By default, Lightroom applies a 25 Amount sharpening to all RAW images (on a scale of 0–150). The reason why Capture One is perceived to be sharper than Lightroom is mainly due to the default settings used. Although the comparisons shown here were done in Lightroom, you’ll see the same kinds of results if you work in Adobe Camera Raw. This article takes a close look at the image processing in Capture One and Lightroom and shows how the two programs are actually more similar than you might think. From this, I concluded Capture One is indeed a solid RAW processor that has a number of unique features that are missing in Lightroom however, these don’t include better sharpness and color/tone rendering.
So earlier this year I spent some time comparing the RAW-processing controls in both programs in detail. If you were to count up all the hours you’ve spent processing your files in Lightroom, you’d want to be reassured your creative efforts haven’t been wasted.
Are Lightroom users getting the most out of their RAW files and can they be sure the RAW-processing software they use is as good as Lightroom’s leading competitor? It’s a worrying thought, yet this is the claim being made by some reviewers in head-to-head comparisons between Adobe Lightroom and Capture One Pro.