C1 5.1 – Leaf Tethering & More
February 22, 2010 | Tech Features, Tips & Tech
Capture One has the dominant market share for tethered shooting. Up until last year this was limited to Canon dSLRs and Phase One digital backs. In version 4.6 tethering in Capture One was opened to Nikon dSLRs. Now in version 5.1 the game is changing again.
Leaf Cameras Supported for Tethered Capture in Capture One 5.1 DB:
- Leaf Aptus II 10, Aptus II 8, Aptus II 7, Aptus II 6, Aptus II 5
- Leaf Afi II 10, Afi II 7, Afi II 6
Leaf Cameras Supported for Tethered Capture in Capture One 5.1 PRO:
- Leaf Aptus 75S, Aptus 65S, Aptus 54S
- Leaf Afi 7, Afi 6, Afi 5
- Leaf Aptus 75, Aptus 65, Aptus 22, Aptus 17
This tethered support is offered for Leaf backs as-they-are and does not require a new firmware (though you should ensure your firwmare is the latest available) or hardware update. Many Leaf photographers already own Capture One 5 Pro for use tethering the Nikon or Canon or for processing their Leica or other camera’s raws – those photographers can update their software for free to 5.1 and plus in their Leaf and use it tethered immediately. Users who own Capture One 3 Pro or Capture One 4 Pro can upgrade to Capture One 5.1 Pro for $99*
Live View for Leaf backs is not yet supported, but R+D expects to be able to implement Live View for some backs soon (no details can be provided at this time since they are seeing what can be made to work as we speak.
Stability and Performance
Shot-to-preview time is currently a bit slower than Leaf Capture. This is an area of performance that R+D anticipates being able to improve in the coming months. C1 has always had incredibly fast shot-to-preview times with Phase One cameras, even those with very large files like the P65+, so stay tuned for further improvements in performance.
Capture Integration (our company) has earned a reputation for being careful with it’s recommendations for software updating in appreciation for just how important it is for tethering software to be rock solid stable. Although Phase and Leaf have tested this release with a variety of leaf backs and computers I would still advise that anytime such a large improvement is made (adding tethered support for 18 different backs in one release – let alone a new brand/type of back) that caution is required and that you should test your own specific setup extensively before using it on a job. We will be happy to report back here our findings as we, and our customers, start to use the new version with Leaf backs and we encourage you to do the same. Of course we also encourage you to do your own due-diligence – if you experience problems please read our Ideal Tethered Setup which, though catered to Phase One backs, still contains a useful checklist for Leaf owners, and to contact your Leaf dealer to see if you’re running the latest firmware for your camera. Often the forums get flooded by implied issues which are actually user error – and that doesn’t help anyone.
Support for Leaf tethering in Windows is being called “preliminary”. So be especially sure to test your specific setup before using it on a job.
FREE Trial
ALL users will be able to do a 30 day full-featured trial of Capture One. Even if you’ve already done a trial of 5.0 you are eligible for a free trial of 5.1.
Other Features and Bug Fixes
Auto Select New Capture - Auto Pause (on/off): allowing you to decide whether clicking on an image during tethered capture should pause the selection of new incoming images or not.
Spot Removal – previous spot removal only worked well for dust, new spot removal works for zits, dirt, and, apparently flies.
Advanced Noise Reduction – available for advanced users to easily modify the type of noise reduction based on their intended use, includes surface noise reduction which targets noise in areas of continuos tone (e.g. the paint on a smooth/shiny car), and fine grain which was borrowed from Leaf Capture to allow the introduction of a fine and uniform grain to help mask unpleasant noise in very high ISO or for aesthetic effect
Underline Acceptable – In 5.0.1 and 5.0.2 the underline key was disabled during text entry – in 5.1 this is fixed
Negative Clarity – used to enhance the smoothness of tonality in a portrait
Inverted Color Selection in Color Editor – the color editor is the most powerful tool in Capture One and this new tool makes it more flexible, allowing you to select the inversion of a particular color for editing
Improved Metadata Handling – GPS location and aut0-importing of metadata stored in compatible sidecar files generated in other programs
Improved Sorting – including sort-by-process-state and more intelligent sort-by-name
Aspect ratio available from Crop Cursor drop down – brought back from the days of version 3.X this option saves you time when switching cropping aspect ratios and just plain makes sense
Faster loading of recent folders – similar to the near-instant loads for folders which are assigned as favorites Capture One 5.1 now includes sophisticated recent folder handling
Faster loading of large folders – catalog shooters will notice improvements when opening folders with many hundreds or thousands of raw files.
10% Discount for purchase
Capture Integration offers an easy way to purchase Capture One online at a 10% discount. Check out our step-by-step instructions on Buying Capture One.
Installation
We recommend that for the best experience you remove the application, application support, and preference files of any previous Capture One version before installing Capture One 5.1. This is not “required” but it has been our long standing experience that doing so is a good idea. See our uninstall instructions for a comprehensive guide, but for the purposes of an upgrade you can skip all the steps except the application, application support, and preference files. If you skip this step and experience a weird glitch, bug, or strangeness, then close the program and delete the application support and preference files.
Training Available
Capture Integration is known throughout the world and the web as a leading expert in Capture One. If you are a Leaf user who is considering purchasing or using Capture One you should subscribe to our newsletter. We’ll be announcing March classes online specific to Capture One 5.1 for users coming from Leaf Capture in our next newsletter.
Parting Thoughts
When Phase One purchased the assets and took on many of the employees of Leaf we received many calls from Leaf users asking when they would get to use Capture One. Now, just a few months later, this support is being offered even back to the Aptus 17. This is a good day for Leaf users and for Phase One, which has just expanded it’s user base enormously.
*depending on when you bought your Capture One 3 Pro license you may be entitled to a free upgrade to version 5 Pro. Check with your dealer or look in your account at phaseone.com > my account (sign in) > license management > select your license.
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Cambo Wide RS w/ Rod. 40mm TS
February 9, 2010 | Guest Writers, Tech Features
Editors note: If you have any interest in landscape photography, traditional or alternative film and print processes, or enjoy photo forums but find yourself sometimes turned off by the typical forum-bickering-and-posturing, we strongly recommend the GetDPI.com forum. They provide a positive environment for the discussion of photography, aesthetics, techniques and gear. The members are very knowledgeable and helpful and the discussions are very often the best place on the web to get advice.
Further Editors note: GetDPI also runs some of the best photographic workshops in the world. They have one spot remaining in their upcoming Salton Sea workshop starting Feb 28.
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By Jack Flesher of GetDPI.com
Thanks to our good friends at Capture Integration, I was able to borrow their Cambo W-RS tech camera with a Rodenstock Digiron HR lens mounted in a Cambo TS lensmount for a quick field test.
Some background. I have avoided investing in a tech camera kit since one of the main features I wanted was separate tilts and swings up front with rise, fall and shifts at the back, and only recently has that option become (readily) available. Sinar released the Arctech about a year ago, and to date I have not been able to even look at one, though I understand there are a few floating around. Arca recently introduced their RM3D tech camera that incorporates a front standard tilt with rear rise/fall and shifts, all while using a dedicated focusing helical on the camera for all lenses. Without going into laborious detail, both of the aforementioned solutions will accomodate my desires, but if I understand their operation correctly, require some added camera gymnastics to get a combination of swing, tilt, rise and focus at the same time. For me, that trio is an often desired combination of movements when photographing three-dimensional subjects with broad near-far subject distances. Which brings me to the main feature that intrigued me about Cambo’s TS lensmount solution — it allows separate tilt and swing adjustments up front on the lens axis while allowing rise, fall and shifts at the rear. (There are a few excellent view camera choices which offer all of these movements, even independently at both ends, which is an obvious advantage for precise adjustments. However a view camera makes for a significantly larger package to transport, is more complicated to set up and use, and is virtually impossible to use hand-held, so I leave them out of the tech camera discussion.)
So armed with the Cambo and 40 HR, I mounted my P65+ back and set out to photograph a decent test subject. In this case, an old passenger train car. I’m going to get straight to picture examples showing results, and leave out all the preparatory discussion on how to use a tech or view camera. While the how-to portion is a worthwhile discussion, it’s lengthy, and most folks considering a tech camera purchase will already know the basics of working them. For those of you who don’t, you’ll hopefully at least be able to see why a camera with movements is worth considering.
Click on the images below to view at 100%.
Here’s the “normal” shot. For this one, the Cambo is leveled and zeroed, meaning no movements of any kind have been made:
The first problem we note is my shadow is in the image, which is an absolute no-no. So the first movement I make is rise, or back fall. Here I used 5mm rise, and note it has the effect of moving the camera to a shooting position several feet higher — note that the camera has not moved at all, the only adjustment is 5mm of rise:
Note that my shadow is gone, and I have more room over the train car, all good things. The three red squares indicate where I’ll be pulling crops from. The far left is the “near” subject point, the center is the “focus” point and the far right is the “far” subject point. Our goal is to get all of them into acceptable focus. I shot all of these frame at f10 as that is near the ideal performance aperture for the lens before diffraction starts deteriorating the fine detail. Here are the crops from the frame with no tilts or swings and only the 5mm rise:
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Formating CF cards for Leaf in 10.6
January 9, 2010 | Tech Features, Tips & Tech
Formatting CF cards for use in Leaf Digital Backs on a Mac computer running OSX 10.6 Snow Leopard requires that you Select Options > Master Boot Record under the formatting options in the Disk Utility.
For full instructions download and read this Leaf Support PDF.
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New Extreme III NOT compatible
January 8, 2010 | Tech Features, Tips & Tech
SanDisk has been selling CF cards using the moniker “Extreme III” for several years. There is now a new version of the Extreme III series which does NOT work with Phase One P+ backs running firmware lower than 4.8.
It is not unusual for cameras to not support new generation cards right away. What makes this worth a blog entry and your attention is that the NAME of the card was not changed, so digital techs and photographers who have come to rely on the Extreme III series for reasonably priced, well performing, and reliable cards for Phase One backs need to note the subtle difference in the design of the card. The new cards have “30MB/sec” written on them.
Right now version 4.8 firmware is only available for the P40+ and P65+ although a release of 4.8 for other P+ backs is under development.
Below is an image of both versions of these cards in 4gb capacities:
- LEFT: the classic Extreme III 4.0gb card which works with all Phase One P+ backs.
- RIGHT: the new Extreme III 4.0gb card with the 30mb/sec tagline which will only work with P+ backs with 4.8 firmware or higher (currently only P40+ and P65+).
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Capture One 5.0.2 Released
January 7, 2010 | Tech Features, Tips & Tech
Phase One has just posted a minor maintenance release, version 5.0.2. (download)
The only significant change in this version is a bug-fix for a rare error involving LCCs applied to EIP files.
As of today we recommend you only download/install the update if you use or might use LCCs in conjunction with EIP files. We will investigate further to see if there are any other benefits.
If you do update we recommend, as we always do, to completely uninstall the previous version of the software prior to installing the new version (instructions on uninstalling Capture One).
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Windows 3.7.X “Trial Version Expired”
January 4, 2010 | Tech Features, Tips & Tech
Capture One 3.7.X for Windows contains the equivalent of a Y2K issue which triggered on Jan 1, 2010.
If you are still using version 3.7.X we strongly suggest that you upgrade to version 5.0.1 which Capture Integration endorses as being a fast, powerful, high-quality, and most importantly, stable version.
However, in an effort to support customers who purchased Capture One 3.X and do not wish to upgrade to version 5 Phase One has released 3.7.X. There are no other changes to the software other than to eliminate this Y2K10 problem.
Download Capture One 3.7.9 for Windows.
Note that this applies to the Pro and DB versions of Capture One only. There is no fix for the LE version so LE users need to upgrade to version 5.
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Capture One 5 Released
October 31, 2009 | Tech Features, Tips & Tech
Capture Integration is working furiously to evaluate the newly released Capture One 5. Our sales and technical teams are already using the new version for personal shoots (tethered and untethered) and is working closely both with Denmark and our community of digital techs to evaluate it for professional workflow usage.
There are a LOT of new features in Capture One 5 that we cannot wait to share with our customers. We will be writing up a new tips and tricks guide for version 5 and posting real-world example for the new tools such as the Skin Tone Consistency Editor, Dust Removal Tool, and Keyword Editor.
However, our recommendation for the time being is not to use the software with any production computers or in your professional recommendation. This does not represent anything but prudence and is what we recommend with ANY new software (including operating systems, printer drivers, etc etc).
Stay tuned for a schedule of new online training classes specific to Capture One 5.
Update: with the release of Capture One 5.0.1 we now officially recommend it for production environments. Make sure to follow our uninstall instructions for maximum reliability.
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Capture One 4.8.3 Released
September 10, 2009 | Tech Features, Tips & Tech
Today Capture One 4.8.3 was released.
Capture Integration does it’s own independent testing of all Capture One releases. As a general guideline we do not recommend adopting new OS versions until at least a month or two after release; however, as a service to those who wish to tinker we have prepared a Snow Leopard Mac Pro and Snow Leopard Unibody 15″ MBP for testing with a Canon 5DII, 1Ds II, and P30+H. We will report our findings soon.
As a side note to those using versions of C1 earlier than 4.8.2: we found and continue to find 4.8.2 to be incredibly stable, fast, and reliable with only a very small number of bugs.
As a further note to anyone who has been waiting to switch from C1 3 to C1 4: we now fully endorse Capture One 4 Pro as a professional, stable, fast, and powerful piece of software. We have been running online classes to help our clients switch. If you haven’t switched yet then you are behind the game and missing out on some great new features and much improved workflow speed; consider taking the class and making the switch.
Features/Improvements
- Snow Leopard Compatible
- Support for Leica M9 (also Canon 500D / Rebel T1i)
- Minor Bugfixes (including rare “out of memory” error)
- Improved quality for P40+ and P65+
Download
Capture One 4.8.3 download page
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Snow Leopard Compatibility List
August 31, 2009 | Tech Features, Tips & Tech
Recently we posted about Capture One’s (lack of) compatibility with OSX Snow Leopard and reiterated our standard advice that upgrading to a new OS immediately is very inadvisable.
For completeness: here is a resource which lists various applications’ compatibility (or lack thereof) with this new operating system.
http://snowleopard.wikidot.com/
Without a doubt most mac programs which are still being developed will be made compatible with Snow Leopard quickly (weeks or months). In fact the future is very bright in that Snow Leopard introduces some fantastic tools which developers can harness to greatly speed up their programs. However, for now, those of you who use your computer for day-to-day production work should be weary of upgrading.
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Capture One and 10.6
August 28, 2009 | Tech Features, Tips & Tech
Apple today released OSX 10.6 nicknamed Snow Leopard.
Preface: A Brand New OS Has No Place in a Production Environment
Capture Integration’s general guidance is to avoid using Operating Systems immediately upon their release on any production computer. As with any update large-or-small to a production computer we recommend you proceed only when 1) it is clear that there are no major bugs 2) you have a backup of a known-good state and 3) you have several hours to thoroughly test the new system. While Snow Leopard seems on-the-surface to be a minor OS update there are ALWAYS issues with new OS. We will be doing our own hands-on testing of Snow Leopard in the coming weeks and will report on this blog our findings. However, we know that some of you will want to try out this operating system. So here is an initial report on Capture One 4.8.2 and Snow Leopard.
Compatibility Summary
Capture One 4.8.2 is NOT compatible with Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard. However, the next release beyond 4.8.2 will be. In the meanwhile we can provide the following workaround.
Workaround for Experimenters
When starting Capture One for the first time on Snow Leopard (if software has not been activated and no session file exists on the computer),
If you try to go into either Standard or Pro trial mode as the first action it will crash. It will continue crashing every time you try to start the application, after the License window is dismissed.
To get around this you must first go to DB mode so that the Session file can be initialized, and then back into Trial mode. So, to break it down into easy steps:
- Install Snow Leopard.
- Start CO. In the License dialog choose “Use Capture One DB”, and click the “Use” button.
- Capture One will crash. This is unavoidable. Restart it – you will start in DB mode, without seeing the License dialog.
- Go to the Capture One->License… menu item. Choose “Try Capture One Pro” (or whichever trial mode is desired), and click “Try”.
- Capture One will relaunch, and start in Trial mode.
- There will be an error message about being unable to verify the license code, every time you start in Trial mode. Ignore this.
Notes:
- Switching from Standard trial to Pro trial does not relaunch, and always starts in the original mode, always requiring another prelaunch.
- You must switch to DB and then to the other trial mode to change.
- You can activate the software with your product key, this works without any issues.
- This method does not require a Phase One back. The DB software option can be started on any computer regardless of whether the owner has a Phase One back. As stated above you only need to launch the software into DB mode as a workaround to get the software to launch. After that you can run in whichever mode (Normal or Pro) you desire.
Other known issues
- Non-image (or unsupported image) files appear in the browser. To see this in action, simply browse to the Preferences folder – all the plists are visible.
- Process progress bar in the Process Summary tool has corrupted graphics.
If you notice other specific Snow Leopard issues you can email them to doug@captureintegration.com and I will place them here once verified. However, bare in mind that Phase One KNOWS 4.8.2 is not compatible with 10.6 and the next version of Capture One will be.
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Not all Ports are Equal
August 26, 2009 | Tech Features, Tips & Tech
Apple Mac Pros have firewire ports on both the front and back of the machine. While convenient the firewire port in the front of the tower is not well suited for high-performance tasks. Whereas the back port has a direct connection to motherboard the front port is connected to the motherboard through poorly shielded cable. This is not a problem for most uses of firewire, but high performance digital backs use the absolute maximum capabilities of firewire devices. For instance a Phase One P65+ is able to push a 60.5 megapixel true-16-bit raw file across the firewire channel at one frame per second. With that level of performance any weakness in the firewire channel can cause issues. That is why we recommend only using the rear port of a Mac Pro tower.
For more suggestions on tethered shooting see our Ideal Tethered Setup article.
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Type(1-7)Camera but Don’t Touch
August 26, 2009 | Tech Features, Tips & Tech
If you follow this blog then you know the Type8Camera issue for tethering dSLRs in Leopard. If not, read our Type8Camera article.
In the same folder as the Type8Camera are 7 other similar files.
If/when you remove Type8Camera you should NOT remove or modify any of these other files. Doing so will cause Capture One to crash immediately upon launch.
As a general rule of thumb it’s a bad idea to modify or delete any document
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Extreme Macro Techniques / Gear
August 25, 2009 | Doug, Tech Features, Tips & Tech
Reposted from my personal blog www.doug-peterson.com.
Are you a Hard-Core Photo Nerd?
This article is a followup to the Extreme Macro Results post I made. It is only meant for those readers who are very technically oriented.
Nerd Out With All the Technical Details
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Capture One 4.8.2 Released
July 31, 2009 | Tech Features
Main improvements are
- P65+ and P40+ image quality
- improved stability (mostly regarding 8-core Mac Pros)
- improved stability of Live Preview
- option to lock tethered capture to vertical or horizontal format*
- Network access much improved in speed for multiple folders NAS drives and for Mac AFP drives
Added Support for
- Canon 500D (a.k.a. Canon Kiss X3), Pentax K7, Nikon D5000/6000, Olympus E-450/E-P1, Sony A230/A3301
If none of these directly affect you we recommend staying with 4.8.1 until 4.8.2 has been out for awhile (nothing specific to 4.8.2 – just a good practice in general). 4.8.1 has been very stable and fast.
Anyone waiting for a specific major improvement should be aware the programmers are working on a major release which addresses many user requests for features; this release was a minor release to fix a few specific bugs.
Also for best results we recommend as always to completely uninstall the previous version prior to installing the new version per our instructions.
*Solves annoyance of shoots where camera is pointed strait down or up
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Capture One 5 vs. Capture One Pro 5
May 18, 2009 | Tech Features, Tips & Tech
Capture One is sold in a pro and non-pro version.
Capture One Pro has everything that Capture One has as well as:
- Tethering - Shoot directly into the computer for large, fast, and stylized previews and easy on-set organization
- Live Preview - while shooting a digital back tethered you can use a live video feed for focus/composition
- Focus Mask - a editing tool unique to Capture One, this mask identifies areas of focus with a mask for quick editing
- Lens Correction - to sharpen soft corners, remove lens-falloff, remove lens distortion, correct lens cast, and add/remove vignetting
- Clarity – gives the similar to a high-radius unsharp mask
- Moire Reduction – for easy removal of moire patterns (e.g. fabric)
- Color Editor - for customizing the ICC profile of your camera (e.g. for skin tones)
- Styles – A quick way of collecting your image adjustments into looks for quick creative image editing
- Individual RGB Levels - adjust each channels’ levels independently
- Individual RGB Curves - adjust each channels’ curves independently
- Skin Tone Enhancer – Increase the consistency and pleasantness of skin tone, during or after a shoot
- Dust Remover – Remove sensor dust from a single frame, or all the frames of a shoot quickly and easily
- Watermark Tool – Add your copyright or logo to images without the need for another program
- Skin Tone Tool – for matching colors in changing lighting conditions
- Overlay Tool – for previewing the raw image in an ad layout or page design
- Process Recipes - to memorize a particular output type (e.g. 16 bit TIFF in adobe 98
- Sessions – a project based way to organize your raw and processed files
- Second Monitor Support – Allows you to use the second monitor for additional viewing flexibility
- Menu Customization - allows you to change the location of any tool as well as float individual tools
- Workspace Save/Load – allows you to save the customized location of your tools
You can purchase Capture One Pro, or upgrade from a previous or non-pro version of Capture One through Capture Integration, which will get you a 10% discount. It’s fast, easy, and entirely online. A link to do so will be added here shortly – until then call 877-217-9870.
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5D II Batteries/Grips IN STOCK
May 14, 2009 | News, Tech Features
The batteries and vertical battery grips for the Canon 5D Mark II have been in short supply. But Capture Integration has both in stock today. Call 877-217-9870 to place your order.
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10.5.7 released. USB camera bug fixed.
May 12, 2009 | Doug, Tech Features, Tips & Tech
When Apple released 10.5.6 it contained a major bug which made tethering with USB cameras (e.g. Canon 1Ds III, Canon 5D II) unstable in any capture program. In Capture One this manifested itself as an application-freeze after about 110 raw frames, rendering 10.5.6 useless for those tethering USB cameras.. This bug *appears* to be fixed with 10.5.7. Our Head of Technical Services, Doug Peterson, has just fired off 500 shots on a Canon 5D mark II and is still going.
We will do complete testing, and post a side-by-side speed comparison soon which will include the incredibly fast P40+ digital back as soon as time allows.
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Hähnel P1 Battery Charger
April 7, 2009 | Tech Features, Tips & Tech
Capture Integration is proud to announce an exclusive lower price on the Hahnel Battery Charger used to charge Phase One digital back batteries. These chargers not only charge Phase Batteries, but display the charge level of a battery almost immediately in 10% increments.
Included
- Hähnel PowerStation Twin V Pro Video
- Plate to charge: Panasonic CGR-D08, D16, D28 & CGA/R-D54
- Plate to charge: Sony L&M series
- Plate to charge: JVC BNV-707, 714 & 730 Canon BP-911, 930 & 945
- Car charger
- US power adapter (100-240V -> 12V 1250mA)
Phase One’s List price is $299. CLICK HERE to order now for $99!
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More iPhone Photo Apps
April 6, 2009 | Tech Features, Tips & Tech
We received so much positive feedback about our Photo iPhone Apps article we knew we had to continue the series.
Canon 5D II Mini-Manual
This 5D II is one of our weekend recreational cameras as a company, but it has so many features that even we get dizzy! This app is a mini guide to the functions, features, and menus of the camera. It’s like having the most important part of the user’s manual in your pocket at all times. Documentation includes all the basic controls such as shooting, auto focus, and metering modes. Advanced controls including bracketing, white balance, custom functions, menu settings reference, and quick help section.
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Air Mouse (Requires free Air Mouse Server)
Don’t let the name fool you. This app’s great power for a photographer is to remotely enter up to four different keyboard shortcuts. Effectively freeing you from needing to be near the computer to trigger a tethered camera, zoom in to 100%, zoom to fit, tag an image, or hide/show the browser (thumbnails). See the instructions below. Outside of this specific use Air Mouse can also be used to control the mouse itself allowing theoretically any function to be completed remotely; however, in pratical use this can be challanging to do at any great distance (it can be hard to see the mouse).
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Setting Up Air Mouse with Capture One
Below are some suggested instructions to tie your Air Mouse on your iPhone to Capture One during a tethered shoots.
Continue reading More iPhone Photo Apps…
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Protected: Quick Adjustments
April 2, 2009 | Pro Tips, Tech Features, Tips & Tech
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C1 4.7: So What the Heck is EIP?
April 2, 2009 | Tech Features, Tips & Tech
Capture One 4.7 introduces a new file format named EIP, or Enhanced Image Package. This new format allows the photographer to combine the settings, LCC file (if applicable), and raw file into one portable file, called an EIP format.
The Problem this Solves
Many photographers are being asked to deliver their clients RAW files. This presents a difficulty because the photographer wants to deliver a file with appropriate adjustments such as color temperature, contrast, saturation, and highlight/shadow recovery. In the case of technical cameras used in architecture and landscape photography the raw file may need to be corrected by an LCC (lens cast correction) in order to be color-correct. In previous versions of Capture One the photographer would have to deliver a raw file, an LCC file, and a settings file to the cliient, who in all likelyhood was not very savvy about Capture One. This was a real difficulty in workflow.
The EIP Solution
EIP is a ZIP file format which wraps a raw file, a settings file, and an LCC (if applicable) into one file. Once in EIP format this file can be moved between folder, between computers, or sent by FTP to another computer by itself. On the destination computer the recipient can simply double click the file and Capture One will launch. The only requirement is that the recipient have Capture One 4.7 or higher on their computer.
What if the Recipient Doesn’t have C1 4.7 or higher? Is this a closed format?
Because EIP is a ZIP file format it is completely open. A user can rename a file called “Photo_1.eip” to “Photo_1.zip” and double click that file to reveal the contained .TIF or .IIQ raw file, which could then be opened in Photoshop CS3 or higher. For the workflow to be improved the recipient will need to have Capture One 4.7 or higher, so clearly the uptake of this new technology will begin primarily with photographers who have consistent business with a particular client. It will also be immediatly useful for photographers who use technical cameras to move files between multiple machines (e.g. a capture laptop and a retouching workstation).
Below is a screen grab showing an “unzipped” EIP file.
How Do I Actually Use EIP?
There are two ways to use the EIP format. First you can shoot or import directly into EIP at the time of capture; select “Pack Phase One images” in [Preferences > General > EIP Packaging]. Alternatively any given Phase One raw file can be pacakaged by right clicking the thumbnail (or control clicking on a Mac) and selecting “Pack as EIP”. Once packaged they can be automatically unpackaged (though within the Capture One workflow there would be no need to do so) by right clicking and selecting “Unpack EIP”.
Extra Bonus
Images wrapped in the EIP format are compatible with OSX’s Quick Look feature which means even computers without Capture One can view a modestly sized preview (rather than the 200ish pixel wide preview present in previous file formats). The Vista equivalent of Quick Look is also supported.
Other Notes
As pointed out by Selsoa on LL, when packing a file as an EIP the settings file normally present in the Capture One > Settings subfolder are moved, not copied, to the packed EIP file. This means there can be no conflict of the settings within the EIP compared to the file in the settings folder.
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Capture One 4.6.3 Released
March 11, 2009 | Tech Features, Tips & Tech
Capture One 4.6.3, a minor update to 4.6.2 has been released. You can download it here.
What’s Changed?
- Improved quality of P 65+ Sensor+ images
- Improved consistency when reading Caption and
Copyright IPTC tags
- Live Preview for 8 Core Mac Pro’s improved
- Improved support for Canon 5DMKIIs Raw fw1.07 images
Update on Capture one 4.6.2
Capture One 4.6.2 has been out for about two weeks now. No major problems have been reported either by our customers or by Phase One. Phase One keeps an archive of previous Capture One versions.
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Phase One L Bracket Available
March 11, 2009 | Tech Features, Tips & Tech
Phase One has announced an L Bracket for the Phase One 645 (a.k.a. Mamiya AFD III) body. This bracket is available exclusively from Phase One dealers (ourselves included). Please contact us at 877.217.9870 to place your order.
Features
- an Arca Swiss type tripod mounting option for both portrait and landscape orientation
- Horizontal and Vertical Mount
- Arca Swiss Type Quick Release compatible
- Screw in option for other tripod heads
- Leather Hand Strap (lightly coated with mink oil)
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iPhone Apps
March 6, 2009 | Doug, Tech Features, Tips & Tech
ProCamera
This nifty capture program displays a tiltmeter in real time as you tak your picture to ensure your horizon is strait. You can also set it to delay capture of an image until the accelometer detects the phone is nearly motionless, leading to sharper hand-held pictures.
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aPhoto GPS Marker
This program does more than just insert GPS coordinates. It can super impose a full suite of labels ontop of photos including latitude/longitude/altitude, copyright, distance to a known point, and caption. We can think of a hundred uses for this, but here is just one: if you’re a nature photographer you can do an initial walk-through of a park with your phone in hand and take quick snapshots of areas you’d like to return to.
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Photo Calc
We love this application’s Sunrise and Sunset calculator which automatically detects your current location and tells you what time the sun will rise and set. The depth of field calculator, reference material, and other features are interesting but not as compelling, and the developer said he is eager to add more features.
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CameraBag
This program is all about filters. You can style your photos on your phone to Polaroid, Holga, Lolo, Mono, Infrared, and Fisheye look. We’re particularly found of the Holga look (called “Helga” in the program, presumably for copyright reasons).
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New Mac Pros
March 6, 2009 | Tech Features, Tips & Tech
Following the lead of the MacBookPro introduced a few months ago the new Mac Pros, Mac Minis, and iMacs include FW800 ports but not a single FW400 port. In the case of a Mac Pro you can add a PCI card for direct use of your existing FW400 cables. In the case of the Mac Mini or iMac (or an alternative to the PCI card) you will need our FW400 to FW800 cable which we’ve tested with our Phase One digital backs.
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Easy Gray Profiles & The Color Editor
March 2, 2009 | Tech Features, Tips & Tech
Capture One Pro has a lot of advanced features which are rarely exploited by the average user. That’s one of the reasons we’ve introduced our online training series. Below is one of the topics we cover in depth in our Master’s Level class.
The Often Overlooked Color Editor
The Color Editor is one of the most powerful tools in Capture One. It can be used to modify skin tones, knock down the saturation of distracting elements, ensure the proper production of a patented product color, or simulate the black and white response of different black and white films. Yes many users have never used Color Editor. One of many uses of the Color Editor discussed in our online training is the creation of a Custom Easy-Gray Profile.
So what is an Easy-Gray Profile?
Slight color casts can be a major problem in some types of photography. One example is interior photography where either the shades of paint are not exactly the same shade of white, or are lit by different types of lights. Since you can only white balance to one white at a time it can be impossible to adjust to these different shades of white. Phase One anticipated this problem and produced easy-gray profiles for it’s modern P-series line of digital backs. The easy-gray profile makes the back less sensitive to lightly saturated colors without affecting fully saturated colors. However, Phase One did not create an easy-gray profile for dSLRS. In addition there may be instances where you want an easy-gray profile that leaves certain shades of lightly saturated colors alone (e.g. lightly saturated reds which are contained in skin-tones).Below you can download one such Easy-Gray Profile created by our Head of Tech Services, Doug Peterson. Once downloaded close Capture One and place the file in [User Folder > Application Support > Capture One > Presets > Selective Color Control] and load it using the down arrow in the upper right corner of the Color Editor. This profile may or may not suit your exact needs so more importantly you can create your own easy gray profile by selecting the inside of the color wheel (which represents the less saturated colors) and reducing the saturation, or by starting with our profile, modifying it, and saving it as your own.
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Focal Length Equivalent Calculator
February 3, 2009 | Tech Features, Tips & Tech
A normal lens is a normal lens is a normal lens… except when it’s not. When using film, the size of the film determines what a normal, long, and wide lens are. An 80mm lens is long when using 35mm film, normal when using 120 film, and short when using 4×5 film. Using a digital back is no different. A P45+ or P25+ is roughly 3mm smaller on each side than 645 film.But if you’re used to 35mm or large format, then you may have a hard time adjusting. This calculator is designed for people who know one lens system really well (e.g. large format lenses for 4×5 film), and want a quick way to find out what the equivalent lens is when using a Phase One digital back. Simply enter a number into the blue under the system you know, and all equivalent lens for each system will appear in the yellow. Below is a screenshot of the calculator displaying the equivalent of each system of an 80mm lens using 120 (i.e. 645) film. Download Calculator (Excel Format)
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Release Notes
- July 14, 2008 – Added P65+- October 14, 2008 – Added Leica S2
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Capture One 4.6 Pro Released
January 5, 2009 | Tech Features, Tips & Tech
The next version of Capture One 4.6 was released on Jan 5. The full release notes can be found at http://phaseone.com/Content/Downloads/CO4.aspxHere are the improvements and changes we thought were most important. This list is not comprehensive on purpose, so consult the above release notes if completeness is your goal.
Performance
- The time it takes to generate a preview (important for fast tethered performance) has improved
- The responsiveness of Color Editor is MUCH improved
- Processing, especially when using an 8 core machine is MUCH faster
- Browsing to a folder, and browsing from file to file within a folder is faster
New Camera Support
- Tethered support for Nikon! D3, D700, D300, D200, D80, D60, D40x, D40
- 5D Mark II (raw file only, no tethering)
- Canon G10
- Nikon D3X
Features
- Computer Based Camera Control (currently P65+ and AFDII/AFDIII only) for shutter, aperture, and EV adjustments.
- Load/Save Workspaces allowing you to save the position and state of your windows
Update: 4.6.1 was released with improvements only for P65+ file processing. If you don’t own or use that digital back then there is no reason to update.
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10.5.6 = Faster Canon Tethering
December 18, 2008 | Tech Features
Apple recently updated their operating system OSX to 10.5.6. This update contained a long awaited optimization of their USB drivers. Combined with the beta with Capture One 4.6 which includes many performance boosts we tested a Canon 1Ds Mark III tethered to our 8-core Mac Pro.
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Capture One 4.5.2 Released
November 3, 2008 | Tech Features, Tips & Tech
Earlier this week a bug was discovered in Capture One 4.5.1 which affects Canon Raw files. The engineers in Denmark worked day and night and just a few days later 4.5.2 was released to correct this issue.
We strongly recommend all users (especially those who work with Canon cameras) to upgrade to 4.5.2 immediatly.
4.5.2 Can be downloaded at PhaseOne.com
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