This allows you to open a folder and examine the contents without going through the Import process and is handy if you are in a hurry and just want to check that the images are OK, or quickly export for use on the web. One very big difference, and one that might be a deal breaker for Lightroom, is that Capture One Pro can also act as a kind of browser by using Sessions instead of the cataloguing facility. Since this happens in the background you can get on with editing so it’s no big deal but Capture One Pro completed the entire process faster while Lightroom was a bit quicker to get to where you can at least start editing.

© Nick Rains Importįirst up, both are slow to Import, Lightroom is, in my tests at least, slightly faster to complete the Import part of the process but both took quite a while to create Previews after the image data had copied off the memory card. Here’s my take on where the applications sit in my workflow and some of the pros and cons of each. Capture One Pro V9 is available as a standalone for €279 (about A$420) or as a subscription for €12 (about A$18) per month.Ĭapture One Pro 9 is therefore double the price of Lightroom and when you look at the Adobe deal of Lightroom and Photoshop for just A$11.99 per month you have to wonder if the extra money is worth it. The most glaring difference is in the cost – Lightroom being A$11.99 per month (and including Adobe Photoshop!) or about AU$200 as a standalone (not including Photoshop). I think that both Lightroom and Capture One Pro are currently mature and extremely capable editors, with 90% of their features overlapping and mostly equivalent. It’s a bit like when I swapped from PCs to Macs and found them hard to use too! We prefer things we are familiar with. That's not a reflection on Capture One Pro, just my habits, but having re-examined Capture One Pro when V9 came out, I can see that it's is now far more streamlined and intuitive. Here's what he found out.īefore I start I should make it clear that I am far more familiar with Adobe Lightroom, having used it from its initial release, and have always found Capture One Pro hard to use. But which one is best for you? Nick Rains spent several weeks trialling the two programs in real-world conditions to find out which one performs best in different phases of a typical workflow. When it comes to image editing and cataloguing, two software packages stand out as the best options for photographers – Adobe's Lightroom and Phase One's Capture One Pro.

Capture one pro vs lightroom 6