The Best Lightroom Alternative? Capture One 2023 vs. ON1 2023 vs DxO Photolab 6 vs. Luminar Neo

[@MattShalvatis]

One area I was hoping for more information on is photo library management. Can you create different catalogs? Collections? Smart collections? And are there "Edit it" options to take a photo directly to a different program within the program itself? I guess in this regard. How similar is it to LR?

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Hey Matt! Are you looking into a specific software? Each of them is slightly different, but most of them all have some sort of catalog and collections.

[@MattShalvatis]

@@AustinJamesJackson Likely Neo or ON1. The others seem like overkill for what I would need.

[@205pisces]

Two things: Capture One adjustments are instantaneous on my M1 Mac Mini. Also, the UI is extremely customizable. You can have as many or few tools as you like on the desktop. Also you can save multiple "Work Spaces". I have one for culling, weddings, etc.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Customization is certainly a great feature. That’s awesome that it runs quickly on your Mac Mini!

[@DewaldN]

Agreed - BASE M1 Capture One is super fast - Luminar dies the moment you sync settings

[@habibieeka2689]

agreed, it runs perfectly fine on my M1 Mac Mini, and i think it's faster than the DxO and Luminar

[@membler]

I have all the current versions of these programs except DxO. As a professional events photographer, Capture One is my main editor and coming from Lightroom, I believe it's an easy transition because it does a lot of similar edits and is very customizable in its layout. There's also the ability to shoot tethered with Capture One which is unmatched in the industry. I do use all three programs for different processing needs. ON1 is great for quick edits right off the memory card. Luminar Neo is a simply editor for the beginner wanting a simply program to make great looking images by just moving a few sliders. I think Capture One is very fast editor, especially its newest version Capture One 23. It's speed, Raw image conversion and auto keystone function make it indispensable for my needs. Mike

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Hey Mike! Great comparison! Tethering is definitely super nice for professionals, just not in my line of work. But this is certainly a very important feature for studio professionals. Thanks for your thoughts on the software!

[@markshirley01]

Im a capture one user but its quite an old version 11 I think, I got it for tethering but don't do that anymore. But the price has shot up and I only do basic editing and a bit of spot removal, I use Affinity Photo (plus the suite) for artwork. Im just thinking about saving some money and moving to Luminar for the basic 'session' work - do you think ill be ok. My reference to 'basic editing' Exposure Clarity Structure Shadow Highlight Saturation Colour temperature Sharpness Noise reduction Cropping ... then a batch export.

[@ManfredKubanik]

I don´t know what you are talking about the speed of Capture one. I am working on a ten year old Mac Pro and every slider in C1 reacts immediately. Check your settings.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

I mentioned that things may run differently on different computers, but I’m simply giving my feedback on software right when I opened it up. All of the other softwares ran much quicker than Capture One. If some settings need to be changed upon download, this wasn’t made clear when I downloaded it and I’m giving a review of the software as downloaded.

[@ManfredKubanik]

@@AustinJamesJackson Capture One scans your computer hardware when you run it the first time and chooses the settings automatically. There must be something wrong in your case, I am using the software for years on different Macs and its really fast, much faster than Lightroom, that's one of the reasons that make me switch. I have never seen that delay like in your video while running C1. And I guess your computer is newer and faster than mine. I agree with your Statement, C1 is more aimed to professional users. But if you spend enough time to find your workflow, C1 is with speed edit and smart adjustments so much faster than any other software I know. But okay, I am a wedding and studio photographer, so my workflow and my requirements might be others than a landscape photographer. And sorry, my English might be strange, its not my native language ;)

[@bachtothefuture857]

Also noticed C1 23 is much slower than Lightroom on my maxed out Intel iMac. GPU acceleration is on. Always a delay when moving sliders while LR is instant and real time.

[@ralphlouzon]

On my Mac M1 I encounter the same issue of lag as I move the sliders in C1. And no problem with LR, DXO or ON1.

[@eduardoarg607]

Hi! Just wanted to say that your system probably has a problem with Capture One, because I've been using it for years in a veeery old system (i7 2600k, GTX 970, 16GB RAM DDR3 1333 Mhz) and not only do the sliders respond literally instantly as I drag them, but also C1 is actually the fastest piece of software in my system. I've tried DxO PhotoLab, ON1, Luminar (not the latest version though) and Lightroom and they're all substantially slower than C1 for me. This is not a complaint though, just wanted to tell you this so you can (if you want) take a look at the issue. Good content, have a great weekend!

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Thanks so much for checking it out! Perhaps you’ve adjusted some settings since you’ve been using it for a long time? I’ve just tested all 4 softwares straight out of the “box” and had that problem. I’ll look into it, and thanks for your comment!

[@eduardoarg607]

​ @Austin James Jackson You can try adjusting the image preview size so it is slightly above the resolution of your screen. Or to be precise, slightly above the maximum width in pixels C1 will display your images at (you can just make a screenshot to find out the actual value). If your image preview size is set to a value which is below that, C1 will have to access the original RAW files all the time when you're editing, instead of the image preview files. In theory this can have a big impact in performance. Maybe that's what's happening to you? For example, my screen resolution is 1920x1080, but the maximum width C1 displays my images at is something like 1440px, so I go to preferences and make sure that my image preview size is set to the value which is immediately above 1440px, which is 1680px. Then when I work with my images C1 won't need to access the original RAW files all the time. Hopefully I'm being clear and it makes sense. Other than that, just make sure that Hardware acceleration is enabled on the General tab in C1 preferences. It should be set to "Auto" in both fields. Also you say you have this issue with all 4 softwares? What are your system specs? This might also be a compatibility issue with your GPU or OS I think, just making a guess though. Apologies if my english is not perfect. Hope this helps!

[@ianyorke2617]

Agree that C1 is the fastest program on various hardware platforms. Obviously, some issue with the computer it was used with.

[@Xero_Wolf]

Thank you! I wish more software reviews was more like this. Was with Capture One since 2016 but their recent change in upgrade and subscription model is a real turn off. I think I'll be moving to On1 as my main Photo editing app it seems to have all the main features I need. Gonna definitely give it a proper trial first before I throw my cash at it lol

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Of course!! Let me know how you like ON1!

[@jamographer]

Literally in the same boat! I've been with them since 2017 and really not been impressed with the quality of updates, especially the last one and now the change of structure is just rubbing salt in the wound of where they are lacking in progress. It almost feels like they're introducing this new system THEN they'll finally release something great to force everyone onto it. DXO feels like the better choice but is definitely lacking some features with the masking functions etc.

[@insidechocolatewithjimothy5313]

Totally agree, doing the same

[@marvellis6762]

Tip top video and will help many I think..... for me On1 just keeps getting better and better and is truly for the photographer

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Thanks for checking it out! ON1 certainly has a lot of great features and is designed specifically for photographers.

[@berlinerffm]

Regarding your speed experience: on my current and last laptop Capture One is by far the fastest of all programs. LR is slightly behind. On1 is a lot slower and Luminar is close to be unusable. So everyone should always test on thair specific hardware and judge themselves. For me C1 is the most productive tool to edit photos (saying this as a longtime LR user).

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Absolutely! The speed tests totally depend on the computer. Luckily, most of these offer a free trial for each person to figure out themselves!

[@bshinkara]

@@AustinJamesJackson Definitely hardware based. On my desktop with a RTX 2070, 32GB ram, and a 9700k, with my C1 library on an SSD & the program installed on an SSD (different drives), I have zero lag in rendering slider changes live, without releasing. Obviously YMMV; have you checked to make sure that you have Hardware Acceleration running? It's set to auto by default, but it's not impossible that their hardware acceleration isn't properly utilizing the GPU in your Mac. It could be a bug, poor driver implementation, outdated drivers, outdated software install, or any number of things. Do you still have laggy performance with HW set to off (in theory it should be worse set to off, but if the driver implementation isn't playing nicely with C1 that could also offer you some performance improvements). Still midway through the video, but I appreciate the look into and comparison of these different pieces of software.

[@VlogdeJorge]

And what about catalog? The way Lightroom catalog photos which one is the closets to LR?

[@AustinJamesJackson]

I would say ON1!

[@Bassbarbie]

Interesting summary thanks. Sad to say I have the 2022 version of all of these. DxO Photolab 5 (and now 6) has been my main editor of choice. Although there are lots of tools, I actually think this is the easiest one for beginners because it renders the raw files so beautifully and little more needs to be done. I usually just tweak the crop if necessary and that is it. I agree that there is a much bigger learning curve with Capture One.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Thanks for checking it out!

[@stuartsherman5975]

Thank you for the very helpful video. It really helped me to figure out what I needed.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Great to hear!

[@odd02]

Hmm...since im kinda starting out and still pretty new, might go with ON1 or neo. Thinking more ON1

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Great choice! Good luck!

[@odd02]

@@AustinJamesJackson thank you kind sir.

[@librarycollection3795]

I just discovered your channel, and I love everything about it. Happy to subscribe.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Thanks for checking it out!

[@Iconofilia]

I gave up - that’s right, gave up - on Lr a while back and used Luminar, Capture One and OnOne. Then I came across DxO PhotoLab and haven’t looked back since. I own PhotoLab 6 (purchased for $79 - if I remember correctly - because I already owned PhotoLab 5) and couldn’t be more satisfied. Granted, the reasons to choose one software over the other you mention in your video are important, but what I like the most of PhotoLab 6 is its noise reduction algorithm, its chroma and luma masking adjustment tools, and its HSL capabilities. For me, that alone is worth the money you pay for the software.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Absolutely! To each their own. Noise reduction is fantastic in PL6. Personally, I use Topaz software as a plug-in which also works great.

[@BrianMartininc]

I’m speaking as a portrait/event photographer: first off You made a few good points but the biggest thing about Lightroom is its efficiency for editing with small corrections and culling. That’s the only thing that makes Lightroom worth it while all other programs have passed Adobe. Capture 1 is on the same boat w pricing but I might give the other 2 a try. Luminar Neo is good, just not a fast editor like Lightroom

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Thanks for sharing that! Super helpful to hear another perspective from a different kind of photographer.

[@leandros.5441]

Hi James, I share your review. I tried all these software and finally bought ON1! There are still several things to improve but it is very simple and intuitive in the workflow. I'm not a professional, I don't process photos every day so even learning Photoshop, Affinity Photo or Capture One, I have a lot of difficulty remembering the various steps, it takes me a long time to do anything.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Awesome! I think you’ll find ON1 to be loaded with features and easy to figure out!

[@cooloox]

You actually bought the software that most high-end photographers consider to be the best out there! Capture One Pro gives cleaner and sharper images than Lightroom out of the gate and on most people's computers, runs faster than most of the others too. Professionals are not as interested in pretty little plug-ins and presets as they are highlight and shadow sliders which work amazingly well, and professional colour grading tools that work flawlessly. They also want great keystoning/perspective correction tools that work properly.

[@lookingatdaisies9901]

@@cooloox Hello, is it ON1 or Capture One Pro that you are referring to as the top for professionals? I'm trying to decide and I used to use lightroom, i stopped photography for a while but now i'm back in with Darktable and the only thing I use properly in there is Highlight and Shadow, so important that i don't look details or get unnatural results, ooh and saturation. Thank you.

[@PeterMcDadeArtist]

Top review. Really made it clear where each one sits. One thing I want is a really good photo manager/organiser to replace Lightroom.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Thanks for checking it out! Lots of great options on this list, just comes down to personal preference!

[@michaelyolch79]

Great job! Thank you for the effort you put in here. Very helpful and to the point. :)

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Thanks so much for your kind words!

[@sonomoha3832]

CaptureOne sliders should not be slow to display results; mind giving more context please ? I agree with other comments on this behaviour being very odd. Used on my mid-2012 MacbookPro, the sliders behave quite well as you push them. Same on my 2018 macbook.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

At the time I felt like I was sliding the sliders and then had to wait for the result to load, rather than happening in real time like they were in Lightroom.

[@martinphilipps8678]

Capture one the slowest? i never used luminar, but between my Capture One, DxO and ON1, Capture one is by FAR the fastest. i really wonder about your setup or testing. ON1 and DxO are no match at all when it comes to speed.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Each program seems to run differently on every computer, based off of the comments and people I've talked to.

[@villamuez]

Great video thank you very much. I have a hate-still use relation with ON1. it has too many great tools, but I found that ON1 wants do do everything but at the same time is not good at anything. So many bugs, lacks of reliability and performance.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Yeah, I can definitely agree with that. It certainly has a lot of great features but doesn’t feel nearly as snappy as other software, like Luminar Neo.

[@bachtothefuture857]

Luminar Neo’s AI masks take 10x as long as Super Select AI in On1.

[@Bassbarbie]

I am the same - I just don't think it renders the raw files as well - although I haven't tried the latest version, I'm still on 2022. The colours don't look nearly as good as Photolab.

[@phxpaul]

In your camparison of the OnOne and Luminar Neo apps, you were showing how each can change the sky. The mask in OnOne covered the mountain tip and it colored it blue. It seemed like Luminar was better at recognizing the background elements rather than just coloring everything in the mask with blue

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Yeah, definitely. This video is a little outdated now so I'm sure both companies have improved software.

[@sevendorval4441]

You forgot to mention the noise reduction tool. In this regards, DxO Lab6 seems to be the best by far today (march 23)

[@AustinJamesJackson]

I have tons of other noise reduction videos on my channel! When looking at these softwares, DxO is definitely the best when it comes to noise reduction. But Topaz is a little better for noise reduction in my opinion if you don’t need the full service editor: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nqfCgn-Zet9jerM

[@sabergo1]

Well Done. Very clear breakdown and recommendations. Thanks!

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Thanks for watching!

[@olahaldor]

The little I've tested Capture One on Windows, it is just as fluid and instant as Lightroom. Sucks you didn't have that experience.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Yeah I’m not sure what happened. I’ll have to give it another go.

[@artieshokin]

as I moved my whole library (70k pictures) capture one have forgot all the masks on adjustment layer. So every bit of cloning and healing has to be done ones again... horror. do somebody have any idea how to rectify the problem?

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Shoot. There is software that will transfer it over but I don’t recall the name of it.

[@catherder1035]

OOPS, looks like ther C1 logo is on the Photolab layout and DxO is shown over the Capture One layout. starting at the 8:16 mark. Be forewarned, Captuire One has introduced a new policy regarding perpetual licenses that has caused an uproar with the C1 community. C1 is attempting to move license holders to subscription based by no longer offering upgrade prices for license holders, no updates to you current version until the next major release comes out (usually annually) in which you will pay fuill price for the license.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Good to know! Thanks for making me aware. I might have to make a follow up video with that info once I dive a little deeper!

[@rickkoloian4179]

Thanks for video, but a few questions: A number of reviews have commented that DxO's camera & lens profiles are significantly better than those used in other editors which come from camera manufacturers; your thoughts? Also, Photolab is especially known for its Deep Prime noise reduction software, which comes with the Elite, $219 version & has been highly praised; you thoughts?

[@AustinJamesJackson]

All of the softwares I tested had camera and lens profiles for my camera and lenses. But I am shooting on the Sony a7r4 with Tamron lenses. If you’re using an older camera with older lenses, maybe you would have an issue. I’m not sure what kind of photographer you are, but I don’t use the profiles very much for landscapes. In regards to Deep Prime, I think the Topaz Software does a better job. I’d rather get the Topaz and then use it as a plug-in with any other software. Here’s a recent video I did on the Topaz software: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mqCXe4WYjpuAq5Y I’ll probably do a video soon testing Deep Prime versus Topaz, so you can see for yourself!

[@marcus3d]

@@AustinJamesJackson Man, no. Just... no. Maybe if you're using a non-bayer sensor, but otherwise (DEEP) PRIME is just very much better at getting actual detail out of a photo, without turning it into a smudgefest. The result isn't free from noise, but with very natural looking noise that looks even better than if it was completely free of noise. (You don't want ugly noise, but also not no noise. You want light, nice looking noise. Especially if you output at 8 bits per channel.)

[@gavthane]

@@AustinJamesJackson interesting that you think topaz does a better job. I find it produces a more pasticy looking image with less detail compared to DXO.

[@EugenBrinzoiu]

Excellent review….exactly what I was looking. Thanks ❤

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Glad it was helpful!

[@JaydenWoo-i2h]

Thank you for the review, that was great !!

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@markwith140]

I would say that Dxo being the most expensive is not necessarily telling the whole story. Dxo does not force a subscription and it is not necessary to buy each upgrade. I have the choice to upgrade or not. I had until recently had version, I skipped version 5, and recently bought version 6 for £65 on a Black Friday upgrade deal. If I don't upgrade I can still use the software. I also use Capture 1, in my opinion this is the most expensive, especially if you buy an upgrade per year as they don't give good upgrade deals, usually 20% max, but with a perpetual licence option I am not forced to upgrade. Having used Lightroom for years, my opinion is that Capture 1 wipes the floor with Lightroom in terms of features.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Good insight! Always great hearing from someone that has used multiple of the programs for editing.

[@markhokeproductions]

Could you comment and show how you would use your workflow if ON1 was your main content editor, but I also use Photoshop and Luminar. My question is I would like to interchange my image with all these programs without getting out of ON1, is this possible or do I have to make LRC my main editor also would you recommend any other programs?

[@AustinJamesJackson]

I don’t believe Lightroom works as a plug-in inside other softwares. I’m not sure about Luminar’s compatibility with ON1 but I would guess that is also a no.

[@duncansteward4331]

if thinking of Elements 2022 then hold back and try Luminar Neo at around the same price and yeilds better edits.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Great tip!

[@Strravigor]

Thank you for this good review, clear ( and no music ! Thanks for that ) . Luminar can not import the tags of lightroom ?

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Haha!!

[@DannyFyffe]

Great review. I have used On1 for years and find it has more then I can use. I love it and replaced LR with it some years ago now with no regrets.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

It’s a great editor, that’s for sure!

[@Jennifer-wr9si]

This is a great video. I would have loved an additional category for comparison - RAW processing. I was set to trial ON1 after dropping LR but then saw a comparison of the RAW processing of DxO vs ON1 and thought maybe not... I'm a hobbyist and prefer simplicity but do like a better starting point for edits.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

I'll keep that in mind for next time. Thanks!

[@prynner]

I understand Darktable is Lightroom alternative. Any thoughts on this? Any good?

[@AustinJamesJackson]

I haven’t used it, nor have I heard of it. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help!

[@5539dfitch]

What about file management? Is there an alternative to LR that allows me to open a folder with a series of raw images, process them non-destructively, and copy and paste adjustments to a range of images? I'm hanging on to my LR6 until I can find a serious alternative.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

As far as I am aware, you can do this in all of these softwares.

[@ozthunder]

Good video. I take all images in RAW, my hobby is NOT photography but chasing storms and lightning. Daytime storms are often high contrast images, and night lightning introduces dead pixels and noise. Hence why I shoot RAW. I would like to see a comparison of noise reduction. I have Lightroom subscription and DXO Photolab 6. I have found DXO has the superior noise reduction, even better than LR's improved noise reduction. DXO noise reduction and the specific camera profile works wonders on my back up camera , a Lumix Micro 4/3. What I do miss from DXO is Dehaze, their ClearView is Ok for say city scapes, but it really messes badly with clouds. The other feature I wish DXO had was a one click Auto for RAW, LR does Auto really well on most images and I use it as a 'starting point' before sky masks, dehaze, etc.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

It seems like it’s hard to get everything you want from just one!

[@PoetryFilms]

Thanks. Interesting and useful. But I’d like to have heard something about file management which Lightroom does great and is very high on my list of needs

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Great suggestion! I’ll include that on the next one.

[@natez9586]

Thank you, I found that On1 is the software alternative to LR from your video. Does it have any discounts?

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Not that I know of!

[@jordanking7711]

Luminar Neo and On1, are primarily I feel for people who want more quick edits if that makes sense. Out of C1 and DxO though, I agree with you there on the speed. C1 for me has that exact lag that Austin spoke about where as I feel DxO didn't. I would in my opinion pick DxO Photolab 6 for more advanced edits. For quick editing though, out of Luminar Neo and On1, it's hard to say. I have both and both are fantastic. For quick editing I would use Luminar Neo, but for other things I would use On1.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Great summary! Thank you!

[@Johns1]

Great review for me wondering about switching from On1 RAW to DXO Photolab, thank you very much. :-) (Amateur and a Adobe and Lightroom refugee)

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Glad it was helpful!

[@PhotosBySandJ]

Very good comparison Austin. One place you missed the boat was your discussion of Capture One. The entire desktop, tools, adjustments, layout, and everything else is completely customizable.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Good to know! I’ll have to check it out!

[@ronyzmiri]

One major thing is missing. The end result image after processing...

[@AustinJamesJackson]

It’s all a means to an end. Any of them can work well if you’re committed to learning the workflow.

[@ronyzmiri]

@@AustinJamesJackson by saying end result, I mean the quality of the final image

[@hholton7245]

Thanks for this summary of the available editing software - it helped me to differentiate between the options available.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Very welcome!

[@markshirley01]

8:57 does Luminar Neo have a filmstrip like C1 has for scrolling through images (its not on your video clip).

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Thanks for pointing that out!

[@JohnScheppler]

Is there a free or cheaper raw photo editing software that you would recommend?

[@AustinJamesJackson]

I haven’t used any of the free softwares for photo editing! Most of the softwares are around the same price, and in photo editing you certainly get what you pay for in my experience.

[@Ben_Lichtfaenger]

I shooting with Fuji, Capture One has all film simulations. Has ON1 the same feature? Thx ;)

[@AustinJamesJackson]

I’m not sure what you mean, I’m sorry.

[@Ben_Lichtfaenger]

In Capture One you can select the legendary Fujifilm Film Simulations, like a preset. I like this feature because it makes editing easier. I like to see this feature on ON1, too.

[@TomalBhattacharjee]

I’m not a professional. But like to click Portraits, landscape n Travel. Currently using Capture 1. But it’s pricey. So after looking your review I’m interested in On1. Can it help create Panorama or HDR from multiple shots or focus stacking ? I hope it can proces CR2 Files of Canon.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Yes, ON1 does both panorama and HDR, and does allow layers for focus stacking. I think it would work great for you.

[@TomalBhattacharjee]

@@AustinJamesJackson thank you. Will try it once before I go ahead.

[@Arvnbro]

what is the best editor for real estate photography?

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Totally depends on your personal preference, but I’d recommend Lightroom to start for all of its correction features.

[@litnoregrets7551]

Thank you. This is interesting. One question I was hoping to get help with is I want a replacement for Lightroom, not Photoshop. My Lightroom does not have layers, but you keep talking about layers. I wand a program like Lightroom, not Photoshop. I guess I do not 8ndetstand your terminology.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Lightroom does not have layers, that is correct. Many like having something that is more powerful and can blend both Lightroom and Photoshop together with.

[@yukonchris]

When you say, "discounted" upgrades for DxO, my experience has been that major updates, about once a year, come in at half the price of the original purchase, making it more of a bargain for long-term users. Also, you might want to consider ACDSee software on this list. While I switched over to DxO a number of years ago, their professional raw processor was still an excellent alternative to Lightroom as well.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

I’ll have to check that out! Thanks.

[@77dris]

Not to be a dink but just for your own info the plural of "software" is "software". This is a great video. The subscription for LR and PS is $30/month which is just too much for me. It's sad because despite LR being super slow for me, it's what I've grown to use and I rely on a lot of the presets.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Haha! Thanks for letting me know!

[@richardforsman]

Got the Luminar NEO LTD deal for only $49 way back when they launched. There are few functions that I like, but otherwise I've barely touched it. Wouldn't really compare it with Lightroom because there are no cataloguing features and otherwise it's missing quite a lot.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Agreed!

[@kittanatepetwaikun2318]

Capture One runs fast on my Ryzen 7 and GTX 1060 Ti. I think it will be more helpful if you can show your spec when you are talking about speed.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Okay, I'll keep that in mind next time!

[@ginamariephotography]

Do any of these work with windows or are they strictly for mac? Thanks in advance!

[@AustinJamesJackson]

I believe they all do!

[@Patastroph]

Great video, thanks. I like the fact that you let the user decide himself, based on his knowledge and experience 👍🏻

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Thank you for checking it out and for the nice comment!

[@marca9955]

And... RAW conversion quality? Probably more important than almost anything.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

I didn’t talk about this because all softwares provided equally good raw conversion.

[@marcus3d]

@@AustinJamesJackson Really? Did you try anything non-trivial, such as patterns susceptible to moiré, or color details in low light?

[@ralphlouzon]

I made numbers of test in this area. DXO is certainly the best RAW converter (and way ahead when it comes to NR), but unfortunately I don't like the UI/tools. Seconds and even, C1 and LR. And then ON1 which can be sometimes ok and sometimes weird... I don't use Luminar.

[@genea5580]

I Have 3 of the four. DXO 6 has arguably the best noise reduction. And clearview plus to reduce haze. And Camera and lens correction. I use Capture 1 when I need to do layers. ( And by the way works instantly on my Windows PC.) And Neo which Iv'e been playing around with and so far only used the erase tool. Just started looking at On1 today, it's on sale for $69.00 but haven't pulled trigger yet.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Thanks for the excellent summary! Of these softwares, DxO certainly has the best noise reduction. However, I use Topaz DeNoise as a plug-in for noise reduction, which I like better than DxO. I’ve got some other videos on my channel comparing the two.

[@genea5580]

@@AustinJamesJackson I have Topaz also but I prefer DXO. I guess it comes to personal taste.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Absolutely!

[@szeredaiakos]

This sold me on on1. Forked out the money as soon as i saw there was a sale going on. It is reasonably fast and fast to work with, does exactly what i want it to do. Downsides: Very unstable. AI noise thing is plastic. Overall: very happy. miles cheaper than creative cloud. And you get a lightweight PS with it.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Awesome! Glad it helped.

[@tikevangogh7227]

Great overview and comparison. Thank you!

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Glad it was helpful!

[@stefanbernhard2710]

Does on 1 have presets, HDR, and good import organization on import?

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Yes to all 3!

[@PhotoAmateur]

Thank you very much, it was so easy to understand.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

You are welcome!

[@candissdelcastillo7863]

Extremely helpful. Thank you.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Thanks for checking it out!

[@claudianreyn4529]

Capture one is not slow at all. I even tried this right now and the Exposure Slider is live updating. Maybe your computer is too slow, or you used an old version. PS: I'm working with 102mp fujifilm RAW files which are 100mb, so these are huge photos.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Yeah, I’m not sure what was going on when I tested it.

[@swamispaol]

Does any of them have a mobile app? I'm forking $$$ every month for LR :😔

[@AustinJamesJackson]

I think most of them do!

[@Xer0.Visual5]

With the overlay logo you got the layout mixed up with Capture one and DXO ;)

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Thanks for letting me know!

[@davidvictory9764]

i have lightroom classic and mobile version which i tend to use more. but now i got dxo photo raw and photolab and i def like photo raw. but dont know if its worth learning photolab 6. any advice? i am just kinda lost on which is the best of all. also, is dxo photo raw the same result as dxo photolab with raw files? because i know photolab 6 has deemprixe xd now as well

[@AustinJamesJackson]

DxO is really powerful, but has a longer learning curve than some of the other programs in my opinion. I personally dislike the interface but it works for some people. Photo RAW and PhotoLab should be the same thing!

[@davidvictory9764]

@@AustinJamesJackson thanks, I tried out neo and really liked it how easy it is. But hate that I don't really know how to only change skin tones. I would manually mask the face on lighroom and boom. Also can't really get smooth skin and content aware fill pores. But everything else is perfect. Photolab did seem a bit too hard to learn

[@hepgeoff]

Great analysis of the four apps. I'm currently trying the free trial of DxO Photolab 6. I like how it's laid out, but not having layers and the $219 pricetag ruled it out for me. I was using Neo until they forced a subscription model on me. Still use it, but didn't get the added extensions. My main editor now is ON1. I Love the masking options. Anyway, nice review. I subscribed.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Thank you for checking it out! All certainly have their benefits. I find that the ON1 software usually doesn’t need to be repurchased every year. Each update doesn’t usually have enough new things to warrant buying it again. I usually post a review video each time the new software comes out, so be on the lookout for it next year!

[@ianyorke2617]

Actually, DXO-Photolab has layers similar to C1. You can copy, invert layer masks, adjust the opacity of the layer etc. Something not mentioned is the ability to control noise and lens corrections. DXO has the best noise reduction with ON1 in second place. As DXO profile lenses in their optical labs, again they have superior lens corrections.

[@jonglaser4468]

you labeled the layouts for Capture 1 and DxO incorrectly. You need to switch them. Capture one is not that difficult to learn. It took me about a week to figure things out. It has a WB that goes below 2000k for infrared photography.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Thanks for letting me know! C1 is certainly more difficult than the other softwares to learn, especially ON1 and Luminar. For some, all the softwares would be easy to learn, but if you don’t want to spend tons of time learning or watching videos, C1 is probably not for you.

[@jeffkogler1170]

The Capture One interface is also highly configurable. I just removed every element excluding the image it self and the top menu. If you only ever imported an image and adjusted the exposure you could set up the interface with only those options visible.

[@cheyennecalvillo6759]

That was great. I’ve seen Capture One in action. And it’s pretty cool. But I feel like On1 is the one for me. I like that it’s not super basic.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

I feel like ON1 strikes a perfect balance between easy to use yet loaded with features!

[@jordanking7711]

One word of warning though regarding DxO Photolab. It is not compatible with ALL cameras and ALL smartphones when it comes to RAW images. Decided to go for the trial version of DxO and it will NOT read Samsung Galaxy smartphone RAW/DNG images past the s8 (I have an s20+). Massive dealbreaker for me.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Thanks for sharing!

[@bh9262]

I have been using Capture One for almost a year now and still can't find edit history.. So i can go back to a certain point. LR makes it easy..

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Yeah, it’s certainly not the easiest to navigate. LR does make things very easy. Thanks for checking out the video!

[@Bassbarbie]

I'm no expert, but I don't think there is one. It is possible to see what has changed on an image by clicking on Copy to copy your adjustments on to the clipboard - then go into the Styles panel and scroll down to see the clipboard. At the bottom you will see a tick in everything that has been adjusted.

[@thinair97008]

Great roundup review Austin!

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Thank you!

[@hVF8KZuQPeCc8u]

Great review Austin. My 2 cents: Capture One is very good with Fuji cameras; Luminar Neo’s masking AI needs a lot of fine tuning and still does not have an edge aware brush/eraser; ON1’s new Super Select AI also needs more work but the app has a lot more useful masking tools vs. Neo. I don’t own DxO but do have the NIK collection which is of high quality. I love Lightroom with its new AI selection tools, my favorite in the mix but I know many want to find something else. Thanks for the review!

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Awesome summary of your thoughts, and I definitely agree on all aspects! Thanks for checking out the video.

[@linkernetir]

very very helpful review. thank youuuu :D

[@AustinJamesJackson]

My pleasure!

[@maggnet4829]

As soon as I add a couple of layers on1 runs super slow on my PC. In the community forum there is a lot of critic about it. I thus can not relate to your speed assessment of on1. I think it's by far the slowes of the four. What you are leaving out about on1 is, that for a lot of thr AI abilities you have to pay extra for the plugin package.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

All of the plug-ins are included in ON1. The plugins cost money if you want to use them as plugins with other softwares. But if you are just using ON1, all the features are available with Photo RAW

[@maggnet4829]

@Austin James Jackson Thanks for the correction. By the description on the website I had the strong impression one has to pay extra for the plugins. Since it was so slow (same with the older versions that I bought), in the end I didn't buy it and instead went for Capture One in combination with DXO, Affinity and Topaz AI. For me on1 mostly needs to fix their speed problem, then it becomes a very interesting solution, however they keep ignoring the community posts that complain about the issue. If I remember correctly they as well need to up their game in the lens correction department.

[@miguelangelrojas1947]

Nice comparison! I'm surprised about the speed results as I find Capture One the fastest in my computer. Luminar and On1 are great but really slow for me. Also, I generally found Capture One and DXO to get the most of the RAW files, compared to the rest.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Interesting! What makes you say that you got more out of the files with C1 and DxO?

[@miguelangelrojas1947]

@@AustinJamesJackson I shoot with Fuji and I've noticed that I get a wider dynamic range specially with Capture One. Also, I feel there is better colour depth (there is no way I can test this one though). I've tried them all and I keep coming back to C1 for the same.

[@RonaldPlett]

Gonna see if I can get any of these on piratebay. I've been using luminar Neo till now and will probably continue using it but wouldn't mind trying different options.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

They are all great options, just comes down to personal preference.

[@corgikun2579]

just watch out for software that has ransomware, sometimes is better to pay a greedy company for their software than pay some hackers to give your data back

[@Humanityinthe6]

What about cloud storage ?

[@AustinJamesJackson]

They each offer different plans!

[@13adLucEnt]

Good vid, great breakdown

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Glad you liked it!

[@davidkelly5459]

Great comparison video. I just purchased DxO PL6 because as much as I loved Lightroom, I REFUSE to pay Adobe a subscription for that program. I purchased LR in the past and really did enjoy using it along with PS. I actually picked up the disc of LR6 (last "own it" version) but, on my laptop, I have installed DxO. Adobe, like Autodesk and Microsoft, is just too full of itself and these monthly service subscriptions are not conducive to a non professional photographer that makes NO money from his work so, they get the middle finger salute for now. The massive greed of these companies has really put me off in my later years and for those who don't mind funding them, good on you. At least when I paid and purchased a set of discs, I felt as if I owned something real.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Definitely! The companies are switching to a subscription model because it generates more revenue, but I can definitely appreciate buying the software outright and not having to pay again!

[@DieterWelzel]

I have another experience about the speed auf Capture One Pro (COP) and Luminar Neo on my new and powerful Windows 10 PC as you on your iMac. COP 22 is very fast and Luminar Neo is pain in the ass. This is seen by showing picture on the screen, for editing functions and exporting a picture or a batch. The speed of DxO Photo Lab 6 and On1 Photo Raw 2023 is also ok. It´s only Luminar that is slow and On1 Photo Raw 2023 also have AI filters etc.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Interesting! I’ll have to look into that, as Luminar has always ran faster than anything else for me. Thanks for letting me know!

[@CharlieVN]

bruh, you messed up on capture one, you can change the layouts..... I came here looking for which software has raw updates, not sure that was mentioned, upgrading cameras forces you to update software to support and would put you in perpetual updates sort of....... not an issue with video, only with photos, which is annoying. Apple photos is free, but it's a bit limiting as an editor.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Thanks for the feedback!

[@williamstatt8651]

Another thing, and to me the most important, was the quality of the edit.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

I think you can get excellent quality edits in any of the softwares if you know how to use them!

[@rephaelreyes8552]

I personally like darktable. It's free with a steep learning curve

[@AustinJamesJackson]

I'll have to check it out!

[@rephaelreyes8552]

@@AustinJamesJackson I'm surprised you never tried it before. It's a very powerful tool and I get a better result from it than lightroom (although it's slower at times)

[@ZombieRofl]

I HATE to be a fan of something I don't like, but Lightroom Classic is just the best, specially in the speed department.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Agreed!

[@esmailiyou]

would have cool if you could show some action. fast content?

[@AustinJamesJackson]

I’m not sure what you mean, sorry!

[@esmailiyou]

@@AustinJamesJackson then forget it

[@peterwilson9699]

I prefer Lightroom Classic in combination with Photoshop. Lightroom Classic also has a photo organization module. And the new masking tool in Lightroom is wonderful.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Yeah, I use Lightroom as well! This video was simply just comparing some other options out there.

[@don7117]

Great review. I really like Neo, but it crashes regularly after doing some intense edits. And yes, my laptop is properly spec'ed for the software. It's a consistent issue in the Luminar Neo support forums. Very annoying, so I recently purchased ON1 2023. I still like Neo more for it's interface, but the constant crashing was driving me nuts. I have used Capture One and I agree - frustratingly complex for the average photographer. No experience with DXO PL, and it doesn't seem to offer anything different from the rest of the pack.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Hey Don! Thanks for checking it out. Neo is definitely amazing when it comes to interface. I love the look. The one thing offered by DXO that isn't offered by the others is very high quality noise reduction. Sure, the other softwares offer noise reduction, but DXO offers some of the best noise reduction in the industry (the only real competitor is Topaz), which is nice to have. But the program itself is overly complex in my opinion, similar to C1.

[@Uncommon-pixels]

Great video thank you

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@MD0MDI]

You missed a very important tool, Keywording andColour tagging, for me this is the most important tool, I have to often find stuff on a certain subject, for instance for a person in the photos, or photos for a client, Capture 1 is brilliant except it does not let you keyword or tag video, or all images under 500 pixels, this is a BIG issue for anyone who is looking for images for a website, or looking for a png to use for watermarking or logo placement, this for use meant that this was not even worth looking at, a tad annoying when you actually own one of their over-priced cameras. Nowadays, database management is very important.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Good to know! I know this feature is important to a few people, I just choose to leave it out since most photographers don’t use this feature, and I was trying to keep the video as short as possible. Thank you for sharing info on this though!

[@dsp1412]

Very nice piece of information.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Thanks for watching!

[@zk4929]

Capture One is excellent

[@AustinJamesJackson]

👍

[@Rocodil]

Hi, nice overview, very helpful. I am using Lightroom (mobile). The problem that I find new IA features are so good that, it becomes more difficult to take the step to switch 😂. But nevertheless, I am still searching for an alternative. You did not touch the photo management of the software’s: cloud storage, mobile apps, embedded management yes/no. Maybe something for another video?

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Certainly! I know ON1 has an app that works pretty well, but none of the apps compare to LR Mobile.

[@JohnDoe1999-lg7mh]

Capture One is expensive at $417.00 US. I use to own it, but the price was just getting crazy and subscription was getting pricey as well. For my genre of photography, CO is not well suited. Plugins are great as they allow one to do things quickly. Saving time editing allows one more time to be with family and friends or for time in the field. Use what best fits your needs, period.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Agreed!

[@vincentnavea6999]

I tried on1. did not like it and also expensive ont time purchase.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Sorry to hear that!

[@jimofmarseille]

Weird I don't have this delay on C1. It is slow to create thumbnails, but otherwise it is insant.

[@AustinJamesJackson]

I'll have to check it out again.

[@philipzwick]

Good analysis but it needs updating. Especially for On1 Raw 2024 which has adds Brilliance AI that auto edits with masks that can be adjusted to taste easily. Saves a lot of editing time,

[@AustinJamesJackson]

Yeah, this is an older video. Will look to revamp in the next year.

[@PhilZwick]

@@AustinJamesJackson I subscribed to site and saw that you reviewed on one raw 2024 thoroughly. Good job.