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Author Topic: Considering Moving from C1 to LR  (Read 1112 times)

PhilippeRouquet

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Considering Moving from C1 to LR
« on: November 18, 2021, 10:09:55 am »

I have been using C1 since v7, essentially owing to its great RAW processing engine, its linear icc curve, level and curve tools and recipe functions. I work with long lenses, mostly in nature photography.

Over the years, I have found the software to be improving in masking features, at the expense of catalog and metadata processing (awful keyword and library management) which is getting worse and worse in relation to the improvements of other RAW competitors.

Came version 21, and things have been getting worse. Much slower image processing and very poor support. No improvements whatsoever in catalog management. The new upcoming version only brings HDR and panorama stitching which is useless for my style of photography.

I really feel C1 is now only catering to commercial, fashion and product photography which is not my cup of tea.

I am considering switching back to LR which I used a bit when Nikon Capture NX2 went dead.

What is the best way to switch back to LR? Can I import the C1 catalog into LR?

I already have the LR and PS CC version, so cost is not an issue.

Any advice on moving back to LR?

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Ray Harrison

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Re: Considering Moving from C1 to LR
« Reply #1 on: November 18, 2021, 03:00:34 pm »

I've personally had the opposite experience - much faster, better all around experience, at least on a Mac and great support should it be needed (which is rare). And it's night and day between Intel and M1 too, which I've just moved to. I process Phase, Nikon and Fuji files - landscapes, wildlife and architecture.

But in any case, LR is nice software and Adobe gives you a much larger throat to choke if you need it. Moving to LR (or any other raw processor) means you lose your edits except as baked in TIFFs or JPEGs. None of the raw processors understand another's instructions. Apparently there's an application (the name escapes me) that attempts to help with this, but don't know how well it works. Maybe that can help. I'll poke around for the name of it later. What will transfer regardless will be things like star ratings, color tags, obviously your EXIF/IPTC data. Practice on a small subset first of course (and back up your data, which you know but I feel nervous not saying it  :)).




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Rhossydd

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Re: Considering Moving from C1 to LR
« Reply #2 on: November 18, 2021, 05:27:43 pm »

Moving to LR (or any other raw processor) means you lose your edits except as baked in TIFFs or JPEGs.
Not really, there's nothing to prevent people keeping C1 installed and being able to continue to use it on the existing RAWs. One needs to regard 'moving' from C1 to LR as an addition to workflow, not a replacement.

LR would just become a DAM (and everything else C1 doesn't do so well) for existing files and can be used going forward and for reworking old images if appropriate. One could add a colour tag, or metadata, for any images with particularly good or complex edits in CO to remind the user that there's a good version back in C1.

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Ray Harrison

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Re: Considering Moving from C1 to LR
« Reply #3 on: November 18, 2021, 06:15:32 pm »

No, there's nothing preventing people from using it as a raw processor and using LR as a DAM, in your example. I use PM+ as my DAM, for the most part, so it makes sense. I'd thought though that OP was having performance issues with his particular setup even at the image adjustment stage, was fed up with it, the available support, etc, and was looking to completely move off. Regardless, as you say, there are certainly options.
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Rhossydd

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Re: Considering Moving from C1 to LR
« Reply #4 on: November 18, 2021, 06:31:22 pm »

I'd thought though that OP was having performance issues with his particular setup even at the image adjustment stage, was fed up with it, the available support, etc, and was looking to completely move off.
Not quite how I read it. More that little has really improved, but the competition has moved on much further.

I pretty much agree with him. I've got C1 v20 and it's capable of good results as a raw convertor, but lacks many features of even old LR6 and simply isn't as nice to use. I'm sure those that only use C1 and use it professionally for many hours every day will have a different view based on familiarity. When you have both, or more, tools available you'll have a different insight into the usability/quality equation between different applications.

I've so very rarely needed technical support it's a non-issue for me. What does disappoint is the lack of support for third party lenses in C1 and others, which Adobe's lens profile creator solves for LR & ACR, it's the deal maker for me.
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Ray Harrison

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Re: Considering Moving from C1 to LR
« Reply #5 on: November 19, 2021, 07:08:47 am »

Sure, all of that definitely makes sense. It's probably more a personal choice. I have both and I'm the opposite from you. I think Capture One is miles ahead in UI experience and at least right there in features I care about, especially with C121 and upcoming in 22. I cringe whenever I need to crack open LR and while they have some things that are useful, and it's certainly quality software, I could never see using it full time given the choice (again, personal preference).

For me, the lens profiles they do have are superb and often to my eye surpass the profiles in LR, but because they involve humans in the process, they fall short in number and time to market (if they deliver at all). They'd be better served by meeting halfway and moving away from image specific "Generic Profiles" (which are usually quite good) to allowing users to save as reusable lens-specific ones. That way users can have something while they work their way through the human-bound process at Capture One.

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digitaldog

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Re: Considering Moving from C1 to LR
« Reply #6 on: November 19, 2021, 09:29:51 am »

This just goes to show that if you have a specific LR question, ask it in the LR forum as the OP did and where the OP also asked and got actual answers about LR. 🤔
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