Capture One Express ending

Craig1912

Craig1912

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Express is coming to an end​

We're constantly working to improve our tools for you. And to give you the best creative and collaborative experience, we need to focus on our main products. This means that starting January 30, 2024,Capture One Express will no longer be available.

You’ll be able to use Express until January 30, and all your images and edits will also be available until this date.

Starting January 30, you won’t be able to download or use Express from our website. Also, you can’t activate any Express license keys after January 30, even though you downloaded the license key before this date.

We’ll end all support for Express after January 30.
 
Saw this, I get it but their paid offering does not seem very competitive compared to LR/PS. The perpetual license is their only usp in my view. LR/PS also has a lot more third party support, tutorials, plug ins etc
 
acrobatic_Citron said:
Saw this, I get it but their paid offering does not seem very competitive compared to LR/PS. The perpetual license is their only usp in my view. LR/PS also has a lot more third party support, tutorials, plug ins etc
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Capture One Express is a simplified variant that is brand specific. It omits some features and is free to use.
 
It sounds like they've run into the same problem that Adobe hit several years ago - if you sell 'perpetual' licences, then your income relies upon new users and upgrades.

The 'Express' version was (I would assume) intended to hook people on the product, so they would then buy the full licence - if not enough do that (and they are unable to get camera manufacturers to 'sponsor' their version) then it becomes a drain (as resources are still needed to support it) rather than a source of income.

Adobe took the plunge and moved to the subscription model, which gives a steady income stream - a lot of users switched to other brands when they did that, but many of those did so because they wanted to buy once, and not have to pay again for years - Capture One is, I suspect, now feeling the 'cost' of gaining those users - the rush of one off licence fees has been spent, and now they are just a cost, in terms of support, bug fixes, etc.
 
Faldrax said:
Adobe took the plunge and moved to the subscription model, which gives a steady income stream - a lot of users switched to other brands when they did that, but many of those did so because they wanted to buy once, and not have to pay again for years - Capture One is, I suspect, now feeling the 'cost' of gaining those users - the rush of one off licence fees has been spent, and now they are just a cost, in terms of support, bug fixes, etc.
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And if you look at Adobe's financials since moving to a subscription model, it was absolutely the right thing to do. A lot of users will have jumped ship, but conversely paying £5 to £20 a month is a lot more palatable to some people than stumping up a couple of hundred quid for software in one go. Particularly for those starting out, a subscription model could be more attractive as the price of entry is much lower, and if you find photography isn't for you 6 months down the line you're not that far out of pocket.
 
I used to buy LR at every new version, they came out once every 18 months or so....it was still over £100 each time. Of course you can skip it but honestly I don't find the subscription model for Adobe anymore expensive, especially as I get it on Black Friday/Prime Day for about £70 a year.
 
Raymond Lin said:
I used to buy LR at every new version, they came out once every 18 months or so....it was still over £100 each time. Of course you can skip it but honestly I don't find the subscription model for Adobe anymore expensive, especially as I get it on Black Friday/Prime Day for about £70 a year.
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This was my view as well - and with the bundle I get Photoshop 'free'
 
I've used it for ages. I find it ideal, for what I do. It seems to suggest that after January it will not work, full stop. Am I reading that right?
 
Plain Nev said:
I've used it for ages. I find it ideal, for what I do. It seems to suggest that after January it will not work, full stop. Am I reading that right?
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No, don't think so. Rather that an existing installation will keep working but you couldn't activate a new installation. That's my understanding. In which case the crunch could come when your hard drive broke and you had to start again ...
 
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droj said:
No, don't think so. Rather that an existing installation will keep working but you couldn't activate a new installation. That's my understanding.
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I read it as it will stop working so you need to export you images if you want to keep the edits.
 
droj said:
No, don't think so. Rather that an existing installation will keep working but you couldn't activate a new installation. That's my understanding. In which case the crunch could come when your hard drive broke and you had to start again ...
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Or if you buy a new camera and it does not support RAW from that camera, and you have to convert to DNG first. That is one problem with Adobe when they did single licence
 
droj said:
Ahh .... :-(

That seems very draconian, even somewhat spiteful. What have they got to lose?
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It does sound a bit like a PR disaster, I can only think they are hoping to get a significant number of people buying a full (discounted) licence.
 
droj said:
Ahh .... :-(

That seems very draconian, even somewhat spiteful. What have they got to lose?
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No idea. But looks like they want to fully move over to subscription based model. Time to try darktable.
 
Inspired by the impending doom of Capture One Express I've subsequently tried out a couple of programs. Inpixio and Photo Director. Both are AI driven, and both are very impressive. Although, not as free as they are made out. Still, it's interesting to dabble, and I was gobsmacked by what AI can do.
 
Any properly free alternatives or will I be forced to start shooting in jpeg?
I often don't use my camera for months, I'm not paying a subscription for something I might use a handful of times a year.
 
robj20 said:
Any properly free alternatives or will I be forced to start shooting in jpeg?
I often don't use my camera for months, I'm not paying a subscription for something I might use a handful of times a year.
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Not used it but people have suggested Darktable, worth a try.
 
robj20 said:
Any properly free alternatives or will I be forced to start shooting in jpeg?
I often don't use my camera for months, I'm not paying a subscription for something I might use a handful of times a year.
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Never tried any of the free ones so can't comment but Darktable is one that people tend to mention.

Alternatively you could buy something like Affinity Photo which is pretty cheap but the last time I used it the raw processing wasn't brilliant but it is an excellent pixel editor compatible to PS.
 
Do none of you guys use the software that comes with the camera you have. NX Studio is a pretty good example of decent software which I sometimes use.
 
Nikon f1.8 said:
Do none of you guys use the software that comes with the camera you have. NX Studio is a pretty good example of decent software which I sometimes use.
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My Fuji X-T4 came with a leaflet telling me I could download Capture One For Fuji, but they'd discontinued the manufacturer specific versions just before I bought the camera....

There is Fuji X Studio but it requires the camera to be plugged into a PC or Mac. Since I've been iPad Pro and smartphone only for editing for over 4 years then Lightroom is my only realistic option, but I've been an LR user for years anyway.
 
The idea of "forcing" users to buy the full version may be flawed. While it worked for Adobe, there was little serious competition when they did it. Users of C1E may decide to switch to the "leading?" Adobe instead. Or more likely use one of the other free or cheap products. Things have changed since Adobes change over. people cancle or vote with their feet now.
 
swanseamale47 said:
The idea of "forcing" users to buy the full version may be flawed. While it worked for Adobe, there was little serious competition when they did it. Users of C1E may decide to switch to the "leading?" Adobe instead. Or more likely use one of the other free or cheap products. Things have changed since Adobes change over. people cancle or vote with their feet now.
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I won't be paying for Capture One that's for sure. Just too expensive.

I wonder what Sony will do now, they always advertised the free Express with cameras.
 
swanseamale47 said:
The idea of "forcing" users to buy the full version may be flawed. While it worked for Adobe, there was little serious competition when they did it. Users of C1E may decide to switch to the "leading?" Adobe instead. Or more likely use one of the other free or cheap products. Things have changed since Adobes change over. people cancle or vote with their feet now.
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I'd agree - I suspect there's a fair number of people who are using the free version simply because they shifted away from Adobe when the subscription model was introduced.
It's been several years now, and the subscription price has remained unchanged, plus many are now aware of the cheaper way via Amazon bundles - removing some of the concerns raised when the subscription model was introduced.
My worry is that if the alternatives to Adobe do fall away, then Adobe might decide the time has come where they can raise the price.
 
There is a deal on at the moment over on Hotukdeals for the full CC suite, via Turkey for £64 for a year, if that floats your boat.
 
Nikon f1.8 said:
There is a deal on at the moment over on Hotukdeals for the full CC suite, via Turkey for £64 for a year, if that floats your boat.
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Not really, that £64 could literally be to edit 100 photos. That's terrible value.
I do very little photography these days
 
RichardC27 said:
And if you click the C1 link you get a 404. The manufacturer versions were discontinued early in 2022 I think.
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Looks like Sony need to do some updating.
 
It's a pity. I only downloaded it initially because my old computer won't support a full editing suite. But I found it was fine for my needs. Especially as I am not looking to upgrade my computer until it grinds to a halt. :p
 
RichardC27 said:
And if you look at Adobe's financials since moving to a subscription model, it was absolutely the right thing to do. t.
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It's absolutely the right thing to do if you are a software vendor and you can hold our customer base to the subscription.

The question is whether or not the customer tangibly benefits.

Adobe's situation is a bit odd because (a) they included PhotoShop and (b) they haven't leveraged the price given their market dominance.

C1 are presumably trying to provide C1 at a premium over Adobe's offering to - in part to compensate for - a smaller subscriber base.
 
Not tried this

ansel.photos

Ansel

Ansel is an open-source raw photo editor for artists
ansel.photos ansel.photos
 
Dryce said:
It's absolutely the right thing to do if you are a software vendor and you can hold our customer base to the subscription.

The question is whether or not the customer tangibly benefits.

Adobe's situation is a bit odd because (a) they included PhotoShop and (b) they haven't leveraged the price given their market dominance.

C1 are presumably trying to provide C1 at a premium over Adobe's offering to - in part to compensate for - a smaller subscriber base.
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The Adobe subscription is great value. For £9.99 a month you get Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, Lightroom mobile, Lightroom on the iPad, Photoshop, a free portfolio website builder and cloud syncing to tie it all together. I genuinely don't understand how anyone can baulk at it, it's a bargain compared to anything else on the market. They've never raised the price and the only thing I can think is that it's so popular and they're raking in so much money from it that they don't need to.
 
RichardC27 said:
The Adobe subscription is great value. For £9.99 a month you get Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, Lightroom mobile, Lightroom on the iPad, Photoshop, a free portfolio website builder and cloud syncing to tie it all together. I genuinely don't understand how anyone can baulk at it, it's a bargain compared to anything else on the market. They've never raised the price and the only thing I can think is that it's so popular and they're raking in so much money from it that they don't need to.
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It's terrible value for me.
Don't use anything but Lightroom Classic, the 100 or so photos I take a year would work out at £1.20 each to edit. You think that's a bargain.
I'll take free anyday.

I'm sure it's great for a lot of people but hardly everyone.
 
I've been playing around with Raw Therapee, and that looks promising. Quite similar to C1E in some respects.
 
For Fuji owners only I'm afraid, there's an article on the Fujirumors website indicating that the Capture One raw converter is still available free for Fuji users.

www.fujirumors.com

Capture One offers FREE Fujifilm RAW Converter for Fujifilm Users - Fuji Rumors

FUJIFILM RAW CONVERTER We just reported how Capture One is going to discontinue the free version Capture One Express on January 30. But there is an alternative. As pointed out to me by fellow FR-readers (thanks), Capture One is offering the FUJIFILM RAW CONVERTER (FRC) for Fujifilm users only...
www.fujirumors.com www.fujirumors.com
 
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