New M8 - Any reason to use Capture One 4 vs Lightroom?

jackbaty

jackbaty

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Just got my (used) M8 today. Very excited! I'm familiar and fairly comfortable with Lightroom, but I grabbed a copy of Capture One 4 and started tinkering with it just to see what it was about.

Before I waste too much time, are there any compelling reasons to process the M8's DNG files with Capture One rather than sticking with Lightroom? I'm honestly not terribly fussy and will probably convert most of my images to B&W anyway. Just want to make sure I'm not missing anything important by not using C1.

Thanks.
 
I don't have an M8 but have used Capture One for years. I've finally switched to Lightroom earlier this year. If you have any intention of making selective edits (e.g. dodge and burn), there's no point in learning Capture One. Having said that, there's something about that program I just love. In particular, it's SO fast to assess whether a shot is sharp, which is the first part of my shot selection criteria.
 
I've been using LR since v1 and although some say you could (once mastered) get better results in CaptureOne I've not had the need to relearn another software. Besides, life is too short, i prefer to shoot than sit in front of my PC. LR2 is fast for what i need ie. select, minor exposure adjustments & dodge + burn. Perfect.
 
C1 (C4) is better in RAW conversion (resolution, moiré, CA, etc.) but maybe unpractical if your normal workflow is LR.
If you normal use is ACR-CS4, you might consider replacing ACR by C1. It also is worthwhile to work shots that really matter in C1 followed by CS4 in any case ( or Photoshop Elements if one prefers)
 
I use both LR2 & C1 4Pro. Withgout a doubt C14 extracts better detail & more detail from a raw file than LR2. I use LR2 for DAM, process images I care about on C14 convert them to TIFF then use LR2 or CS4 to work futher if needed. The fact that C14 has a camera profile for the M8 is a much better starting point than that for LR2, you can do a profile for LR2 using the DNG editor if you want.

C14 Pro is really worth a look.

Check for yourself by doing a side by side comparison on a raw file and a copy of that file.

Enjoy your M8.
 
I just did some quick comparisons and I like what comes out of C1 by default better than the same from LR. I don't have the best eye for color, but I think the suggestion to use C1 in some cases is a good one. I'll keep tinkering, but one thing immediately apparent is that the M8 is AWESOME!
 
jaapv said:
C1 (C4) is better in RAW conversion (resolution, moiré, CA, etc.) but maybe unpractical if your normal workflow is LR.
If you normal use is ACR-CS4, you might consider replacing ACR by C1. It also is worthwhile to work shots that really matter in C1 followed by CS4 in any case ( or Photoshop Elements if one prefers)
Click to expand...

Very precise! 100% agree.
 
I use C1 for raw conversion and catalog in lightroom with edit in CS3. C1 looks better in my eyes than raw in lightroom for M8.
 
It looks like I may end up converting the keepers in C1 then exporting as TIFF. After that I can import everything (DNG and converted TIFFs) into lightroom for cataloging and/or additional processing. Doesn't *seem* like it will be too much process in my process, but we'll see. Thanks for the input.
 
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