DXO Optics Pro 5.3

[willie45]

Hi

I downloaded this to play around with and have found it truly very helpful. It produces absolutely great images with a click of the mouse and leaves room for plenty of personal adjustments too. I have been able to process RAW files quickly and to my eyes much higher quality than with CS3. Maybe this just reflects my incompetence with photoshop but I am really really impressed with this software. I know it can't to all the stuff CS3 does but for 90% of the images I have tried, it works a treat.

I am not sure if anyone has commented on 5.3 on the forums but I would be interested to hear other views.

Willie

[bench_ubbster]

Hi Willie,
Without trying to sound like a fanboy I like it too. It didn't get too much use when I first got my 400D (which was my first dSLR) but since I upgraded to my 5D2 and the Elite version of DxO I find it so much quicker and it has revolutionised my workflow. I have PS Elements but that doesn't get used much at all now with DxO.

I did have a bit of trouble upgrading the modules, but a couple of emails to DxO soon sorted it out. I had to delete some ini files etc and all seems to be OK now and as I say, their customer care seems to be good too.

The only thing I would say is that it seems to take ages processing the files (from RAW to another format), but it could be my processor/HD and I've learnt to set it processing and go off and do something else.

[willie45]

Hi there.

No it's not very fast but the more I try it the more I like it. I downloaded the film pack and don't know what the difference is between Velvia 50 and Generic Velvia 100. I mean I know the ISO speed is different and the latter is very much more saturated but if someone could enlighten me as to what the names mean I would be most grateful


Anyway, I am still very impressed

Willie

[willie45]

This is an interesting link of noise comparisons and techniques for shooting at high ISOs

Willie

[Angela_Nicholson]

Hi

I use it quite a bit and find its automated corrections for things like distortion, vignetting and chromatic aberration excellent. I really like the batch processing controls as well.

Angela

[willie45]

Hi Angela,

I have been really really amazed by how easily it produces fantastic results. The CA correction is automatically better than I can achieve in ACR 4 and most times everything it does is better than I can do manually. If it does need a tweak here and there it is simple enough to do.

I decided to buy it plus the film pack which I have also enjoyed playing about with. They were doing a 25% discount for a little while and I just grabbed it. I saved about £75 on the usual price.

I was quite interested in hearing what they had to say in the link I posted above about using it to achieve very high ISO results. I will give it a go this weekend.

Willie

[PhilW]

I've had the demo and like it a lot.

But will never buy it.

They have really pissed me off with their marketing strategy. If you don't know they charge more if you happen to have a "pro" camera. This makes me furious, can you imagine if BP and Texaco decided that they'd double the price of fuel for BMW, Merc and Jag owners? Or perhaps for all HGV drivers as they are more "Pro" than car drivers.

Yes this is exactly what DXO do, it's such a blatant rip off i'll never buy a thing from them while it persits. I can just see the meeting to decide pricing they had.... hmm these people buy expensive cameras so lets screw them for more money than everyone else for our software.

b*stards, b*stards, b*stards!

Angela - if you ever have occasion to talk to the men from DXO I'd love to hear how they justify this..

[willie45]

Hi Phil

Don't forget that with other companies we have to pay the same price as those who make a living from their equipment and get tax breaks to purchase it.Maybe DXO reduced the price for those unable to do this and should be congratulated

I have to say that DxO's strategy annoys me a lot less than Adobe's way of getting us to pay a huge price for a few extra but very useful functions in Photoshop which they hold back from us in Elements, their renewal strategy if we want to use ACR for RAW conversion with newer cameras or their pricing of products in the UK compared to elsewhere.

Canon have a long history of crippling lower end cameras to protect their higher end sales. Microsoft with their layering of Vista versions annoys many. Apple's refusal to release a mid range computer with separate screen and tower to force customers to spend more on higher spec machines gets on the wick of some customers ....... the list goes on and on.

There is no advantage in growing an ulcer worrying about it. Each company has its own strategy for maximising profit.

Personally I was very happy to pay what I consider a fair price for such a superb piece of software. Even though I had to pay more as a 5D user, I regard it as being hugely better value than Adobe's products and would recommend to anyone for performance and bang for buck.

It's a pity that you liked it a lot but were put off by this pricing thing. I suppose we all have our pet hates but I would say your missing out.

I certainly won't be wasting any time worrying about being "ripped off" I'll just enjoy using a great product and one which I feel is also good value.


Willie

[PhilW]

Ah but with all the examples you mention they have differentited the products slightly. Adobe by leaving stuff out or Elements, the same with Canon for the low end cameras. So you the consumer has a choice. Should I buy this set of functionality for loads of money, or this sub set for less.

With DXO it's ecactly the same product, doing exactly the same thing, so the only choice is buy or don't. I didn't!

As for value for money at £86.09 this is a useful tool, at £173.04 for the "pro" version it's taking the pi$$ (IMO of course)

[Rhys]

I've had the demo and like it a lot.

But will never buy it.

They have really ****** me off with their marketing strategy. If you don't know they charge more if you happen to have a "pro" camera. This makes me furious..

Just had a look at their website and noticed my camera (Nikon D1x) isn't supported at all but find it strange to see the Nikon D2H can be used with the 'Standard' version of their software but the Nikon D2x is an 'Elite' version only even though they are both 'Pro' bodies..

can you imagine if BP and Texaco decided that they'd double the price of fuel for BMW, Merc and Jag owners? Or perhaps for all HGV drivers as they are more "Pro" than car drivers.

..don't give them ideas...

Yes this is exactly what DXO do, it's such a blatant rip off i'll never buy a thing from them while it persits. I can just see the meeting to decide pricing they had.... hmm these people buy expensive cameras so lets screw them for more money than everyone else for our software.

That's marketing for you..
I'm sticking with Capture One software, does what I want and supports my camera. Best thing was the 'lite' version came free with my old Sandisc Extreme III memory card and they upgraded it to version 4 for free.

[willie45]

Fair enough. The point I was trying to make was that there is quite a bit of " intelligent marketing" with the big companies everywhere. Personally I don't think DXO are any worse than the others but of course that is only my opinion.

I also have the Capture one version 4 ( originaly from Sandisk card too ! ) I agree that for free it was excellent value and Phase One really did a good thing by allowing upgrades of this to version 4.

Still all in all and putting questions of price aside, I prefer DXO

Willie

Willie