Capture One Pro 5 Review

November 24, 2009 | Jon Canfield | Software Reviews | Rating star Rating star Rating star Rating star Half rating star

Creative Vignettes, another new feature, can be applied before or after cropping, in either circular or elliptical styles. Rather than just giving an arbitrary amount of adjustment, I like the use of EV to describe how much you're lightening or darkening the vignetted area.

Capture One Pro 5.0 has also enhanced metadata editing with access to more fields than the previous versions. The Web Contact Sheet is now easier to use with larger image sizes possible on export, and all elements, including HTML code, thumbnails, and full size images are placed in a folder on the desktop for easier upload or client sharing (Figure 9).

Capture One Pro 5Figure 9

Workflow is enhanced with the ability to create Variants, or versions, of your images. Variants take only a small amount of disk space and give you the ability to process the same image in a number of different ways. You can also copy and paste individual adjustments from one image to another with the Local Copy and Apply tool (Figure 10).

Capture One Pro 5Figure 10

Output has always been one of the strong points for Capture One Pro, and version 5 doesn't disappoint here. A new Watermark feature (Figure 11) les you place text or a graphic on your images as they are exported. Opacity, position and size are all adjustable.

Capture One Pro 5Figure 11

The final new feature is LCC based light falloff. Found on the Lens Correction panel (Figure 12), if you are using a supported lens, this control allows you to adjust for light and sharpening fall off in the captured image.

Capture One Pro 5Figure 12

With the batch processing features, you can output multiple formats for your images, all with different processing parameters, and all in the background while you continue to work. If you happen to shoot one of the supported medium format backs, you can also take advantage of .EIP, or Enhanced Image Package, which lets you put your master file, ICC profile, and settings file into a single package - anyone working with Capture One Pro can then open the EIP file and will see it exactly as you intended.

Conclusion

While Capture One Pro 5 is not for everyone - the tools can be difficult to master when compared with other applications like Adobe Lightroom, the output quality is excellent, and there are some features, like the color editor, that just aren't available anywhere else.  The new version is faster than 4.5, and the ability to adjust individual color channels in curves will be a welcome feature for those of you that like to tweak your images.

4.5 stars

Ratings (out of 5)
Features 4.5
Ease-of-use 4
Value for money 4

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