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(Page 1 of 3)  Capture One is a Phase One product, a converter digital raw images. Capture One is oriented on batch processing, which orientation is clearly seen in the program interface and the workflow. But let's go step by step through it.
Supported cameras and raw formats
Capture One's range of supported cameras is somewhat limited. The most represented brands is Canon with 15 cameras, then come Nicon, Konica Minolta, and Olympus. Finally Pentax, Fuji, Epson, and, naturally, Phase One have one or two cameras represented in the list. And such limits can defer many a user from Capture One. As for the destination file formats, Capture One allows the converted images to saved into .tiff or .jpeg file formats. When choosing .tiff you can specify the bit depth as well.
The original raw files are not modified by Capture One, you are saving their copies with all convertion settings and adjustments applied. An interesting feature of Capture One is the possibility of working with multiple versions of the same image simultaniously.
Tools
Capture One has the usual tools raw converters have, starting with White Balance and Exposure correction and finishing with zoom and crop functions.
What singles Capture One out is the option of working with tethered capture. It allows you to use the program for looking at camera settings, evaluating exposure (there’s a histogram), and adjusting white balance. This can be very convenient in many situations.
But the first thing I’m considering in any raw converter is the White balance. It works quite well in Capture One. You can use not only white but middle grays to set the white balance, and that’s extremely convenient. The program also evaluates the picked WB spot as suitable or not. Good ‘cause you don’t have to rely on your perception of the image only. The two small preview windows, accompanied by RGB values, show the source image and the proof of the future image with the settings you are choosing applied.
There’s an interesting Lens cast correction that can add a preset lens cast to the image. Capture one has a good choice of most popular cameras lens effects to compensate for.
Capture One offers also a originally designed Color Balance tool. The choice of colors is visualized – you are not moving gliders on separate bars but adjusting your color on a color circle. I found it convenient; you get the fill of it, somehow. The choice can be fine-tuned with Hue and Saturation bars to the right of the circle. The result can be an addition of a desired color tint as below:
The Exposure tab has some interesting controls in it.
First comes the Film mode. You can set different film effects – from linear and standard to extra shadow, and this effect will be simulated in the image.
Apart from the standard Exposure correction the tab has Contrast compensation and Color Saturation.
The tab also has both Curves and Levels working separately (toggle Preserve color balance). When you move your pointer around the image the preview window shows the place you are at and the there appears a corresponding point at a curve (in curves dialogue). Convenient enough as you can use that point for correcting color in the image. The original and resulted color values are again illustrated by small previews.
The Focus bar is not unusual in haveing two sections - sharpening adn noise.
There are two sharpening modes – Soft look and Standard. The difference between the two is clearly seen, especially in the dark parts of the image that become lighter. The effect is best visible (and should be used, I think) for high ISO images.
The Noise panel containes a Banding Suppression tool compensating for banding artifacts in an image. By increasing the banding suppression, slider noise is actually added to the image. This prevents banding from occurring on the monitor or printer.
Minimum Banding Suppression |
| Maximum Banding Suppression |
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The program's Color Noise Reduction works very well, the effect again visible in high ISO images the best.
No Color Noise Suppression |
| Medium Color Noise Suppression |
| Maximum Color Noise Suppression |
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Same can be said about Noise suppression.
| Maximum Noise Suppression |
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That’s pretty all about Capture One tools, as the majority of them is a standard set.
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