My small review on C1 vs Lr and DxO

[Frank Doorhof]

I did a small review on my blog on these convertors.
Maybe also interesting for some people over here

http://www.frankdoorhof.com/site/2014/06/which-raw-software-dxo-vs-capture-one-vs-lr/

[BernardLanguillier]

Thanks for sharing, this pretty much matches my views as well.

The only difference is that between the colors and sharpness of C1 Pro and the qualities of DxO, I don't use LR much, if at all.

Cheers,
Bernard

[Paul2660]

As I use both LR and C1 about 50/50, it's very dependent on the file.  I also like LR since it has the added value of the print module and in that area it's well beyond C1. 

C1 needs just a few more things that I would like to see.
1.  A HISTORY PALETTE, not use undo, the LR solution here is excellent. 
2.  The ability to allow local adjustment layers to overlap and make sep color adjustments.  The C1 color adjustment tool is very good, but
     currently you can't overlap them and make individual color adjustments.  LR in a way allows this with the ability to make WB and tint
     adjustments in each adjustment brush
3.  C1 needs to figure out a way to allow noise reduciton in local adjustment layers.   WAY over due. was there in 6.x but greyed out, never
     came on line.
4.  Local adjustment layers in C1 having highlight and shadow adjustments would be a nice feature.
5.  LR, sure would be nice to be able to turn off individual adjustment brushes to see the effect of only one, currently it's all or none, C1
    allows you to turn off local adjustment layers one at a time.

As for details, I find I can get pretty much the same from both tools, however each takes a different special sauce. 

As you can tell, I do the vast majority of my raw work in LR or C1, and very little now in CC, as both of the these "raw converters" have excellent toolsets. 

Thanks for the review.
Paul

[BobDavid]

I guess I am a lazy photographer. I use ACR exclusively. I've tried the proprietary RAW developers for my two systems (Nikon and Olympus), but they are awkward and surprisingly don't do as well as Adobe ACR. My hocus-Phocus days are history, as I haven't shot MF in three years.

Nice article, Frank. Stop by for some barbeque next time you're in the swamp.

[ErikKaffehr]

Paul,

Thanks for your thoughtful comments!

Best regards
Erik

As I use both LR and C1 about 50/50, it's very dependent on the file.  I also like LR since it has the added value of the print module and in that area it's well beyond C1. 

C1 needs just a few more things that I would like to see.
1.  A HISTORY PALETTE, not use undo, the LR solution here is excellent. 
2.  The ability to allow local adjustment layers to overlap and make sep color adjustments.  The C1 color adjustment tool is very good, but
     currently you can't overlap them and make individual color adjustments.  LR in a way allows this with the ability to make WB and tint
     adjustments in each adjustment brush
3.  C1 needs to figure out a way to allow noise reduciton in local adjustment layers.   WAY over due. was there in 6.x but greyed out, never
     came on line.
4.  Local adjustment layers in C1 having highlight and shadow adjustments would be a nice feature.
5.  LR, sure would be nice to be able to turn off individual adjustment brushes to see the effect of only one, currently it's all or none, C1
    allows you to turn off local adjustment layers one at a time.

As for details, I find I can get pretty much the same from both tools, however each takes a different special sauce. 

As you can tell, I do the vast majority of my raw work in LR or C1, and very little now in CC, as both of the these "raw converters" have excellent toolsets. 

Thanks for the review.
Paul

[ErikKaffehr]

Thanks for sharing!

Good info is always welcome!

Best regards
Erik

I did a small review on my blog on these convertors.
Maybe also interesting for some people over here

http://www.frankdoorhof.com/site/2014/06/which-raw-software-dxo-vs-capture-one-vs-lr/

[torger]

For the MF user C1 has some advantages, LCC correction is better (I don't think LR handles stuff like microlens ripple) and I assume that lens corrections for Phase One 645 lenses is better? LR has a good tonemapping feature which is not as good in C1 and DxO, at least if you prefer natural-looking results. I also suspect that C1 demosaicer is better at suppressing aliasing artifacts, but I'm not sure.

LR is very fast to work with, so for sports and stuff when you have hundreds of pictures from a shoot I use LR. Actually that's basically the only thing I use LR for. For my artistic landscape work I use RawTherapee in combination with our own Lumariver HDR when more advanced tonemapping or LCC is requried.

If I wouldn't use RT as much I'd use C1 for my Leaf Aptus + Linhof Techno, and again combine with Lumariver HDR to handled the more advanced tonemapping and LCC needs.

In terms of color I tend to prefer C1 defaults better than LR, but in RT I mostly run with my own DCP-profile tuned for outdoor midday light or even just a matrix, a bit depending on the material.

[swisscheese]

Nice comparison. One thing I never see mentioned though: With Lightroom / ACR you can export as a smart object, that is directly linked back to the raw file.

Markus

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

I certainly feel that is the case, at least compared LR5.

From all other aspects I prefer LR5 over C1.

The parametric work flow aspect is important for me, one of the reasons I use LR.

Lumariver offers a nice DNG to DNG solution, something I wish more vendors would develop.

Best regards
Erik

I also suspect that C1 demosaicer is better at suppressing aliasing artifacts, but I'm not sure.

[free1000]

Thanks Frank, very useful. Made me do an experiment with my Aptus 75 files and C1. Illuminating.

I've recently turned on to the fantastically good tethering in C1,  now I can see a substantial improvement in quality of the RAW processing.

I wish it fitted more easily into an LR workflow, but really I'm very happy to use LR for DAM and for run and gun work,  but now I'll be creating final RAW conversions in C1 before finishing in Photoshop and LR.