If a subscription model is a complete non-starter for you, Capture One is out and I’d recommend Photolab. And Photolab has zero file management which is both good (no large catalogs) and bad (slow startup in folder with many images, trickier sync of metadata). But the other tools are a mixed bag I feel I have less control than with Capture One. Control points are brilliant for faces, selective shadow recovery, etc. Local adjustments are very powerful but those have a steep learning curve. Global adjustments are good but I miss Capture One’s more subtle approach every time I use Photolab. The standard and preset adjustments are excellent so you get a very usable image almost instantly, with the best lens corrections and camera body specific colour profiles. I’ve been using DxO Photolab for some time (noise reduction is brilliant) and I could live with it if Capture One has to go. They’re moving to a subscription model which I don’t like. Layers are very usable but masking isn’t great and tricky to use think photoshop ten years ago. The micro contrast adjustment is very good, too. Being able to adjust colour in shadows, midtones and highlights separately makes grading very easy. Colour management is great, e.g., the saturation slider adjusts for skin tones and balances beautifully between already saturated colours in the original image so you get natural looking results easily. But once learned, the results are excellent. The development is going further to the studio professional who is shooting tethered. It’s better than it used to be but things like importing and exporting are unnecessarily complicated. Steep learning curve as the interface is…different. I’ve been a Capture One user for 6-7 years now. I use Affinity Photo as my PS alternative for times when I need to handle multiple images. Of course, C1 is an alternative to LR only. I also print directly out of C1 using the usual profiles for paper/ink etc. That may be true, but I have not found anything I am unable to manage/find within C1, although it is a bit more 'clunky'. Some say the Data Asset Manager within C1 is not as good as LR. I am more than happy with my version 22 (2022) and at present see no reason to update further. Unfortunately C1 has changed its payment structure in the last few months, but it would still be worth checking out. There is a LOT of teaching material out there and if you want to delve into it before making a decision, that would be a good way to go. A one month trial is barely enough to be convincing. The more I use C1 the more I appreciate it and find new features. At first it was a steep learning curve but well worth the effort. These reasons include a much better Fuji raw conversion than LR, a transition facility where many LR edits are carried through to C1, and the much better editing facilities in C1, incl up to 16 layers (immensely useful), which makes detailed editing so much more flexible and comprehensive. There were several reasons to switch, one I've already mentioned, to move away from perpetual renting. At the time the cost was less than renting from Adobe, and all my raw edits will be permanently held on my hard drive. I bought a perpetual licence and upgraded every 2 years. On the other hand we pay big bucks for our gear, so why not get the best we can out of It? But I get the math of $10 a month for the next 20 years being $2400. I use Photoshop a lot more than Lightroom because I like layers. Overall it's hard to beat the Lightroom/Photoshop one-two punch. Any software can do cropping and basic adjustments. Get your settings right in camera and call it done. The advantage is you have many of the original camera settings at your disposal, where Lightroom simulates the original settings.Ī third alternative is to shoot jpeg. From what people here say Nikon NX Studio is similar. I sometimes use Canon DPP4 and it gets the job done with all the expected tools. Also for flat file editing consider the software your camera maker provides. But if you only want a flat file editor with some masking then Photolab 6 is very intuitive to use and every bit as good as Lightroom. Add the third party Elements + and you have a fair system that combines elements of Lightroom and Photoshop.ĭo you need layers? Photoshop is the best. Do you need an organizer/file management system? I rely on Lightroom for that, but Adobe Photoshop Elements seemed pretty good.
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