Capture One editions, licenses and subscriptions explained
Capture One is a professional image cataloguing, editing and processing tool. Its closest rival is Lightroom, but Capture One has a number of advantages for professional workflows (including tethered shooting), superior RAW processing and more sophisticated layer and mask based local adjustment tools.
Previously it had been sold as an all-cameras edition or as cheaper editions solely for Nikon, Sony or Fujifilm cameras. With the release of Capture One 22, this has changed, and these single-brand editions are no longer available.
Capture One has introduced a new service called Capture One Live, however, designed for professionals who need to collaborate remotely on live projects with clients and co-workers, via a regular web browser.
Capture One Pro (all cameras)
This is the flagship edition and includes support for all camera brands. There are a couple of exceptions – it doesn’t open Hasselblad RAW files and a RAW files from a handful of older/cheaper camera brands, but generally its RAW support is very wide.
Get Capture One
Capture One is available as a one-time license or a subscription:
• Perpetual license: from $299
• Capture One Pro subscription: $24/month/$179/year
• All in one bundle: $34/month/$259/year
• Capture One Live: $9.99/month
65% discount for students
Capture One is available as a full featured 30-day trial
Capture One Styles Packs
Capture One Styles are the equivalent of Lightroom presets, but where the Lightroom preset market is huge and packed with both commercial and free preset packs (of varying quality), Capture One Style Packs are typically designed and sold by Capture One itself. They are expensive, but professionally designed and typically deliver great results – though as ever, with any preset it’s also about having an image that matches the preset style and vice versa. These aren’t currently reviewed on Life after Photoshop, but it’s under consideration.
Style Packs are often sold with Capture One licenses and subscriptions as bundles. Currently there is no trial option, so you can only browse the Style samples on the Capture One website. Here are some sample prices:
- Nordic Editorial Styles: 2 Styles in 3 contrast variations: £29
- Beyond Film: 3 Styles in 3 contrast variations plus 8 grain presets: £29
- Black & White Styles: 18 Styles: £69