Comments on: DXO Optics Pro 5.3 – Is It Worth The Price?

By: haris

haris — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 08:37:14 +0000

@Scott Glover : Can you tell me what settings (preset) you use for later HDR? e.g. do you disable color ,light …etc

By: Scott Glover

Scott Glover — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 19:29:46 +0000

I use DxO Optics Pro 5.3 with my Nikon D300 and Nikkor 12-24 and 18-200 and I would be lost without the software. It takes about 70 seconds per photo to fix distortion, etc. I shoot 9 shot HDR’s so it takes some time to correct all of them, but DxO is worth every penny.

It’s that good!!!

By: Rich

Rich — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:40:27 +0000

If any of you are interested–DXO Now on Sale:

US$ pricing

Special Holiday season price

DxO Optics Pro v5.3 Standard $ 109
DxO Optics Pro v5.3 Elite $ 199

Of course they recently had raised the prices, but this discount is still about 25% lower than the prices earlier this year.

By: Daniel Milstein

Daniel Milstein — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 04:06:42 +0000

Great overview, Larry.
I look at the price of the standard version as a discount off the full price of this pro tool. DxO OP Elite covers the most commonly used pro bodies and lenses. All? Not even close. With that in mind, I’m really only a DxO junkie because most of what I have is mainstream pro gear.

I can shoot with two different bodies, a collection of lenses, and them dump the entire lot into DxO OPE. With the new presets in 5.3, I can concentrate on crops and the lighting “Magic” that makes the app so useful. I never have to think about correcting for things such as barrel/pincushion distortion or CA. Vignetting is simply gone (yeah, I push the lenses way past their sweet spots) and I get the precise color and sharpness I want. More often than not, all I correct is a vert or two (from careless shooting), the fine lighting details, and the crop.

Output presets (my own) are convenient, and leave me with exactly what I need for final delivery to clients. I now pull out PS only when I know I have spot issues that take close attention.

For PFRE, the ability to get so much work done without ever telling the software so much as what camera I use is wonderful!

By: Jerry

Jerry — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:53:25 +0000

I forgot to mention, one of the great things DxO will do is turn my 15mm Canon Fisheye lens, when using on the 5D, into about a 150 degree rectilinear panoramic lens. I may try that on the next house I shoot. It’s really wild!

By: Dave Edwards

Dave Edwards — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 04:25:30 +0000

I’ve had versions 4 and 5 for sometime now, and also like it for
the lighting enhancement features. I’ve got a mac, and haven’t
had too many bugs, but I have had to re-install lens and camera
modules that somehow got “lost”.

My big problem: I cannot get either version to correct lens distortion in a vertical format shot. Anyone else encounter that? Both my D80 and D300 save vertical format in either “camera RGB format” or “Nikon D300 profile” instead of Adobe RGB or sRGB. And this seems to prevent DxO from working properly, which is obviously quite aggravating.

By: larry

larry — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 04:22:55 +0000

Wow, these are great insights that everyone is providing! The endorsements seem to be quite similar to gut feel from my limited experience with it suggested. Some very strong points and some definite downsides. All your experiences will be a big help to others trying to make up their minds.

By: Phil Scott

Phil Scott — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 23:50:23 +0000

Funny you posted this just now Larry. I finally dared to upgrade my version of DxO Elite on my main machine today, a 32 bit Vista machine. I say dared because it’s my production system and I am VERY leary of DxO’s releases.
Let me just pause, and for those of you over 40 or who are scifi buffs, and say “Danger Will Robinson!” ….xO is not for the faint of heart or at least hasnb’t been.
The last time I upgraded to DxO 5.1 on my laptop, a Dell Vista 32-bit Business machine with 3GB RAM and all Windows Update patches applied [except for SP1 which Dell was asking users to hold off on and it would be pushed when drivers were ready], DxO’s upgrade installer set off a chain of events that caused me to have to rebuild the whole PC from OS up! It basically ALWAYS reinstalls the Microsoft .NET latest, even if you already have it installed- it reinstalls it! In my case, it also kicked off the Vista SP1 upgrade which, if you recall, first deletes all System Restore points so I had nowhere to roll back to.
When one does have a problem, you can post on their forum and sometimes get a reply, but there is no calling DxO or emailing their tech support and getting a timely reply.
I did reinstall it later on a clean machine and the subsequent updates to 5.2 now 5.3 and 5.3 latest have not damaged the machine, but it still often [re][un][re]installs unspecified MS dependencies. There is a legacy of their using .NET to enforce their anti-piracy framework which they abandoned because people protested the silent install and inability to remove it even after a trial. [Refer to Martin Bailey's excellent Podcast for an episode that covered that about a year ago].
OK, phew, got that off my chest- the good news is that the Lighting features, the Geometry and Distortion features and the presets and control you get are fantastic when they are working right. I didn’t dare to put it back on that laptop and my main PC just for thrills, it is really good sw for some things and hey, they already had my $299US which got me DxO Pro Elite and their Film Pak at the time.
+IF+ your camera body +AND+ lens are supported, the distortion and CA control are very good. But, as I downloaded all the modules I needed from my unlimited license, I kept noting “Darned, the Nikkor ABC lens is supported on the D200 I used to have but not on the D700!” “Darn, the D300 is supported but not with the Sigma XYZ lens!”
It’s a niche product and I would not give up LR 2.1, PSCS3. PTLens not Capture NX2 to have it. But when you get it working it is really pretty cool. My favorite app is the Keystoning tool for fixing converging verticals….even with an unsupported lens/body combo, you can draw two lines on the verticals and have them snap to being correct.
Anyway, my 999 cents.
Keep up the great blog and Flickr! community. You the man Larry.
Phil

By: Jerry

Jerry — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 23:29:07 +0000

Rich, actually, DxO did have public beta testing on V3 and V4. Also, the DYNAMIC RANGE adjustment is the main reason I bought the program starting with V1 back in 2004. I had trouble with V5 too, it seemed to crash or lookup my computer too much and with no support for the A300, I decided not to upgrade to it.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 23:15:39 +0000

I’ve used DxO since version 1. I like the auto lens correction it can do but beginning with V3, its interface is a pain to use. For me, Lightroom is a pain too.

I have the Pro version because of my 5D, which I very seldom use now. I see no reason to buy the upgrade to DxO Pro V5 because there is no support for Sony DSLR A300 which I now use for 99% of my photography. Even for the 5D the lens selection is limited and makes the program of little use for me.