We’ve all been waiting for someone to bring some competition to Adobe Lightroom and it looks like ON1 may be up to the task. There are other options out there but nothing has really given Adobe a run for its money . . . yet.
ON1 has announced the new ON1 Photo RAW image processing app with fast processing speed at the top of the spec sheet. ON1 has reinvented the RAW processor from the ground up with modern, high-resolution cameras in mind.
ON1 claims that Photo RAW will open 50MP RAW files in a fraction of a second on a standard PC or Mac and that edits to these large files happen in real-time, without slider lag or waiting for redraw. Check out the speed demo video below.
ON1 has been working on Photo RAW for years and has put in the customary re-editable adjustments such as exposure, contrast, color, shadows and highlights. Additionally, ON1 Photo RAW offers more precise non-destructive effects and portrait retouching.
The complex filters found in ON1 Effects and ON1 Portrait-including Lens Blur, Skin Retouching, Dynamic Contrast, HDR Look and many more-are all available in Photo RAW’s non-destructive workflow. The controls found in ON1 Photo RAW will also respond in real-time by leveraging modern video cards, using the latest versions of OpenGL and OpenCL.
ON1 Photo RAW will include built-in layers, brushes, and advanced masking tools. Photo RAW can work as a standalone app, as a plug-in for Lightroom or an extension for Apple Photos. Photo RAW can also act as a standalone host for the Google Nik Collection (which is now free – in case you haven’t heard).
ON1 Photo RAW will be available this fall. It will be be part of the ON1 Plus Pro Membership at $149.99 per year. ON1 Photo 10 users will also get the chance to upgrade at a (yet-to-be-announced) reduced price. The subscription model from ON1 gives you a perpetual license, so even if you cancel the membership, you still have an active software license. You can learn more about ON1 Photo RAW here at ON1.com.
Competition to Adobe is great, but at those prices I cannot see them being HUGELY successful. There is a market and opportunity for a widening group of users looking for alternatives, but it seems that biggest problem people to have with Adobe is the recurring cost… and the Adobe Photography Plan (http://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/photography.html) ends up being $120/year vs this being $150/year. I see the “cancel and keep it” mention, but is that enough? Guess time will tell.
Alternatively, Photoshop Elements is available as standalone/perpetual purchase, or there’s GIMP for those really looking for alternatives without cost.
Good points Brian. I don’t know if it’s enough, but it’s nice to see what seems like a serious push back. ON1 has an avid fan base and they have some good marketers on their team. If it starts to gain traction, maybe we would see Adobe start to push back on pricing and offer some sort of perpetual license for those who subscribe for at least a year or two. Like you said, time will tell.
What I think a lot of people really want is a professional Aperture style program that they can buy once and have it updated for free often. Unfortunately, Apple killed this and their Photos app falls quite short. (Worth mentioning, WWDC may show a significant update.) Doubt Apple will get back into this market, but maybe they could make a significant impact with an Aperture X program? They’ve gotten Final Cut Pro X to a decent place after all these years (still not using it, however) and Logic Pro X is apparently a great update (again, don’t use it). Just not sure how it would fit into their product lines.
There’s also an opportunity for the manufacturers themselves to step in an make something great that actually works and is worth installing. Their bundled software has been terrible for years. Maybe Nikon or Sony starts offering ON1 for a year with purchase? Canon did something similar with Adobe CC for a year with a Cinema EOS purchase. GoPro’s software is at least useable, but that’s an entirely different set of tools. Blackmagic offers some amazing software tools for free (and purchase).
When I looked yesterday I eventually got to a buy screen that showed $89 for the upgrade. Are you saying that the only way you can get RAW is by subscribing? I didn’t get that impression. I thought if you bought the upgrade you got it period.
Thanks for the post. Definitely a product worth looking into. I like that if you want you would be able to buy it once and keep it. That is what I don’t like about Adobe. I hate subscriptions.
I like that there are more and more products coming out for RAW editing. I have been shooting in RAW more and the more I do the more I like it. Here is a great link about RAW images for any newbies that are wondering what RAW is: http://www.paintshoppro.com/en/landing/raw-images/.
there is some great info in there.
Thanks.