Capture One is not just a RAW converter. For a professional photographer, it is a lens through which you can see how honest a camera truly is in its physics. There is no automatic beauty here, no AI-driven flattery, no compensation for mediocre glass. There is raw signal, colour mathematics, and your own hands.
That is exactly why I have long used Capture One as my primary testing ground for evaluating cameras and lenses. The last five years have been extraordinary: the market was exploding with new releases. Here is my honest breakdown — year by year, by character, by feel.
2021
Sony A1
Flagship of the Year · Full Frame · 50 MPWhen Sony announced the A1, many saw it as the ultimate “everything in one” camera — and they were right. Capture One support arrived almost immediately after release. For me, the A1 was a revelation specifically in tethered studio shooting: 50 megapixels with no compromise on speed, and a BSI sensor with an impressive dynamic range. In C1, files from the A1 lift from the shadows phenomenally — without the characteristic orange noise that plagues so many competitors. Sony’s colour profile in Capture One has always been developed with exceptional care, and the A1 is its finest expression.
Lens of the Year: Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 GM
The new G Master is not just a letter in the name. Compact, sharp from wide open, with a bokeh rendering that needs no correction whatsoever in C1. The ideal reportage-studio pairing.
2021 was the year of the flagship leap. Manufacturers finally understood that professionals were unwilling to sacrifice either speed or resolution. The Sony A1 answered that demand with authority.
2022
Fujifilm X-H2S
Discovery of the Year · APS-C · 26 MP / Stacked BSIFujifilm has always occupied a special place in the Capture One ecosystem — historically C1 had a dedicated version for it (though that ended in 2022). The X-H2S, with its fully stacked BSI sensor, became the discovery of the year. For fashion and editorial work, its files are not merely “good for a crop sensor.” They are fully professional images with Fujifilm’s signature colour simulations, rendered in Capture One into ICC profiles with surgical precision. No digital sterility — a living, slightly filmic quality runs through every frame.
Lens: Fujinon XF 33mm f/1.4 R LM WR
One of the finest 50mm-equivalent lenses I have ever held. Extraordinarily sharp at the centre, delicate toward the edges. Paired with the X-H2S inside Capture One, it is a professional tool without qualification.
“Capture One does not forgive weak glass — and that is precisely what makes it so honest. Good lenses bloom here. Mediocre ones are exposed.”
2023
Nikon Z8
Camera of the Year · Full Frame · 45 MP · StackedThe Nikon Z8 is a Z9 without the vertical grip, sharing the same sensor. That sounds modest. In practice, it is one of the most balanced cameras of the 2020s. Capture One support arrived with version 16.2.0 practically on launch day — a genuine day-zero release, which says a great deal about where developer interest lies. NEF files from the Z8 are processed in C1 with deep respect for shadows and highlights: the 45-megapixel stacked sensor delivers a working range comparable to some medium-format systems. For studio fashion photography, it was the undisputed choice of the year.
Lens: Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.2 S
Portrait classic, completely reimagined. The bokeh is almost indecently beautiful — yet centre sharpness is never sacrificed for rendering character. In C1, the lens profile applies full metadata-based correction. The finest Nikkor in years.
2023 was the year Nikon’s Z-system glass finally came into its own. The Nikkor S lineup had matured enough to cover every professional need without compromise.
2024
Sony A9 III
Revolution of the Year · Full Frame · Global Shutter · 24 MPThe first full-frame camera with a global shutter in the mainstream market. No rolling shutter artefacts, no sync speed ceiling with flash. For tethered studio shooting in Capture One, this was a breakthrough of an entirely different kind. When working with unsynchronised studio strobes or under fluorescent lighting, the A9 III simply removes those problems from the equation entirely. Files are clean, dynamic range is more than adequate. Capture One supported the camera from day one of release.
Lens: Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II
The updated 24–70 became noticeably more compact than its predecessor without sacrificing sharpness. A universal working zoom — in C1 with the GM II lens profile, it shows minimal distortion straight out of the box.
2025
Canon EOS R6 Mark III
Workhorse of the Year · Full Frame · 24 MPCanon has not always been a favourite in Capture One — historically, CR3 file support lagged slightly behind Sony and Nikon. But the R6 Mark III changed the picture. With the release of C1 16.x, Canon received full manufacturer lens profiles for every RF-mount body. The R6 III became the most balanced camera of the year for photographers who shoot reportage, weddings, and editorial all in one season. Twenty-four megapixels is exactly what most professional work requires, without the file weight of higher-resolution bodies. The sensor’s ISO invariance is easily tested in C1: shadows lift cleanly.
Lens: Canon RF 28-70mm f/2L USM
An unconventional range — and that is its strength. f/2 across the entire zoom, extraordinary sharpness throughout. In Capture One with Canon RF profile correction, it delivers a pristine image from the very first frame.
2026
Fujifilm X-T30 III
Surprise of the Year · APS-C · Day-Zero in Capture One 16.7A small camera making a large statement. Fujifilm continues to prove that APS-C is not a compromise but a deliberate choice. The X-T30 III received Capture One 16.7.0 support on its launch day — a meaningful gesture of respect from the developers. For mobile fashion shoots, street editorial, and documentary work, this camera offers something no flagship can: lightness, invisibility, and the signature Fuji colour that C1 renders with remarkable faithfulness. Sometimes the best camera is the one you actually bring with you.
Lens: Fujinon XF 16mm f/1.4 R WR
A wide-angle character lens with minimal distortion for its angle of view and impressive sharpness already at f/2. Indispensable for street and reportage work. Capture One applies its lens profile automatically, with no loss of field of view.
“The best camera is the one you trust in the moment when you are no longer thinking about the camera. Capture One helps build that trust — through a deeper understanding of the material.”
Five years is a short span in the history of photography, but enormous in terms of technology. Sensors have grown in resolution and speed, optics have reached new levels of optical correction, and software — Capture One above all — has become a tool that does not merely convert, but interprets. Different cameras speak in different voices inside it. Learn to listen, and you will understand why the same shot taken with different systems provokes different feelings — before any retouching has even begun.
