posted by Jason Grimes on 04/20/2005
Review of Capture One v3.7
Introduction
This review will provide information related to the new Capture One LE and PRO versions. (Capture One SE will be discontinued and was not tested. Capture One DB was not tested for the purposes of this review. (Capture One DB has the same features as Capture PRO except it does not have DSLR camera support.)
For the purposes of this article, I will focus on one feature that is most important to underwater photographers. At the end of the article, you will find a link to a full (but unofficial) list of feature enhancements and fixes that I compiled from various email exchanges and notes. This information will be expanded over the course of the next few weeks as I finish testing the release candidate.
Enhancements Overview
Here is a quick list of enhancements that I believe will be of great benefit to underwater photographers:
- New sliders for adjusting Chroma Noise Reduction
- New “Move-To” function for quicker administration of your files
- New “neutral” color profile that will allow you to see your images without color management
- New invert selection feature for better administration of tagged images
- New crop composition grid
- Improved crop tool which allows a destination ratio to be set
New Noise Reduction Sliders
From my perspective, the Noise Reduction sliders will prove to be the most significant improvement within C1 v3.7, particularly for underwater photographers.
The NR sliders are located on the Focus tab (shown at right) and are divided into three categories:
One thing I must stress – If you only display your images on the Net or in emails to friends, the impact of these sliders may not always be readily noticeable to the naked eye. However, if you are prepping your images for prints of any size, you will definitely notice a difference.
I have spent quite a bit of time playing with the Noise Suppression and Color Noise Suppression sliders and have seen significant improvements in both color and black/white images. (You will probably not use the Banding suppression slider.
The image below depicts the pixel noise found at the tip of the shark’s nose after a significant Focal adjustment (from 35% to 200%). Note the pixel noise in the gray area of the nose and in the blue water. (The original image has been magnified 600% to show this detailed view.) As you can see, the pixel noise within the image has become a significant problem after the Focal adjustment.
The image below shows what can be accomplished after adjusting the Noise Suppression and Color Noise Suppression sliders. The noise in the shark’s nose has nearly disappeared and the noise found in the blue water throughout the image has dramatically improved.
There are several other new features within v3.7 that we will continue to provide information on over the course of the next few weeks as the release candidate goes through final testing.
The NR sliders are located on the Focus tab (shown at right) and are divided into three categories:
- Noise Suppression
- Color Noise Suppression
- Banding Suppression
One thing I must stress – If you only display your images on the Net or in emails to friends, the impact of these sliders may not always be readily noticeable to the naked eye. However, if you are prepping your images for prints of any size, you will definitely notice a difference.
I have spent quite a bit of time playing with the Noise Suppression and Color Noise Suppression sliders and have seen significant improvements in both color and black/white images. (You will probably not use the Banding suppression slider.
The image below depicts the pixel noise found at the tip of the shark’s nose after a significant Focal adjustment (from 35% to 200%). Note the pixel noise in the gray area of the nose and in the blue water. (The original image has been magnified 600% to show this detailed view.) As you can see, the pixel noise within the image has become a significant problem after the Focal adjustment.
The image below shows what can be accomplished after adjusting the Noise Suppression and Color Noise Suppression sliders. The noise in the shark’s nose has nearly disappeared and the noise found in the blue water throughout the image has dramatically improved.
There are several other new features within v3.7 that we will continue to provide information on over the course of the next few weeks as the release candidate goes through final testing.
Full List of Enhancements and Fixes
This section provides detailed (but semi-unofficial) information about feature enhancements and fixes that are coming with version 3.7.
C1 LE - Feature Enhancements
Capture One LE v3.7 will provide the following new features:- Two new sliders for adjusting Chroma Noise Reduction to get more color details out of your images
- Noise reduction and banding suppression are now handled on a per image basis
- Improved speed in Quick Proof and normal processing
- New crop composition grid
- Improved crop tool which allows a destination ratio to be set
- New “Move-To” function for quicker administration of your files
- New invert selection feature for better administration of tagged images
- Improved 2 up and 4 up modes. Delete and Develop now develops the focused image and not the selected images!
- New and updated profiles for the following cameras: Phase One P 25, P20, H 25, H 20, H 101, H10, Canon 1D MK II, Olympus E-1, Pentax *istD
- Wrong ISO Meta data corrected for the following cameras: Canon 1Ds, 1Ds MKII, and 20D.
- Rename bug fixed
- Preview size are now back to normal on the following cameras Canon 1D, D30, and Nikon D1H
- Canon 1D MKII duplicated pixels bug fixed
- Batch queue halting bug fixed
- Custom white balance bug for Canon 10D and 20D fixed
C1 Pro - Feature Enhancements
Capture One Pro v3.7 will provide the following new features:- Tethered support for the following Canon cameras: 1Ds MKII / 1D MKII / 1Ds / 1D / 20D / 10D / 300D / D60 / D30
- Two new sliders for adjusting Chroma Noise Reduction to get more color details out of your images
- New crop composition grid
- New “Move-To˛ function for quicker administration of your files
- New “neutral” color profile that will allow you to see your images without color management
- New invert selection feature for better administration of tagged images
- Improved 2 up and 4 up modes. Delete and Develop now develops the focused image and not the selected images!
- Speed of overlay function improved
- Meta data improvement on the P backs showing firmware version when shooting tethered. A new Meta data field showing the software version.
- Improved crop tool which allows a destination ratio to be set
- New and updated profiles for the following cameras: Phase One P 25, P20, H 25, H 20, H 101, H10, Canon 1D MK II, Olympus E-1, Pentax *istD
C1 DB - Feature Enhancements
Capture One DB v3.7 will provide the following new features: Two new sliders for adjusting Chroma Noise Reduction to get more color details out of your images- New crop composition grid
- New “Move-To” function for quicker administration of your files
- New “neutral” color profile that will allow you to see your images with color management
- New invert selection feature for better administration of tagged images
- Improved 2 up and 4 up modes. Delete and Develop now develops the focused image and not the selected images!
- Speed of overlay function improved
- Meta data improvement on the P backs showing firmware version when shooting tethered. A new Meta data filed showing the software version.
- Improved crop tool which allows a destination ratio to be set
- New and updated profiles for the following cameras: Phase One P 25, P20, H 25, H 20, H 101, H10
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