Capture One DSLR – A revolutionary digital workflow
Many digital SLR users are beginning to realise the potential of saving their images in a RAW format. This means that no processing, such as sharpening, colour alteration or lossy compression is carried out in the camera, but is later done on a PC, where the user can try variations of the settings to get the optimum results. With users finding that camera manufacturers' software is either slow and/or lacking in features (we’ll forgive this – most are very good at making cameras, and you can’t be all things to all people), third party software is starting to emerge.
Capture One Digital SLR from Phase One, perhaps better known by medium format users for their digital backs, now offer versions of their RAW file handling software for the growing digital SLR market. There are four C1 DSLR versions available, supporting different camera RAW formats and with varying levels of functionality.
Details of all the versions can be found on Phase One’s website: www.c1dslr.com
There are many advantages of using C1, compared with systems such as Canon’s File Viewer software supplied with the 10D, but there are two key points that make C1 stand out as the workflow of choice. The first, is the fact that C1 works on a preview of the file and then "develops" or applies the changes to the actual file after all selections have been made. This means that the adjustments made to the preview image are seen in real time - the tweaking of the images is very fast. The second major advantage of C1, is the ability to then batch "develop" the images - different versions of C1 allowing batch developing of different numbers of images. All of this means that modifications to dozens of images can be made very fast, then selected for batch development and left to sort themselves out while you go and make a cup of tea. Very nice! Additionally, if you have multiple images that require the same adjustment – a colour cast for example, you can make adjustments to one of the images, copy the settings to a whole selection – then batch develop the originals!
I keep talking about developing, but haven’t actually said which format you can develop to.
C1 allows you to develop the RAW file including the adjustments you have made into JPEG, 8 or 16 Bit TIFF in whatever size you like. You can also select the colour space in which you would like to save the output file. The pro version actually allows developing into multiple formats simultaneously, which could be useful, if for example you need a master version and a version for a website. C1 makes no changes to the RAW file which remains as the digital "negative".
Enough about the workflow, clearly that's very good. What can C1 actually do, other than convert the file from RAW? Well quite a lot:
Along the left side of the screen is an explorer-style folder list, and when selected, this generates a thumbnail list of the RAW and JPEG files (for some reason not TIFF) contained in the folder. The display can be customised to also show EXIF data, which makes for a good RAW file browser in itself. When one of the previews is selected, a larger working version is displayed, and this is where parameter changes are previewed. To ensure accuracy of colour adjustments, you can also load in your monitor's colour profile. On the right side of the screen are five tabs, under which are the groups of modification functions. You have to open and close the various windows that you need with tabs at the top, and the display can get a little full. Whilst multiple monitors are not officially supported, it is possible to stretch a window across two screens and then have all working windows open at a decent size:
The tabs contain tools for tweaks that can be applied to developed images as follows:
Capture:
Includes presentation of a histogram and the files EXIF information.
White Balance:
This tab of functions allows adjustment to the camera’s pre-set white balance intervals and a slider which allows the temperature to be varied in 100K steps from 2000 to 12000K.
Tone balance and a colour cast palette are also available for correcting and colour casts.
Exposure:
In the exposure tab, the exposure can be adjusted by up to +/-2.5 stops. A second slider allows contrast adjustment. Sliders can also set the upper, lower and midpoint on the histogram as usual.
A slider at the bottom of this section allows the reduction or increasing of the colour saturation. I found that it was easy to overdo it and developed images had too much saturation. This may just be a problem with my monitor set-up, and I have learnt to be conservative with this control.
Focus:
I have found that the sharpening algorithms in C1 beat photoshop hands down. As with the colour saturation, the only thing to beware of is applying too much, which looks basically OK on the preview, but results in a grainy (noisy) developed image. This is no problem at all, as after using the software a while it becomes second nature to apply the graining that looks perfect on the preview and then pull back a little.
Develop:
In this tab, you can select the output file type, size, resolution and location. TIFFs may be saved as 8 or 16 bit and JPEGs can be saved at any of three quality levels.
The colour management drop down allows developing to various colour spaces. The preset colour spaces can be set-up in a colour management option.
The batch editor allows developing of the current image immediately or it may be added to a batch to be developed later.
There are several other useful features which are in a tool bar above the main preview image. The main features allow:
 | Cropping freely or limited to A4 or 8 x 10 inch ratios |
| Exposure warning |
| Grey scale viewing |
| Toggling colour management and sharpening settings on and off. |
It is also possible to view two images side by side in the main image frame, for example if you have several bracketed images, you can compare side by side to decide which are the best for development.
Conclusion:
All in all, it’s a comprehensive set of tools, leaving little or no need for any general tidying up in Photoshop. The results that can be obtained from an ordinary looking RAW file are stunning. More to the point of the software, good results can be obtained very quickly. To put the C1 workflow into perspective, last year, I shot around 1200 images on slide film. I then developed, scanned and edited most of the images during my spare time over the next three months. A few weeks ago, I shot just over a thousand images in New York using a 10D. Upon returning home, I had all images processed from RAW through C1 into TIFF files within a week.
For a Pro, this improvement in throughput would allow a serious increase in the volume of work that can be handled. For anybody, it means more time shooting and less time in front of a monitor!
I also find knowing I have such an efficient workflow back at home means that I shoot more prospective shots. Previously I would have thought of the processing hassle of a large number of images and thought twice about shooting what may not work.
Digital imaging is definitely maturing and with software and working methods as good as C1,
I am sad to say that film is becoming a less and less attractive option.
To see some example images that have been processed through Capture One, visit the gallery area of my website. All images shot using my 10D have been C1DSLR processed.
Screen shots with permission of Phase One.
Words copyright Steve Pearce 2004.