Capture 7 vs Aperture - anyone use both?

[jonoslack]

Hi There
I notice the new Catalog feature in C1-7 - it seems that it might work rather like the DAM in Aperture (which I like so much).

Before wasting another 3 months trying out C1, I was wondering if anyone around here used both?

If so, how does the new Catalog feature work - is it possible to store versions etc. without having to create an output batch?

Currently not interested particularly in image quality comparisons - I'd rather look at that for myself, but not if the logistics is a no go!

all the best

 

[Ario Arioldi]

Jono, CO7 as a DAM has not (yet?) all the features Aperture has but, yes you can store variants inside the catalog without any need to output them as jpeg or TIFF, any editing is simply stored as metadata inside the catalog (which can be either managed or referenced, same as Aperture).

 

[David Grover / Phase One]

Hi Jono,

Variants (as we call versions) are a great feature in Capture One. You can learn more about them here...

Variants in Capture One Pro 7 | Phase One - YouTube

David

 

[David Grover / Phase One]

..and more about catalogs here...

Catalogs in Depth in Capture One Pro 7 | Phase One - YouTube

Working with referenced images in Capture One Pro 7 | Phase One - YouTube

Offline Browsing in Capture One Pro 7 | Phase One - YouTube

 

[MGrayson]

Jono,

I use Aperture and C1v7. 30,000 photos in my Aperture Library, and about 1,000 in C1v7 - both catalogs and sessions. I *think* I will move over to C1 for cataloging, but some bugs in 7.0 (now fixed) left me a bit shy. As it stands now, anything I shoot with the Phase back goes straight into C1. iPhone pics go to Aperture, and the poor OM-D gets randomly assigned to either depending on how I'm feeling that day.

Printing is still better (for me) from LR, but I haven't really tried to print from C1v7 yet. The processing from C1v7 is stunningly good. Aperture has a lot of catching up to do!

Best,

Matt

 

[jonoslack]

Matt, David, Ario
Thank you for coming back on this one. I can see that I ought to have a look - I'll also check my upgrade status (I've certainly owned it in the past, but I'm not sure which version!.
All the best
Jono

 

[Ario Arioldi]

Hi Jono,

Variants (as we call versions) are a great feature in Capture One. You can learn more about them here...

Variants in Capture One Pro 7 | Phase One - YouTube

David

David, I would like to store different variants into different collections but when I place a variant into a specific album all the other variants of the same image follow. Typically I have one or more color variants and one or more B&W variants of the same image which I would like to keep in separate collections.
Is there any way to do that?

 

[Amin]

I was just about to ask a very similar question and see that Jono has asked it!

I'm facing a real dilemma, which is that I've been using Lightroom for a while now and feel like I have a pretty good handle on it, yet with very little doubt I can see that my C1 Pro trial is giving me better results than Lightroom. I don't want to change everything up, but it's the results which count!

 

[hcubell]

I was just about to ask a very similar question and see that Jono has asked it!

I'm facing a real dilemma, which is that I've been using Lightroom for a while now and feel like I have a pretty good handle on it, yet with very little doubt I can see that my C1 Pro trial is giving me better results than Lightroom. I don't want to change everything up, but it's the results which count!

Wouldn't it be nice if you could continue to use LR as your DAM and use C1 7 to process images in your LR Catalog without being forced to use C1 7 in Catalog or Sessions mode? There are many of us who would gladly pay for C1 7 if it provided a third mode of usage where you just point to a raw file in your existing folder structure and process the image using the C1 7 processing engine and tools. Why does Phase refuse to offer that? How complicated can it be to offer it? Phase really needs to develop a seamless way to integrate C1 into LR. The world of digital imaging is no longer made up primarily of Digital Techs.

 

[dougpeterson]

Wouldn't it be nice if you could continue to use LR as your DAM and use C1 7 to process images in your LR Catalog without being forced to use C1 7 in Catalog or Sessions mode? There are many of us who would gladly pay for C1 7 if it provided a third mode of usage where you just point to a raw file in your existing folder structure and process the image using the C1 7 processing engine and tools. Why does Phase refuse to offer that? How complicated can it be to offer it? Phase really needs to develop a seamless way to integrate C1 into LR. The world of digital imaging is no longer made up primarily of Digital Techs.

You can.

1. Start a session, call it "I-hate-sessions"
2. Set your default process recipe to process the images to the "image folder"
3. Browse freely, process freely
4. Every few months delete that session and start a new one with a similar (but different) name.

Or use C1 cataloging and drop LR.

 

[ustein]

>that my C1 Pro trial is giving me better results than Lightroom. I don't want to change everything up, but it's the results which count!

My main organizer is LR. If I feel that C1 is doing a better job I use C1, save to TIFF/JPEG and import to LR. Then do the rest in LR. No problem for me.

 

[hcubell]

You can.

1. Start a session, call it "I-hate-sessions"
2. Set your default process recipe to process the images to the "image folder"
3. Browse freely, process freely
4. Every few months delete that session and start a new one with a similar (but different) name.

Or use C1 cataloging and drop LR.

When I start a new Session, the Import dialogue box pops up and there is no way to import the files in an existing Folder into the Session without creating a new Folder and importing all of the same images into that new Folder. What am I missing? Why can't I just point to a file in my existing Folders of images that I want to want to work on and just work on it in C1 and then output it as a TIFF to the same Folder where my raw files are stored?

 

[thomas]

Why can't I just point to a file in my existing Folders of images that I want to want to work on and just work on it in C1 and then output it as a TIFF to the same Folder where my raw files are stored?

you can. As the respective captures are already in a folder on your system you don't have to "import" them into your session (this would create copies of the actual RAW files)*. So you don't need the import tool. Close it, simply click on Capture One's Library tool tab and browse your respective folder in the System Folders tab (where all your drives and folders should appear in a list similar to Mac's "Finder" or Windows' "Explorer").

You can (but you don't have to) make the selected folder a session favorite (right click on the folder->select "add to favorites"). The folder will then appear in C1's Library in the Session Favorites tab (so you don't have to spot the folder again when you re-open the session).

_________________

* when you are working with a catalog the import tool behaves a bit different as in a session: here you can use the import tool and select ""current location" in the "import to" tab. If you do so the catalog will work with referenced captures.

 

[jonoslack]

Thanks everyone - Amin, Ario - it seems like some of us would contemplate a move, as long as it didn't have too much impact on workflow

Use - processing in C1 and importing to LR/Aperture is feasible, but much too long winded for anything more than a small session (for me at least). I'd much rather work within one program.

Doug / Thomas - thanks for the helpful suggestions. I can see I'm going to have to spend some more time with catalog - my demands aren't huge . . . but I don't want to be stepping backwards either.

Can you setup Capture one to shell out to Silver efex pro2 (for instance) from within the catalogue?

all the best

 

[cam]

Doug, David, and anyone else affiliated with Capture One, please hear my plea: make it work with the Monochrom! pretty please with a cherry on top?

 

[hcubell]

you can. As the respective captures are already in a folder on your system you don't have to "import" them into your session (this would create copies of the actual RAW files)*. So you don't need the import tool. Close it, simply click on Capture One's Library tool tab and browse your respective folder in the System Folders tab (where all your drives and folders should appear in a list similar to Mac's "Finder" or Windows' "Explorer").

You can (but you don't have to) make the selected folder a session favorite (right click on the folder->select "add to favorites"). The folder will then appear in C1's Library in the Session Favorites tab (so you don't have to spot the folder again when you re-open the session).

_________________
* when you are working with a catalog the import tool behaves a bit different as in a session: here you can use the import tool and select ""current location" in the "import to" tab. If you do so the catalog will work with referenced captures.

Thanks for the responses. Two remaining questions. First, if changes are made to a file that is in a Folder referenced in LR but the image has NOT been imported into the Session Folder created, what happens to those changes? If you are finished with the C1 processing, you can output the file as a TIFF from C1. LR will not, however, be aware of it, right? What happens to the C1 changes if you are not done in C1 but you want to close out of C1?
Second, how can I keep track in my DAM (ie, LR)of which images I have worked on in C1. I guess if I output it as a TIFF to the original Folder in LR where the image resides, I can title the file in a way that identifies it as a file that went through C1 fro raw processing. With a file that not been finished and exported as a TIFF, I am unsure of how to flag that in LR. A loud alarm going off in LR would work I suppose!

 

[Maggie O]

Can you setup Capture one to shell out to Silver efex pro2 (for instance) from within the catalogue?

all the best

Let me second that, especially for Aperture, since that's what I currently use, along with Silver Efex Pro 2 and PS as editing plug-ins.

 

[Ario Arioldi]

Yes Jono I am seriously considering the idea to move everything to CO7 but still the are many functions I have with LR 4 and Aperture which are missing in CO7 or not yet implemented in the way I would like to see: a few among others are the possibility to export to photo publishing services such as SmugSmug or Flickr directly from the catalog, printing directly from the catalog, round trip from the catalog to external editors, freedom to save different versions in different albums.
So for the time being I am running CO7 in parallel with LR4 waiting to see how Capture One will evolve.

 

[David Grover / Phase One]

Let me second that, especially for Aperture, since that's what I currently use, along with Silver Efex Pro 2 and PS as editing plug-ins.

Have you tried producing B/W from Capture One Pro 7?

 

[David Grover / Phase One]

Yes Jono I am seriously considering the idea to move everything to CO7 but still the are many functions I have with LR 4 and Aperture which are missing in CO7 or not yet implemented in the way I would like to see: a few among others are the possibility to export to photo publishing services such as SmugSmug or Flickr directly from the catalog, printing directly from the catalog, round trip from the catalog to external editors, freedom to save different versions in different albums.
So for the time being I am running CO7 in parallel with LR4 waiting to see how Capture One will evolve.

Regarding different versions in different albums...

Have you explored variants in Capture One, for starters?