I've never been invested in Phase One products the way many here have. For me it's always been about the previous generation - pre-owned. But the innovation has flowed down to me and Capture One has always been an innovative pathway to RAW processing.
The beginning of the decline for me has been the endless stream of meaningless trivia which Phase One/Capture One visits my inbox daily. It's not useful, it's not meaningful and no I don't want to buy the style pack that will make all elderly women look 25 again - or whatever they want me to buy today to bolster their cashflow.
I subscribe to many manufacturers' email feeds. The _only_ one that spams me with endless, relentless trivia is Phase/Capture. Others respect my time, limit themselves and when they do email they tell me something useful to me or meaningful to me. Often, as is the case with Peak Design, it's not just about product but about their passion for a better environment in the future and what they are doing about it.
Then the further trivia - a major paid upgrade to Capture One 20. At best that was worthy of a dot release. The only thing that drove that release was a wish for cashflow. As a customer I just felt dudded.
This is probably a very unfortunate comparison but so be it: The thing missing for me above all else is authenticity, that is an authentic and connected picture of Phase/Capture that helps me understand where they are going and how that aligns with me. I get that it's all marketing, however the stark contrast is Fujifilm. They wear their direction, their hopes and their aspirations on their sleeves. Yes I know it's marketing, but it's more than that. I can put a name and a face to the person who leads the camera division, I know the name and a little about what drives the woman who designed my most recent purchase. They have a clear and open roadmap for things like lenses and they are open and communicative about setbacks, difficulties and changes.
The day the X-Pro 3 was released I was at Fujifilm Square in Tokyo Midtown. The guys behind the counter were mainly older salary men. But they were genuinely excited, passionate and proud about this new camera. At their age and stage of life they had every reason to be just going through the motions...they were not however and they conveyed their excitement and pride even given my limited Japanese and their limited English.
Phase however just seems to want to sell me another set of styles for my Grandmother's skin tones...
It's a little sad but very revealing how cynical this group has become about Phase One's ability to deliver something of interest or value. A year ago we would have shared a collective enthusiasm for something new and exciting. Today we scoff at the idea. I hope Phase One is paying attention to the attitudes of their (former?) customers, and I hope even more that they take it to heart.