Capture One has long been a much loved post processing tool for photographers, and since Aperture’s demise a strong alternative to the dominant player, Adobe’s Lightroom.
I have to admit, I’m still on my learning journey with Lightroom and it’s a really good program so I don’t have a lot of brain hard drive left to learn another tool at this time. But the introduction of Capture One specifically for Nikon has got my attention.
For those of us who use Nikon gear, this might be the best place to extract the maximum quality from our NEF files. When doing an assignment for Nikon, they would never allow images to be processed in anything but Nikon software, because Nikon engineers knew that their software would maximize the proprietary qualities in NEF files.
Enter Capture One For Nikon, developed after extensive testing at their headquarters in Copenhagen and released today. The Nikon profiles “are uniquely developed for each specific camera model, a process that requires the use of the camera in and out of a controlled lab in Copenhagen, where a team of specialists engage each new model in various scenarios” says the company.
They then evaluate performance parameters like color, sharpness, and noise across hundreds of images to tailor that profile, which included the mirrorless Z6 & 7 and the brand new Nikon D6. The software is available by subscription or license and you can try it free for 30 days by downloading it here. (there’s even a Lightroom Catalog Import Tool for an easy way to bring your current catalog to the new software).
I’m curious to hear from any Capture One users out there to get their take on the software, particularly the new Nikon version.
Hi Steve,
I have switched to Capture One 20 for Nikon from Lightroom (6.14) this year. The C1 raw engine is superb for my D500 images (even with just the generic profile). The adjustment sliders give very natural results. For example, adjusting contrast, shadows, exposure and/or midtone brightness with a slider looks great, and you still have the option of using curves if you need to.
There are adjustment layers built in and they make local adjustments very easy to do (brushing in the effect works really well).
I have adjusted to the way that C1 works with the files and now find that I prefer its collections and smart folders based on keywords and ratings to the way I used to do things in LR.
I didn’t import my LR adjustments – I took this as a chance to rethink the processing of my images. Remember, you can keep your LR Catalog along side your C1 catalog. Setting your preview image size so that they large enough for a full screen display is important (its easy to refresh the previews if necessary)
I bought a Mastin Labs Ilford Original B+W style pack – really good B+W conversions, though the style pack is not cheap. It encouraged me to experiment more with my own styles.
There is a lot more to C1 20 than I have covered here.
Michael