Capture One Express is coming to an end
Hello everyone,
Writing a post in here just in case some of you have not been contacted by e-mail and to also share some helpful resources after this news.
See here:
Express deprecation FAQ
How to access your catalog images outside of Capture One
From the email communication sent out earlier today:
"... This means that starting January 30, 2024, Capture One Express will no longer be available.
You’ll be able to use Express until January 30, and all your images and edits will also be available until this date.
Starting January 30, you won’t be able to download or use Express from our website. Also, you can’t activate any Express license keys after January 30, even though you downloaded the license key before this date.
We’ll end all support for Express after January 30."
Understandably, if you are an Express user this will come as disappointing news. However, we have done our best to ensure that there are options available to you, should you want to stay in the Capture One eco-system – check your inbox over the coming days for an offer that's unique to you.
Kind regards,
Team Capture One
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@...
They've happily burned a lot of good will three times in the last two years:
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First with the discontinuing of the brand-specific, affordable versions
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Then the cut-back on perpetual license bug fix upgrades to only a few months worth of upgrades and bug fixes and the cancelling of upgrades for perpetual license holders (you have to buy a whole new license)
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Now the killing of existing Express installations (termination of their licenses).
If my memory serves right, when they introduced the brand-specific versions, which did not last very long, the price for the Pro version significantly increased, as if the introduction of the brand-specific versions should prevent the customer base from being too upset of the price increase.
I remember that this is what I thought back then, and when they discontinued the brand-specific versions I thought that this move was planned from the beginning; lifting up prive levels in a "smart" way. The other interpretation would have been that this company was dictated by chaos and chactic managers.
Btw, just because there is a new CEO doesn't justify this kind of turbulences, uncertainties and level of unreliability.
I agree with your long post. Fact is too that C1 is not the small and nice company anymore which I happily support because I think they deserve being supported for just being small and nice so that they can grow, that role has DXO now for me.
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> BeO: ...C1 is not the small and nice company anymore
Google's motto used to be "Don't be evil". Some people think they lost it :-)
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One thing I'm curious about - the page about installation limits says:
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Capture One Express for Fujifilm / (for Sony)
- Capture One 20 and later - 1 workstation
- Capture One 12 and older versions do not require a license key
I downloaded the 12.1.5 installer from here, installed it, and activated it as Capture One Express for Fuji under the 'Other options' menu (Sony Express is also an option here, but not Nikon). Sure enough, it did not ask for my licence key. Does this imply that this old version might not be deactivated at the end of the month when more recent versions apparently will be? Time, I suppose, will tell, or perhaps the admins know. It is obviously phoning home, as I see the current offer for a reduced price subscription/licence on a splash screen when I start it, but if there is no mechanism to enforce numbers of installations, I wonder if there is a kill switch? Express 12.1.5 dates back to 2020 and obviously won't support the most recent cameras, but does have functions that have been removed from the new Fuji 'lite' version like the Color Editor, and it is also available for Sony.
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Capture One Express for Fujifilm / (for Sony)
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As already stated by a lot of C1 users, I am a little bit disappointed to see C1 express coming to an end. As I am not a professional, I do not want to put too much in a software that I will not use at its full potential. I don't understand why you did not propose an alternative (monthly subscription at an affordable price to continue C1 express).
Having said that, I went back and forth between a future C1 pro licence and Lightroom. Considering the price and your policy ("hey you had a perpertual licence that is coming to an end, see you"), I prefer switching to lightroom : for the same price (ie with the 40% discount proposed by C1) I also have access to photoshop.
Hope that you will soon adopt another business model that will make me come back.
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Apparently there's a short stay of execution until February 12th. Perhaps the C1 Pro upgrade offer hasn't had the uptake they hoped? A countdown timer on the splash screen (go to 'Help->Shop...' if you don't see this on startup) now ramps up the pressure.
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Love this quote from C1 in the most recent PetaPixel article.
"Although we have nothing specific to announce today, as the photography industry continues to evolve and we at Capture One make progress with our strategy as a standalone company, we’re implementing changes that align our investments with the areas where we’re seeing increases in customer satisfaction and traction with our users".
Where have you guys seen any recent customer satisfaction LOL. Perpetual users are pissed off about the dog shit updates that contain like 2-4 minor, MINOR bug fixes if they are lucky. Subscription users aren't happy with the cost being so high, the mobile versions absolutely suck compared to desktop and the free users just got their legs chopped off for no good reason. What kind of satisfaction has there been lately? I'm guessing from the few hundred pros who use tethering and that about it.
I'm so happy you guys got rid of the free version to make the software better.. that's been going great so far eh? Venture capital ruining yet another company so they can take their profits and run when the company inevitably dies. It's not like Phase One has a sustainable camera business to fallback on either. The software is the most profitable part and it's going down the toilet currently.
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Anbaric I'd bet it's because not many people have upgraded. Wasn't it supposed to only be 40% off before, now it's 60%. I can see them extending it if things went better than expected as well but I highly doubt that is the case here.
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https://petapixel.com/2024/01/30/capture-one-lays-off-staff-amid-a-significant-internal-restructure/
Link to the article if anyone is interested. RIP communications staff, always sad to see people lose their jobs.
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Sorry to hear about the job losses. Sounds like a ruthless corporate strategy at all levels of the business, but losing your livelihood is on a completely different level to what we've been complaining about. Best wishes to everyone affected.
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And today the current version is dead, as promised.
However...
My copy of 12.1.5, which does not require a licence key to install it as Express under the 'Other Options' menu (see my previous post) still appears to be active (so far). This version was released in 2020, and is compatible with both Fuji and Sony, but there is no option to install Nikon Express without a key. You can download the installer (at least for now) and check compatibility with your camera from the links in my post above.
If this continues to be the case, it makes a nonsense of the claim that C1 would have had to do extra work to keep C1 Express running. In fact, it seems that the 'kill switch' was something they added quite recently, presumably in late 2020 when v13 was released and (for the first time) required a key even for an Express installation, effectively turning Express into a subscription version they could terminate. So thanks for that one, guys.
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Thanks for that link, M--that's terrible and helps explain why the messaging around this license shift has been so bad and why there are no external-facing email addresses other than legal@. Since I won't find an email address to send feedback to privately, I'll pile my message to anyone from C.O. marketing, sales, licensing, etc. onto the heap here:
You produce decent software, and as a developer, I appreciate getting paid for my work, so I've bought a perpetual license.
Your messaging is bad and misleading, however ("last chance to get your files" is pure BS--my XMPs, RAWs, and JPGs won't suddenly disappear), and I don't appreciate that, nor the change in license rather than just ending support (which is not the only thing that ended), but I guess it had the effect you desired, so you probably don't care.I'm a hobbyist Fujifilm shooter (picked it up as something to improve my outlook during the first wave of Covid) and Capture One is currently the second step of my workflow (after culling in darktable). I mostly use Capture One as my final processing engine because of its handling of Fujifilm raws and film simulations. This has all been for my personal enjoyment, so I'm trying not to let this decrease that...but it has. Thanks.0 -
Very unhappy about this decision. The option to move to Capture One Pro is not available to me as my Mac is too old to support the software. (2015 is old these days apparently). I had a love/hate relationship with the GFX 50S anyway, with its absolutely chaotic autofocus. So without Capture One Express, I am unable to take the (predominantly out of focus) shots off my camera card and onto my Mac. This revoking of the Express license has at least spurred me on to a long deferred decision - to return to Cannon. Goodbye Fuji.
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My c1 21 express just quit working on in the middle of editing some photos of my deceased grandmother. I spent several hours today working on them and was almost ready to export when I got the deactivated license poop. Did I lose all my work?
I discovered why my c1 is broken by finding this webpage, and now I’m very upset.
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This is a great way to get people to switch to adobe lr
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I use this app mainly for import images, so I installed 12.5 seems work for now
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Thanks for the tip. I've tried version 12.1.5 and it seems to be working fine in Express mode without requiring a license key.
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Luminar offers a reasonably priced alternative to this raw converter and it works pretty well.
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Also own Luminar (which I got when it was not a subscription).
This product is something quite different than Capture One to me. Also would not call the current model price conscious as you never own the software at this point.
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