Evaluating C1, some questions.

[glocke12]

I am in the process of evaluating C1 as a potential alternative to aperture for cataloging my images and have a couple of questions..

1)  In aperture there is a "show focus points" tool that shows what the point of focus was in the image.  Is there an equivalent tool in C1?

2)  NEF files imported into C1 generally look pretty good with whatever default processing is done to them, better than what I see being done to them in LR at least with the exception of the white balance, alll the NEF files in C1 seem to be coming out too red/orange in comparison to LR or Aperture. 
White balance for all there programs is set to "as shot" however the processed NEF files all show very different temps when the same raw file is opened.

For the photo I am looking at now, the WB settings are as follows:
Aperture: 6035
C1:6235
LR: 5750

If each program is working with the metadata in the image file, shouldn't the WB values be the same across all three programs?

3)  Also in Aperture, there is an option to create a duplicate image automatically once you start editing the images.  The changes are done to the copy but not the original.  Is there such a setting in C1?

4)  compared to the other two programs, C1 seems to run pretty slow.  Im using a late 2013 macbook pro (2 GHz Intel Core i7, 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3),  so it should be powerful enough to run this software.  Does anyone else have issues with this program being sluggish?

5)  Finally, does anyone know if the ability to incorporate NIK plugins into C1 will happen at any point in the future?

[m_rouleau]

1. No. There's a focus mask, but it doesn't really tell you much that your eyes can't. More useful for tethered shooting, probably.
2. No. Every program uses wb values slightly differently.
3. F2 creates an unedited variant. F3 creates a "clone" variant.
4. I find C1 to run fairly quickly myself.
5. You can try using the "Edit with" option and pointing them to the nik plugins. That should let you round trip from c1 to nik and back to c1.

[glocke12]

1. No. There's a focus mask, but it doesn't really tell you much that your eyes can't. More useful for tethered shooting, probably.
2. No. Every program uses wb values slightly differently.
3. F2 creates an unedited variant. F3 creates a "clone" variant.
4. I find C1 to run fairly quickly myself.
5. You can try using the "Edit with" option and pointing them to the nik plugins. That should let you round trip from c1 to nik and back to c1.

thanks...

with regards to #2 and the white balance issue, is there a way to globally set these so that they run slightly cooler to match what i see in aperture and LR? 

Overall, I really like the program better than LR, this is pretty much my only issue..that and the fact that Im still trying to wrap my head around the difference between catalogs and sessions.

[BobShaw]

I am in a similar situation of evaluating a migration from Aperture and not liking Lightroom. The questions that you asked and got answers to make me think about keeping Aperture for a while longer yet.

[m_rouleau]

You could create your own wb presets easily enough. I don't think there's a way to change the existing presets, however.

[glocke12]

I am in a similar situation of evaluating a migration from Aperture and not liking Lightroom. The questions that you asked and got answers to make me think about keeping Aperture for a while longer yet.

yeah....I was thinking of trying to hang onto aperture for awhile longer also, but Apple has made their stance clear and it's probably time to move on sooner rather than later.

Honestly, most of the points I raised were minor.  I shoot both JPEG and RAW, and have found that with my D800e (and now D810) it's really only a small percentage of photos that I end up working on the RAW images with so adjusting WB there is a minor inconvenience at best.   I have adobe CC, so if I want to use a NIK plugin I can go there to do it, not happy about the extra step, but it is what it is.

[m_rouleau]

Erm.. maybe I wasn't clear.

For Nik effects, just right click on a raw image, choose edit with ... pick out the Nik tool you want to use. C1 will send your photo to the Nik plugin. Once you've done whatever and hit save, the new image is brought back into C1 with your adjustments. No need for an intermediate Photoshop step.

[Jimmy D Uptain]

On the white balance issue.
This has come up before with Nikon users. Some don't like what the C1 folks came up with as far as the ICC profile goes.
Thing is, I found sometimes it looks great, sometimes not so much.
One way to get a different look is this:
Go to the third tool tab (the one that looks like a biohazard warning).
Look for  "Base Characteristics" It should be under the histogram.
In the ICC profile there is a dropdown menu. You may only see something about your particular Camera. In my case its "Nikon 800E Generic V2'
Pick instead "Show All"
Click on the dropdown again and you see a whole lot more options.
Try Adobe DNG File Neutral. To me, it gets you closer to Lightroom, minus the contrast.
You can also fool with the curve dropdown for a few more variables.
If you like it, or find one you do like, just click the three little dots on the end of the tool. You will get the option of saving that color profile as your default.
Don't worry if you hate it later, you can always change it again.
This is by no means the only way, may not even be the best way, but its one way.
You can always tweak the colors in the color balance tool and save it as a preset. I've used this recently and kinda like it.