Reading mode: Light Dark

DXO - fool me twice?

Go to last post
Bobo Hodls

Bobo Hodls

Forum Pro
Messages
40,494
Solutions
49
Reaction score
18,813
Location
Bovina, NY, US
Does anyone use DXO with satisfaction?

I bought into the premium (Platinum?) package at v3.5, and wend through v4, only to toss it aside, being it didn't fit well into a RAW to PS workflow, and the updating/copy protection scheme was maddeningly frustrating.

So, I 3 times unsubscribe to the DXO newsletter. Yet I see one here now, "NEW DxO Optics Pro v5.2: breathtaking RAW converter & additional camera support".

I click the link to the free demo, the more info link, the plugin link, and I get a bad URL return on each.

WTF? Yet, the plug-in feature beckons more scrutiny. I don't know. . .

--
...Bob, NYC

Galleries: http://www.pbase.com/btullis

 
I am afraid I made bad investments with DxO - but then, I made a lot of bad investments, stuff I hardly ever use, software that does not work ...

At the moment, my andromeda software (screens, etchtone etc. bundle) requires - by whatever reason - a new activation, however, with the delivered serial number, activation does not work. I sent them an email asking for help, they did not reply.

I lost my lucis art bill. I need to activate it. I asked them for help, they did not answer.

There are plugins I did not reinstall after upgrading photoshop because they were not useful.

My image doctor software is unable to handle 5 D-files, about 45 MP, on my reasonably modern dual core 2 GB notebook.
I wish I were no plugin addict.

I bought a large format camera, a Cambo - I have practically not used it by today.
I bought myself a nice 250mm lens for my Mamiya C 330. I have not used it yet.
I could fill pages with this sort of stories.
 
DXO has done a poor job overall with this upgrade from v.4 to v.5. Their site was down for a good part of today.

On the other hand, with version 5.2 they finally seem to have gotten things right. I use DXO with my 5D with fantastic results. Here is an example from St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland from this summer, taken at ISO 800. The lighting effects and geometry correction made this photo much more balanced and very noise free without much work.



Here is another example at ISO 1000:



The white balance, noise, sharpness, and lens corrections all work well. It isn't the swiftest program, but I do think it is worth a look, particularly now that they've gotten a lot of the bugs out.

More examples (and larger versions) can be found in the various galleries linked below. Almost all of the Travel galleries photos were run through DXO.

--
http://kplphoto.smugmug.com/Travel
 
I was always satisfied with the results I obtained with DxO. Unfortunately, often I would not obtain any result at all, due to activation issues, or the software just wouldn't work at all or freeze.

Also, it is not user friendly, as, for example, I always have to scroll to find the menu item I want. Or I may not be able to resize the image on screen without quitting the program. The same happens when straightening a picture. Or I do not find the result.
 
It also doesn't support 64b Windows. It doesn't even install. I mean, come on. Every CPU supports 64b these days and working with large image files requires large amounts of memory, unless you enjoy waiting on a computer swapping memory to disk.
--
Gijs from The Netherlands

Canon 5D, 30D
EF 17-40/f4 L, EF 24-105/f4 L IS

Got the equipment, still looking for talent. Please contact me if you find some cheap.
 
I find the program VERY confusing to learn and to use. It is very frustrating waiting for the time it takes to convert a RAW image to a TIFF.
 
I've tried DXO before, but wasn't convinced that it was superior to Photoshop. The lens distortion correction requires that the lens report the focusing distance, which Canon lenses don't provide. They keep sending me emails, inviting me to try the latest-and-greatest version, so I downloaded and installed 5.2. This was against my better judgement, because I remember reading that the previous version installed some sort of anti-piracy software that can interfere with other programs.

Guess what? It doesn't work. I get a message that the trial period has expired. I sent them an email, but got no response.

I hope I'm able to uninstall it without a lot of junk being left behind.

Bob
 
I also had high hopes for DXO and found its results OK, but not worth the hassle or time. Plus all the delays just weren't worth it-unfortunately this was after plopping down the $.

I don't understand your comments regarding the MacPro. What kind of problems are you having. I use mine with Bootcamp, Parallels and Leopard and have not had one problem, excepting my original setup on Parallels which now I just use for Quicken and personal finances.

I am curious what Adobe products you are having a hard time with that is crashing. I have not found that to be the case.

In the end I wound up using Aperture with Viveza plugin. I find this combo, if I have the time, the best of them all, although still some compromises. DPP, IMO, yields the best results in the least time.
 
Vveza was one of my good investments. It works very well. It makes postprocessing a breeze. I use it with Photoshop.
 
Bob Tullis said:
Does anyone use DXO with satisfaction?
Click to expand...
I use DxO v4.51 with 5D and 1Dmk3 images. I run practically everything through DxO, except multi-shot-HDR and multi-shot-focus stacks.

DxO v4.51 is very good with these cameras. It does not support 1Dsmk3 or EOS 450.

The present version oF DxO is v5.2, and I´m sorry to say that from what I´ve gathered from the user forum located at http://www.dxo.com support meny, version 5 is not yet stable.

It´s been nearly a year without a stable new version of DxO. It seems they threw out all the old software and did a complete rewrite to fit Microsoft .net.

You can still buy v4.51, so unless you need support for the latest cameras it is a great piece of software. Version 4 was not entirely stable until v4.3, I think. Then it got really good. If you stopped using DxO at v4.0 you are definitely missing out on the great v4.51.

The problem is the DxO company does no longer create new lens modules to fit v4.51, nor new modules for converting raw files for new cameras.

If you want newer cameras supported you are forced to buy v5.2, and that is not nearly as stable or fast as v4.51 is.

David
 
The benefit of buying it for Aperture is that you get plugins for both PS and Aperture. I like the tool. Very good and saves much time.
 
The latest release (5.2) is a big step forward for version 5. I know there are still going to be some people who prefer 4.5.1, but many of the missing feature are now back. Also, it seems stable on my hardware.

In any case I think it's worth taking a look at again (for those that have been scared away.) I've been running a bunch of shots through the past few days since it's been released and have had no problems.

-Tim
 
Well, I feel the same...
Bought it for 10D. Then upgraded for 1DII (a lot of money !).
Then upgraded again to release 4.

Well.
At the end I don't use it at all anymore.

Maybe release 5.2 is worth the money (because, of course, you have to pay for the upgrade. Once more... 109€ !)
but I want everybody to say that it's a miracle... before making it.
And demos are useless, most of the time...

How the hell could they expect that their unsatisfied customers will pay that much on such a reccurent basis without giving more ?

--
Raoul
 
no. i owned v 4.x. it was slow but did some nice stuff. that was with a 1.6x dslr. when i got a 5d, the higher price, coupled with severe lack of lens support, made the whole deal much less compelling. that, coupled with the release of aperture and lightroom, and their improvements over the years since then ... leave me with my current workflow, which uses lightroom and photoshop only. but i do like noise ninja.
 
The DXo product seems to be one of many good and bad points. There website likes to go down, the security installations are very annoying, the work flow of the product is well behind the best. That said, in some somewhat unscientific testing, the 5.0 product does seem to be able to extract more detail from my Fuji S5 Raw files that ACR, Fuji or any other converters I have tried. The detail in hair for example was stunning. Didn't test it with any of my D300 or Canon files.
 
When I was using a 20D + 17-85 a lot I used DXO v4 all the time. Brilliant.

Then I changed to a 5D and 24-105 and Lightroom I found DXO didn't do as good a job as Lightroom.

So I am quite fond of DXO (I mean it's a great idea right?!) but I haven't upgraded (yet) and don't use v4 anymore.

Stability issues and a late Mac release have kept my wallet closed.

Not sure I need it because the results on the 5D and L lenses mean it's not really necessary to get good results, but if their noise reduction (before RAW conversion) really works on the 5D then it will be just like having a D3 right? Because that's what Nikon is doing to get their high-ISO performance on the D3 - who knows, maybe they even bought the technology from DXO.
 
I had received an email from DxO, inviting me to try version 5.2, which was said to represent a major advance in its RAW conversion (which had not impressed me before as being superior to ACR), so I thought I'd give it a try. As I mentioned in the previous posting, after installation I got the error message that the trial period has expired.

I got in touch with their customer service, and they wrote back to me saying that since I already tried 5.0, I'd have to buy the software if I wanted to use it (or use it on another computer). This is after they sent an email, inviting me to try 5.2 because it was really, really better than anything else on the market and this time we mean it.

I've now had it with DxO. I will not listen to their breathless promotional efforts, and I will not download or attempt to install what I'm sure will be a revolutionary improvement in version 5.3.

Bob
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Keyboard shortcuts

f
Forum
m
My threads
Mobile site
About
Editorial content
Cameras & Lenses
Community
All content, design, and layout are Copyright © 1998–2025 Digital Photography Review All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited.
When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission.
©GPS Media - Guides, Products, Services.
Back
Top