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  • Welcome to the new site. Here's a thread about the update where you can post your feedback, ask questions or spot those nasty bugs!

News: Capture One Pro version 7 released by Phase One

Well it was released 2 days ago, so not really breaking news anymore. But after some initial testing, I thought it worth to be noted anyway.

I'm always a bit sceptical when commercial companies use lots of superlatives when they announce a new product. In this case: "an image quality revolution", "a new groundbreaking image processing engine", "incredible detail", are a few of the words that they came up with.

I must admit that the image quality has indeed improved, and I'm happy with what I see. Things like how the highlights roll-off towards clipping, and how much the shadows can be enhanced with the Dynamic range settings show improved performance. Noise reduction quality has also improved, although it's hard to beat a dedicated noise reduction program like TopazLabs Denoise, NeatImage, or Noiseware (or even Lightroom/ACR). But some of the improvements are quite subtle (although they are there when you look closely), and others are clear improvements over the previous version, but their competitors also didn't rest on their laurels.

A couple of the nice new features includes the possibility to have others watch along during a shoot on their own webbrowser or smartphone, which is great in a studio environment or on a set where many people, such as e.g. an art director, had to huddle around one screen to view the progress and comment on it and rate the pictures as they come in. That functionality was partly available in their separate Capture Pilot application. Also, now the Media Pro image catalog is integrated into the application. It is now also possible to set the amount of shift that was used with e.g. a Tilt and Shift lens, which mainly helps to improve the vignetting and sharpness fall-off corrections. The lens correction parameters for a number of popular lenses are already included in the program. LCC corrections can now be applied in batches.

All-in-all a worthwhile upgrade, but not as earth shattering as I had hoped (because conversion quality is already quite good).

One piece of advice though, I (as did others) have experienced a number of crashes with this version 7.0, so I would caution against using it for production work when time is limited, because you may need to start all over after a crash. Also, for now it is safer to work on a variant copy of any earlier settings you may have created with prior versions, because upgrading the processing to engine 7 is non-reversible. Older versions of Capture One cannot use the new settings, and one cannot switch between engine versions (only up, not down).

Here you can find more info: http://www.phaseone.com/en/Imaging-Software/Capture-One-7.aspx .

Cheers,
Bart
 
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nicolas claris

OPF Co-founder/Administrator
Hi Bart
Indeed a real progress with this upgrade…
As you I'm always looking for better results and I have to admit that this V7 of C1 is really better (though not a revolution!).
Since beginning of this year I've been stuck to LR4 because C1 does not support PEF files from the 645D. LR4 i a huge progress compared to V3 but sloooooowwwwwww!
Also after 2 days of intensive tests, I'm now 95% to go back to C1 (V7) using DNGs.
Of course I cannot use the lens profile / correction, but I don't need much (and in case can import in LR4 the 16 bit tif files created with C1).
The rendering is really improved and I have to admit that their new clarity AND structure does an amazing job, "structure" is to be used with straight lines (arch) and complex textures like canvas.
As you I found that, denoise, Hilight/shadow, sharpness! (needs much less amount than before).
On my Macpro and Macbook both using the latest OS, I had zero crash and on the Macpro (18 RAM Gb) I can have C1, CS6 and LR4 open all in the same time (didn't try to have them hard work in the same time though!).
In Mac I've read but not tried to, that you can with from V7 engine to V6 to keep your previous settings…

The problem with all these improvement at each sw updates i-s that I'd like to reprocess previous jobs ! lol!
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Will all the new features work with other cameras? I couldn't find specifics on camera control for canon!

Asher
 

nicolas claris

OPF Co-founder/Administrator
Will all the new features work with other cameras? I couldn't find specifics on camera control for canon!

Asher

Capture One 7.0 Pro supports RAW files from the following digital
backs/cameras:
Leaf: Aptus 75S, Aptus 65S, Aptus 54S, AFi 7, AFi 6, AFi 5, Aptus 75, Aptus 65, Aptus
22, Aptus 17.
Mamiya: MZD, ZD Back.
Canon: 1D X, 1D Mark IV, 1Ds Mark III, 1D Mark III, 1D Mark II N, 1Ds Mark II, 1D
Mark II, 1Ds, 1D, 7D, 5D Mark III, 5D Mark II, 5D, 60D, 50D, 40D, 30D, 20D,
10D, 650D/Rebel T4i (preliminary), 600D/Rebel T3i, 550D/Rebel T2i,
500D/Rebel T1i, 450D/Rebel XSi, 400D/Rebel XTi, 350D/Rebel XT, 300D/Rebel,
1100D/Rebel T3, 1000D/Rebel XS, D60, D30, Pro 1, G1 X, G15 (preliminary),
G12, G11, G10, G9, G6, G5, G3, G2, S110 (preliminary), S100 (preliminary),
S95, S90.
Epson: R-D1s, R-D1.
Fuji: S5 Pro, S3 Pro, S2 Pro, X100, X10 (preliminary).
Konica Minolta: Alpha 5 D / Maxxum 5 D / Dynax 5 D, Alpha 7 D / Maxxum 7 D / Dynax 7 D,
A1, A2.
Leica: D-Lux 5, X1, M9, M8, D-Lux 4, Digilux 3, Digital Module R for R8 and R9
cameras.
Nikon: D4, D3s, D3X, D3, D2Xs, D2X, D2Hs, D2H, D1X, D1H, D800, D800E, D700,
D600, D300s, D300, D200, D100, D90, D80, D70s, D70, D60, D50, D40X, D40,
D7000, D5100, D5000, D3200, D3100, D3000, P7100, P7000, P6000, J1, V1.
Olympus: E-5, E-PL3, E-PL2, E-PL1, E-PM1, XZ-1, E-620, E-3, E-520, E-510, E-450, E-M5,
E-P3, E-P2, E-P1, E-420, E-410, E-500, E-1, E-10, E-20, E-30, E-330, E-300, E-
400, C-7070, C-8080.
Phase One October 2012 Page 10 of 16
Panasonic: DMC-GX1, DMC-GF3, DMC-GF2, DMC-GF1, DMC-GH2, DMC-G3, DMC-G2, DMCGH1,
DMC-G1, DMC-G10, DMC-LX7 (preliminary), DMC-LX5, DMC-LX3, DMCFZ100,
DMC-FZ45.
Pentax: K-5, K-r, K20D, K10D, K7, KX, K200D, K110D, K100D Super, K100D, K2000/Km,
*istDL2, *istDL, *istD, *istDS2, *istDS, Q. Only PEF files supported.
Ricoh: GR DIGITAL IV, GR DIGITAL III, GR DIGITAL II, GR DIGITAL, GX100, GX200,
GRX S10, GXR P10, GXR A16 (preliminary), GXR A12.
Samsung: EX2F, NX20, NX11, NX10, NX5, NX210, NX200, NX100, NX1000.
Sony: DSLR-A900, DSLR-A850, DSLR-A700, DSLR-A580, DSLR-A550, DSLR-A500,
DSLR-A450, DSLR-A380, DSLR-A350, DSLR-A330, DSLR-A300, DSLR-A230,
DSLR-A200, DSLR-A100, DSC-RX100 (preliminary), DSC-R1, SLT-A99
(preliminary), SLT-A77 (preliminary), SLT-A65, SLT-A55, SLT-A35, SLT-A33,
NEX-7, NEX-5N, NEX-5, NEX-F3 (preliminary) NEX-C3, NEX-3.
Adobe: DNG 1.2 (raw DNG support only). The DNG support is not optimized for specific
cameras.

Download the documentation for more infos…
 
Will all the new features work with other cameras? I couldn't find specifics on camera control for canon!

Hi Asher,

Most of the functionality is not camera specific but rather generic. I haven't tried tethered shooting yet, it sounds like things were improved there, but I'm not sure if that also applies to cameras without HDMI interface (which my 1Ds3 doesn't have).

I like the general color rendering of Capture One, and also that one can tweak the color rendering and save that as a new (default) ICC profile for subsequent files that are read for the first time.

The new demosaicing method they use produces good looking results, and seems to extract a tiny bit more clean detail out of the files, although I find that effect to be very subtle. Maybe that's due to how I sharpen, with an already optimized radius setting about which I still need to write a post here on OPF (things keep getting in the way). However, it is now also possible to increase the sharpening amount further without artifacts, because the raw conversion is better and produces cleaner pixels. That probably also ties in with the updated noise reduction method, which I rare used in the past, so maybe that partially explains why many people see much sharper results compared to version 6, where I only see marginal improvement.

Cheers,
Bart
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Thank for the links Bart and Nicolas. Eventually I discovered this link to the manual and then this very useful information on supported cameras.


Tethered Camera Support

Capture One 7.0 DB has tethered support for the following digital backs/cameras:

Phase One: IQ180, IQ160, IQ140, P65+, P40+, P45+, P30+, P21+, P25+, P20+, Achromatic+, P45, P30, P25, P21, P20, H25, H 20, H 101, H 10, H 5, LightPhase.

Mamiya: DM56, DM40, DM33, DM28, DM22, M31, M22, M18.

Leaf: Credo 80, Credo 60, Credo 40, Aptus-II 12R, Aptus-II 12, Aptus-II 10R, Aptus-II 10, Aptus-II 8, Aptus-II 7, Aptus-II 6, Aptus-II 5, AFi-II 12, AFi-II 10, AFi-II 7, AFi-II 6.

Additionally, Capture One 7.0 Pro has tethered support for the following cameras:

Leaf: Aptus 75S, Aptus 65S, Aptus 54S, AFi 7, AFi 6, AFi 5, Aptus 75, Aptus 65, Aptus 22, Aptus 17.

Canon: 1D X (preliminary), 1D Mark IV, 1Ds Mark III, 1D Mark III, 5D Mark III, 5D Mark II, 7D, 60D, 50D, 40D, 600D/Rebel T3i, 550D/Rebel T2i, 500D/Rebel T1i, 450D/Rebel XSi, 1100D/Rebel T3, 1000D/Rebel XS.
Some older Canon models may work to some extent but no support is provided for these.

Nikon: D4, D3s, D3x, D3, D800, D800E, D700, D300, D300s, D200, D90, D80, D60, D7000, D5100, D5000, D40x, D40.
The extent of tethered support will vary depending on the back/camera connected. Live View may not be supported for all cameras.

Note that the order of connection of the camera for a DSLR and getting the software going might depend on the make of camera.

I've decided to upgrade and get connected!

Asher
 
Here is an example of the (subtle, but welcome) improvement of highlight tonality (look at the definition/structure of the clouds):
V6-vs-V7_001.jpg


It is from one tile of a larger panorama shot (with a polarizing filter), which I shot as an HDR image, but I may end up just using single exposures for the pano ... The processing is virtually identical, except for a difference in the levels highlight clipping point caused by the new V7 engine.

The difference in tonal rendering may not be considered as striking to some, but I welcome this kind of improvement very much.

Cheers,
Bart
 
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Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Bart,

This is intriguing. Did you discover any changes in the histograms of these two processed skies?

Asher
 
This is intriguing. Did you discover any changes in the histograms of these two processed skies?

Hi Asher,

Yes, the histograms were different enough that I could/had to use a slightly different highlight clipping point by means of a simple levels adjustment. That undoubtedly caused an increase in contrast which is part of the improved tonality of subtle hightlights. Other than that, and the newer processing engine that made it possible, all other settings were the same.

That means that probably all subjects that have delicate highlights, including portraits, shiny surfaces, etc., will benefit automatically. And when the tonality is there, it can also be boosted by means of dedicated procedures and software such as SNS-HDR, but it will require less of a boost thus keeping noise down.

Cheers,
Bart
 

George Holroyd

New member
I recently trialled version 6 and found that it allowed me to create black and white conversions that were more pleasing to my eye than Lightroom 3. I may have to give the new version a whirl too.
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Here you can find a bunch of videos, 22 of them at this moment, that explain some of the new functionality:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLgdfkOkA7k&feature=bf_prev&list=SPDMRz3ssFQH6HhCcWLh7xL0SapRxUNzs9

Of course that information can also be found on the Phase One website itself, but may require clicking through several chapters of text to find them.

Bart,

Thanks for these helpful links! :) I'd love to know how you and Nicolas claris are going to integrate both your optimal sharpening workflows with the new version of Capture One!

To the information I've gleaned so far:

It looks like the Media Pro, (AKA iView media Pro heritage), catalog software is now part of Capture One in the latest version 7! This means that one does not need to worry about the synchronization settings between the two programs, although I've not found any notice about this.

Also the LCC capability for correcting the variations in illumination, color casts and sensor dust in the image plane in the camera is now on its own as a separate tool. Making an LLC reference image is as simple as taking a shot in the lighting conditions and with the lens of the shots to follow and making that the reference image in Capture One. This can be applied to a bunch of images. If one changes lenses or lighting, one makes a reference image for that new condition. Then, with the reference images put together in the sequence of the sets of shots, all reference images and all the sets of shots are selected together, and now the LCC tool can automatically apply the appropriate condition specific corrections in a batch operation to as many images as one wishes. Now I understand how the program can recognize the change of a lens, but changing the lighting to be recognized automatically surpasses me. Perhaps one can't have these changes in one batch????

In any case, LCC corrections can be applied less the 100% or up to or 120% power as one wishes! There's also capability in taking more effort with cameras that allow for tilt/shift lens movements where color casts and illumination can be more severe.

My beef with Capture One 6 has been the need, sometimes, to go through the Library and reselect active catalogs after a previous editing is returned to days later. The program can pull up an unrelated catalog even when the heading is correct! I hope the new version will not behave this way. Of course, it could be that I'm making some systematic error which causes Capture One to forget the folders where we worked the previous time!

I'm looking forward to getting the new version. I wish the english fellow in the tutorials would clearly show where in the real estate of the screen he's referring to as he describes a process as it is hard to follow without some marker on the tiny text he might be referring to.

Asher
 
Here are a few other examples.

First an overview crop at 100% zoom (only initial capture sharpening by CaptureOne Pro 7, other basic settings are also the same):
V6-vs-V7_003.jpg


At first glance they look pretty similar, but note the letters on the name shield. I'll zoom in to make the differences clearer:
V6-vs-V7_002.jpg


You can see how much cleaner the conversion is (do consider that it's a 400% zoom). There are far fewer isolated pixels that made it hard to enlarge the image without a lot of work or edge preserving noise reduction. And also the diagonal rope has a less jagged look, something that's also showing on other sharp edge detail:
V6-vs-V7_004.jpg


Check out the edges, the shadow noise and the rope detail. Overall the image is cleaner (without any noise reduction) and more realistic, and offers a better basis for additional processing.

Cheers,
Bart
 

nicolas claris

OPF Co-founder/Administrator
Nicolas,

Are they going to support your 645D Pentax files? If they would it would be wonderful.

Asher
Asher
The wrote me that they would be happy too, however, until now, Pentax (as other MF camera builders) refuse to communicate tech details to Phase and encourage me to put pressure on Pentax to change their mind…

However again, I do have the same findings than Bart on the fine details and structures…
 
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