What Should you use Capture One or Lightroom

I promised I would make a video about Lightroom VS Capture One because it’s been a while. The Capture One vs Lightroom workflow is similar, but not the same, and there’s a lot of debate.

UPDATE: There’s a new 2023 version of my Lightroom vs Capture One Review. Watch it here.

In 2022 both editing apps have advantages. So in today’s video, I’m going to get hands-on and show you Lightroom and Capture One, and how to get the most out of both so you can decide which one is better. Should I use Lightroom or Capture One Pro? Let’s find out.

Watch my video: Lightroom vs Capture One 2022

Get my Free Lightroom presets and free Capture One Styles.

Try my Natural HDR , as well as packs like Silver and Filmist film presets. Presets/styles make a huge the diffence in both apps if you usequality recipes. All my develop preset packs have Lightroom Presets and Capture One Styles inluded. Even the free preset packs you’ll find around the site.

Is Capture One or Lightroom more feature rich in 2022?

In the past, Adobe also tended to move slowly, but in the past year, they have started innovating with Lightroom. Probably because of competition from apps like C1, One One RAW, and others. So we all win here.

Lightroom and Capture One are powerful tools, and I’ve been using both for a long time. I develop editing packs for LR and for C1 side by side. I see their ups and downs. You’re here to compare Lightroom vs Capture One. So I will in my conclusion and in the video above.

While they both have advanced, I feel that Lightroom is edging out Capture One and I think it’s mostly happening because Phase One does not listen to customers. There are things in C1 2022 that are just finally improving after many years of customer requests and frustration.

Lightroom AI and auto mask tools are far ahead of Capture One. Capture One in turn has more panels and adjustments than Lightroom. This can be good, but also confusing to new users.

Capture One can be purchased. Lightroom on the other hand is all subscription based. Unless you go with the old Lightroom 6 version bought used. It’s a good app but getting very dated.

But Gavin, Capture One is better for Fuji files and WORMS!

Fuji files in Capture One are always said to be better. Are they really? If you use Fuji you’re in the right place. We’ll look and see if C1 still handles details better in the video, so you can make the best choice for your Fuji workflow in 2022.

The short answer is no. For more in-depth analysis on this, watch my other video here on worms on Fuji files in LR vs C1.

The results of both Lightroom vs Capture One are good, but they have distinct differences that may sway you to one or the other. There’s nothing wrong with switching back and forth, but I like to choose a main primary editor each year, and that’s how I manage most of my work.

What about older versions? Like Capture One vs Lightroom 6

I don’t dig into this in the video. But if you’re holding out because you hate the cloud model and won’t subscribe to Adobe. I get it. and for you, it’s time to switch. LR6 is very dated, and the processing tools you can get in Capture vs Lightroom 6 are better, hands down. Stop clinging on and get upgraded to something better like Capture One, One One, or another RAW editor that does not demand a subscription.

Conclusion – Lightroom vs Capture One?

I’m noticing more people starting to switch back to Lightroom as the price of Capture One rises. though available as a standalone, it actually costs more than Lightroom and Photoshop combined in 2022. But at least you own it.

Capture One Pro has some more advanced tools that some of you will like, and Lightroom os more essential. Capture one has a Levels tool and a Curves tool, for example, while LR only has curves. In the end, both these tools do more or less the same thing, but having both can be handy,

Lightroom is improving at a faster pace. For years Lightroom was pretty stagnant, but people moved away from forcing Adobe to up its game. As of 2022, mask tools, particularly AI tools, are more powerful in LR. The layers in C1 are nice, but the interface is dated, and they have not had substantial feature updates to layers in years.

Don’t think you can avoid a real layer-based editor like Photoshop or Affinity by going with Capture One or Lightroom. It’s not a replacement. C! and LR are still RAW editors and if you try to replace Photoshop with it alone, your finished images will suffer.

Since this video, there have been a few interface updates as C1 tries to get more modern. But Phase One is very slow to listen to customers and make changes. Though Adobe is also guilty of this, you would think Phase One would want to be on top of it to gain market share. Sadly, they don’t seem, to care about customer happiness any more than Adobe does.

If I was asked right now… Capture One vs Lightroom Gavin? It will have to be Lightroom. But it’s a personal choice and this could change with an update. They are close. Get a trial of both and see for yourself.

Final Capture One VS LIghtroom Thoughts.

When I first started testing Lightroom vs Capture One years ago, I was impressed, and it seemed like a viable way to escape Adobe. But as time goes on and prices go up, Phase One seems to be ahead of itself.

In the end, these are both very good editing apps. Lightroom is easier to use and has more features overall. Capture One has more nuanced color control, but there’s little I can do there that I can’t find a way to do in Lightroom.

If someone tells you that Capture One gives you better images. I have not found that to be the case in 2022. Lightroom produces equal results. So try them both and use the one that feels best to you. they are both good. In the end, these are simply tools, and if Capture One takes a big leap, I will be right back here talking about it and not afraid to switch.

Meanwhile, Lightroom wins the overall Capture One vs. Lightroom battle, but both apps are good and produce excellent photo edits.

Make sure you check out my presets and styles store for great tools for both.

Gavin Seim