CAPTURE ONE LE - SanDisk Freebie

Once upon atime . . . Capture One LE (C1LE) was the 'best' RAW converter.

Then the K10D came out and was widely adopted by many of us here, but. . .C1LE didn't support the PEF's or DNG's that the K10D used. Silkypix technology was used for Pentax K10D's RAW conversion tool, Pentax Laboratory.

Due to lack of alternatives, Silkypix was adopted by some as the new 'best' RAW converter.

Adobe Lightroom came along and removed any need for alternative software because it does all we need.

I have a C1LE license and eagerly await version 4. Version 3?, I don't use it. Lightroom is much simple IMHO.

I think Adobe are anxious to get DNG adopted on a large scale.

Then they'll charge like mad. Which of course is another reason to avoid Adobe products. They can only charge the outrageous amounts that they do for PS because they have a near-monolopy. It's sensible to support their competitors to cut them down to size.

G

But the RAW conversion engine is still worse than C1
Think you'll find the quality is about the same as the old Pixmantec stuff... which was bought by Adobe... and AFAIK the coders that started Pixmantec left Phase One.

As far as IQ goes I'd rate them this way:
1. Silkypix
2. Capture One
3. Lightroom & Adobe Camera Raw

For ease of use the list is in a different order, but I'd rather have a few niggles about UI and live with a better quality output any day

EDIT: And for the record, I've have paid-for versions of all of the above but still use Silkypix

Horses for courses as they say.
Matt

With respect, not so. The K10D came with DNG from day one, so there was no need to use Silkypix on that basis. Silkypix became, and remains, popular because it provides superb image quality together with excellent batch processing and a good workflow.

It's also very easy to achieve good white balance - which is often a problem when shooting indoors with a mix of light. This feature alone swung it for me, but the others are also important.

Silkypix's close relationship with Pentax ensures good PEF handling, which is another bonus for Pentax users.

It's also much cheaper than Lightroom or PS.

G

I've been using Capture One Pro since I got into RAW way back when. I frequently try to switch to other converters (I own PS CS3 and Lightroom). I love it for its sharpening, for its noise reduction, and for the ability to use the JFI profiles (e.g. TriX simulation). It's also very fast indeed at generating previews. I can get what I want in about 3 clicks, usually.

I've tried Silkypix recently, but the preview generation was so slow that I've given up on it. Similarly, Lightroom seems to do decent conversions, but is very slow on my PC.

It's because C1 only does a rough render, unless you display at 100% - where it renders only that area.
Silkypix renders at full size all the time... and there are ways to speed up the display (albeit a little quirky to set).

Still, for me, Silkypix has the better NR and image quality, and unbelievably good colour controls - much more than C1.

But those B&W profiles look very interesting too....
Matt

I'd love you to elaborate

Me too! Please!...