Thank-you for your review. I've been a C1 Pro user for several years and have always appreciated the quality of its initial render and the depth of tools for making adjustments. I have a perpetual license used on one machine as well as a current subscription used for another two. I can appreciate their position and the need for consistent revenue to be able to develop new features.
Thank you for the excellent review! There is however one change I would propose for next year. While it was a great idea to only include software that offers a perpetual license, this trait does not mean the same for every manufacturer. Some licenses are limited to perpetually using one version of the software, but you will only get limited updates. While other companies offer real lifetime licenses. That means you get a totally different value out of your license! At least I factor this in in my buying decision, and it would be great if you could call this out.
I think most perpetual license will give you limited updates so that you can be enticed to buy again the next year. The exception is Photomator but look at how meager the updates are. 😊
What a great video, thx! Maybe look at Affinity 2 pro, Nitro and ACDSEE photo manager to share your wise thoughts sometime? I’m a huge Cap One fan but I use the Luminar Neo for polish, DXO and Topaz for de-noising and ACDSEE for file management. This may sound extravagant but software obviously costs a fraction of what we can spend on a new lens...
I have actually reviewed Affinity Photo 2, Nitro, an ACDSee for RAW editing. Nitro: th-cam.com/video/WhHdpbAIPzk/w-d-xo.htmlsi=VIRTzGxN2vBEnYCs Affinity Photo 2: th-cam.com/video/krALCvMPteM/w-d-xo.htmlsi=F8PBPNVmCDdu2H-Q
Thanks for another useful year end roundup. I look forward to the companion video about how each raw processor renders the images after minimal processing from you. I think it would be useful to mention which of the products offer HDR merge of bracketed images, since this is still important for many landscape photographers.
Are these stand alone tools much better than Affinity Photo? I never do local adjustments in a RAW convertor, it has nothing to do with developing a RAW file.
Thanks for your very straightforward and comprehensive videos. Having spent a couple of years paying for LR/PS I’m now ditching this subscription model and looking for alternatives. DxO is looks appealing to me as I don’t require AI-tools in my workflow and I’m impressed by its denoising capabilities. I considered Capture One Pro as well, but as I recall they stated that new perpetual license purchases do not include any feature updates at all, just bug fixes, in contrast to the subscription model. I’m aware of the fact that mayor update releases often require the purchase of an updated version in most if not all products, but this sounds as if you’d pay for any little new feature. Am I correct? This would be a mayor downturner.
If you are looking to ditch a subscription both DXO and Capture Ones perpetual license are good alternatives. Both will likely NOT give any major new features after you purchase. For Capture One if you want to get feature updates say 5 months after purchase, only the subscription license allows for that. Hope that helps
I have oni and luminar. Luminar is much easier to use and is much easier to achieve better results. I can always switch to get a lacking or feature like denoise 17:16
@@takebetterphotos8132 I've looked through your posts and never see any explanation about, imho, the most important feature : what's the point of trying to take out the best of my picture ( editing witch is the purpose of RAW editor sofwraes ) if, from the beginning it's deteriorated by a poor demosaicing engine ?
@@takebetterphotos8132 I have tested all the apps in this review (some extensively) and agree with the ranking order even when quality of raw development (demosaicing) is not taken into consideration. However, IMO, there's no doubt that DxO Photolab and Capture One have better quality raw development than the others in the review.
watched a paul reiffer video ( a c1 ambassador, the only one left it seems ) how embarrassing he struggled to even fix simple problems with capture one masking tools something easy to take care of with photolab or better LR. when he praised an image for being noise free which also had not much detail left he reached a pathetic low and it was not even funny anymore. I would rate photolab as number one for user which do not need the special tools c1 offers like LCC or tethering.
Yes C1 cannot compete with DXO for denoising performance. If that is an issue best to preproess it with PureRAW as I've done in my demo. Can you share the C1 video? Would love to know what masking problem C1 had an issue with. Thanks for watching! 😊
@@takebetterphotos8132 th-cam.com/video/E6epAuuBl_Q/w-d-xo.html starts at min48 but the whole video is funny for me as he is pretending to be a kind of c1 master but everything he does is goofing around making things even worse sometimes. at the beginning when the ai mask of the tree is so off he keeps on talking BS to gaslight his audience because c1 has in fact a real problem rendering correct masks with complex objects. while I very much prefer adobe most of the problems in this video could be fixed rather easy with control points especially the tree fringe issue which at the end he gave up claiming this needs an image editor. In my view dxo is better and faster to solve common problems than c1 as it offers dynamic control of selections (color/luma) which c1 does not the reason why he couldn´t solve the fringe issue. his videos in an unintentional way lay bare the limits and issues of c1.
I personally got sick of paying $12/month (that includes tax) for Lightroom (I wasn't using Photoshop). When I upgraded the Nik Collection from DXO I also got a discount on Photolab 8 Elite. Still more expensive than Lightroom but cheaper if you upgrade every 2 years instead of yearly.
Cheaper yes, better no. I literally don’t use Lr anymore despite subscribing to the “photographers bundle” which gives me Lr and Ps !! There are so many things Cap One does better and there is a ton of features Lr just doesn’t offer.
This is the video I was looking for. Thank You
You're welcome! Glad it helped!
Thank-you for your review. I've been a C1 Pro user for several years and have always appreciated the quality of its initial render and the depth of tools for making adjustments. I have a perpetual license used on one machine as well as a current subscription used for another two. I can appreciate their position and the need for consistent revenue to be able to develop new features.
Thanks for your feedback I'm sure C1 appreciates your support! 😊
Great video
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for the excellent review!
There is however
one change I would propose for next year. While it was a great idea to only include software that offers a perpetual license, this trait does not mean the same for every manufacturer. Some licenses are limited to perpetually using one version of the software, but you will only get limited updates. While other companies offer real lifetime licenses. That means you get a totally different value out of your license!
At least I factor this in in my buying decision, and it would be great if you could call this out.
I think most perpetual license will give you limited updates so that you can be enticed to buy again the next year. The exception is Photomator but look at how meager the updates are. 😊
What a great video, thx! Maybe look at Affinity 2 pro, Nitro and ACDSEE photo manager to share your wise thoughts sometime? I’m a huge Cap One fan but I use the Luminar Neo for polish, DXO and Topaz for de-noising and ACDSEE for file management. This may sound extravagant but software obviously costs a fraction of what we can spend on a new lens...
I have actually reviewed Affinity Photo 2, Nitro, an ACDSee for RAW editing. Nitro: th-cam.com/video/WhHdpbAIPzk/w-d-xo.htmlsi=VIRTzGxN2vBEnYCs Affinity Photo 2: th-cam.com/video/krALCvMPteM/w-d-xo.htmlsi=F8PBPNVmCDdu2H-Q
@ Thank you! And thanks for the links🥳
Thanks very much. I use On1 and DxO Photolab 8 and I agree with your conclusions. I might have to give Capture one a try :-)
Looks like you have all the bases covered! 😊
Thanks for another useful year end roundup.
I look forward to the companion video about how each raw processor renders the images after minimal processing from you.
I think it would be useful to mention which of the products offer HDR merge of bracketed images, since this is still important for many landscape photographers.
I hear you. I do HDR merging myself. To summarize. Capture 1 (RAW only) and Luminar Neo. ON1s merge is not good. 😊
Are these stand alone tools much better than Affinity Photo? I never do local adjustments in a RAW convertor, it has nothing to do with developing a RAW file.
If you don't do local adjustments then maybe Affinity Photo is enough.
Thanks for your very straightforward and comprehensive videos. Having spent a couple of years paying for LR/PS I’m now ditching this subscription model and looking for alternatives. DxO is looks appealing to me as I don’t require AI-tools in my workflow and I’m impressed by its denoising capabilities. I considered Capture One Pro as well, but as I recall they stated that new perpetual license purchases do not include any feature updates at all, just bug fixes, in contrast to the subscription model. I’m aware of the fact that mayor update releases often require the purchase of an updated version in most if not all products, but this sounds as if you’d pay for any little new feature. Am I correct? This would be a mayor downturner.
If you are looking to ditch a subscription both DXO and Capture Ones perpetual license are good alternatives.
Both will likely NOT give any major new features after you purchase. For Capture One if you want to get feature updates say 5 months after purchase, only the subscription license allows for that. Hope that helps
I like on1 because it is an all in one solution. it has filters like Photoshop, it has layers as well.
Thanks for the feedback. Yes it has a surprising number of Photoshop features specially now that it supports Generative AI.
I have oni and luminar. Luminar is much easier to use and is much easier to achieve better results. I can always switch to get a lacking or feature like denoise 17:16
Yes I do agree. ON1 can do more to simplify its UI 😊
Adobe’s subscription policies sucks. Ever wondered why the FBI interferes with this company?
Not even a word about demosaicing engine ... ????
Just not serious when comparing RAW editors
For me that’s the first consideration in a raw editor.
@fredericsoumier8096 A lot of folks don't know what demosaicing is. We don't want to confuse beginners. But thanks for watching! 😊
@@takebetterphotos8132 I've looked through your posts and never see any explanation about, imho, the most important feature : what's the point of trying to take out the best of my picture ( editing witch is the purpose of RAW editor sofwraes ) if, from the beginning it's deteriorated by a poor demosaicing engine ?
@@takebetterphotos8132 I have tested all the apps in this review (some extensively) and agree with the ranking order even when quality of raw development (demosaicing) is not taken into consideration. However, IMO, there's no doubt that DxO Photolab and Capture One have better quality raw development than the others in the review.
@bhovis what makes those better from your point of view?
My fav is ON1
Thanks for the feedback.😊
I haven't changed my last year's comment that I prefer On1 to DxO due to the former's more superior AI masking capabilities.
Wow time has flown since then. Yes nothing has changed with regards to those two! 😊
My one is ON1
Thanks for sharing!😊
watched a paul reiffer video ( a c1 ambassador, the only one left it seems ) how embarrassing he struggled to even fix simple problems with capture one masking tools something easy to take care of with photolab or better LR. when he praised an image for being noise free which also had not much detail left he reached a pathetic low and it was not even funny anymore. I would rate photolab as number one for user which do not need the special tools c1 offers like LCC or tethering.
Yes C1 cannot compete with DXO for denoising performance. If that is an issue best to preproess it with PureRAW as I've done in my demo. Can you share the C1 video? Would love to know what masking problem C1 had an issue with. Thanks for watching! 😊
@@takebetterphotos8132 th-cam.com/video/E6epAuuBl_Q/w-d-xo.html starts at min48 but the whole video is funny for me as he is pretending to be a kind of c1 master but everything he does is goofing around making things even worse sometimes. at the beginning when the ai mask of the tree is so off he keeps on talking BS to gaslight his audience because c1 has in fact a real problem rendering correct masks with complex objects. while I very much prefer adobe most of the problems in this video could be fixed rather easy with control points especially the tree fringe issue which at the end he gave up claiming this needs an image editor. In my view dxo is better and faster to solve common problems than c1 as it offers dynamic control of selections (color/luma) which c1 does not the reason why he couldn´t solve the fringe issue. his videos in an unintentional way lay bare the limits and issues of c1.
Thanks for the video, yes I agree the DXO's color/luma would be helpful to target the fringe more accurately in less time
Combination of LR & PS is much cheaper and better than DXO and C1. And you always have the latest updates. A subscription is $120 per year.
Yes. If you don't mind renting LR & PS is the way to go. 😊
I personally got sick of paying $12/month (that includes tax) for Lightroom (I wasn't using Photoshop). When I upgraded the Nik Collection from DXO I also got a discount on Photolab 8 Elite. Still more expensive than Lightroom but cheaper if you upgrade every 2 years instead of yearly.
Cheaper yes, better no. I literally don’t use Lr anymore despite subscribing to the “photographers bundle” which gives me Lr and Ps !! There are so many things Cap One does better and there is a ton of features Lr just doesn’t offer.
@ it’s just what you need. C1 also misses a ton of features that LR/Ps do have..
puke