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Eight major reasons to choose Capture One as your RAW converter

I’m often asked at events why a customer should choose Capture One as their application of choice for working with their images. In this blog post I will give you the major reasons.

Traditionally, our customers have chosen to use Capture One due to the quality of RAW conversion. Capture One 7 can deliver great out-of-the-box results in terms of pleasing natural looking colours, fine detail and low noise. Since the introduction of version 7, Capture One has taken a quantum leap in this aspect and even more features have been added allowing you to achieve even better results from you RAW files.

Capture One 7 also offer a wealth of professional tools to enable you to capture tethered, use Live View as you are used to on your DSLR, all in a completely customizable interface.

I was inspired to write this post by Doug Peterson from one of our US Partners,
Digital Transitions, as he had posted something similar on a photographic forum.

Capture One RAW conversion

You may have read in earlier blog posts about the new conversion engine in Capture One 7. Even before version 7 was released, customers chose to use Capture One, as they knew it would deliver the best image quality from their RAW files. To stay ahead of the competition the processing engine was completely revised and still delivers what our customers need: Ultimate image quality out-of-the-box.

The question of “Good Color” can often be subjective, but we believe that enough of our customers are convinced to be able to state this confidently. Especially when it comes to skin tones and saturated colors and highlight transitions.

Noise Reduction

Currently Capture One supports over 300 different camera models. Each camera supported has had a specific ICC profile built for it and is also carefully tested to determine the best noise reduction parameters for the full range of ISO settings. Even though the settings in the Noise Reduction Tool are set to 50 and 50 for all cameras, the ‘under-the-hood’ reduction differs for each camera and ISO setting.

At the respective settings of 50, we have made the best compromise between preserving detail and reducing noise. If you prefer a different look you can adjust accordingly.

We also try to remove as much noise as possible and not just ‘shape’ the noise. If you prefer a natural film grain look then you can add this in the Noise Reduction Advanced Tool (Capture One Pro only).

Professional Tools

A lot of our customers only use Capture One for tethering – i.e. capturing directly to Capture One. Capture One 7 has a number of tethering features that make it an obvious choice.

Plug and Play. Simply connect your DSLR and start capturing.

Live View. If your discipline is capturing still life and advertising shots, then being able to compose with Live View is a real time saver. The quality is extremely high with a fast frame rate. Additionally you can adjust the focus of the lens electronically with three degrees of coarseness. This aids composition and really ensures the focus point is exactly where you want it.

The Overlay function allows you to impose another image on top of the Viewer window. This could be a layout to ensure you are fitting within the requirements of the shoot, for example a magazine cover.

Capture Pilot is our iOS application that allows you to view and rate images, plus remote control your camera from your Apple iDevice. If you don’t have access to an Apple product you can also use any web enabled device, but with slighty less functionality.

Other professional tools include the Focus Mask, which reduces time on initial edits. If you are used to focus peaking on video cameras then the result is similar. The mask shows on the Viewer and Thumbnails indicating the sharpest areas of the image.

To check focus in general, use the fixed focus window to keep an eye on sharpness. This is especially useful in Portrait and high volume product photography. Read more on tethered photography here

Adjustment Tools

Capture One 7 has a number of feature rich adjustment tools to give you the creative look you desire. There are too many to mention in a simple blog post! I will use the Color Editor Tool as an example.

This tool allows you to really nail down particular colors (even down to the saturation of that color) and make finite adjustments. There is the possibility to make up to thirty different corrections and also save these as an ICC profile or Preset for future use.

It is our opinion that far more precise color edits can be made with this method of first selecting a color and then applying changes to that color, represented with a color circle, as opposed to using arbitrary sliders used in other applications.

Tools for Production

We understand that outputting final images to a number of different formats and sizing is often necessary. For example, a high resolution TIFF and a lower resolution JPEG for web/email. In Capture One 7 you can setup a number of “Recipes”, which can be enabled with a single click and then “start a process action”. This prevents you from having to enter an output dialog box multiple times to produce multiple file formats. Actions can also be set for MetaData, Adjustments and Water Marking.

Asset Management

Capture One 7 introduced Asset Management for the first time. While the concept of Catalogs is not new, we wanted to create a catalog system that had broad appeal and removed some of the limitations of other solutions available. For example, you can work with multiple Catalogs and more than one at the same time. Therefore you can choose to store your work in one or several Catalogs with no limitations.

With Catalogs we introduced the world to the concept of adjustable previews, enabling users to edit and work with their images, without having direct access to their raw files. This has proved to be an extremely valuable feature, making it possible to edit on the go while leaving the raw files on the hard drive or NAS in the studio.

We used our experience with Media Pro to make search and filtering fast and efficient with a simple interface, while implementing several organisational tools to make your Catalog efficient and well structured for easy cataloguing and retrieval. We can also import your catalogs from other applications to help you get started with Capture One.

Customization

Capture One 7 comes with a number of default workspaces, which you can choose as your starting point. Moving on from here you can change the location of the Tools and Thumbnails, decide what tools appear in which tool tab, create floating tools and more. You really can design an interface that works for you.

Also, think about designing workspaces for specific tasks to help increase production.

As well as customizing the interface, all of the shortcut key actions can be changed to your own preferences, helping you optimize your workflow.

Support

Finally, we have a number of ways to support and help you with Capture One, including an support department staffed with highly proficient technicians and photographers with years of experience between them, normally answering within hours and not days.

help.phaseone.com is a complete searchable manual for Capture One complemented by our YouTube channel (PhaseOneDK) which has over thirty videos on working with Capture One.

Our interactive Webinar program covers many aspects of working with Capture One.
Find out new dates here

Also, don’t forget this blog!

If you have yet to take Capture One Pro 7 for a spin, then download the 60 days free trial today

Best regards,

David

Create multiple looks on the same image in seconds

“We’re not sure exactly what we want. We were thinking maybe black & white or super saturated colour. Can we see a few different examples?”.

Have you ever heard these words from a client on (or after) a shoot? I have, more times then I can remember. I usually reply with a very relaxed ‘sure’ we can supply low res images in a variety of colour treatments.

How can we be so relaxed when the client is asking for what appears to be much more work? (They don’t like to pay for this stuff usually).

The answer lies in ‘VARIANTS’. This is Captures Ones magic sauce that makes multiple looks on the same image easier then cooking pot noodles. Just being able to see 2-3 examples of the same image side by side with different treatments is a very powerful production tool.

Check out this little tutorial below to see how you too can easily master Variants.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVX1UPpUMoA&w=590&h=443

Thank you,

Adrian

Get picture-perfect portraits with Exposure Warnings

The default warning level is set to warn the user when highlight details exceed an RGB value of 250. If just one of the Red, Green or Blue channels exceeds the warning level setting, then this pixel will be painted with the warning color (set in Preferences).

Optimize different skin tones
Via the Capture One Preferences you can customize the warning levels. Set, for instance, the highlight warning level to a value of 230 and you can use the tool for optimizing portraits of people with light skin tones. Darker skin tone types need a little lower warning level.

With the highlight warning set to warn for over-exposed skin tones, it is very easy to optimize a selection of portraits via the Exposure or Levels Tool.

Above are three different versions of the same image. The left image shows the RAW file as it was taken, it is just slightly under-exposed.

The center image shows the Exposure Warning Tool set to warn of areas exceeding an RGB value of 230. The Exposure Tool has then been used to adjust the exposure of the image so the light reflections in the cheek just shows a small area exceeding the 230 setting.

The image on the right is the final adjusted version of the photo, now without the highlight warnings turned on.

Setting up Exposure Warnings levels
Start to setup the Exposure Warnings levels from the Preference menu.

Under the Exposure tab in the preference menu you can set the Exposure Warning level for highlights. For the cameras I normally shoot with I find that 230 works very well for the light, Nordic skin, tone types.

No universal warning level for all cameras
Different camera manufactures have quite different ideas about what a good tone curve is and how much of the cameras dynamic range should be reserved for a smooth roll-off into clipped highlights. Even though Capture One 7 uses the default Film Curve “Film Standard”, these curves are individually optimized for each camera model and take the dynamic range “roll-off zone” into account.

Some manufacturers retain their roll-off strategy between camera models but others change strategy quite often and will therefore need different optimized Film Curves. As such, there isn’t a universal warning level that works for all cameras. You will need to do a little experimentation with you own gear and lighting style to find the best warning level (setting).

Adjusting the portraits
Skin tones are typically more difficult to adjust than adjusting product shots and Landscape images. You can very easily make skin tones look unnatural.

I normally adjust color portraits mainly with the Exposure Tool and with a little highlight recovery in the High Dynamic Range tool. When doing so you adjust the tone curve very gently, which gives very nice tone transitions into the shadows and highlights.

For Landscape and Product images I often use the shadow slider in the Levels Tool. With color portrait images, however, this can lead to very unpleasant skin tone transitions into the deep shadows. When editing portraits it is better to use the contrast slider in the Exposure Tool.

Let’s go back to the example above.

With the highlight warning turned on I will increase the exposure, either by dragging the Exposure slider or the Brightness slider, until I see the Exposure Warning show up on the model.

To turn the Exposure Warning feature Off or On, click the icon with the warning triangle (!) seen at the upper right corner of the screen shot above, or the more convenient shortcut cmd+e/ctrl+e.

As a final step I will use the highlight slider in the High Dynamic Range Tool to minimize the areas exceeding the warning levels. This also helps to ensure that we do not lose details in the very bright dress.

Using the exposure warnings feature in Capture One 7, as described with special warning levels optimized for portraits, makes it very easy to adjust a large number of portraits to an even standard.

All the best,

Niels

How to get your architecture shots just right

If you are an architectural or interior photographer using a technical camera, the LCC Tool in Capture One 7 is a tool you wouldn’t want to miss.

LCC is an acronym for Lens Cast Correction and this tool will help you correct common issues that arise when using wide angle lenses and movements on these types of cameras. In fact, users of any camera may benefit from this tool too.

Fixes color casts and uneven exposure swiftly

There are many kinds of technical cameras available particularly suited to architectural and interior photography.

Lenses for technical cameras are typically designed as non retro focus lenses, which means that they behave according to the classical lens equation. This equation says that if you for instance have a 35mm lens and you focus at infinity then the distance between the lens and the sensor will be 35mm, which is actually very close the sensor. If you also use movements then the light exposing the sensor will be arriving at an extreme angle . This can cause color casts and uneven exposure across the whole image.

An LCC file can be used to swiftly correct this, along with the additional bonus of detecting and removing dust spots in the image. The dust removal feature can be applied to any kind of camera, not just technical cameras.

The only additional piece of equipment you need is a semi opaque piece of perspex, available from most photographic outlets. The opaque filter allows for some light to enter through the lens, while still providing a uniform surface accentuating the image created by only what happens when light passes through the lens.

How to create LCC files

Creating and applying LCC files is a simple process and does not require much time, especially as they can be created and applied as a batch in Capture One Pro 7.

Out in the field, remember to capture a LCC reference image with the same conditions as the capture you wish to correct. I.e, don’t change any settings on the camera with respect to movements, position or aperture. If you need to add a bit more exposure to prevent the LCC reference image being too dark, do so by increasing the shutter speed as opposed to changing the aperture.

Also try to keep the same order for capturing LCC reference images compared to the actual image as this makes batch correction much easier, for example:

Image – Image – Image – LCC reference image. Image Image – LCC reference image.

So, in this case I capture the actual images before capturing our LCC reference images under the same conditions.

Capturing an LCC reference image can look something like this. Note the kind of semi opaque filter the photographer is using.

Applying LCC files in Capture One 7

Before we can use the corrections to improve our images, we first have to create the LCC file. In Capture One 7 this process has been optimized so we now can calculate the LCC correction files and later apply them to the real images in a batch process. Below we have a sequence of captures and LCC reference images in Capture One 7. Note the uneven exposure and color casts on the LCC reference images.

In this case the photographer has chosen to capture his LCC reference image after the capture itself. If your captures have become out of sequence, manually sort them by dragging them into the right sequence.

Now, simply select all the LCC reference images, right-click on one of them, and
choose Create LCC. A small dialog box will appear at the top of the screen to set the parameters for the LCC correction.

The first check box includes dust removal information in the LCC file. This is very useful for correcting a large batch of images with the same dust spots. This option could be beneficial for any camera not just technical cameras!

The second option will create a better LCC file if you are using a very wide angle lens coupled with movements. If you are not sure if you need to check this box, then the safe option is to check it anyway. It does not mean that the LCC will be unsuitable; it just takes a little longer to create.

Capture One 7 will then proceed to analyze the LCC reference image. When the operation has completed, the LCC reference images will be marked with a LCC label at the top of the images.

You can already see that the color cast and exposure variations have been removed on all the LCC reference images. We now need to apply this correction to our real images captured under the same conditions. Now select all the images both the LCC reference images and the real images, right-click on one and choose Apply LCC. The following dialog box will appear.

Remember, you could have captured the LCC reference images after the images, just keep the format the same for a collection of images. Click Apply and the LCC correction will be applied.

Let’s look at the options in the LCC Tool (by default in the Lens tool tab) for a particular image.

In the LCC tool the “Profile” shows us the name of the LCC reference image we are using for the LCC correction. It is a simple matter of choosing which parameters of the LCC correction you wish to use – Color Cast correction, Dust Removal and Uniform Light.

When the Uniform Light correction is set at 100%, then all the lens introduced light variations will be evened out. Sometimes you will get a more photographic pleasing image if you only partly compensate for the light variation by selecting for instance 70 % Uniform Light.

Now the images are ready for further adjustments as you would normally do with images from a non technical camera.

If I place a cloned variant of the image next to the original you can see that the Dust Removal option is working well.

Now that we have checked the Dust Removal option you can see it has removed the dust spot that is visible on our original image, shown on the right in the orange circle. Again, this feature of the LCC Tool could be used for any camera, not just technical cameras.

As I have stated earlier on in this blog post, for the best results it’s best to capture the LCC reference image in exactly the same conditions as the image is to be captured. However, if you are unlucky enough to forget to do this, you could consider saving a library of LCC Presets. For example, each of your lenses at a variety of your common working apertures. You could include movements as well.

Simply save them as a Tool Preset.

If you have a stubborn dust spot on your sensor that you cannot remove by cleaning it or don’t want to risk it, then you can also consider including an LCC dust removal as part of a Capture One style applied on import or capture.

LCC reference images can be created and used in a Catalog or Session and are also cross compatible between Mac and PC.

Best regards,

David