Lightroom or Capture One?
QI have mainly been using Photoshop Elements 15 and avoid manipulation of raw images, except in a few experimental cases. Recently, though, I have got much more into raw editing and have used Lightroom (LR) – standalone version – which I have found much easier to use than I first feared. I was contemplating upgrading to the Creative Cloud Photography Plan for Photoshop and LR, and then I read several online reports about Capture One Pro (COP). These imply that only an idiot would stick with LR and not swap to COP, although they all seem to be aimed at professionals. I could only find one which said LR and COP were comparable; the main difference being the default settings in each which can, of course, be adjusted. That was from an Adobe- oriented publication. The claimed advantages of COP seem to be better sharpness and colour rendition (but maybe changing from default settings could make LR as good). Other pluses mentioned are settings in COP not found in LR, better workflow management and better tethered working, although I can’t see the latter two being of interest to a mere enthusiast like me. COP is said to be less prone to crashing than LR but I have never had that problem. Downsides to COP seem to be price, inability to import LR libraries and a steep learning curve. I know you must be careful but please give me a steer – more than just ‘it all depends’. Robin Waldren
ABoth Lightroom and Capture One Pro are excellent software packages. The body of opinion is that Capture One has an edge in absolute image quality. This is rather subjective and very difficult to prove. Users of both packages are able to produce excellent results, so it’s not really a case of one is decidedly superior to the other. Having a preference is only natural. Some Capture One advocates simply can’t get on with the way Lightroom works and/or don’t like Adobe’s commercial philosophy. In Lightroom’s favour is its ability to integrate with Adobe’s growing family of tools – from smart device support to stock photo library services. You have tried Lightroom and if you want to be absolutely sure for yourself, you ought to try Capture One as well.