Heading a wee bit off topic here, but the issue is not one of Adobe or subscriptions or feature lists in general.
If DxO kept even everybody in the forums happy, it’d probably cost twice as much as it does now. If it were even possible.
I’ve heard the “value of Adobe” argument before and, yes, it’s cheap for what you get. But also, if what you get is not what you want or perhaps not what you will use, then the value diminishes substantially. If you don’t use cloud storage and don’t use Photoshop (although there is now a cheaper LR-only plan) then it’s not really such great value.
Many have made the argument that PhotoLab is far too expensive when you add in FilmPack and ViewPoint to get “all the features” but them some people get by just fine with one or the other or neither.
The short version — make your choice on features and value. That’s it. You can hope for improvements on either, but there is always competition.
Personally, DeepPRIME and the Modules are the baseline. I couldn’t live without those. Everything else is icing on the cake. Some of it is very nice icing!
Although I am only a photo enthusiast, I have been using PL and Photoshop Elements for years. My work flow has been doing most everything in PL, but in the end, when needing to remove objects and/distractions, I have found PL to to be extremely lacking and have had to go to PSE to finish off. I gladly await the day that DxO finally gets it right with healing and cloning. Otherwise, a great RAW photo editing app.
I mean… they do lock some arguably critical features behind the paywall of needing FP or VP or both as well as PhotoLab.
Colour grading should be in the core product. Fine contrast control should be in the core product. These aren’t bonus functions in other software (LR, CR etc.) but part of their core offerings, and I use them all the time, so it stinks when DxO engineers it so that we have to pay extra to access them by buying add-ons we otherwise don’t need (I don’t need film simulations or timewarp type tools from FP, I do need colour grading - and even that is second rate vs. competitors who have tri-way grading).
Sorry to rant but these things aren’t cheap, which means we do get to point out if it’s poor value.
I get that - but that’s what makes it all the more frustrating as if DxO put e.g. colour grading tools in their core product like everyone else does, I wouldn’t need to buy PhotoLab AND Film Pack.
It’s pure exploitation of need.
mwsilvers
(Mark - New Jersey, USA, Win10, RTX 4060, PL9, FP8, VP5, Nikon Zf )
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DxOs core product is the entire PhotoLab Suite not just a part of it. It was was broken down into three pieces plus the Photolab Essential version. This was done in part to make entry in the DxO universe more cost-effective for those on a more limited budget. ViewPoint and FilmPack are not add-ins. They are already fully integrated into PhotoLab but require a license to unhide those features.
Many of us on this site own all three pieces for the simple reason that we want the complete unhobbled Photolab experience. There are a number of features in FilmPack other than the film simulations which many of us use on a regular basis and would not want to do without. I could not imagine owning PhotoLab without access to all its features. I know for many, purchasing a license to the entire suite is too costly. Unfortunately, it is what it is. It comes down to making choices.
