Capture One 21 (14.1.0) released, includes Style Brushes, improved importing and more

Capture One 21 was released this past December and its first major update is now available. Capture One 21 (14.1.0) is a feature release that contains new functionality, new camera and lens support and bug fixes.

New features added to Capture One 21 include new Style Brushes, an improved Import Viewer, additional ProStandard profiles and improvements to Live-View when shooting tethered with supported Leica cameras.

Style Brushes are a new way to work with brushes and layers. Style Brushes are designed to be more accessible and make powerful editing tools instantly available to users. Essentially, the new tool is a streamlined, easy way to make local adjustments to your images.

There are many Style Brushes (seen in the list to the left in this screenshot) in the new version of Capture One 21. You can use Style Brushes to quickly and easily make localized adjustments to your photos. You can also create your own Style Brushes and share them with other photographers.

In Capture One 21 (14.1.0), there are numerous style brushes included to adjust color, light and contrast, and make enhancements. For example, there are built-in Style Brushes for enhancing a subject’s iris in a portrait and for whitening teeth. There are Style Brushes for adjusting brightness, contrast, highlights, shadows and haze. There are also brushes for adding cooling or warmth and tweaking color saturation. You can also create your own custom Style Brushes, and users can share them with other photographers.

The Import Viewer is faster and more useful in Capture One 21 (14.1.0). In the prior version of Capture One, there isn’t a great way to evaluate the images you’re considering importing into your Capture One catalog when importing images. You can’t view an image at large enough magnification to evaluate something like focus. There is a small button at the top of the Import Viewer in the new version, which looks like a large rectangle with three smaller rectangles to its right. When you click this button, you enable a new way to view importable images. This allows you to view a selected image larger, with additional images now relegated to a scrolling area to the right. Further, you can decide which images for import using keyboard shortcuts (S to pick an image, A to unpick an image, spacebar to toggle pick/unpick). You can also deselect all images, as select all is the default setting.

With Capture One 21, ProStandard profiles were introduced. This is a new type of camera profile that renders colors more naturally. Primarily, ProStandard profiles, when compared to older profiles, retain more consistent color tones across levels of saturation and brightness. In Capture One 21 (14.1.0), many new models now include ProStandard profiles, including popular DSLR and mirrorless cameras from Canon, Nikon Olympus and Sony (including the brand-new Alpha 1). For the full list of newly-supported camera models, click here. Among the lengthy list of newly supported cameras, there are some popular older cameras included, such as the Canon 5DS, 6D II, EOS-R, Nikon D5, D800(E), and Sony A7 II, which is great news, as the ProStandard profiles represent a significant improvement in rendering.

New camera support has been added to Capture One 21, including support for Sony’s new flagship full-frame mirrorless camera, the Alpha 1.

There are also some new cameras supported in general inside Capture One 21 (14.1.0). In addition to the Sony A1, support has been added for the Fujifilm GFX 100S, Fujifilm X-E4, Canon SX70 HS, Panasonic GX800, GX850, GX880, GF10, GF90 and GF9.

While not necessarily highlight-worthy new features, Capture One has added some nice improvements with the latest update to various functions and features. The maximum zoom level in the Viewer is increased from 400% to 1600%, which should work well for users on high-resolution monitors. The Keystone Tool has an upgraded user interface. It’s easier to link Brush Settings in the latest version, and you can link Brush with Layer and Eraser with Brush.

In addition to the new Import Viewer, seen here, Capture One 21 (14.1.0) adds numerous other improvements.