Given there are always discount codes available outside black friday, this does not present anything special.
Now if they offer 50%, which the ads always scream (with the additional “up to” added), things may be different. But this, on a yearly basis, is not for me. I will consider it when my 2nd year upgrade cycle appears.
If they bothered making some effort and make a decent DAM then I would jump at it.
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Imo, the lowest cash-out is possible with buying new licenses for the bundles when they are available. Not every year, but every two years or so…unless you get a new camera that forces you to upgrade. Then the software cost is just collateral.
I also see that DxO products can be had at lower prices if bought in the US (depending on your location and exchange rate)
Ah well, we’ll have the same discussions again next year…
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I understand, but I was responding to your claim that there are no deals for upgrades, and making sure you were aware of the discount. Yes, they also run deals in other months as well.
I agree, I don’t like their marketing and pricing tactics overall. And the DAM capabilities are a glaring weakness (I’ve given up any hope this will improve and just accept that Photolab will always need to be paired with a DAM).
For the same reasons as you, I waited 2 years to upgrade, and just upgraded from PL7.
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yes, sorry that was my error. the 99.99 looked so normal;)
The dam and the lack of communication is annoying-not a smart startegy as, when and if a decent competitor comes along, some may jump ship. Assuming your product is superior and therefore irreplaceable is simply arrogant. I hope they change their ways. doubt it though.
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I have asked for panorama stitching for years !
They could buy the source code of Autopano…
I sacrificed some equipment in order to get DxO. Just to sit a few months later with an outdated version and it being too expensive to upgrade. Despite black Friday…
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But why bother when Affinity is now free?
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A comment/reply on Affinity mentioned much earlier in this thread. The latest Affinity is “free” in terms of licensing. However, one must remember No such thing as a free lunch. Moreover, I have licensed Sarif Affinity for years because, unlike DxO PL, it would accept some PL/LR plugins that are not possible in PL (including DxO NIK). Moreover, comparing Affinity to GIMP (that truly is “free”), base Affinity was not quite as good as the best GIMP could produce with GIMP requiring much more work on the part of the photographer, nor as good as the the Adobe PS/LR combination. This conclusion is based upon my personal anecdotal comparisons of client processed image acceptance (I “always” use raw), as well as the time I invested in producing those submitted images. However, once Adobe adopted the rental model, I evaluated a number of competitors (including Serif) but settled on DxO PL, eventually Elite Complete requiring FP and VP to activate all PL “features”. The fact that DxO is not offering significant Black Friday (BF) incentives (I have waited with the PL 9 upgrade for BF) means one of several things, both fiscal. DxO Labs is privately owned in France. Either revenue is insufficient to maintain a competitive product, the private owner (Jérôme Ménière, from the Wikipedia reference URL) wants more revenue possibly to sell the firm and thus get a better price, or the actual funding “equity” firms that effectively “own” DxO Labs – if any, as the fiscal arrangements are not public – want better “performance” or have so heavily indebted the venture for profiteering that more liquidity and revenue generation is required. Otherwise, the lack of good BF discounts simply demonstrates “stupidity”; to compete with Adobe, one need a better product at a lower total price point. PL Elite Complete is competitive or better in image quality (if camera and lens modules are available) with PS/LR and typically will produce a better final image for client submission with less work on the part of the photographer. PL lacks: the various plugin extensions integral to the internal PS/LR data streams (NOT requiring exporting as a TIFF and then re-importing to continue work, no longer as a “raw” file); and the large user support base (“tips and tricks”, “presets”, “tutorials”, etc).
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I thing may main reasons to not give bigger discount / boundle :
- AI magic! - Its sell
- New users. Go-to point 4., 8.
- May boundle sell less than we expect. Like Ps users concentrate to PureRaw. Some don’t care about Film emulations, and so on.
- Not subscription based - LR alternative
- Price / discount may less important, as its already more expensive than others. If some get only because another app is cheaper like 30EUR, is may not the best customer (churning)
- Payment can break down to 4 part! Nice idea! Not need to goes big capex instantly.
- They give some discount. May not the expected, but still
- image Quality - and quality come in price… Like C1 is great, but for higher ISO may PL better. Go-to point 2. Also, not uncommon if someone has C1 and PL
- Some users already has faster hardware, bigger memory GPU - for them its just runs fine. No problem.
- Update cycle for existing DxO users may not every year to new version. At least i also see this in the forum. So, if cycle like every second release, than big discount less important.
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Those might fly from a business perspective, but less so from a customer one.
I checked out DxO’s Instagram channel earlier and the comments against their Black Friday Sale post make for ugly reading: unhappy customers at either the bundle, functionality, performance… the same things we’re seeing here.
All that remains is to see if DxO have their eyes and ears open, and are working on it all. They didn’t keep us informed about their work so far on AI masking problems, so it’s doubtful they’ll acknowledge these ongoing issues either. We’ll either see a fix or… this will go on and on.
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Course. But that’s also a point how the world spinning.
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AI is in many other software with better algorithm compare to DxO and sort of cheaper, there’s always the pros and cons with pricing, from what’s been on this forum for over a month there is nothing really positive about the new PL9 compared to pass version. i know they support only last 2 version but i am really in dilemma if i should upgrade from Pl7 or not and so far i see no reason, even price wise. there is only bad thread about the latest version and dxo not even replying with comment is just… whatever!
I have compared PL9 Elite complete (using the try for free fully functional 30 day trial) with PL8 Elite complete for actual workflow to client submission. The new AI masking for specific images that are of interest to a client does not properly function (yet) as discussed on this forum. My experience with DxO PL for the last several releases is that this pseudo-beta version is the first (few) production release(s) – things do not work as advertised in many cases but (eventually) the application is “fixed”. This behaviour is common from many vendors, including Microsoft and Adobe. The only for-profit wide use product I remember that was really ready when production released was the WordPerfect word processor when it was not “windows GUI” based. When DxO finally does get things working, hopefully before PL10 is released, PL9 should be as good as any previous PL edition, provided DxO can generate modules for new lenses and bodies. DxO has a user base problem with this – consumer/enthusiast/prosumer equipment is the large part of the base. Thus, when a new lens or body for the working photographer is introduced and in use by the working photographer “community”, DxO may have to delay generating the required module but rather get the enthusiast/prosumer equipment covered first. As for waiting for PL9 actually to work as advertised will result in a larger license purchase price – albeit perhaps not enough of a “penalty” so that the post-discount delay is justified. However, for both PL8 and PL9, I use FastRawViewer for initial selection/culling of images for further workflow.
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I just bought PhotoLab 9 and FilmPack 8.
I almost didn’t do it based on the overall tone in this forum. It seems the majority of customers have some sort of issue with the company, and that is not a good thing.
The software is quite appealing to me as a Fujifilm shooter.
I found an additional 5% discount by adding in the code from (your favorite) YouTube Affiliate source.
I believe this at least took the price of the Black Friday promo to essentially match the pre sale bundle price.
Anyway, I’m both excited and nervous about becoming a DXO user.
Happy Holidays!
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Dont be nervous. You’ll be happy with the software I promise. Right now there’s some issues with AI masks but they’ll get it worked out. I upgraded yesterday from PLE v8 and FP v7. Since I’m an Nvidia user I’ll wait to activate after the next build is released. This way no problems over the holidays. An existing install won’t stop functioning you just can’t activate it somewhere else. Doesn’t apply in your case since you’re new. I’ve been using DxO since v1. For my use DxO still represents a better value than Adobe.
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Thank you for your thoughtful reply. This really helps me with the buyers remorse syndrome 
I very much appreciate it.
Welcome to Photolab.
We all went through a buyer’s remorse phase. The software does somethings very, very well yet seems frustratingly obscure or weak in others. Yet we are still here because of how well our photos turn out. Welcome
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@ronphoto I finally demo’d PL8, pulled the trigger, and was offered a free upgrade to PL9 soon after. I’m with @swmurray: “Yet we are still here because of how well our photos turned out.” This software is great; it does “something” uniquely, and I get stellar results. I’d absolutely invest again. I also understand the lack of a 50% FilmPack discount this year—it was just updated. A deep discount could/would devalue the recent investment for new buyers. Congrats on your investment.
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Exactly. The last 7 years have been very good. Has it been perfect, no, but my experience has been way above average bordering exceptional overall. Each year some question the value and then justify themselves out of upgrading. Its a small price to pay for something I enjoy so much. I think I may have skipped v6, but it wasnt intentional, i just got busy and at the time v5 worked well for me. The entire premise for PLE was to use 3rd party lenses with my Canon body’s. Canon’s DPP only supported Canon lenses. As time passed I became more proficient in PLE and its workflow. By then, I was fully invested. Today all of my lenses are Canon. I use DPP on the road and PLE at home.
Like others I wasn’t thrilled having to buy filmpack (initially) to get luminosity masks, but its worked out too and now I enjoy it more than I thought I would. I grew up with film, thats what we had. No regrets for me. I enjoy DxO software. As long as you upgrade every couple of years it represents a good value IMO.
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I miss Word Perfect, wrote my thesis with all formulas on it. Freehand was another one.
Fast Raw Viewer is just that fast and no nonsense. Wish it had a basic export.
If we only could define our own lenses, I use many (in)famous old lenses like the Nikkor 20-35 2.8, which aren’t covered.
The AI mask had mixed results for me. So What do you say..upgrade or not?