DxoPhotolab 5. New life for old cameras?

[Ccoppola82]

I’ve been going through some Fuji files in Lightroom lately and just don’t like the way LR handles RAF files. Nothing new here but something I’ve never taken time to fully rectify. I decided to look into a way to maximize the files and wanted something I could integrate into LR for cataloging or use as a standalone raw editor. DxoPhotolab 5 ticked the boxes. One time purchase (I grabbed the film pack and distortion program too). It handles Fuji files very well (sharper and no worms) but as a bonus, it has probably the best de-noising software I’ve ever used. Cleans the noise without the typical "waxy" soft look. It got me thinking. Since one of the main improvements in new cameras is ISO performance, does software improvement neutralize that somewhat or even completely? I tested a 5d classic shot at 1600, cropped it heavily. It SHOULD have been a total mess….but it wasn’t. It was actually a really nice file. I’ll have to play with this more, but first impressions are excellent. Also, the film pack is pretty damn cool and fun as well. Anyone shooting Fuji or older cameras should definitely give the free trial at least a good look.

 

[luuca]

if it had a library like LR I would try it, but I think it's just an editing software, am I right?

 

[Ccoppola82]

I’m still messing with it. From what I’ve done you can use it as a library, though not as good as LR with its catalog functions. But, it works seamlessly back and forth from LR. For example, you could start in LR, use the DxoPhotolab plugin…then either do a full edit, or a simply use DxoPhotolab to demosaic, sharpen (Each lens/body combo has its own module that downloads to optimize sharpness for the combo) and NR then return back to LR as a DNG to finish up in LR. I haven’t decided yet what my workflow will be. I spent a lot of time in the editing software today and so far I’m really impressed with the results and may do most of my editing in it from now on. The film packs are really fun too and they have a sort of novelty "time machine" with photo history and the film stocks through the ages along with info about each stock. So far I find them better than RNI from Lightroom and more adjustable. Something to note, it does not process files from a Leica monochrome or MRaw or SRaw. Not sure why, but they don’t

 

[luuca]

thanks for the info, I will give it a try