Switching from Capture One to Phocus for the X1D?

[sanvandur]

If the Hasselblad X1D is as good as the specs indicate, it will be as close to ideal for my work. Lightweight, small, medium format, leaf shutter, weather sealed, etc. I love my Phase One DF/P30+ kit, but it's bulky, heavy, not weather proofed. I've been a very satisfied Capture One user for many years. It's a huge part of my workflow. So much, that I hardly use Photoshop at all anymore. The X1D is VERY tempting, but from what I've seen of Hasselblad's Phocus, it is far behind Capture One. I'm sure the image quality is great, but it's the lack of features (compared to C1) concerns me. Does anyone have a similar hesitation? Is it worth losing Capture One for the X1D/Phocus? What's it like going from C1 to Phocus? Frustrating, satisfying?
I just wish Phase One would make an AF mirrorless camera. They might lose a lot of photographers in the next few months...

[E.J. Peiker]

I have exactly the same hesitation/issue with the X1D.  Simply put, unless I can work the files in C1, it's going to be very difficult for me to get an X1D.  I have used Phocus and it's at best a very rudimentary converter in comparison.  I had asked about the possibility of converting the Hasselbald RAW files to DNG and then using Capture One in the thread about Hasselblad support in C1 here on Lula in the Capture One Forum but got told to go away in that thread by the original author of the thread...  So I never got an answer if any current Hasselblad users are doing that.

[sanvandur]

I have exactly the same hesitation/issue with the X1D.  Simply put, unless I can work the files in C1, it's going to be very difficult for me to get an X1D.  I have used Phocus and it's at best a very rudimentary converter in comparison.  I had asked about the possibility of converting the Hasselbald RAW files to DNG and then using Capture One in the thread about Hasselblad support in C1 here on Lula in the Capture One Forum but got told to go away in that thread by the original author of the thread...  So I never got an answer if any current Hasselblad users are doing that.

Thanks for your response. It's too bad Phocus seems so far behind. What's the link of the thread you refer to?

[E.J. Peiker]

Thanks for your response. It's too bad Phocus seems so far behind. What's the link of the thread you refer to?

http://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=109756.0

[hubell]

If the Hasselblad X1D is as good as the specs indicate, it will be as close to ideal for my work. Lightweight, small, medium format, leaf shutter, weather sealed, etc. I love my Phase One DF/P30+ kit, but it's bulky, heatvy, not weather proofed. I've been a very satisfied Capture One user for many years. It's a huge part of my workflow. So much, that I hardly use Photoshop at all anymore. The X1D is VERY tempting, but from what I've seen of Hasselblad's Phocus, it is far behind Capture One. I'm sure the image quality is great, but it's the lack of features (compared to C1) concerns me. Does anyone have a similar hesitation? Is it worth losing Capture One for the X1D/Phocus? What's it like going from C1 to Phocus? Frustrating, satisfying?
I just wish Phase One would make an AF mirrorless camera. They might lose a lot of photographers in the next few months...

The latest iteration of Phocus is much improved. It is now very effective and easy to use as a raw converter. It does not use or require a Catalog or Sessions like C1 and LR. It even has adjustment layers, but the types of adjustments are limited. It has highlight and shadow recovery tools but they are not as powerful as those in LR and C1. It also doesn't have powerful color correction capabilities like C1. C1 has largely supplanted PS for most image editing needs. LR does much better with Hasselblad files than Phase One files and you do gain the benefits of the extensive image editing capabilities of LR. However, the best color with Hasselblad files will generally be with Phocus.

[SCFrieze3]

In Kevin's most recent article concerning why the X1D is late to market he referred to camera have Raw DNG.  Was this a mistake? If it does have RAw DNG wouldn't that make it compatible with Capture One?

[E.J. Peiker]

In Kevin's most recent article concerning why the X1D is late to market he referred to camera have Raw DNG.  Was this a mistake? If it does have RAw DNG wouldn't that make it compatible with Capture One?

No, unfortunately not.  You would actually have to hack the DNG files to restate the camera as an IQ 150/250/350 for C1 to work properly on them and then you still wouldn't have a valid camera profile.

[Wayne Fox]

No, unfortunately not.  You would actually have to hack the DNG files to restate the camera as an IQ 150/250/350 for C1 to work properly on them and then you still wouldn't have a valid camera profile.

Maybe someone into code/profiling and likes C1 will buy an X1D, get frustrated with Phocus and build a tool to hack the raws and build profiles to use in C1

[BobShaw]

Phocus . .... doesn't have powerful color correction capabilities like C1....

I tend to disagree.
Phocus has art reproduction mode built in that gives perfect colour.
I am not sure why people agonise over this. Just use the world's best camera with the software made for it. If you really want to use Capture One as a DAM then just export a TIFF.

[hubell]

I tend to disagree.
Phocus has art reproduction mode built in that gives perfect colour.
I am not sure why people agonise over this. Just use the world's best camera with the software made for it. If you really want to use Capture One as a DAM then just export a TIFF.

There is nothing in Phocus comparable to the Color Editor in C1. The Shadow and Highlight tools in Phocus are also quite weak compared to the latest iteration of C1. However, Lightroom is an excellent and very powerful raw converter and generally does an excellent job with Hasselblad files. I use Lightroom for my Catalog, but I will often try selective files in either Capture One (for Phase or Sony files) or Phocus  (for Hassy files).

[BobShaw]

There is nothing in Phocus comparable to the Color Editor in C1.

If the purpose is to get correct colour, essential for art reproduction or product work, then Hasselblad and Phocus does it straight out of the camera. If you want to make red into blue, then use something else afterwards like Photoshop.