What a struggle - Capture One 4

David162

• January 17, 2008 20:21

Like others I am finding Capture One 4 very slow to open up, which LE 3.7.3 never is, a number of adjustment sliders move as though through treacle [ so I type in settings ] and odd useful small features on LE 3.7.3 have gone missing [ eg. listing of previous processed shots in a session ] - albeit I like the new features like horizon adjustment, continuos range of levels adjustment available instead of fixed steps etc.
Truly the curates egg - feels as though some experience has gone missing in the Phase one software team and user feedback on the Beta version not acted upon sufficiently in the haste to get the new version out with so much effort already committed ?

However I am having bigger problems; I have now tried and tried for 2 weeks to find a set of adjustment parameters which will produce results equivalent or hopefully better than LE 3.7.3 without success. The nearest I have got still throws up the following range of problems:-

- Never a problem with LE there are acute problems between Capture One 4 software and the newer Microsoft RAW viewer [ Windows Picture and Fax viewer OK ] ; my laptop very seriously slowed to a stop and gave shutdown problems which I eventually found resolved themselves immediately by changing file opening associations back to the Windows viewer.

- Never ever as sharp as LE even with much higher sharpening settings; I cannot get an acceptable result

- There seems to be a veil of minor distortion in the processed full screen picture; however viewed by zooming in at higher magnification it is not obvious ?

- Having to use higher contrast and saturation settings to get a punchier picture; otherwise very flat and lifeless

- The processed picture without any cropping does not register in the same position as one processed in LE ; it slips slightly down and to the left away from a truly centralised position. This is only a minor effect but I wonder if it relates to some of the sharpness issues.

Any ideas anyone ? I have tried all the adjustment options I can unearth and am beginning to think I am overlooking something simple and obvious but still overlooked by myself. I had such high hopes for One 4 !!

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  Paul Steunebrink

  • January 17, 2008 21:48

  [quote="david reeves" wrote:
  1. Never a problem with LE there are acute problems between Capture One 4 software and the newer Microsoft RAW viewer [ Windows Picture and Fax viewer OK ] ; my laptop very seriously slowed to a stop and gave shutdown problems which I eventually found resolved themselves immediately by changing file opening associations back to the Windows viewer.
  
  2. Never ever as sharp as LE even with much higher sharpening settings; I cannot get an acceptable result
  
  3. There seems to be a veil of minor distortion in the processed full screen picture; however viewed by zooming in at higher magnification it is not obvious ?
  
  4. Having to use higher contrast and saturation settings to get a punchier picture; otherwise very flat and lifeless
  
  5. The processed picture without any cropping does not register in the same position as one processed in LE ; it slips slightly down and to the left away from a truly centralised position. This is only a minor effect but I wonder if it relates to some of the sharpness issues.

  
  Hi David,
  A few questions and answers.
  
  1. Is the Windows viewer your main viewer for processed pictures or do you use an app like Photoshop as well?
  
  2. Have you tried the Presets of the sharpening tool to use 3.7 settings in CO4. Worth a try.
  
  3. Again, which app did you use to evaluate the processed picture?
  
  4. Here I suspect a color management issue. It could be like this: 3.7 LE outputs by default in sRGB working space, which looks good in the Windows viewer. CO4 defaults to the AdobeRGB working space. In the Windows viewer this results in low contrast and washed out colors since the Windows viewer is not aware of the color space and profile. Check your output profile in both 3.7 en 4.0 and bring them in line. Use sRGB if you don't have a color managed workflow.
  
  5. Which camera the raw file comes from?

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  David162

  • January 19, 2008 09:06

  Paul
  Thanks for the interest :-
  
  1. Main viewer is Windows ; I like to use the slideshow facility. I have Photoshop express on my laptop but don't use it for previewing.
  
  2. I have used the LE 3.7 presets and all sorts of other combinations of settings.
  
  3. I use Windows to evaluate the processed picture - but revert to the newer Microsoft RAW viewer for viewing a folder of shots when I have closed down CO4.
  
  4 & 5. The RAW files are from a Nikon D70
  In LE and CO4 I use the D70 version 2 input profile and Adobe RGB for output
  
  Thanks David Reeves

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