Filed Under: Aperture, Opinion, PhotographyCould a user of Aperture since version 1 switch to Capture One Pro version 7.1? That’s the question I set out to answer in some “spare” time over the last few days.Let’s not get into the whole issue of whether or not the numerous “point” upgrades to Aperture this past year are equal to what we’ve all been looking for as version 4. I’ll simply say that the Aperture of today has not kept up with its primary competitor, Adobe Lightroom, in some key (at least to me) technological areas. Lightroom can make excellent images out of RAW files shot at higher ISO from cameras such as my new Olympus OM-D E-M5 with Olympus zoom lenses.
Before I started using Aperture at it’s $499 release, I was using Capture One LE for RAW processing and basic image adjustments, the Finder for file management, and Photoshop for greater image adjustments. Capture One is well know in the professional image world, particularly for its ability to handle the files from digital camera backs such as those from Phase One and Leaf. It’s current top-of-the-line is Capture One Pro in version 7.1.
I just love Aperture’s approach to RAW workflow. The interface, the tools, it’s file management and image adjustment all feel just right to me. The “problem” of late is that technologies such as lens correction for distortion and top-notch noise reduction for high ISO images have been lagging behind in Aperture.
Those folks shooting the new Fuji X series cameras feel even more left out than I. Aperture can’t even read the x-trans Fuji RAW file format.
But, personally, I just can’t get along with Lightroom’s interface, even though it’s image output is very good. Switching modes (from Library to Develop, for example) feels wrong. Dialog boxes that don’t match the rest of the interface bug me. Not being able to delete files from a collection view makes me crazy. And the list of non-Mac-like interface features goes on.
So, could a generally happy Aperture user switch to Capture One Pro to gain access to more current technologies? And if so, would he like it?
Capture One Pro Collections
If you ignore the old Capture One Pro workflow method of session files and work only in a Catalog, Capture One Pro acts a lot like Aperture for file management. Within a Catalog, you can create groups (like an Aperture folder) and projects (which seem like Aperture projects) and albums/smart albums (just like Aperture albums/smart albums). Imported files can have metadata presets attached and then be moved into an album within a Catalog. This file structure is called “collections” but is nothing like Lightroom’s collections. Thank goodness.
A Catalog package is even a lot like the Aperture Library package in that it is really a folder (use Show Package Contents in the Finder to see inside) that holds your original RAW files and the adjustments made to them.
My Tool Tabs
Capture One uses tool tabs for its many options for image adjustments. You can see my customized tool tabs here that represent, in order from left to right, tools for Library, Color, Exposure (with levels and curves), Black & White, Details (like sharpening and noise reduction), Lens Correction, Cropping, Local Adjustments, Presets, Metadata, Process Recipes and Process Batch Queue.
Tools In The Exposure Tool Tab
Coming from Aperture, I felt very comfortable with the image adjustment bricks available within the tool tabs. To the right you’ll see the contents of the exposure tool tab, as an example.
All of the adjustment bricks you would expect are available under one tool tab or another. The only one missing, from my point of view, is the vibrancy slider. Capture One Pro has only saturation.
The good news is that Capture One Pro has bricks that Aperture doesn’t. The color editing brick is much more powerful, there’s a moiré reduction brick, a keystone correction brick and a brick to allow an image overlay with control of placement, scale and opacity.
And lens corrections! They include distortion, chromatic aberration and purple fringing. The list of available lens profiles is not as large as Lightroom’s, but many, many favorites are there.
The way Capture One Pro handles local adjustments is particularly sweet. Each correction is added on a layer, like in Photoshop, and you can put the adjustments you want on the layers (up to 10) that you create. With the brush tool you brush in or brush out the effect by editing the layer mask. And one of the available masks is a gradient mask, so you can fade the effect in or out across the image.
Each tool tab also allows you to add any of Capture One’s bricks to the group shown in that tab. That allows you to mix and match tools as they suit your editing style. You can even make you own custom tool tabs and load them with the tools you want there.
The Sharpening Block
Sharpening is black magic. Or a black art. Or both. Capture One Pro gives you the sharpening brick shown here that can be used for the image as a whole, or applied as a local adjustment. The amount, radius and threshold sliders match the terminology for Photoshop. I wonder if the controls work in the same way so that Photoshop tutorials could be used with Capture One Pro?
Process Summary For A Recipe
Capture One Pro offers the concept of process recipes for exporting images. These recipes allow you to specify such things as the output folder, file name and image format options. They work a lot like Aperture’s export presets, but give more options.
The loupe tool is pretty fantastic. I thought Aperture’s loupe beat all (and it sure beats Lightroom), but this tool has even more cleverness. Click on the image and the loupe pops up and grows out of the click point to the size and magnification you’ve configured for it. As long as you hold the mouse button down, the loupe remains. You can then drag it over the image, as you can in Aperture. Release the mouse and the loupe disappears. It looks like this:
The Loupe In Action
What’s missing? Not much. I wish there were lens correction profiles for my Olympus micro-four thirds lenses. Others will wish the same for their Fuji X lenses. You can’t name versions, nor can you stack different images. And I couldn’t find a way to add my own metadata fields. Neither could I create my own metadata views.
Local adjustments could have been, and maybe will be in a future version, a killer feature if you could apply any of Capture One Pro’s tools on a layer. As it stands now you can only use exposure, color editor, sharpening, moiré and clarity bricks as local adjustments. If Phase One were to add at least curves, noise reduction and white balance, they would really have something.
Overall I’ve been very impressed with Capture One Pro. It has a good, solid Macintosh feel to it. The feature set is strong and it has a pretty long and storied history with professional photographers. Many swear by its RAW image processing results. What I’m going to do is use it side-by-side with Aperture during its trial period, whenever I have the time, to process the same images and compare the results, the tools, the interface and the overall process.
Technical support from Phase One is available online and was very responsive to my problems and questions as I wrote this. They even seemed happy to accept my several feature suggestions! Documentation is also online as is an active user forum.
Capture One Pro costs $299. You can get a 60-day trial from Phase One that is feature compete and unconstrained. That’s a nice deal that let’s you really work with the software to see all the tricks it can perform.
I’m not yet sure I’ll make the switch, as nice as Capture One Pro is. There is still a chance that Aperture 4 will be along and that it will add enough missing technology to keep me hooked. It is, after all, my “first love.” But will it be out before my 60-day Capture One Pro trial is up? Watch this space for a follow-up post either on my switch to Capture One Pro, or the wonderful new features of Aperture 4.
Before I started using Aperture at it’s $499 release, I was using Capture One LE for RAW processing and basic image adjustments, the Finder for file management, and Photoshop for greater image adjustments. Capture One is well know in the professional image world, particularly for its ability to handle the files from digital camera backs such as those from Phase One and Leaf. It’s current top-of-the-line is Capture One Pro in version 7.1.
I just love Aperture’s approach to RAW workflow. The interface, the tools, it’s file management and image adjustment all feel just right to me. The “problem” of late is that technologies such as lens correction for distortion and top-notch noise reduction for high ISO images have been lagging behind in Aperture.
Those folks shooting the new Fuji X series cameras feel even more left out than I. Aperture can’t even read the x-trans Fuji RAW file format.But, personally, I just can’t get along with Lightroom’s interface, even though it’s image output is very good. Switching modes (from Library to Develop, for example) feels wrong. Dialog boxes that don’t match the rest of the interface bug me. Not being able to delete files from a collection view makes me crazy. And the list of non-Mac-like interface features goes on.
So, could a generally happy Aperture user switch to Capture One Pro to gain access to more current technologies? And if so, would he like it?Capture One Pro Collections
If you ignore the old Capture One Pro workflow method of session files and work only in a Catalog, Capture One Pro acts a lot like Aperture for file management. Within a Catalog, you can create groups (like an Aperture folder) and projects (which seem like Aperture projects) and albums/smart albums (just like Aperture albums/smart albums). Imported files can have metadata presets attached and then be moved into an album within a Catalog. This file structure is called “collections” but is nothing like Lightroom’s collections. Thank goodness.
A Catalog package is even a lot like the Aperture Library package in that it is really a folder (use Show Package Contents in the Finder to see inside) that holds your original RAW files and the adjustments made to them.
My Tool Tabs
Capture One uses tool tabs for its many options for image adjustments. You can see my customized tool tabs here that represent, in order from left to right, tools for Library, Color, Exposure (with levels and curves), Black & White, Details (like sharpening and noise reduction), Lens Correction, Cropping, Local Adjustments, Presets, Metadata, Process Recipes and Process Batch Queue.
Tools In The Exposure Tool Tab
Coming from Aperture, I felt very comfortable with the image adjustment bricks available within the tool tabs. To the right you’ll see the contents of the exposure tool tab, as an example.
All of the adjustment bricks you would expect are available under one tool tab or another. The only one missing, from my point of view, is the vibrancy slider. Capture One Pro has only saturation.
The good news is that Capture One Pro has bricks that Aperture doesn’t. The color editing brick is much more powerful, there’s a moiré reduction brick, a keystone correction brick and a brick to allow an image overlay with control of placement, scale and opacity.
And lens corrections! They include distortion, chromatic aberration and purple fringing. The list of available lens profiles is not as large as Lightroom’s, but many, many favorites are there.
The way Capture One Pro handles local adjustments is particularly sweet. Each correction is added on a layer, like in Photoshop, and you can put the adjustments you want on the layers (up to 10) that you create. With the brush tool you brush in or brush out the effect by editing the layer mask. And one of the available masks is a gradient mask, so you can fade the effect in or out across the image.
Each tool tab also allows you to add any of Capture One’s bricks to the group shown in that tab. That allows you to mix and match tools as they suit your editing style. You can even make you own custom tool tabs and load them with the tools you want there.
The Sharpening Block
Sharpening is black magic. Or a black art. Or both. Capture One Pro gives you the sharpening brick shown here that can be used for the image as a whole, or applied as a local adjustment. The amount, radius and threshold sliders match the terminology for Photoshop. I wonder if the controls work in the same way so that Photoshop tutorials could be used with Capture One Pro?
Process Summary For A Recipe
Capture One Pro offers the concept of process recipes for exporting images. These recipes allow you to specify such things as the output folder, file name and image format options. They work a lot like Aperture’s export presets, but give more options.
The loupe tool is pretty fantastic. I thought Aperture’s loupe beat all (and it sure beats Lightroom), but this tool has even more cleverness. Click on the image and the loupe pops up and grows out of the click point to the size and magnification you’ve configured for it. As long as you hold the mouse button down, the loupe remains. You can then drag it over the image, as you can in Aperture. Release the mouse and the loupe disappears. It looks like this:
The Loupe In Action
What’s missing? Not much. I wish there were lens correction profiles for my Olympus micro-four thirds lenses. Others will wish the same for their Fuji X lenses. You can’t name versions, nor can you stack different images. And I couldn’t find a way to add my own metadata fields. Neither could I create my own metadata views.
Local adjustments could have been, and maybe will be in a future version, a killer feature if you could apply any of Capture One Pro’s tools on a layer. As it stands now you can only use exposure, color editor, sharpening, moiré and clarity bricks as local adjustments. If Phase One were to add at least curves, noise reduction and white balance, they would really have something.
Overall I’ve been very impressed with Capture One Pro. It has a good, solid Macintosh feel to it. The feature set is strong and it has a pretty long and storied history with professional photographers. Many swear by its RAW image processing results. What I’m going to do is use it side-by-side with Aperture during its trial period, whenever I have the time, to process the same images and compare the results, the tools, the interface and the overall process.
Technical support from Phase One is available online and was very responsive to my problems and questions as I wrote this. They even seemed happy to accept my several feature suggestions! Documentation is also online as is an active user forum.
Capture One Pro costs $299. You can get a 60-day trial from Phase One that is feature compete and unconstrained. That’s a nice deal that let’s you really work with the software to see all the tricks it can perform.
I’m not yet sure I’ll make the switch, as nice as Capture One Pro is. There is still a chance that Aperture 4 will be along and that it will add enough missing technology to keep me hooked. It is, after all, my “first love.” But will it be out before my 60-day Capture One Pro trial is up? Watch this space for a follow-up post either on my switch to Capture One Pro, or the wonderful new features of Aperture 4.