Samsung ST1000
Samsung WB5000
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT2
Olympus E-P2
Nikon D3S
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ7
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ38
Canon PowerShot SX20 IS
DxO Optics Pro 6 Review
Compare UK Prices
Support PhotographyBLOG!
Buy this product from one of our affiliate UK retailers:
Compare Prices
Support PhotographyBLOG!
Buy this product from one of our affiliate retailers:
Introduction
Hot on the heels of Phase One's release of Capture One Pro 5.0, DxO has released version 6 of DxO Optics Pro (currently for Windows only).
Like most mature products, version 6 builds on the base by improving existing features and adding some new functionality to the application.
Like Capture One, Adobe Lightroom, and Apple Aperture, DxO is a workflow oriented program with file browsing and image processing, ideally suited to the photographer shooting in RAW.
DxO Optics Pro 6 is available in two versions - the Standard edition is currently on sale for $109, while the Elite edition is on sale at $199 (through Dec. 31).
Which is the correct version for you depends on the equipment you use. Luckily, DxO has a tool on their website (http://www.dxo.com) to help you determine the correct package.
Figure 1
With DxO Optics Pro 6, you work in a project fashion. The main window has four different modes - Select, which works like a file browser to give you access to your images. In this mode, you'll select your images for processing and add them to your project.
Customize is where you'll do your actual image adjustments such as white balance and exposure correction, cropping, dust cleanup and more. Process is where your adjustments are actually applied to the images, individually, or in a batch mode. Finally, the View mode allows you to easily compare the before and after versions of your images.
Many people have a difficult time adapting to a RAW workflow, and here DxO Optics Pro 6 helps out with a step by step guide, and different user modes from wizard based, which shows the basic controls and steps you through the process, to the advanced mode with full access to everything the program has to offer.
The Wizard mode (Figure 2) tells you what steps are next, such as selecting your images for adjusting. All adjustments are on Auto in this mode, but you can override them if you like. In general, I found DxO Optics Pro 6 did a very good job of selecting appropriate settings in auto modes.
Figure 2
Once you've added your image or images to the project, you'll switch to the Customize module. Here is where the real strengths of DxO Optics Pro 6 shine. DxO takes a unique approach to processing, with modules for specific camera and lens combinations. When you add your image to a project, DxO Optics Pro 6 will check to see if you have the appropriate module installed, and offer to install it if not (Figure 3).
Figure 3
This method gives the application very specific information on how to correct for lens characteristics like pin cushioning and chromatic aberration to render the best possible image quality. Comparing the output to that from Lightroom and Capture One 5.0, I found that DxO Optics Pro 6 did a better job with severe chromatic aberration than either of the other applications. For less extreme cases, the difference is negligible in the testing I did.
Share, bookmark or email this article
Entry tags
DxO Optics Pro 6 Review, dxo, optics pro, 6, 6.0, elite, standard, review, RAW, software, processor
Samsung ST1000 Review
Samsung WB5000 Review
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT2 Review
Olympus E-P2 Review
Nikon D3S Review
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX1
Olympus E-600
Ricoh GXR
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FP8
Samsung ST550
#1 Josh
There is a tool where you can compare RAW files noise removal from DxO and other soft: http://alphacorner.eu/index.php/porady/wywolywanie-arw-rawow-a-szumy-porownanie - skip the text and use the tool. I was really impressed how well did the DxO go - far better than Lightroom.
4:53 pm - Tuesday, December 1, 2009
#2 Ben
There is a “tone curve” tool in the “light palette”!
Actually I am using the evaluation version but I guess this would obviously be available in the retail version!
8:53 pm - Tuesday, December 1, 2009
#3 Jon Canfield
Ben, you’re correct. I somehow managed to overlook this tool - pretty odd since I was actively trying to find it!
Jon
4:57 pm - Wednesday, December 2, 2009
#4 Jaxupra
I had version 5.4, and it worked OK on my old laptop, but version 6 is more resource-hungry. I’m deciding on a new PC to take advantage of it, but I love the earlier versions.
7:30 pm - Wednesday, December 2, 2009
#5 Disappointed
It’s a great application with some nasty virus-style “anti-piracy” protection. Just google dxo pace anti-piracy
My experience, after installing DxO I removed some folders (“PACE anti-piracy” and some randomly named ones) which I had no reason to think were related to DxO my Windows XP refused to boot. I was unable to repair it using Windows XP Setup CD. I bought a new hard drive and decided it’s a good time to upgrade to Windows 7.
After installing the system I installed DxO again. The PACE anti-piracy folder reappeared along with the randomly named ones. Start-up and shut-down times increased by over a minute (no other applications are installed). I haven’t looked at the Registry but I imagine it’s a mess. I’ll reinstall Windows and good-bye DxO.
Be warned.
2:18 am - Thursday, December 3, 2009
#6 Stve
reading Disappointed’s post reminded me of when DXO released version 5 it was pathetic more akin to a alpha release than the the finished product i did try it again when version 5.3 came out & was quite impressed.
5:12 am - Thursday, December 3, 2009
#7 Ray
I’m totally blown away with DXO. DXO saves me a ton of time by batch processing with stunning results. I shoot Nikon DX lenses and have the modules from DXO. I hate to say this, but DXO will do a better job on a photo right from the start then I will in other editors.
DXO takes out the noise, sharpens, corrects for lenses, and also brightens shadow areas. DXO really makes me look good.
I don’t have a lot of time to work on a photo much less hundreds and DXO does it for me.
I would rate it a 5 for value and function and a 4 for features.
Overall, a very good tool that works with 64 bit quad processors.
Ray
7:48 am - Tuesday, December 15, 2009
#8 Dixon
@ disappointed: The old anti-piracy scheme is gone since version 5.3. I use DxO on a Windows 7 notebook, and it doesn’t slow the boot time at all. If your machine is old, single-core, and anemic, that may be your issue, because DxO is full-featured software that requires a lot of resources. Having said that, DxO 6 also runs fine on my tiny HP dv2 notebook with Vista 64 and a single core processor, but it takes about a minute to process a photo on that machine.
My newer HP dv4 notebook with dual-core AMD processors and Windows 7 64 bit runs DxO much faster—I can process 3 to 4 images a minute on that machine.
I make my living as a photographer, and I’ve used DxO since version 4, because it is simply the best RAW converter/noise-reduction software out there, and the automation is a life-saver. DxO 6 is a magnitude better than any other similar software, and it runs fast and smoothly on any modern computer, other than a netbook.
9:35 pm - Thursday, December 17, 2009
#9 Ray
Dixon.
I totally agree. DxO runs great on quads and version 6 does a great job on images.
To others, I have a lot of memory on my notebook so it’s very fast. I would encourage anyone to try DxO as the trial is free and full featured.
I also have picked up the FilmPack product and it creates really unique images.
6:43 am - Friday, December 18, 2009
#10 Dixon
Ray, To my delight, found that DxO 6 runs great on the little machines. My notebook computers are both less than six months old, and one is a single-core, the other a double-core. DxO runs fine on both of them, but faster on the double-core because DxO is multi-threading.
A quad-core would, of course, be faster still. It’s just that I like very small form-factor computers, and I would have to go bigger than a 14” notebook to get a decent quad-core processor.
My point is, if you have a modern machine with lots of memory, it will do a fine job. Both of my notebooks have 4 gigs of memory and 7200 RPM hard drives. The dv2 is only a little bigger than a netbook (12”), but I still do better than one conversion a minute even on that machine.
7:12 am - Saturday, December 19, 2009