Customer Reviews

Optics Pro Elite v5.2 Software

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm using DxO Optics Pro Elite to process output (RAW and jpg) from my Canon 5D MkII with Canon EF 24-105 f4L IS lens, a Canon EF 70-200 f4L IS lens and a Canon G9 point and shoot. The 24-105 lens seemed a little soft to me and I'd actually gotten permission from Canon to send it back for adjustment; however, after I reprocessed about 2,000 images (mostly jpg) I was stunned by the improvement in sharpness, dynamic range and noise reduction at higher ISOs, like ISO 3200. It looked like I was now using an exceptional prime lens at every focal length and aperture.

The G9 doesn't give DxO as much to work with as the 5D MkII; however, the improvement in sharpness was clear to see in the 400 or so shots that I've reprocessed so far.

Ease of use is excellent, taking about 30-seconds per image, but easily done in batch mode with no need to sit by the computer as it processes a couple of hundred images in a batch. I've already found myself taking pictures that I would have avoided in the past. For example, I took some sunsets last Saturday with a couple of tall buildings in the lower left and right corners with the zoom out at 24mm. Of course, those buildings tilted in seriously in the original images, but when I "Prepared" the images for DxO batch processing I merely indicated two edges that should be parallel and specified automatic cropping, then processed a large batch. Those images of with the buildings came out looking like I'd used a tilting lens. Blown up 500% I see no degradation down in those corners. I probably only spent an extra thirty seconds Preparing each of those images. Oh, if you get a horizon off slightly, just draw a horizon line across the picture, using the Horizon tool and DxO adjusts everything seamlessly.

The work flow allows you to put your processed images into a sub-folder automatically so that it's easy to do your work flow in a working folder, then Cut and Paste the resulting jpgs (or whatever format you chose) to a final Folder. Hence, I reprocessed 2000 images from a recent trip in about five minutes of desk time, consisting of a minute or two to select the batch, define the output path and then come back after processing to move the output jpgs from the working file and replace the old jpgs that weren't as sharp. Everything is very intuitive. I used Photoshop Elements to further process a handful of images that needed more tweaking (light poles sticking out of someones head, add saturation, etc.)

DxO's ability to increase dynamic range saved several images automatically by bringing out details within shadow areas automatically.

It ain't cheap, but as someone that spent $[...]-plus on camera and lenses, it seems like an incredible bargain. To get equal performance, I'd have to carry around a big bag of the most expensive prime lenses and change every other shot.

Dave

DxO has done an excellent job on the algorithms designed to correct lens distortions, softness, vignetting, and chromatic aberrations. I have found no other piece of software which can match the optical correction capabilities of this program, and for that reason I really wanted this software to become a primary part of my workflow. Alas, the program's feature capabilities are fatally crippled in my opinion by a number of serious flaws, and the software has mostly gathered dust over the last two years that I've owned it.

First, DxO Optics Pro can not extract focus distance from the EXIF information for certain cameras (I believe it is most or all Canon cameras - I have this problem with files from my Canon 5D, problems have been reported for other models and brands as well). Without this critical piece of data, you must manually select a focus distance for each image in order for the optics corrections to work. Consequently, automatic batch processing of images is effectively impossible. The focus distance is there - other applications can show it. So it seems DxO just needs to put in the effort to fix this bug in their software. I have contacted DxO tech support about this, but they are apparently not willing to put effort into fixing this problem. Ignoring such basic functionality indicates to me their lack of commitment to customer service.

Second, I have to agree with other reviewers that the color rendering is not as good as other programs, and the remaining image sorting / browsing and adjustment tools are no match for Aperture or Lightroom. I would strongly prefer if DxO were simply a plugin for Aperture, and did nothing except the lens corrections. As it stands, the software does not integrate into my Aperture-centric workflow at all, and I find myself not wanting to go through the pain of using it except for those images which badly need optics corrections. DxO has taken great core functionality and wrapped it in a cumbersome package which is difficult to integrate into conventional work flows. They do make a Lightroom plugin, which is a good start in this direction, and I hope they'll do the same for Aperture.

Installation is a big hassle, requiring a huge and slow download every time. There doesn't seem to be a way to download the full installer just once, and just install from that image afterwards - it wants to connect to the server every time, which is a big pain if you don't have very fast internet access. It also means that if the company goes broke and their servers are no longer online, you'll never be able to install the software again.

Finally, DxO is not supporting OSX 10.6 for this revision - major functionality is broken, and DxO has stated they will not be releasing a patch. Here again, I feel the company is not standing by it's product by supporting customers who spent enough money on the software to justify what ought to be first-class software and service. Given the price tag, DxO Optics Pro falls far short of that mark. After only two years I feel my investment in this software has been largely wasted, so I will not be buying DxO again until they take major steps to remedy these shortcomings.

I use DxO Optics Pro Elite v5.3.6 to suppress noise in images from my Sony A900 camera. It works well for ISO 3200 and below, much better in fact than Noise Ninja because Optics Pro attacks noise in RAW images at the de-mosaicing stage instead of after the image has been converted to RGB. Without DxO Optics Pro Elite, the reasonably noise-free ISO of my Sony A900 camera is ISO 800 and below, so this software effectively extends the usable ISO of my camera upwards by two stops.

Note that DxO Optics Pro Elite is able to suppress noise for only supported camera bodies because it does need to understand the RAW image format. Also, for supported lenses, DxO Optics Pro Elite can also perform corrections for vignetting, chromatic aberration, etc.

DxO Optics Pro Elite functions as a plug-in to Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom, and in stand-alone mode. A particular advantage of stand-alone mode is that when image processing has completed, the result may be stored as an Adobe Digital Negative (DNG) file. In contrast, for plug-in mode the result may be stored either as an Adobe Photoshop (PSD) or a TIFF file, either of which requires about twice the disk space of the DNG file.

Update: Adobe Lightroom 3 also suppresses noise a the level of the RAW images, and supports more camera bodies than does DxO Optics Pro Elite

As mentioned in other reviews, this software is spectacular for converting RAW images.

I use this software with a Nikon D700 and the ability to generate noise-free and optically corrected photos is simply amazing. Even though DxO is superb with just the camera, it really shines with lenses that are specifically supported in the DxO database. Say goodbye to manually correcting lens pincushion or barrel errors.

This software is now a critical component in my workflow and the money spent pales in comparison to the result. It really is like getting a 'free' camera/lens upgrade.

My review relates to v5.3.3 Standard edition, but the same considerations should pertain to the Elite version. The great strength of DxO Optics Pro is its ability to produce unbelievably detailed, clean and sharp images. It feels as though my camera has somehow acquired an additional 5 megapixels. All the flaws of my lens (vignetting, softness, chromatic aberration and distortion) are automatically eliminated. My main RAW convertor until now has been Lightroom/ACR, but it cannot approach DxO in this basic function of converting RAW data into a coherent image. It really isn't close

The weakness of DxO is its color rendering, which I find to be too yellow and too strong in many instances. This creates a dilemma for the user--how to get the superb detail of DxO yet avoid the funky colors. Fortunately, there is a relatively simple solution: Process the RAW files in DxO Optics Pro with all color correction panels turned off and then export the files as DNGs that can be imported into Lightroom or Bridge for further editing. This gives you the best of both worlds in terms of detail and color.

Yes, this does mean adding a step to your workflow, but it is well worth it. I truly believe that if more people took the time to test and learn how to use DxO Optics Pro, they would make the switch in a beartbeat.

This review is actually for version 6 which came out last month.

What DXO Optics Pro v6 does well is correct image flaws from select cameras, lenses, and file formats very well. This software will take an image of a book case looking like a mis-shaped trapezoid pasted on a balloon back into a rectangular book case. It will take an image of a building or a room look like it was taken with a $2,000 tilt shift lens. The engineering and mathematics behind this software is extraordinary.

There are severe limitations.

This software does not support jpeg files at all well. It might complete several files in batch mode before it crashes. Even processing one file at a time it will crash. This probably is not a big loss. Only wedding photographers, sports photographers, and amateurs shoot jpeg files. Serious photographers who care about architectural proportions would invest $200 for this software. These photographers will likely be shooting raw. DXO should either drop JPEG support or fix it.

Delightfully it will export processed image in DNG raw format. It will also export jpeg (with frequent crashes) and tif (untested). DNG is the preferred format for further post processing.

Interestingly, DXO does not support reading DNG files created from other Adobe products. I converted my raw files into DNG files for several months. I am glad I stopped converting raw files.

DXO does not support all RAW file formats from a particular camera. The 5D mark ii shoots awesome 22 mb RAW files. These huge files are over kill for many events. It would be nice if DXO supported SR1 and SR2.