p.2 #1 · I bet you did not expect this move - C1 supports HB
Capture One is clearly excellent software but under its current owners has painted itself into a corner, dropping cheaper single brand versions, making the same “no subscription “ claims as Adobe then doing everything they can to weasel out of it while not supporting one of the main MF brands who were a competitor to their former owner as they retreat to a pros only niche. I hope the new owners see sense and make it more mainstream again as they’re going to need increased revenue to stay competitive. I want to see it succeed, clearly the current owners can’t find a way so good luck to the new owners.
p.2 #2 · I bet you did not expect this move - C1 supports HB
Too late for me since I moved on from C1 when they raised my yearly rate too high for my liking.
Now for all cameras (X2D2 included) I use and like Bridge/ACR/PS (when needed) and liking the folders where all images are now located side by side on my external drives-RAW/Tiff/or PSD/Jpeg.
p.2 #3 · I bet you did not expect this move - C1 supports HB
fjablo wrote:
long overdue, maybe too late..
As a longterm C1 user, I have to say the underinvestment in the software is getting increasingly obvious. Current private equity owner has cut cost, practically killed the perpetual license model and is now looking to sell C1.. I don't think the end result will look good for users.
I still prefer it over Lightroom because of its core RAW engine and some of the tools, but C1 doesn't feel like polished software anymore and is taking forever to catch up with some useful tools available in LR (e.g. ML-based denoise, which I think is now finally coming? Also no built-in focus stacking is a wtf in 2026). ...Show more →
Due to my love/hate relationship with Adobe, I was hoping C1 could pull me away, but I felt like I either had to pay for two subscriptions or choose, and PS is still too compelling, even as a simple user of it. If C1 wanted to, they could employ two or three dedicated teams to develop the software, one of which would focus on feature development based on user input. But like you said, and is always the case, investment groups, by definition, only seek a max return, and when they milk it dry, it's sold off.
p.2 #4 · I bet you did not expect this move - C1 supports HB
Capture One are adding features, just ones mostly aimed at studio/fashion photographers.
Most of us here at FM seem to be wildlife/landscape/travel types. We recently got AI noise reduction, which I wouldn’t have thought was high on the wishlist for the studio crowd. It does work well. On the other hand, some of what they’ve done for us seems half-baked to me. For example, it can show a single image on a map using embedded GPS, but not a batch of images on the map with thumbnails. It can correct the time on a batch by a fixed offset but it corrects only one of the two dates most cameras store.
I’m sticking with them because I like the results and I had bad experiences with both Adobe and DxO. Ultimately, the problem is the major camera makers, who instead of using a public, self-describing raw format (which Adobe designed, published and shepherded through ISO), each use their own undocumented moving target. This raises costs for existing players like Capture One and the barrier to entry for new players, hence the high prices and so-so quality.
p.2 #5 · I bet you did not expect this move - C1 supports HB
Absolutely right about the DNG format, given how awful to use camera makers raw converters are I’ve no idea why the manufacturers make third parties reverse engineer their files.
[]melcat wrote:
Capture One are adding features, just ones mostly aimed at studio/fashion photographers.
Most of us here at FM seem to be wildlife/landscape/travel types. We recently got AI noise reduction, which I wouldn’t have thought was high on the wishlist for the studio crowd. It does work well. On the other hand, some of what they’ve done for us seems half-baked to me. For example, it can show a single image on a map using embedded GPS, but not a batch of images on the map with thumbnails. It can correct the time on a batch by a fixed offset but it corrects only one of the two dates most cameras store.
I’m sticking with them because I like the results and I had bad experiences with both Adobe and DxO. Ultimately, the problem is the major camera makers, who instead of using a public, self-describing raw format (which Adobe designed, published and shepherded through ISO), each use their own undocumented moving target. This raises costs for existing players like Capture One and the barrier to entry for new players, hence the high prices and so-so quality.
p.2 #6 · I bet you did not expect this move - C1 supports HB
melcat wrote:
Ultimately, the problem is the major camera makers, who instead of using a public, self-describing raw format (which Adobe designed, published and shepherded through ISO), each use their own undocumented moving target. This raises costs for existing players like Capture One and the barrier to entry for new players, hence the high prices and so-so quality.
The larger players like Nikon, Sony, Canon ,etc. want to use their own (lossy) compression options to get higher throughput on modern MILC. I doubt that will change so the software makers have to build that into their process.
p.2 #7 · I bet you did not expect this move - C1 supports HB
Feels very tempting. I used to like Capture One a lot, I still have my perpetual licenses for CO 6 and CO 10 (with free upgrade to 11) but the price increase already back then was too much for me that drove me away from their product. They kind of force people to upgrade if you happen to get new gear. Same goes for Iridient Developer.
I'm in a similar "one-time purchase" trap with Iridient currently. After my first "one-time" purchase, I have already made second "one-time" purchase, and my free upgrades period happened to just expire like a week before new major version upgrade was released. I'm not making the third "one-time" purchase this time, at least not right now. I can perfectly cope with the current version.
Just a bit of background; I was a long time Lightroom user but when they dropped off the perpetual licenses and went subscription model only, forced to have Adobe Cloud installed and such, I started to look away. Well, the grass isn't necessarily greener on the other side of the fence. I still wish to get the same library management + culling + editing experience as Lightroom offers. Now I use mixture of Phocus, Iridient and Photomator. XnView for folders and culling.
I don't want AI stuff, cloud stuff, subscriptions or some fancy tethering features. I don't need complex layers and Photoshop-like editing features. That's why I have used Iridient for four years now. For batch editing and quick auto-adjustments I use Photomator.
Maybe I'll give a try for Capture One. Black Friday is every year and there's a slight chance that there's a BF discount for perpetual license too..
