Choosing a Lightroom alternative
Back in 2017 I upgraded my Lightroom for the last time, essentially this was a decision not to move to Adobe's subscription model, along with various miscellaneous grumbles about the quality of the application. At that time I planned to just keep running the old version of Lightroom and keep my options open. However a year on from that I found that my Lightroom Map module had stopped working (https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/kb/map-view-no-longer-supported.html) and this prompted me to give the question of switching raw processing engine a fresh look. The map module issue was a simple one, the Google Maps API had changed and Adobe decided they would only fix this on their latest products. In itself this is not a massive issue for me, it's something I could live without but when and what else will stop working with my version 6 Lightroom, dating back to 2015, as my Windows 10 environment has regular ongoing changes and updates?
So what raw convertor could I switch to? I'm looking for a main stream, industry wide, application, with functionality comparative to Lightroom in all the key areas, that will support my range of cameras and that can be purchased as a perpetual license. Lightroom's main rival is Capture One. There are numerous articles available comparing the products head to head but many of them seem to have elements of bias, inaccuracies or be based on non-current versions. One of the better and more balanced articles I found was "Lightroom vs Capture One: Should You Switch?".
There isn't a single product that is excellent at everything so it's a question of which areas of functionality matter most, for me it looks like C1 would be very strong in it's colour control while it's good layer support is also very appealing. C1 allows the curve control to be pulled out and expanded, this would make it much easier to edit compared with LR, curves being particularly important when preparing digital negatives for alternative processes (e.g. Cyanotype, Pt/Pd etc).
A full list of C1 functions can be found at https://www.phaseone.com/en/Capture-One/Features/Feature-Comparison.aspx.
A quick check reveals that my desktop machine easily meets the recommended specs required to run C1 and my laptop meets the minimum specs:
https://www.phaseone.com/Search/Article.aspx?articleid=2201
I also needed to check that C1 supports the raw files from my different camera brands, currently Canon, Fuji and Olympus. This check needs to include both current and previous camera models so that all my historic raw files can be supported, looks like for me all the relevant models are on the list:
https://www.phaseone.com/en/Capture-One/Supported-Cameras.aspx
There is a slight BUT here though on camera support. In addition to current cameras it's worth also thinking about future cameras with a caution that C1 does not provide much medium format support beyond their own (very expensive) Phase One models. There seems a recent softening on this as support for the Fuji GFX 50S and 50R has been added to C1 but there's still no support for something like Hasselblad's mirrorless X1D (which comes with it's own Phocus software) or support for more established MF cameras like the Pentax 645Z. Medium format is currently beyond my budget but it does leave a small doubt for the future if support for some of these models is not added.
It's also worth a specific note on Fuji as the cameras I have use X-trans sensors which do not have a standard Bayer filter (https://thepenguin.eu/2018-09-28-fuji-cameras-x-trans-sensors-and-post-processing/). Lightroom has been notoriously poor with X-Trans based raw files while alternatives such as DxO PhotoLab don't support X-trans at all. In contrast Phase One have worked closely with Fuji to ensure that C1 handles these files well and offers all the associated film simulations.
There are some functional gaps in C1 which I can have workarounds for. For merging photos, either to create a stitched panorama or with multiple exposures of the same image to give an HDR effect there are numerous packages available. In my case I can use Photoshop Elements which I already have, this gives me numerous Photomerge options including Photomerge Pano and Photomerge Exposure. I also have an old version of HDR Efex Pro.
C1 supports geotagging in metadata but for a nice map based interface I would need an additional tool. An example might be something like GeoSetter (https://www.geosetter.de/en/main-en/).
There are some functional gaps in C1 which I may not have immediate workarounds for. For example C1 supports proofing but does not have an explicit out-of-gamut warning (one of the things LR did quite well).
In preparation for switching over I've been able to view numerous C1 tutorials, these can be found on the YouTube Capture One Pro channel.
A note on pricing:
Adobe Lightroom CC Plan is £10 per month. Upgrades included but application stops if subscription stops. A C1 Pro 12 perpetual license is £300 (3 seats).
So projecting forward, if we assume C1 has a major upgrade annually at £150, but only alternate upgrades are purchased then C1 costs £150 every two years while LR costs £240 every two years. The table below shows how this looks and reveals that once over the initial purchase, from year 4 onwards C1P could work out cheaper.
The next stage will be to download a trial version of Capture One Pro which I can then start to evaluate in a hands on capacity. C1 has the ability to import Lightroom catalogs so this eases the transition (though not all processing details can be carried across). If the trial goes well I can simply purchase a license and stay with it.
The mechanics of the transition, including installation, catalog imports, styles & presets etc will be the subject of a follow up blog post. I'll need to review C1s black & white abilities and decide if I should continue with NIK Silver Efex, another bit of old software, the latest incarnation is now part of the offerings from DxO (https://nikcollection.dxo.com/).
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| LR 6.13 Map Module |
So what raw convertor could I switch to? I'm looking for a main stream, industry wide, application, with functionality comparative to Lightroom in all the key areas, that will support my range of cameras and that can be purchased as a perpetual license. Lightroom's main rival is Capture One. There are numerous articles available comparing the products head to head but many of them seem to have elements of bias, inaccuracies or be based on non-current versions. One of the better and more balanced articles I found was "Lightroom vs Capture One: Should You Switch?".
There isn't a single product that is excellent at everything so it's a question of which areas of functionality matter most, for me it looks like C1 would be very strong in it's colour control while it's good layer support is also very appealing. C1 allows the curve control to be pulled out and expanded, this would make it much easier to edit compared with LR, curves being particularly important when preparing digital negatives for alternative processes (e.g. Cyanotype, Pt/Pd etc).
A full list of C1 functions can be found at https://www.phaseone.com/en/Capture-One/Features/Feature-Comparison.aspx.
A quick check reveals that my desktop machine easily meets the recommended specs required to run C1 and my laptop meets the minimum specs:
https://www.phaseone.com/Search/Article.aspx?articleid=2201
I also needed to check that C1 supports the raw files from my different camera brands, currently Canon, Fuji and Olympus. This check needs to include both current and previous camera models so that all my historic raw files can be supported, looks like for me all the relevant models are on the list:
https://www.phaseone.com/en/Capture-One/Supported-Cameras.aspx
There is a slight BUT here though on camera support. In addition to current cameras it's worth also thinking about future cameras with a caution that C1 does not provide much medium format support beyond their own (very expensive) Phase One models. There seems a recent softening on this as support for the Fuji GFX 50S and 50R has been added to C1 but there's still no support for something like Hasselblad's mirrorless X1D (which comes with it's own Phocus software) or support for more established MF cameras like the Pentax 645Z. Medium format is currently beyond my budget but it does leave a small doubt for the future if support for some of these models is not added.
It's also worth a specific note on Fuji as the cameras I have use X-trans sensors which do not have a standard Bayer filter (https://thepenguin.eu/2018-09-28-fuji-cameras-x-trans-sensors-and-post-processing/). Lightroom has been notoriously poor with X-Trans based raw files while alternatives such as DxO PhotoLab don't support X-trans at all. In contrast Phase One have worked closely with Fuji to ensure that C1 handles these files well and offers all the associated film simulations.
There are some functional gaps in C1 which I can have workarounds for. For merging photos, either to create a stitched panorama or with multiple exposures of the same image to give an HDR effect there are numerous packages available. In my case I can use Photoshop Elements which I already have, this gives me numerous Photomerge options including Photomerge Pano and Photomerge Exposure. I also have an old version of HDR Efex Pro.
 |
| Photoshop Elements Photomerge tools |
C1 supports geotagging in metadata but for a nice map based interface I would need an additional tool. An example might be something like GeoSetter (https://www.geosetter.de/en/main-en/).
There are some functional gaps in C1 which I may not have immediate workarounds for. For example C1 supports proofing but does not have an explicit out-of-gamut warning (one of the things LR did quite well).
In preparation for switching over I've been able to view numerous C1 tutorials, these can be found on the YouTube Capture One Pro channel.
A note on pricing:
Adobe Lightroom CC Plan is £10 per month. Upgrades included but application stops if subscription stops. A C1 Pro 12 perpetual license is £300 (3 seats).
So projecting forward, if we assume C1 has a major upgrade annually at £150, but only alternate upgrades are purchased then C1 costs £150 every two years while LR costs £240 every two years. The table below shows how this looks and reveals that once over the initial purchase, from year 4 onwards C1P could work out cheaper.
The next stage will be to download a trial version of Capture One Pro which I can then start to evaluate in a hands on capacity. C1 has the ability to import Lightroom catalogs so this eases the transition (though not all processing details can be carried across). If the trial goes well I can simply purchase a license and stay with it.
The mechanics of the transition, including installation, catalog imports, styles & presets etc will be the subject of a follow up blog post. I'll need to review C1s black & white abilities and decide if I should continue with NIK Silver Efex, another bit of old software, the latest incarnation is now part of the offerings from DxO (https://nikcollection.dxo.com/).
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