Capture One Digital Rebel version is released

[The Photo Tuell]

http://www.pictureflow.com

The Digital Rebel version of the Capture One RAW conversion program is now out. There is a 15 day trial which is nice because I'm not sure if I want to buy it.

I've read that it's supposed to be faster at conversion than Canons File Viewer Utility (FVU), but in a quick test it seemed to be about the same. I guess you can work on other shots at the same time it's converting, and the previews are probably faster, so Capture One is probably faster when making changes but maybe about the same speed when just doing a big batch at 'Shot settings'. I usually BLH (bracket like heck) so that I get at least one shot that doesn't need any adjustment.

I did a quick comparison test of a shot to see how the colors were. There was some difference, C1 skin tones were more pale and blown out and the red was different.

I'll have to do a big batch to see if I really want to buy C1. Other than being slow when making changes I've been happy with the picture quality I get from FVU. Maybe Breezebrowser would be better than C1 for me.

Anyone else tried Capture One Digital Rebel and have an opinion?

[The Photo Tuell]

Big thread on DPReview here: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1031&message=6372080

Another here: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1031&message=6377039

Seems I'm not the only one who is 'underwhelmed'.

It's not much faster if it requires more work.

Reds are funky, I'll post a good example later.

[The Photo Tuell]

Here's the screwed up reds I was talking about. I tried many different settings, white balance, sharpness, etc, but nothing fixed it. It shouldn't be so much work to get a good looking picture, let alone so much work without getting a good looking picture.

One side is how it should look, the other is Capture One (Soft look sharpening, Amount: 43, Threshold: 3)...

http://www.pbase.com/image/22365433.jpg

Another thing I just noticed...Capture One doesn't keep the EXIF data...lame. That does it for me, too many reasons to not get it.

[Roger_Cavanagh]

I guess you didn't read the threads very carefully. In the first one there is a very small minority of posters who had negative opinions abut C1 Rebel, but most seemed to like it.

In the 2nd thread, everyone who passed a comment on the sample pictures preferred the C1 versions.

Perhaps, EXIF data handling is different in C1R to C1LE, but it's not listed in the PictureFlow FAQ as a difference. I just checked some C1LE converted TIFFs and there is EXIF data.

The sample pictures you have posted both look to have blurry, slightly blown reds. Reds definitely can be problem with the 10D, and presumably, therefore the 300D, since the imaging system is supposed to be nearly identical. But they're a problem with other converters as well, not just C1.

Based on my experience with C1LE, I certainly recommend any new 300D owner to trial the C1R evaluation.

Regards,

[The Photo Tuell]

The Canon FVU uses their SDK which is able to extract the EXIF information from the maker note data in the THM file. We do not use the SDK and so it is quite a task to find the full EXIF data (it is not documented by Canon, even within their SDK).

If the THM file (which holds the maker note data), is present, we maintain this information and transfer it to the output files 9TIF and JPEG).

We will hope to extract more EXIF in the future if we can. Each camera is different, so it drains a lot of R&D time.

http://www.pictureflow.com/forum/showthread.php?s=c75eedd78a730d89094d4ae787e9be4c&threadid=1654

So the FAQ sucks. My test conversion had very little EXIF info compared to a file converted with FVU (checked with two different programs). Hmm on Pbase it shows up the same, though. Guess it depends what program is used to view the EXIF data.

Reds aren't a problem with other converters I've used, just C1.

I'd recommend the trial version of C1, also. Doesn't mean I'd recommend buying it. Just because a lot of people seem to love it doesn't mean it's perfect or great.

OK here's a sharper example. Guess which is FVU and which is Capture One. ;) (that's supposed to be a wink, how come the winking smiley is the same as the smiling smiley?)

http://www.pbase.com/image/22385751/medium.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/image/22385781/medium.jpg

Larger sizes here:
http://www.pbase.com/image/22385751/original
http://www.pbase.com/image/22385781/original

[The Photo Tuell]

Roger_Cavanagh wrote:
I guess you didn't read the threads very carefully.

I'm not the only one having problems with reds. Here's someone elses examples of how reds are messed up: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1031&message=6390753

Like he said, 'I don't want to be forced to convert every RAW image I take manually simply because C1 doesn't give you the option to convert the images "As Shot". Sometimes I just want to convert a batch of RAW images to JPG and have them look like they would if I had shot them in JPG. Then I can look at each image and decide which ones warrant further tweaking.'

Guess the C1 paradigm isn't for me.

[Roger_Cavanagh]

The Photo Tuell wrote:
Sometimes I just want to convert a batch of RAW images to JPG and have them look like they would if I had shot them in JPG. Then I can look at each image and decide which ones warrant further tweaking.'

When you shoot raw, you are shooting JPG. There is an embedded JPG in middle/fine settings that can be extracted by FVU or BreezeBrowser in seconds, since conversion is not required.

Regards,

[The Photo Tuell]

slejhamer wrote:The second set of photos you posted more clearly demonstrates the problem you are seeing. Could be your color management settings within C1, could be a bum camera profile, could be a lot of things.


Shouldn't have to go through support to get normal looking pictures.

I think my problem was that Capture One was so hyped up by most people that I thought it was going to be the perfect software. Some people are so blinded that they don't even try FVU and just assume that C1 has to be better...

[Guillermo Freige]

I've discovered a little interesting fact in C1Rebel. I was not so pleased with some color innacuracies, but if I use the 10D color profile and a +7.5% color saturation instead of the 300D profile and 0% saturation, colors are more real. Purples are purples again, instead of a more reddish color, Now I'm not so sure about the blues, mostly in the sky ones, but I tend to prefer most the 10D profile.
In fact I like a lot C1Rebel, MUCH better noise reduction algorythm, much better highlight recovery, better workflow and now with the color issue mostly solved for me (and totally solved in a couple of weeks using custom profiles from a third party)
I don't want to repost all the info and tests I've done, so check the Rebel threads at the image resource site.
The URL is:

http://www.photo-forums.com

Go to Digital Cameras -> Canon digital Rebel -> Rebel discussion around message 400

(the complete URL is http://www.photo-forums.com/WebX?7@141.B7FJaqBUZbx.0@.ee946e2/420 but it doesn't seen to work here)