A high-resolution Hasselblad file is only the beginning of the creative process. For professional photographers, the software that interprets those images can be just as important as the camera itself.
Now, Capture One is expanding its professional workflow with support for three Hasselblad cameras – the X2D II 100C, the X2D 100C and the CFV 100C digital back – bringing the Swedish manufacturer’s medium format files into an ecosystem widely used across commercial, fashion, beauty and advertising photography.
For Capture One CEO Rafael Orta, the partnership represents more than simply adding another camera system. It is the result of years of requests from photographers who wanted Hasselblad files supported in a professional editing workflow.
"Supporting Hasselblad cameras had been something that had been requested by photographers using Capture One for quite a long time," Orta explains.
“And it's really great to be able to offer that now.”
The partnership photographers have been waiting for
Capture One has built its reputation around giving photographers control over their images, particularly in industries where color accuracy and consistency are critical.
"Capture One is widely considered the industry standard, especially for commercial and fashion and beauty and advertising photography," says Orta.
"The proposition that we bring to photographers is that our product gives them tremendous flexibility in terms of the workflow that they choose to use and the devices that they choose to use together with Capture One."
That approach has led the software to support more than 550 cameras throughout its history, but Orta says every camera requires a dedicated process.
"We create camera profiles. It’s a labour of love," he says. "It's something that we do individually for each specific camera."
The craft behind camera profiles
Rather than relying only on technical specifications, Capture One engineers test cameras extensively, photographing in controlled environments as well as outdoors to understand how each system handles color and detail.
"Every one of those cameras is a camera that we have touched, that we have held in our hands, that we have taken hundreds and in many cases thousands of photos with," says Orta.
The aim is to create profiles that behave predictably while preserving Capture One's own approach to image quality.
"We apply all of our experience and knowledge of image quality and color science to the images that we saw coming from these cameras," he explains.
For photographers opening Hasselblad files in Capture One for the first time, Orta believes the difference comes from the creative control the software provides.
"They see more detail, they see things that they maybe hadn't seen before," he says.
"They start nudging sliders in one direction or another, they see these adjustments being applied, and how it flatters their photography."
Capture One's role is not to replace the photographer's vision, though.
"Ultimately what we’re doing is returning control to the photographer," says Orta.
A partnership built around color
The collaboration between Capture One and Hasselblad also represents two companies with deep roots in Scandinavian imaging technology.
Orta says there is a long history of color expertise across the region, from high-quality printing industries to digital image processing.
"It's fascinating to see how some of the names that stand for quality in terms of the image and colors, but also stability and reliability and quality in engineering, have come from the Scandinavian region," he says.
While the initial release supports three recent 100MP Hasselblad cameras, Orta says the company is open to expanding support in the future.
"We're looking forward to broadening the number of cameras that are supported," he says.
For now, the focus is on seeing what photographers create with the new combination.
"We're really looking forward to seeing what photography is going to be created now using Hasselblad cameras and Capture One," Orta says.
"It really feels like a big moment for the industry."
