• Categories
• Tips & Inspiration
• Reviews
• News
• Events
• Features
• Buying Guides
• Competitions

Capture One Pro 21 New Features

Capture One 21 is here packing several new time saving features for photography editors. Developed by the Danish medium format digital photography brand Phase One, Capture One has accelerated to worldwide adoption over the last couple of years, becoming one of the default software choices for high-end image editors. The new version 21 release adds not only new features, but also camera support for the Leica SL2-S camera released today, read our review here (as well as S3 and SL2 cameras). Read more below to find out what the update can do for your workflow.

New features

Speed Edit

is probably the headline feature in this update. It is a huge timesaver as it adds single key editing for commonly used image manipulation tools such as white balance and highlights / shadows. To operate simply hold down hotkeys and scroll, drag or use the arrow keys to make rapid edits with multiple photos editable in batches using the speed edit functionality too.

Dehaze

is a feature which has been lacking so we are pleased to see this addition. As with all global adjustments Dehaze should be used with restraint, however it does a brilliant job enhancing contrast and saturation in flat RAW files.

New ProStandard Profiles

for some of the most popular cameras from Sony, Nikon, Canon and now Leica have been updated. The new camera profiles stay truer to original manufacturer colours and protect hues from contrast changes. This is a huge deal for photographers who rely on completely accurate colours for reproduction purposes. Currently new profiles are supported on the following cameras:

And yes, that is a pair of Leica’s! The new SL2-S full frame camera from Leica is also supported with tethered shooting on this new version of Capture One 21.

Faster Asset Management

Importing, searching and browsing photos in Catalogs and Sessions has been improved with increased power and speed within the app. Images appear more quickly particularly when searching for multiple images, ratings etc. Speed is of the essence for users with huge volumes of images in their catalogues. The overall importer has been updated too, with high resolution thumbnails making it easier to appreciate images directly in the importer. We can now also import images from different folders all at once into the same catalogue.

HEIC support

Apple phones and newer camera users such as Canons EOS-1D X III, EOS R5 and Canon EOS R6 offer HEIC image files which can now be imported and edited directly in Capture One 21 (8-bit). Very nice indeed!

Learning and tips

Anyone moving from Lightroom or other editing software will appreciate the enhanced tool tips and learning support which has been updated in this version. Hovering the mouse over a tool provides a quick explanation of how the tool works and also links to more learning resources. Happily these can also be switched off for advanced users. Tutorials are also now provided for specific workings of Capture One which is very useful for newcomers to the app.

Which Capture One camera versions are available?

Capture One is available in four flavours as well as a bundle offer for new camera body purchasers. The advantage of buying just one brand version is the price is considerably cheaper than the ‘all cameras’ version (which supports over 500 camera models).

1. Capture One Pro 21 For Every Camera supports around 500 camera models, now including Leica. Users who have more than one brand of camera or have older RAW files from a different camera brand to the one they currently use would benefit from this version.
2. Capture One Pro 21 For Sony
3. Capture One Pro 21 For Nikon
4. Capture One Pro 21 For Fujifilm

And finally the bundled version is for those adding it to a new camera purchase from Park Cameras and includes a very nice saving.

You may want to check out our recent buying guides with Christmas just around the corner, to find that perfect gift for the photographer in your life:

• Gifts for bird photographers (and wildlife too)
• Gifts for portrait photographers
• Best buys for street photographers
• Photography gifts for the whole family

Share this post:

By Nick Dautlich on 10/12/2020