooperation with your customers. When the .EIP file is opened by Capture One on your client’s computer, the image file will be seen exactly as you created it. The original untouched RAW file will be packed with your setting file and LCC profile. You now also have the opportunity to include ICC camera profiles in the .EIP package.

Web Contact Sheet – Enhanced

Share your images easily. With the Web Contact Sheet you are able to generate all the thumbnails, full sized previews and HTML code required for the finished contact sheet. All the elements are stored on the desktop in a single folder for uploading to a web site or sending to clients. The Web Contact Sheet now supports larger image sizes.

October 28, 2009