Price, Offers, Discounts
Would someone from the Capture One 2020 community help me with a pricing issue? I am a very new user of Capture One 2020 and am currently in week one of my trial of the software, which I am finding incredible and the help associated with it, helpful!
My issue is price and affordability, (which I appreciate is very subjective and personal). As a retired person with limited income, I have to weigh up the most cost effective route to happiness given that photography is a big passion of mine! Obviously, C1 is pricey and when sat side by side with Lightroom it appears to be considerably more expensive. However, the nice people at C1 support have suggested that I keep an eye out for offers and promotions. I read elsewhere here that there are times when C1 offer the software a little cheaper. Obviously, I may have to let my 39 day trial expire if I waited for an offer to come around. I am in a quandary as to whether I take up the single purchase option and essentially own the software outright, or opt for the subscription service (which seems to be no different from the Adobe model whereby I would never own the software). My associated questions are:
1. When do offers 'normally' appear or is it a completely random event? I have seen that Black Friday seems to be favourite.
2. Historically, what have the offers been to new customers and are these associated with the subscription or outright purchase options, or both?
3. In your experiences, when and how often do major upgrades occur and what is the offer / discount provided to existing users who wish to upgrade? I am trying to ascertain my long term outlay if I purchased the software outright and then upgraded when major versions are released.
Many thanks for your help.
Chris
-
Hi Chris,
As far as I know, Lightroom subscription is about the same price as the Capture One upgrade, which has been, up to now, approximately annual (end of each calendar year). So, all depends upon if you intend to use Photoshop (included in the "Adobe for Photographers" subscription) or not. If yes, the Adobe's offer seems better, considering only the price. In my opinion, Capture One is far better than Lightroom.
As far as I am concerned, I have chosen the Capture One "perpetual licence", which is a little bit cheaper than the subscription if I remember well, except for your first purchase of the software. The "Photoshop equivalent" I have chosen is Affinity Photo (about 60 euros), which does the job quite satisfactorily when compared to Photoshop.
Robert
1 -
Hi Chris,
l cannot give you definite answers but some experience an d some thoughts, without claiming to be correct.
1. Ive have seen black friday and cyber monday sales, but when it was too late already... -:(
2. for perceptual yes, subscription I don't recall, was never interested in the subscription model
3. usually, approx. one major upgrade per year. Who knows what is in the future. I can imagine version 20 stands for year 2020, and maybe we see version 21 end of this year. But times might change. There was an ownership change of the company, I believe, last year.
existing users usually pay less for the upgrade to the very next major version, and maybe also a bit less for the upgrade if they leave out one version.
if you only want to use C1 for either Fuji or Sony, the license is cheaper than the pro version.
you only need any next major version if either your camera model is not supported by the current version but eventually is supported by the next, same goes for lens though not equally important. Or if operating systems change.
style packs can be expensive, so if you do not need them don't buy.
I like the perceptual because if I want to switch in the future, the old version I still can use without regular payments.
I'd rather buy a lens less, or use my old camera a year longer, before I abstain from C1. But this is true for the current price level only, and as long as other system are not yet competitive for me personally, which might change as the cheaper alternatives get better.
why don't you start with a few months subscription after your trial expires, try other software too, if you haven't already, and decide in a few months, maybe around black friday or when the next major version comes out.
just my humble thoughts.hope this helps
Edit:
- operating systems change might or might not be a reason you need a new version, just a theoretical thought
- alternative software is still faaar behind at the moment, in my book.
0 -
For the last 6 years or so, the new version of CaptureOne has been released between late October and Early November.
If you own a perpetual license there is usually a discount for the upgrade.
Last year, Capture One 12 did not officially support the new MacOS 10.15 at the time that CaptureOne 20 was released; Capture One 20 did support MacOS 10.15. CaptureOne 12 was later updated to support 10.15.1 This is very typical.
I find the first releases of OSX or MacOS to be rather buggy, and I usually don't upgrade until Easter of the following year; I am currently still at 10.14.6. I may well keep 10.14.6 for another year or two.
I usually find the first few versions of the new CaptureOne to be a bit buggy. Typically there is a xx.1 release around April and that version is usually pretty good. I haven't yet started to use Capture One 20 for everything (but I have been very busy as well)
Capture One does not add new cameras to older versions of its software. This year, if I had aquired an Olympus E-M1 mark iii (released in February), I would have to use CaptureOne 20 for it's RAW files; it's unlikely they will add it to CaptureOne 12.
Once I decide to upgrade my Operating system to 10.16 or 10.17, my CaptureOne 12 likely will not run reliably anymore.
0 -
Thank you for your responses. Can anyone quantify how much a major upgrade is, or has been, for either purchase route for an existing customer? It is not possible for me to obtain a quote for this as I am still in my trial period and the C1 web site doesn't allow me to see how much an upgrade might be. Again, I'm trying to ascertain the long term cost to me before I decide on the right and most cost effective purchase route. I am not hugely enamoured by never owning the software, but at £300 initial outlay, I would need to think seriously about this as an affordable route, particularly if the yearly upgrade costs are also high.
I have been trialing and comparing (as best I can), Lightroom, Luminar, ON1, DxO PhotoLab 3, and an offering from Corel (nasty). They all have their pros and cons, but so far Capture One is way out in front for its comprehensive and lag-free processes, and it's ability to smooth the transition from Lightroom to a different programme. It's a shame it's so much more expensive as the others in my list!
I appreciate that everyone's experiences and needs vary and that this is a difficult issue to be definitive about.
0 -
Hi Chris,
I've been working with Lightroom for years (from its very beginning up to June 2015), and, frankly speaking, I don't miss it at all. Capture One is far better at various and many levels (color management, layers, flexibility, customising abilities,...).
As far as other softwares are concerned, I tried a lot of them (Luminar, ON1, RawTherapee, darktable, DxO PhotoLab,...). I haven't been convinced, as most of them don't give, to my perception, natural colors, don't offer all the palette of tools existing in Capture One. In addition, I am not a professional, and use most often the catalogue mode, which doesn't exist in the previously cited softwares. Yes, the catalogue is the weaker point of Capture One, as it is not as performant as the Lightroom one, but works well with my 22k+ images.
Robert
0 -
I have been doing a lot of trying out as well. My needs are very modest as is my computer, late 2012 MacMini, 8GB RAM, 256KSSD(installed with OWC kit when HD broke) and Catalina.
I have only 2000 photos that I am working with, but I have 20K more waiting to see which editing program I will eventually use.
I have tried Luminar, ON1, DxO PL3. My comments
Luminar, some very powerful AI things, preforms well on my machine, the DAM is not up to what I would like to do.
ON1, does lots of things well, the catalog system is the downer, seems to be constantly doing something, which is distracting to me, and not as flexible as I would like.
DxO, Really like their "View" AI things, also the Local Adjustments system, very different but pretty intuitive. Again, DAM part is just not powerful enough.
Have used Photoshop Elements, has decent DAM, takes way too much HD space, constantly "Calls Home" for all kinds of things.
Dream editor? Catalog from Capture One, editing from DxO.
0
投稿コメントは受け付けていません。
コメント
6件のコメント