Image browsing software

I'm looking for a good image browsing software for my new laptop (win10 pro). On my old win7 laptop I have been using ACDsee 16 but I'm unsure if I should buy a new license of that program again because it meanwhile seems to be blown up with a lot of additional options not necessary for the main tasks of culling, renaming, sorting, cropping, exporting etc. The old version was not color sensitive either (just sRGB) and couldn't display raws of more recent cameras.
Searching the forum I've seen that many are using Photo mechanic which costs around € 140, though. It now can also used for PCs (not only for the Mac) and installed on 3 machines. But I don't know if it's well worth the costs over the free programs such as Xnview, Irfanview etc. ?
I regularily post process the majority of my files with Capture One, so fancy options of raw conversion are not the most important requirements.
Any comments and suggestions ?

Thank you in advance

Wolfgang

Why wouldn't you just configure a Workspace in Capture One to do exactly what you want.  You can have as many workspaces as you want in C1P and it's easy to set up a browser like workspace and configure it exactly like you want and switch between it and your RAW conversion workspace as necessary.  I don't understand why you would need something else?

Although i can see where E.J. is coming from and I also have different workspaces in C1 for different tasks, I still use Photo Mechanic and C1 together.  

PM is used to ingest the photos and can do several cards at once and back them up to a different locations as well at the same time.  I use it all the time however it is invaluable when travelling.  I use PM to keyword, especially on ingest, file renaming, folder organization, culling, and tagging with stars and colours.  You can set it up so these colours are replicated in C1.  It is sooooo much faster than C1 for this purpose.  I generally only want to import "keepers" into C1.

I also use it to browse processed images that I put into different folders or to quickly check for a particular subject.  It is easier than loading different catalogs.  I guess this is because in a lot of cases I do not use extensive filtering and albums in C1.

I also understand they are bringing out a DAM product this year.

At the end of the day each to their own and its your money, for me my workflow would be suboptimal without Photo mechanic.  On another point they take a few years to bring out the next version so the cost is quite reasonable.

Capture One has its own browser, not sure why you would want another, especially is you have to buy one.

https://help.phaseone.com/en/CO12/User- ... owser-View

 

Mike Veltri wrote:Capture One has its own browser, not sure why you would want another, especially is you have to buy one.

https://help.phaseone.com/en/CO12/User- ... owser-View

 

... and it can be customized to work or look any way you want...

--- as to the previous comment about ingestion, C1P can also handle the ingestion tasks if you want.  I can't think of anything that any of the so called "browsers" can do that C1P can't do without the additional outlay of money or needing to switch between applications.

E.J. Peiker wrote:Why wouldn't you just configure a Workspace in Capture One to do exactly what you want.  You can have as many workspaces as you want in C1P and it's easy to set up a browser like workspace and configure it exactly like you want and switch between it and your RAW conversion workspace as necessary.  I don't understand why you would need something else?

thank you for your comment, E.J. Well, admitted I have not dived much into the browser and workspace options of C1 yet, because I have only imported collections of "keepers" into C1 for serious post processing as Hoppy does. C1 isn't installed on my general laptop for daily use either. On my trips I have been using LR 6 on my Macbook for culling, keywording, comparing and preparing collections which I found much more convenient and straight forward for that kind of tasks than C1 - at least in the previous versions. Back home, I just export the specific selections into C1 for post processing on my desktop - but not all of the thousands of shots. LR stand alone is going to become outdated for future cameras, though, and has deactivated the GPS module, too.
Apart from that, I have been using ACDsee16 on my old Laptop for viewing general photographs, personal snapshots, Jpgs, smartphone images etc. not necessarily planned or needed for post processing in C1. So I was thinking that Photo mechanics or another program could replace both ACDsee just for general viewing images on my new laptop in the living room and maybe LR on the macbook for keywording and selecting serious work on my travels, too, as Hoppy described that below. Anyways, I will follow your and Mike's advice and take another look into C1 before I come to a decision.

Wolfgang