I’ve read all about the latest sharpening and denoising technologies and it seems that DeepPRIME XD2s is as good as it gets. However, it seems less easy to find which version you need to get all this clever tech.
If I have DXO Photolab v6 19 build 428. Can someone please tell me which version I need to buy in order to get all this fancy sharpening technology please?
DxO sells the current version only. It’s PhotoLab version 8.
PhotoLab 9 will probably be available in September/October. Check out your shop account. Upgrading to version 8 should be discounted, upgrading to 9 will probably be full price - unless DxO changes pricing policy. Bundles can be interesting too, e.g. PhotoLab + FilmPack.
Occasionally, DxO brings new technology to PureRAW, before adding it to PhotoLab. I’d stick to PhotoLab though. New tech often comes with new bugs or limitations.
Detail palette of DPL8 on MAC:
Beware: DPL on Win might differ. As for denoising vs. detail: You might want to use different methods for different images. Not all images react to denoising equally well.
Thanks @platypus. I was surprised to not get the full functionality when I puchased the current version. After the event there seemed to be a difference in a somewhat standard edition and a possibly ‘elite’ version which I was a bit cross at as I had paid a good sum of cash for the software and yet didn’t seem to get access to *Prime, *Deep Prime or *Deep Prime XD. The software seems excellent, but I find the choice of options, and what you are getting for your puchase on their website incredibly confusing. Maybe I should wait for version 9 as you suggest.
My lesson learned:
If you’re tempted by essential/pureRAW/etc. test thoroughly…but there is a catch: The PhotoLab trial comes as elite edition. When you then buy the essential edition, you’ll miss all the good stuff. If you buy PureRAW, be sure that it’s really what you want: a subset of PhotoLab’s features with heavily reduces tuning possibilities. If you’re after a full RAW developer/editor, that’s simply not enough.
Nevertheless, some users seem to be happy with PL essential and PuRAW, the latter mostly in combination with Lightroom or other apps.
Elite is not a “luxury” version. It is the “standard” version and Essentials is a cut-down “economy” version.
If you are wanting cost-effectiveness then maybe you should.
As a PL6 user the cost of upgrading to PL8 today will be less than the full price of PL8 today. When PL9 comes out in Sept/Oct the upgrade price will again be less than the full price.
Alternatively, if you don’t buy PL8 now, then when PL9 is released you won’t be eligible for a discount on the price, you will have to pay full price but the full price of PL9 will be less than upgrading to PL8 and then PL9.
Only you can decide which upgrade path is the best one for you.
@platypus & @Joanna - Those sound like lessons well learned. Esp. the bit about the trials having all the bells and whistles and the actual purchases then not having them - I bet that is where I went wrong. So if I went to PL8/9 by whatever route would these have the advances denoising and sharpening tech. that I haven’t currently got? The last thing I want to do is to end up spending cash and then not getting what I expected. I was most disappointed to find that the ver 6 wasn’t as good as the trial esp. after paying alll that cash. It certainly isn’t cheap by any stretch of the imagination.
PL8/9 are both fully featured versions, only requiring the addition of FilmPack and ViewPoint to make one of the most comprehensive editors out there.
If you mean PL6 Essentials, that is only to be expected.
Unfortunately, if you want quality, it costs.
Providing you purchase the ‘Elite’ version, yes.
The addition of Filmpack increases the cost but does unlock additional Fine Contrast sliders, and the luminosity masking feature (plus all the film emulation presets of course).
Whatever new featuresDxO will release is DxO‘s decision. They don‘t usually promise things or sniff our expectations.
If you can do with what you have, stick to it. If you can‘ do, get what there is and decide wisely, I.e. based on your tests and reading. Try to avoid traps or your own „this is sooo coool“ internal salesperson.
The answer to your question is to use PureRaw 4 if you can find it.
Don’t buy PureRaw 5 unless you are using Fuji, it isn’t an upgrade.
Thanks for this information. The Website is not clear about versions or the difference between Pure raw and Photo Lab . Names mean little without a comparison page of what is possible in each program or how they can interact.
I disagree. @joc says they are a PhotoLab user. They make no mention of using other photo editing software like Lightroom, which is the sort of application PureRAW is designed to work with.
PureRaw is basically for denoising. If you want to continue using PL 6 then buy PureRaw. It outputs into dng so you can work with the output like a raw file.
If you want XD2 plus what new features they have put into PL since v6, you have to buy Elite. I would trial them both to see if you are really benefitting from Elite. It is more expensive than PureRaw. Personally, I prefer PR because it is set and forget and then you work on your dngs when they are ready.
A lot of people around here seem to have the agenda of pushing Elite. Upgrading from v6 means that you are paying full cost. Make sure that you think that it is worth it.
Sorry, I should have been more specific. I am a new user and bought Photo-Lab Elite version 8.7, current build. It has all the modules for all my camera bodies and lenses. So far I have found that left to itself the program sometimes overdoes distortion / perspective correction and the DXO Clearview Plus often adds too much colour cast when applied more than just slightly. Metalic surfaces in particular seem to suffer. As I tend to shoot an event with varying light and other variables I do not batch process my images. It is not a fast way of working but my preferred method. As the program can export to 16 bit tiff, that is more information than stored on my 14 bit non compressed raw files so not unduly worried on that score. Personally compared to other software it is not that expensive and the results for me at least better than I have had in the past. Also considering I also do video editing, the requirements for the photo side of things is quite light.
What I really wanted to know was whether the Pure raw product was in some way superior to Photo Lab Elite which so far for me has been excelent.
Those of us who are long term users of PhotoLab have known for years that Clearview Plus should rarely be used other than for the occasional removal of atmospheric haze. That is the purpose for which it was designed, thus the name of this tool. For any other purpose, it should only be used at very low settings, if at all.
For those of us with a license for FilmPack we tend to use the six Fine contrast sliders instead. The Micro Contrast slider should also be used in moderation. High settings can add unpleasant harshness. In many situations the Fine contrast sliders provide more nuanced adjustments.
Mark
Since you own the latest version of PL-Elite, the simple answer to your question is “No” (PureRAW is in no way superior to PL).
You can create your own Preset (based, for example, on one of PL’s provided Presets - and tweaked to your specific requirements - such as suggested by Mark, above) which is then applied to all newly-encountered images … See menu options;
Thank you John, for that useful reply regarding the camera raw editor.
I’ve been editing raw images since 2007 using various software but could not make sense of the DXO website as far as which program had what. I also used the original U-Point technology when Nikon had it developed and loved it with its original free software for Nikon cameras. It’s a pity that it is the only real part of the NIK collection I found useful during the trial even though it lacked some of the functionality of the original program while enhancing other aspects of the original program. Actually I found Viveza useful too. It’s a pity one has to buy the whole package to obtain them.
As for setting up my own presets, that also works up to a point as a base starting point but I still end up tweaking the images individually. Especially when shooting between 10-20mm with the distortion / perspective or even sometimes the horizon control. On the whole though I find PhotoLab good to use.
Once you get used to it, you really don’t need anything other than the PL+FP+VP bundle.
Nik is mainly intended for users of other software like PS, Lr, etc and requires intermediate TIFF files. Try the PL bundle before taking the plunge into the collection.
Not easy to find decent descriptions, except (and maybe) in the respective user guides available in the “support” area of the site.
Imo, DxO products revolve around PhotoLab…which misses a few features that DxO moved to either FilmPack or ViewPoint. For the most comprehensive set of features covering supported files - one needs to check these too, DxO is comparatively picky about supported cameras, lenses and file formats - PhotoLab and licenses for FP and possibly VP are the bundle(s) to get.
PureRAW is a subset of features of the above. And while features work well, customising the feature effects is rather rough (e.g. pick one of four selections) … but occasionally, PR has features before they come up in PhotoLab.
Nik Collection, well, is a modified product that found its way to DxO. The modules have been rewritten and reassembled with shared code that makes most modules dependent on that common code. You have to get it all, but you can always delete or ignore the parts that you’re not interested in, hmm.
Format support with the different standalone apps is a mixed bag, some apps support RAW, others don’t, but they all download the camera/lens modules…and one ends up with modules stored several times in different places. They are the same but not stored in a common location. Overall app concepts therefore feel grown instead of engineered. They have been for years, wasting downloads and drive space for the sake of a few dollars more in DxO’s pockets.
But again, the bundle of PL, FP and VP do it all (if your gear is supported) and you can a) skip one year’s paid upgrades and still get upgrade prices and b) forget the other products.
PureRAW + Nik can be a useful bundle for those who prefer fast food to home cooking, so to speak.
Advice:
