Lightroom Classic vs Capture One, 2024 Update Battle

UPDATE: It was point out to me that you can batch AI Mask inside of CP1. I detail this in a new video:

Welcome to episode 86 of PhotoKitchen, where we pit Lightroom Classic against Capture One with their latest round of updates and feature enhancements.

Has one application done enough to cause you to switch sides? Has one done too little to keep you business? Let's find out!

My name is M.D. Welch, and I am the humble host of PhotoKitchen. The YouTube channel dedicated to all things photo, video, and image editing.

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[jimavery]

i switched back to lightroom classic after using capture one for a couple of years because of the ai masking. I miss the cop wireless tether and sessions and brightness slider, and now their ai selection is tempting me back. So thanks for this video. I think I'll just stick with lightroom for awhile since I pay for it anyway with my photoshop subscription. I can do wireless tethering with the sony imaging edge app but it takes some fiddling to get it going.

[stan]

The raw rendering is better in C1, especially in skin colors. With C1 I get good flesh tone easily, whereas in LR I go to the cmyk curves and adjust the colors.

[StefanHillen]

Thank you for the video. For me it would've been more useful to use the same images in both applications to see how well the masks working and how the end results differ in kind of sharpness and colors...

[yaeckerphotography]

CapOne needs to lower its price to be more competitive. No geotagging either this is a must. When Adobe added the AI masking features I left CapOne and have not returned. The point color is a welcome addition although not as flexible as CapOne. And I agree all editing features should be available in masking mode.

[rolandrickphotography]

Man, I love you for this contribution. You really struck a chord with me. - At about 6:09, oh yes. I'm asking them since years to natively support .afphoto and get the same lame excuses since 7 or so years. No .gif, no .psb (at least at the last version I started to skipped C1 updates that was like so), many more formats missing. The only tool showing all files on the disk is Bridge, even if it does not generate previews for other formats such as .afphoto. At least Bridge is a DAM avoiding loss of other files in the folder and it needs no database (that has pros and cons). I subscribed 🙌

[IlyesBouzid]

Thanks for the comparison, agree C1 is still early release and will for sure get more functionalities later on. You can btw sync edit using AI mask on several images by saving it as a style and applying the style to the other images it will re-calculate the AI mask and apply the edits ...

[Wojtekgl]

I'm just working with both, evaluating which one I'll stay with. I like the way C1 renders the RAWs (I'm Sony and Fuji user), default processing brings les noisy and more detailed outcome from C1. On the other hand, LR, together with Photoshop makes a good work and BTW good deal, compared to the cost of C1. AI denoising in LR works great...but stil the picture processing I find better in C1. The biggest downside of C1, for me as Mac user, is how slow it works compared to LR. Looks like C1 is not utilising correctly the potential of new Apple hardware, you can see it immediately playing with the sliders. LR is like light speed compared to C1. All in all, I don't know which one to choose for the future :)

[SayWhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat]

"In Capture One 16.3.4, you can copy unchanged Subject Mask and Background Mask Layers to other images, and Capture One will automatically re-calculate what the subject or background is."

[GregButler-ws]

Smart Styles in Capture One allows you to batch edit as many people images as you want, correcting light and color balance in all kind of different lighting conditions. And you can, contrary to what you say, have a different mask in every layer.

[rainerzuehlke]

I use both Capture One Pro and Lightroom Classic, but for different use cases. Lightroom Classic is better suited for drone images, especially for individual images of 360x180° spherical panoramas (sky vs. ground masking and synchronizing adjustment settings for each mask). However, Capture One Pro is superior in almost all other use cases. In addition, the user experience with a fully customizable interface (modules) is much better.

[sandrostudio]

Good video; I subscribed to your channel. However, while the AI masking in Lightroom Classic works very well in general and when creating a mask underneath a mask, the same can be achieved in capturing one, too. You need to create a new adjustment layer and do whatever you want by choosing one of the possibilities: linear-gradient, circular gradient, AI, etc. If you need one more re-touching, add another adjustment layer. The previous masks won't be affected, and the effect will add up. (although a good photo shouldn't need any -or almost any - post-editing, as we all know).
I prefer to capture one for the workflow, the compact interface, which is easy to navigate, organizing photos, and the metadata editing panel (I don't do any tethering, being just an amateur photographer).

[the_indrid_cold]

I've tried both apps in the past few days, and AI noise removing in Lightroom blows my mind, way better than Capture One in my opinion.

[ilovebears]

Linear profile looks better in C1. Export tool is way better in C1. Levels is an amazing tool LR lacks of. Raw rendition in C1 is better than LR's. Separate modules is great in C1. Integrates awfully with some third party plugins. Styles with masks in a separate layer is great.

LR has way better mask options. LR renders quicker than C1. Color rendition difference has been highly reduced between both. The cost of Lr subscription with PS is way cheaper than C1's.

[grahamsmith]

I am maybe misunderstanding the problem, but you can use cmd+left click to select multiple images and then run the subject or background AI on those multiple images at the same time. And, as mentioned already you can combine this with a style to apply editing plus AI subject selection across multiple images.

[Aleksanderespelid]

The absolute abysmal file structure Lightroom is working with will forever keep me from Lightroom. I absolutely hate how the catalogs work, and until they make something like C1 session I can never go back to LR. Also how slow LR has always been with creating previews and all that jazz is not good enough. I do however wish C1 would get somehting like the Calibrate tool that LR has, it just does something that I cannot really don in C1 the same way.

[jkinze]

With c1 subject mask both images need to be selected, (have edit all selected, I had to input on the customization quick tab), then click subject, and use the quick keybinds, it will apply to both images. Or you can fully edit one image with background + subject, then just create a preset style. If a group of images are very similar, I've cut down the time editing images by 80%. I do have a folder of my presets of Subject + background commands.

[colinbazzano]

Hmm, you're saying they don't give you multiple masks on the same layer, but they do give you layers. one mask per each layer? That doesn't seem ridiculous to me, just a design choice.

[SuryaFriends]

i find style in capture one compared to preset of lightroom quite inferior, thats one feature which is tempting me to switch back to LR

[justusmartin]

I'm shooting a Canon R3 and R5 and I'm so frustrated with the reliability of their tethering in lightroom (sometimes it works, sometimes it works for a while, sometimes not at all, sometimes the work around works and sometimes not even that. It practically requires a designated half-hour before the shoot feeling the pressure hoping that tethering will work and stay working all the way through the shoot). I'm trying to learn the library and sorting system on capture one simply to have a reliable solution for my corporate headshot work. I've wasted SO MUCH time trying to solve tethering on Lightroom. Get your act together Adobe!
Ps, thank you for this video.

[gbee]

Bit of a major goof not knowing about C1 custom styles and AI mask generation.