Lightroom vs Dxo Optics

I am a long time lightroom user and I m testing out Dxo Optics (now called photolab). It takes less time to load and edit raw files, and it has some interesting functions such as auto exposure with face detection. Since most of my photos contain people in them, this function is especially handy. I did some side by side comparison and the exported image is slighter sharper. I m not sure why? Anyway if anyone else is using, I would be interested to hear your experience, good and bad.

I switched from Lightroom 6 to DxO PhotoLab over a year ago for most of my post processing, as I refused to go the subscription route with Adobe. For the most part, I prefer DxO over LR for what I shoot -- which is mostly landscapes. The ClearView function makes pulling details out of skies easier.

The only downsides so far have been (1) no way to delete all photos that have been marked as rejected (I use that to quickly purge shots in LR), (2) adjustments (saturation & luminescence) for individual color channels does not seem to work quite as well, and (3) DxO has not added support yet for the Canon M50 mirrorless body I purchased last year, so I have been forced to convert the RAW files to DNG and then process those within Lightroom 6. Supposedly support for the M50 is coming in April.

Yes I don't like paying the adobe monthly subscription model and prefer to pay a one time fee instead. That's why I am looking for alternatives to adobe lightroom.

After playing with Dxo optics for a while, I notice that it won't import the dng file if it sees that it comes from an unsupported camera. This kind of defeats the purpose of converting to dng format.

kenwood33 wrote in post #18826265
After playing with Dxo optics for a while, I notice that it won't import the dng file if it sees that it comes from an unsupported camera. This kind of defeats the purpose of converting to dng format.

DxO's approach is a little different, as they adjust for camera body & lens combos as part of the process. So, I wasn't surprised that the application didn't support the converted DNG files of my M50's RAW files. Probably my biggest gripe with DxO is that it takes them too long to add new cameras, as the M50 has been out for over a year. I think that body was one of the first to use Canon's new CR3 RAW format, which may have contributed to the delay, though. Hopefully the April date listed on their website for this body is accurate, as it's been cumbersome using two different applications for my post processing -- PhotoLab for my 5D3 and 7D2, and Lightroom 6 for the M50.

I find DxO's conversion quality of CR2 raw files almost as high as Canon DPP's.

I shoot Fuji so cannot use Dx0 (unless!). I have found if I convert to Tiff I can use pretty much anything I want. I like Dx0 for how it handles my landscape shots. With Dx0 I find my final result usually looks a lot more realistic when I'm finished.

I no longer use Lightroom. I starting using DXO PhotoLab Elite in November 2017. It quickly became my editor of choice. No imports necessary, which I love. I find it easier to use, and modifying an image takes far less time with much better results. Make sure you get the Elite rather than Essential version. The Elite version contains ClearView Plus and PRIME noise reduction, two features I would not want to be without. It also allows for personal interface configurations. I also strongly recommend adding Viewpoint for perspective adjustments. Additionally, I have FilmPack 5 Elite which has a number useful tools and features beyond its many film emulations.

Scott M wrote in post #18826185
I switched from Lightroom 6 to DxO PhotoLab over a year ago for most of my post processing, as I refused to go the subscription route with Adobe. For the most part, I prefer DxO over LR for what I shoot -- which is mostly landscapes. The ClearView function makes pulling details out of skies easier.

The only downsides so far have been (1) no way to delete all photos that have been marked as rejected (I use that to quickly purge shots in LR), (2) adjustments (saturation & luminescence) for individual color channels does not seem to work quite as well, and (3) DxO has not added support yet for the Canon M50 mirrorless body I purchased last year, so I have been forced to convert the RAW files to DNG and then process those within Lightroom 6. Supposedly support for the M50 is coming in April.

Support for the M50 was included in release 2.2 which became available last week.

I'm using DxO software from version 9; or it was DxO Optics Pro 8? Can't remember.
Anyhow; at the moment I'm using DxO Photolab 2 Elite, Lightroom standalone edition 2018 and Capture One Pro 12.

Let me start with Capture One. I started with version 8 and did all I could up to version 12 to like it but I don't like it (sorry) so I don't use it.

DxO Photolab….I must say I like this software very much. It's very easy to use and gives me very good results. Nice skin colors. Lots of details. Smart Lighting makes wonders. I also like ClearView and Prime noise removal is the best out there. Local adjustment is also very good. I only wish I could move those sliders because sometimes they get in a way.
Let's say I'm using it for 95% of my photos.
But there are some things I don't like and I'm hoping they will fix them in the next release:
1_Selective Tone Adjustments
Those sliders interact way too much. The most anoying is Highlights slider – it doesn't affects just highlights but also mid tones. Very annoying. The same goes for Shadows slider. It also affects mid tones.
Also; if I have a photo which needs more drastic highlights recovery I do it in Lightroom because I can't recover as much highlights in DxO as I can in Lightroom or in Capture One.
I hope they will copy those excelent Lightroom sliders one day.
2_HSL sliders for color adjustment
They are there and they somehow work for basic color adjustments but they don't come even close to Lightroom HSL tool.
3_White balance tool
Doesn't work as good as in Lightroom.
4_Curves
I wish for Luma curves option as in Capture One – to adjust curves without affecting colors.
5_Sliders in general
When you move a slider in Lightroom things changes smooth and gradually but when you move a slider in DxO – for a very small movement you get way too much adjustment. For example; if I only touch White balance slider in DxO my photo goes all yellow or blue so most of the time I use those small arrows at the right side of sliders but this is annoying as hell.
So DxO; fix those sliders. How hard it is to do that? A few rows in the program.

mwsilver wrote in post #18826942
Support for the M50 was included in release 2.2 which became available last week.

Thanks for the information. I had not run PhotoLab for a few weeks, and the last time I checked the website indicated this would be available in April. I am installing the update as I type this.

Scott M wrote in post #18827534
Thanks for the information. I had not run PhotoLab for a few weeks, and the last time I checked the website indicated this would be available in April. I am installing the update as I type this.

I don't have that camera but the release notes indicate its now supported so I hope that's the case.

mwsilver wrote in post #18827573
I don't have that camera but the release notes indicate its now supported so I hope that's the case.

Support is there, but PL is doing some strange things to some of my Canon CR3 files from a recent trip to the Florida Keys. About 10% of the photos are way off upon importing the files. It does the same thing with the DNG files I created to import into Lightroom 6. I may have to contact DxO support on this one.

Here is a jpeg of one of the incorrect files, with no post processing added in PhotoLab. The 2nd photo is a jpeg of the processed file within Lightroom 6 (not much was done in LR on the file).

Scott M wrote in post #18827620
Support is there, but PL is doing some strange things to some of my Canon CR3 files from a recent trip to the Florida Keys. About 10% of the photos are way off upon importing the files. It does the same thing with the DNG files I created to import into Lightroom 6. I may have to contact DxO support on this one.

Here is a jpeg of one of the incorrect files, with no post processing added in PhotoLab. The 2nd photo is a jpeg of the processed file within Lightroom 6 (not much was done in LR on the file).

What percentage of m50 raw files are processed incorrectly? Have you notice a pattern (ie. certain light situation, lens combination etc..)? Will interested to hear your experience with the Dxo support team as well.

kenwood33 wrote in post #18827636
What percentage of m50 raw files are processed incorrectly? Have you notice a pattern (ie. certain light situation, lens combination etc..)? Will interested to hear your experience with the Dxo support team as well.

It was about 10% of the files I imported from our Florida trip. So far I have noticed at least two different lenses -- the EF-M 11-22mm and EF-M 22mm f/2 pancake -- in the batch, but there are other photos with those lenses that were fine. The lighting is all over the place in the different affected shots -- indoor, outdoor at sunset, outdoor during the day. I turned off every bit of processing within PhotoLab, and it didn't make any difference. It looks like some sort of software bug in handling this camera. It happens with both the CR3 and DNG files.

I opened a support ticket and uploaded the jpeg files from my post above. I couldn't upload the CR3 or DNG files, as they appear to be too large. Hopefully they have another mechanism for me to send them the raw files. Their support team has responded quickly in the past, so hopefully I will hear from them soon.

Scott M wrote in post #18827620
Support is there, but PL is doing some strange things to some of my Canon CR3 files from a recent trip to the Florida Keys. About 10% of the photos are way off upon importing the files. It does the same thing with the DNG files I created to import into Lightroom 6. I may have to contact DxO support on this one.

Here is a jpeg of one of the incorrect files, with no post processing added in PhotoLab. The 2nd photo is a jpeg of the processed file within Lightroom 6 (not much was done in LR on the file).

Hmm. That's very problematic. If you have not yet posted anything, here's the link to Photolab's user site.

https://feedback.dxo.c​om/?mobile_view=0

Become a member then you can post a question and upload an image. They are usually fairly responsive to issues like this.