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A3 -> Capture One Express + Nik Collections

Permanently deleted user
As a hobbyist, I've been using Aperture since 2008. Overall, I'm reasonably happy with it, but not completely happy -no lens corrections, it's got quite slow recently with referenced masters on a EXT3 formatted NAS, default color rendition seems to be better with Capture One 7 (and NX2 for that matter) and it's buggy with Nik Collections. I've no real need for the tethered capability, so I'm considering going for Capture One Express and export to Nik Collections for local adjustments/filters etc. A few questions:

Have any forum members gone this route and if so how did you get on?
Is there an easy way to reimport exported to application images back into Capture One 7?
Is there an easy way to relocate imported images (from local disk to NAS)
Is performance likely to be good with 40K images on a NAS, does it have any issues with EXT3 formatted disks?
Given I'll have Nik Collections (inc Vivezza) will I miss anything (other than tethering and keystone correction) from the Pro version?
How often do they add new lenses ... my main lens that needs correction (barrel distortion at less than 24mm) is a Tamron 17-50?
How often do they typically introduce "paid for" upgrades?
What video formats are supported?

Appreciate any replies, as migrating will require quite alot of time and effort. 😲
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Comments

5 comments

Date Votes
  • sizzlingbadger
    Download the trial, it lasts 60 days, then you can find out properly for yourself.

    I used Aperture for along time and its a great product. There will definitely be things you miss and the performance is unlikely to be any different. NAS is not great for these applications. Capture One 7 is far more buggy than Aperture at present, especially in the catalog area which is brand new in this version so is to be expected.

    I'm currently transitioning from Lightroom to CO7 Pro but haven't managed to get a satisfactory workflow yet. I'm also struggling with the colours in CO, they are geared towards good skin tones and this means other photography doesn't always work out as well.

    CO only seems to support the more expensive lenses so make you check the list to see if yours on it. They are releasing more lenses with each update but not in great quantities.

    Having said all that there is a lot to like about CO, I wouldn't be wasting my time trying to transition to it if I didn't think it would be worth it one day in the near future.
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  • Permanently deleted user
    Thanks for the reply badger, I think I'm going to go for the Pro version, after using it for a while the multi monitor support and local adjustments make it worthwhile. It's actually faster at reading/writing to my NAS than Aperture (which doesn't like ext3). In terms of migration, my plan is to make my Aperture library fully referenced and then import into C1. Do you any tips on migration, is there a better approach than above?
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  • brianmerwin
    One thing to keep in mind here is that CO in the past was never intended to serve as a cataloging system for your images.

    The catalog feature now exists but the general consensus is that it simply isn't ready for primetime (I recommend avoiding it all together) and Phase's companion product Media One Pro just hasn't been getting a great deal of priority from the development team, however we can also agree that the RAW editing capabilities of C1 are far superior than the competition.

    My workflow (as a commercial shooter, and digital tech) depends on the project needs but I never rely on C1 for cataloging my images once the shoot is done. I always use sessions while in production, and then everything moves in to my Lightroom catalog (if they are my own images going in to my own archive).

    For jobs where I am the tech and also the retoucher for another shooter:


    • Capture One Pro (tethered or not)

    • C1P (raw adjustments)

    • C1P (export psd/tif)

    • Bridge (cull/metadata)

    • Photoshop (retouch)

    • Bridge (photoshop actions for assigning color space & exporting files for delivery)


    For jobs with my own images:


    • Capture One Pro (tethered or import)

    • C1P (raw adjustments)

    • C1P (export psd/tif)

    • Lightroom (import/cull/metadata)

    • Photoshop (retouch & roundtrip back to Lightroom)

    • Lightroom (assign colorspace & export for delivery)


    So I only use Lightroom for it's catalog features (where it truly excels IMO) and to export finals in the correct dimensions & color spaces. One big thing to keep in mind is that Lightroom doesn't support PSB files at all (won't even see them) so often it makes more sense to use bridge if you're doing any heavy lifting during retouch (or you're dealing with medium format files that hit 1gb rapidly anyway).

    Above all I strongly recommend keeping a tightly organized folder system so that you aren't dependant on a software solution for managing your archive. The DAM Book is a really great resource for truly planning your asset management scheme .

    If you are absolutely determined to use a catalog application, make sure that it is configured so that the images are being stored in their own directories as opposed to being embedded inside of an application file (the way Aperture and iPhoto like to do by default).

    Good luck with your transition!
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  • sizzlingbadger
    I use a structured folder system along with the Lightroom catalog. This allows an easy transfer to another system like C1. You could use Aperture as your cataloging system as you already own it, I actually think its more powerful than Lightroom in this area. Just make sure you use referenced files rather than the internal storage to maintain your folder structure.
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  • Permanently deleted user
    Thanks for the comprehensive post Brian - much appreciated. I'm sold on the the tightly organized folder system and I'll have to ponder my approach to cataloging a little more (I may simple stick with A3 as suggested by sizzilingbadger). BTW, I love the two portraits on your homepage.
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