C21 Quadruples the Update Price for Brand License (like Sony/Fuji/Nikon) - I feel kidded
I switched from LR to Capture One 12, updated to Capture One 20 and never regretted it. I love the concepts and the quality of the processed images. But with version 21 I'm disappointed and that's why:
The price difference between the full brand version (149 €) and update (129 €) is remarkable and tells me that you do not want me as your customer.
But it's getting worse!
If my interpretation of the license FAQ is correct (pasted it below) you double the price and halve the number of licenses for the brand license (I paid 62,30 € for the update from V12 -> V20, now the offer form V20 -> V21 is 129 €).
I would have to pay 278 € vs. 62,30 € (129 € update license for one desktop license + 149 € for another notebook license which wasn't needed before version 21)? That is more than four times as much!
I don't complain about the new features (something with dust removal and the rest was so boring for me that I already forgot it) - but you quadruple the price just for the ability to get bug fixes (yes - C1 has bugs)?!?
I *really* feel kidded.
Or did I miss something?
Cheers,
Thomas
Taken from the license FAQ:
Capture One for Fujifilm / (for Sony) / for Nikon - 1 workstation (for Capture One 21 users); 2 workstations (for Capture One 20 and earlier versions' users).
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Thomas,
This being a User to User forum no one is really in a position to answer your question.
The best suggestion is probably that you should create a Support case and direct it at the Sales and Marketing team.
It's difficult to comment on the commercial pricing aspect.
In terms of functionality - not all updates appeal to everyone's main needs for each new version and they probably cannot ever do so. Sometime the mid year point release can be of greater interest than the initial version update release. Once in a while the version update is mostly a necessary change that enables things to came a few months later.
In terms of activations ... the numbers would not affect me. As a Canon user I have to buy the full Pro version updates and I do not have more than 2 computers. Back when I first started with C1 the activation count was only 2 anyway. 3 came later. There were no manufacturer special versions. Express was available for all, free.
However I can see and fully understand your concerns. Obviously I cannot see you personalised upgrade numbers in you account but it occurs to me that a full Pro activation with 2 activations possible might be no more costly.
You do have the option to run one activation on multiple systems but with the added inconvenience of frequent de-activation and re-activation activity.
I fully understand why you feel that this situation is unsatisfactory.
That said there do seem to be challenges in the software industry generally, partly driven by many of the larger suppliers offering only Subscription services (in one form or another) and then increasing prices for their newly captive users or reducing the benefits. Or both.
The Specialist Photography application developers may well be looking with concern at the rapid decline in sales of all camera types other than those in communications devices and some very specialist equipment.
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https://support.captureone.com/hc/en-us/articles/360007791797-All-about-Capture-One-licenses
I think you missed this bit:
"NOTE: If you have purchased the license before, the number of activations will be the same when you upgrade."
Totally ambiguous but read in conjunction with this:
https://support.captureone.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002734558-How-many-computers-can-I-install-Capture-One-on-
and the comments from Lily (C1 staffer) in that link my legalese interpretation would be:If you have purchased a C1 license before November 17, 2020 the number of activations you have after any upgrade of that C1 license will remain the same as when you first purchased that C1 license.
You had 2 activations with v12/v20 upgrade, so your v21 upgrade will have 2 activations as well.
As SFA says though, for 100% surety you would have to "submit a request" with C1.
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I just upgraded from v20 to v21 and still have three activations available.
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Sadly Capture One has been very unreliable in terms of pricing.
In 2019 I purchased Capture One Fujifilm Pro 12 for 250€ and in 2020 I upgraded to the unbranded version Pro 20 for 170€
Now Capture One Fujifilm Pro 21 is available for 150€ - that's 100€ less than what I paid in 2019.
And the Upgrade from one unbranded version to the next unbranded version is 170€ - I paid the same amount for an upgrade from a branded version to an unbranded version.
It's very weird an strange that they chose to do this now. If the new version is really that good and they feel comfortable charging people 170€ for the upgrade - why isn't the branded version 350€ and the regular full version 450€?
Why is only (!) the upgrade from one full version to another full version more expensive?
Maybe they realised that that's where the real money lies at the moment: already existing customers who they can milk for every cent they have (especially during a pandemic).That explains why they were so quick to ask for money before the release and so slow to reveal any new features.
Personally I have to say that this upgrade would be a hard sell for 69€ anyway but I could see some people and big fans paying that much for it and that would be fine.
But: The only actual difference is the de-haze-tool and that's not worth 169€, that's more than a full year of the Adobe Photography subscription which includes Photoshop and Lightroom. And that one has dehaze too ;-)
For 169€ you'd have to be either very rich and not care how much money you spend - or mentally handicapped to not realise you're being ripped off.
PS: They're also selling the Capture One for (Camera Brand) Subscription for € 109,00 and the Capture One for (Camera Brand)Subscription + 110 Styles for € 109,00 claiming "SAVE 80% ON STYLES".
Now I'm not a maths genius but that sounds like "SAVE 100% ON STYLES" to me.
So it looks like they're pretty incompetent.0
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