Aperture, Lightroom...Capture One! Finally the Odyssee ends.
It's been a while since I posted something on my blog. I needed a little break from photography and time to reflect last year!
I have been on the road for more than 6 months lately. It was an exciting and fantastic year! I got a contract with a press agency, shot at the Olympics in London, the US-elections and switched my gear from Leica M to Fuji X-100 & Fuji X-Pro1.
The x-Pro 1 is not a Leica - honestly I miss my Leica from time to time - but the xPro is a trusty partner in nearly all situations. But there is one thing that I don't like with the x-Pro - working with the RAW files!
I used to work with Aperture. But till now they don't support the RAW files of the x-series of Fuji. I hope that this will change with the upcoming Aperture X ! There are so many rumors with Apple releasing the new Aperture X - but I finally came to the point that I am not willing to wait anymore!
With the x-series, I switched from Aperture to Lightroom. I have never been a huge fan of Lightroom - I never liked the interface - but with every software there are pro's and con's. So I tried to make the best of the situation to get along. I have to admit - I have never spend so much time editing my files! Till now, after hours of editing I still don't get the look I want with Lightroom. It really sucks, cause usually I uploaded my Leica DNG files, edited a bit the curves and that was it.
You can imagine that I was very excited when Capture One announced the support of the x-files! I downloaded the trial version and I tested C1 for a few weeks. All I have to say - it is such a relief! The RAF files are looking great! The colors, the details & skin tones of the pictures look amazing!
Here is a comparison of 2 random shots from Venice Beach last year. RAF files straight out of the camera - not editing at all.
Fuji X-Pro Lightroom 4.4 vs. Capture One 7
Fuji X-Pro Lightroom 4.4 vs. Capture One
In my opinion the Capture One files look much better - there are more details, the colors look nicer and the picture don't look flat as in Lightroom.
I also checked a jpeg file in Lightroom, Aperture & Capture One of my new Nikon D600. Here a shot straight out of the camera of our foster dog, Mr. Bootsmann.
Nikon 600 Lightroom, Aperture, Capture One
The jpegs look great in Capture One, but I have to admit, that I do like the Aperture file a bit more.
So finally after months and weeks I came to the decision that I will work with Capture one & Aperture! Capture One - because of the fantastic RAW Converter & Aperture for the interface, the file managing and the plug-In's (VSCO, Nik Software) I use.
I know that Capture One is not cheap at all and again I have to get used to another software - but at the end of the day I want to achieve the best result for a picture within a minimum of time. I know it will take a bit of time to get used to Capture One - but there are fantastic Online Tutorials on youTube and everything looks pretty easy so far. I also like that u can switch the interface & tools the way you prefer it.
For me - my Odyssee has ended and I feel pretty good with my decision. I hope I could help some of you who are in a similar position but at the end of the day it is a personal question of the preferred look and feel!
