...ON THE SUBJECT OF QUALITY: CAPTURE 1!

[JohnWright]

Further to my last rant...

If any of you are trying to squeeze every last ounce of 'quality' out of your D2X I can recommend Phase One's CAPTURE 1 software. As a former SLR/N user, this software was unavailable to me. Now having trialed it for a while I process all of my raw files through it. The improvements in image quality straight into CS2 are considerable if not remarkable. For ease of use it kicks ACR's [BAD WORD DELETED].

In terms of improvement, think jpeg to raw, it really is that good. It's expensive but definitely delivers value. I'm so sold on it that I will seriously consider not buying cameras (i.e medium format backs) whose files are not compatible with it in future.

If like me you're chasing image quality, don't hesitate, go and get it.

John Wright

http://www.amarang.com

[bartdepuij]

[ QUOTE ]
Further to my last rant...

If any of you are trying to squeeze every last ounce of 'quality' out of your D2X I can recommend Phase One's CAPTURE 1 software. As a former SLR/N user, this software was unavailable to me. Now having trialed it for a while I process all of my raw files through it. The improvements in image quality straight into CS2 are considerable if not remarkable. For ease of use it kicks ACR's [BAD WORD DELETED].

In terms of improvement, think jpeg to raw, it really is that good. It's expensive but definitely delivers value. I'm so sold on it that I will seriously consider not buying cameras (i.e medium format backs) whose files are not compatible with it in future.

If like me you're chasing image quality, don't hesitate, go and get it.

John Wright

http://www.amarang.com

[/ QUOTE ]
OK John, now show me the files to let me see the considerable if not remarkable difference. Personally I'm not getting used to the Capture One workflow. I hear it's good, but Nikon Capture as well as PS CS2 have much more intuitive interfaces to me.
Thanks in advance,
Bart

[Gerry_Walden]

I was using ACR, tried Bibble, switched to Nikon Capture but I am now with Capture One and I must agree that it is very good indeed, and pretty quick to use. I am not impressed with their support (simply failed to answer my queries) but fortunately others on line have been very helpful. Personally I found it a very good buy for the LE version, even though I object to paying 25% VAT (sales tax) when the VAT here in the UK is only 17.5%!

Gerry

Post deleted by Mike_Sturk

[JoeRougraff]

My understanding is that Capture 1 still does not support the white balance encryption present in D2X files. What has been your experience in converting raw files in Capture 1? While I hate Nikon Capture, it seems to be the only alternative to get the best white balance conversion. Bible has numerous issues noted on their discussion board and CS doesn't seem to convert the files as well as Nikon Capture.

[TroyMiller]

Well I might as well drop an opinion as well. Im my testing Capture 1 was the worst of 3. NC ACR C1 and Bibble. Nikon Capture is still the only softeware to get the color info correct. Slow it might be, but you can hardly deny the quality of results. ACR is very under rated because people do not take the time to learn how to use it. It is much faster than NC and alot more flexible the C1, not to mentin that C1 is WAY over priced for what it offers. Bibble, it has some fantastic features but as far as the D2x goes.....its not in the runnning. I would suggest to anyone who is caught up in this debate to test it for yourself. Actually give it some serious time. I have settled on using both NC and ACR until ACR can read color info. Nothing gets those skin tones just right like NC. I process several thousand images a month. I gave each one a month. Man did I learn alot about workflow.

Now consider. I am very very picky and perfect is just good enough. I see alot I dont like that others might find acceptable. So considering your style of images and quality level you are shooting for makes a big difference in workflow and programs used.

TEST TEST TEST TEST ..... and dont just take anyone elses word for it!

Best to All......

Troy

[Normand_Lepine]

Troy:

Although on a scale of 1 to 10 I would give 9.8 to CaptureOne for quality, I will agree with you on one major point: it's "WAY over priced". And, AND their licensing/activating scheme is unacceptable. [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

I'm in the process of going from a G4 (where C1 is now installed) to a Dual G5 Tower and would also like to install C1 on my PowerBook. That's 3 computers, exceeding the limit of 2 activations, for a while at least. Of course, I would remove/deactivate C1 on the old G4. But how do you work this out? In such a case, PhaseOne says you have to open a "support ticket" on their (slow) website and explain the situation. Geez. I really don't know how to formulate my situation. Do I have to give them the brand name, the serial number, the IP and the color of my 3 computers?... [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

AND - beware! - that if you are updating your C1 activation setup on your computer(s) during a week-end, PhaseOne is indeed closed and there is nobody attending the servers. (I know this because I could not activate my first purchase of C1 during a whole week-end because the activation server was down. There was nobody attending the server - yep. Can you believe this? That's what I was told on the following Monday, after I wrote all over the Planet to yell how mad I was to have spent sooo much money. So, pray that all systems in Denmark are up and running before you change your activation setup during a week-end. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

I understand their paranoia about hackers and dishonest users. I have suggested to them - on their CaptureOne user-to-user forum - that they should adopt something similar to the new Adobe activation system.