ON1 Photo RAW, best alternative to Lightroom and Photoshop?

On1 Photo RAW, the perfect solution for all my needs in terms of photo editing as well as photo and video management.
A better solution and a much cheaper alternative to Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop
https://youtu.be/z_-yvnhGpRE

Can you add a part to the video, what it's like in the RAW editor with just say, 50 images in RAW format and what it's like to quickly preview them and make small slider changes with preview on and how to export them? Would love to see if the latest version can do this without being slow, chugging, etc, like every version prior has been.

Very best,

You can download a trial. I did, because I am always curious to see how On1 will evolve - it is still a clunky interface that is not amenable to a quick workflow. I will say the long lag between switching from the viewer to the raw editor has gotten faster. I think it is an application that tries to do so much it gets in its own way. The raw conversions are still mediocre, but improved compared to the previous version I tested.

Unless the software design fundamentally changes, it will probably not be something I would ever use. If you like a ton of options and a lot of bells and whistles, and you want all of that in a single application, then it may appeal to you. On1 are a collector of features from all of the other software out there - they essentially copy those features and put them all in one vast application.

Kirk

kirkt wrote in post #19301187
You can download a trial. I did, because I am always curious to see how On1 will evolve - it is still a clunky interface that is not amenable to a quick workflow. I will say the long lag between switching from the viewer to the raw editor has gotten faster. I think it is an application that tries to do so much it gets in its own way. The raw conversions are still mediocre, but improved compared to the previous version I tested.

Unless the software design fundamentally changes, it will probably not be something I would ever use. If you like a ton of options and a lot of bells and whistles, and you want all of that in a single application, then it may appeal to you. On1 are a collector of features from all of the other software out there - they essentially copy those features and put them all in one vast application.

Kirk

Thanks; yea I won't bother. I have used it from 2018 to 2020 versions. It's just clunky and slow. Hard to recommend as a full time suite for someone who deals with multiple images at a time. I can see it working fine for someone who is dealing with one image or whatever. Otherwise, it's just slow. I still deal with it because I bought it and it works for my Fuji RAW files. But I don't do any editing in it really. it's just too slow. And my PC is modern (Ryzen 3700X, 32Gb DDR4, SSD). The code is just not efficient.

That said, I've yet to find something significantly better that isn't a couple hundred bucks. And I won't pay some subscription to Adobe ever. I dropped Adobe years ago.

Very best,

ON1 calls their noise reduction program the best, and the gold standard. Any truth to this, or just marketing hype?

Perfectly Frank wrote in post #19301501
ON1 calls their noise reduction program the best, and the gold standard. Any truth to this, or just marketing hype?

Hype. On1 is all hype.

Look for comparative study with examples.

Topaz is more likely to be able to make such a claim for a long time. Maybe not the best today, but still a gold standard in terms of them earning that claim with valid results.

Very best,

Thanks, I kind of thought so.

kirkt wrote in post #19301187
You can download a trial. I did, because I am always curious to see how On1 will evolve - it is still a clunky interface that is not amenable to a quick workflow. I will say the long lag between switching from the viewer to the raw editor has gotten faster. I think it is an application that tries to do so much it gets in its own way. The raw conversions are still mediocre, but improved compared to the previous version I tested.

Unless the software design fundamentally changes, it will probably not be something I would ever use. If you like a ton of options and a lot of bells and whistles, and you want all of that in a single application, then it may appeal to you. On1 are a collector of features from all of the other software out there - they essentially copy those features and put them all in one vast application.

Kirk

Completely agree on all counts. I have a license for the latest version and was pleased that performance has improved but it is still mediocre. The raw conversions have also improved, so that now they are a little less mediocre than before.

There is way too much feature bloat. There are too many filters that are basically just task-specific versions of the basic tools and therefore can easily be over applied. How many different sharpening, contrast, and structure sliders do you actually need to have in one application? There is even a separate sharpening filter although sharpening is included as a basic tool.

In my opinion, as an license holder for this software and several other raw processors, ON1 Photo Raw 2022 is still best suited for new raw development users who do not have the time or interest in learning how to get the best from their images with the smaller tool set of the state of the art raw processors. It also tries too hard but does not succeed as a replacement for the best pixel editors for those features better served by those editors. Lastly, and unfortunately, the output is simply not in the same league as programs like Capture One, Lightroom, PhotoLab, and others.

Perfectly Frank wrote in post #19301501
ON1 calls their noise reduction program the best, and the gold standard. Any truth to this, or just marketing hype?

It is just hype. One only needs to compare the output of the NoNoise feature to DXO Photolab's DeepPRIME to realize that NoNoise is certainly not the best noise reduction available. Nonoise is very competent, and may compete well with Topaz Denoise, but it is not in the same league as DeepPRIME.

Just so you understand that I'm not being a DXO fanboy, I own licenses to DXO PhotoLab Elite 5, Topaz Denoise 3, and ON1 Photo Raw 2022 and spent hours comparing the output of all three noise reduction features.

MalVeauX wrote in post #19301484
Thanks; yea I won't bother. I have used it from 2018 to 2020 versions. It's just clunky and slow. Hard to recommend as a full time suite for someone who deals with multiple images at a time. I can see it working fine for someone who is dealing with one image or whatever. Otherwise, it's just slow. I still deal with it because I bought it and it works for my Fuji RAW files. But I don't do any editing in it really. it's just too slow. And my PC is modern (Ryzen 3700X, 32Gb DDR4, SSD). The code is just not efficient.

That said, I've yet to find something significantly better that isn't a couple hundred bucks. And I won't pay some subscription to Adobe ever. I dropped Adobe years ago.

Very best,

Are you aware that DXO PhotoLab 5 now supports Fuji X-Trans raf files?

mwsilver wrote in post #19302360
Are you aware that DXO PhotoLab 5 now supports Fuji X-Trans raf files?

I am not! But now am! Thanks! Will look into this.

Very best,

MalVeauX wrote in post #19302364
I am not! But now am! Thanks! Will look into this.

Very best,

Although xtrans functionality was released in Photolab 5, DXO still considers it to be a beta feature while they wait for additional constructive feedback from Fuji users. While beta testers tested the functionality for 8 months, only a few of the testers were Fuji shooters. I don't shoot Fuji, so in order to test the functionality I downloaded over a hundred x-tran raf files for about 15 different Fuji camera bodies.

If you trial the software, any useful feedback regarding x-tran processing, positive or negative, would be welcome and I will pass it on to the developers.

A couple of Photolab features don't work with X-Tran files yet. As an example, while DeepPrime NR works, PRIME NR is not currently available for raf files. However, the X-Trans functionality is quite stable and I believe you will be generally pleased with the results.

MalVeauX wrote in post #19302364
I am not! But now am! Thanks! Will look into this.

Very best,

It doesn't support the X100S if you still have that camera.

Dave3222 wrote in post #19302415
It doesn't support the X100S if you still have that camera.

Well poop. I use my X100S the most!

Very best,

MalVeauX wrote in post #19302445
Well poop. I use my X100S the most!

Very best,

DXO will still be adding additional x-tran cameras over time. I believe their initial focus was on more current models. If, or when, they add the X100S I will let you know, I believe there will be an update release of PhotoLab 5 in December. We'll have to wait and see what new camera support is provided in that release.