Which version do I need

[mwsilvers (Mark - New Jersey, USA)]

@Ray56

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.

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