Capture One has, finally, released Capture One Mobile, bringing its photo editing software to Apple’s iPadOS ecosystem for the first time. The release brings all of the features Capture One showed off in its earlier teaser and, although far from complete in terms of features, offers a solid baseline for photographers wanting a Lightroom alternative on iPadOS devices.
Capture One for iPad, like its desktop program, is a Raw photo converter and editor designed to bring the Capture One experience to a mobile device with a touch-first interface. Photos stored in Capture One Mobile are stored natively by default, but for users that also have a Capture One Pro subscription, you can also transfer images to the desktop version of Capture One via Cloud File Transfer.
This is what Capture One Mobile’s image library area looks like. I didn’t have any custom albums created at this time.
Image organization is similar to the approach taken by Lightroom Mobile, with options to view all of your images, only those imported last, or in albums that you can create to separate out your assignments and shoots.
Edit options include the usual array of basic Raw editing tools, including Exposure adjustments (Exposure, Contrast, Brightness, Saturation), HDR (Highlights, Shadows, Whites, Blacks), Clarity (Clarity, Structure), Dehaze, a color editor and Vignetting. There’s also a dedicated Crop and Rotation toolset, as well as a dedicated area for creating and applying Capture One Styles, including those that come pre-installed and other Styles you’ve purchased through Capture One’s online store or via third-party creators.
This screenshot shows the various sub-categories within the Raw editing menu: B&W, White Balance, Exposure, HDR, Clarity, Dehaze, Color Editor and Vignetting.
The image export interface is somewhat primitive at this time, but does allow you to create custom names for your images, export as JPEG or Raw (with adjustments), adjust the resolution, adjust the quality and even add a watermark if that’s something you do.
A screenshot of the image exporting interface.
I’ve spent a bit of time playing with the beta and, so far, it’s been a pleasant experience. The interface is familiar enough to anyone who’s used Capture One Pro 22 on desktop, but offers a unique experience that makes it easy to quickly cull and process images on-the-go with all the basic editing tools you might need to, at the very least, get edits started before making any dramatic changes once you’re back on the desktop version.
Capture One says tethering, masks/layers and cloud improvements for file transfer (and eventually synchronization) are the features they’re most focused on bringing to Capture One Mobile in future updates.
Capture One Mobile will cost $4.99 per month, which includes access to Cloud File Transfer for up to 1,000 photos at any given time. Capture One hasn’t specified what the additional levels of storage will cost beyond the basic pricing. You can find out more information on Capture One Mobile’s product guide page.