Hi List, Much interested by the ongoing discussion on C1 and others.
Firstly, I will declare an interest: As of the last couple of weeks, I am doing some consultancy work for Phase One, so I am slightly biased. I should add that at the forthcoming Film > Digital event, I will also be presenting on Photoshop CS because it offers other functionality that I need and I use what is best for me as a photographer, so perhaps I am not so biased? These are two different products, they should be regarded as complimentary, not competitive. As Shangara has mentioned, Photoshop can process RAW files, but it can also do a lot more. C1 is a dedicated RAW convertor and excels in that role. Phase One originally developed this software to squeeze the last drop of quality from their own digital backs and only in the last 18 months has it been available to use with other cameras. The recent 3.5 release ( and the fothcoming 3.5.1) extend that support to far more cameras including many from Nikon, Fuji, Olympus and of course, Canon. In many cases, C1 offers superior output quality to the manufacturers own software ( I can personally attest to this in the case of both Canon and Nikon). The ongoing discussion has been on C1 Pro which is excellent and very feature rich. For some though, it is regarded as an expensive package. The SE version offers a slightly reduced feature set and comes in at USD 250 instead of $499, making it incredibly good value. Output quality is identical to the Pro version and trial versions can be dowloaded from www.c1dslr.com. I have been shooting only RAW for nearly three years and for my own purposes, I have spent many hours comparing all RAW conversion options. C1 became my programme of choice when it arrived in the market place in late 2002, because it offered the best output quality and far superior workflow. Despite regular checks, I have seen no reason to change that opinion. Adobe Raw Convertor (ARC) is a very well thought out piece of software, but even with Russell Brown's excellent java script, it does not have sufficient flexibility in batching images shot under differing conditions. If you have shot a model / product in the studio with identical lighting for every shot, it will work perfectly (but beware of moire on fabric). Much of my work is on location with a need for every frame to be checked and optimised for colour. C1 allows this to be done in near real time and added to the batch. No other software allows me to edit, optimize and output a large volume of images. I will be away for the next few days, any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me off list Best, Nick. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Nick Wilcox-Brown A member of the Association of Photographers W: www.NickWB.com =============================================================== GO TO http://www.prodig.org for ~ GUIDELINES ~ un/SUBSCRIBING ~ ITEMS for SALE
