Photo answers review
Photo answers rating 
Despite being the workflow tool of choice for the working pro, Capture One has never been a huge hit with enthusiasts who have largely stuck with their camera’s own supplied RAW conversion software, Adobe Camera RAW with Photoshop, or the new king of RAW, Lightroom 2. Fortunately, Phase One, makers of high-end digital backs who also produce the Capture One software, went back to the drawing board, took a good long look at the market and totally revamped its software. It’s probably no coincidence the new Capture One 4 bears a striking resemblance to Lightroom 2.
Features & handlingAlthough the slimmed-down Capture One 4 has been available for several months, it’s only now that the full-blown Pro version has been released. Compared to the £99 ‘light’ version, the £299 Pro version offers tethered shooting so you can plug your camera in and enjoy loads of customisable display options, including the opportunity to run two monitors. There are tools to correct lens abnormalities, moiré effects, advanced batch processing and more. Lots of the additions, such as CMYK-output for accurate proofing, are geared towards the working pro and are of little interest to the enthusiast. However, the important changes are in ease of use and in this way, the new Capture One 4 Pro is light years ahead of its predecessor – but not Lightroom 2.
Like Lightroom 2, all your images are accessible via folders that automatically appear in a panel whenever you open the program up. But unlike Lightroom 2, you then have to go through a menu to ‘Start new session’ which generates three new folders and is a bit confusing.
Lightroom 2 also offers easy photo-editing tools such as the gradient filter, spot healing tool, localised exposure adjustment, slideshow functionality, lots of cool printing options and web output options, too. Capture One 4 Pro comes nowhere near in terms of ease of use or functionality – unless you shoot with the camera tethered to a computer.
PerformanceSo, with a higher price tag, clunkier interface and limited functionality, it would be easy to dismiss Capture One 4 Pro as a non-starter. It’s definitely not. What it does do well is convert RAW files beautifully, and offer subtle tonal, colour and aberration control that’s second to none.
In Lightroom, changing exposure alters tones slightly which is especially noticeable on skin, but can have strange colouration. In Capture One 4 Pro, they’re not linked and skin tone is cleaner, far more subtle and more natural-looking. Yes, you can tweak your RAW files in Lightroom 2, but we couldn’t get them as good as in Capture One 4 Pro.
Landscapes are also more natural-looking compared to Lightroom 2; renditions of yellow, with which Lightroom 2 struggles, were superior in Capture One 4 Pro, but not by much. Detail was noticeably sharper, too.
VerdictCompared to Lightroom 2, Capture One 4 Pro is limited in its functionality and is nowhere near as easy to use. Its redeeming feature is its image quality. Simply put, we’ve not seen anything better. If you’re the sort of photographer who strives for the ultimate quality in your photos, we urge you to take a look at Capture One 4 Pro. And if you regularly shoot portraits, then you really should give it a try to see what it can do for your images. It might be more fiddly to use, but it could save you hours in retouching to get stunning images.
Product informationSystem requirements
Windows Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent; Microsoft Windows XO with Service Pack 3; Vista with Service Pack 1; Microsoft NET framework version 3.0; PDF reader; 2GB RAM or more
Mac OS Intel Mac running Mac OS X 10.5.5 Leopard or later, 2GB