My New Approach To RAW Processing

Raw processing is an ever evolving cycle of changes.
We have a multitude of new raw developing software being launched and new Ai technologies introduced to better handle noise reduction and sharpening.

I have tried most of them at some point, but always end up back where I started - with LR and PS.
The Adobe offerings are solid and well developed and I personally prefer the output I get with this software.
Others may have other preferences.

This thread will show how I approach my developing at the moment.
Perhaps there will be something useful in here that others may want to try for themselves.
Although the examples used here are Canon R5 files, this process will work just as well for other raw files from all brands.

Today I use LR for the main editing, but round-trip the raw file to DxO Photolab 5 for its raw developing capabilities.
There is something DxO has figured out with regards to the de-mosaicing of the raw file that results in a sharper file with better colour and less artefacts.
As far as I understand, DxO uses lens profiles in combination with the de-mosaicing to calculate the pixel data.
The software downloads and applies these profiles when you open a raw file in the software.
Others may chime in with a better explaination.

Whatever the tech, I like the outcome.

DxO offers two types of software that offers this process - DxO PureRaw 2 and Photolab 5.

DxO PureRaw 2 is a barebones demosaicing software with no user adjustable input.
You load the raw file and it saves out a DNG file with its magic applied.

Photolab 5 offer the same tools that PureRaw 2 uses (and much more), but give the user some control of how they should be applied.
You can adjust the amount of global lens sharpening and choose what noise reduction algorithm to apply etc.

I have created a preset in Photolab 5 with my chosen settings.

In adition to the DxO processing I also apply a linear camera profile as I feel I get a nicer end result with this.
Many users will have their own preferences for camera profiles - especially Fujifilm users as there are many creative profiles on offer.

These days I shoot with the Canon R5 and I find the camera profiles for the Canon pretty awful to be honest.
Very contrasty and some strange colour casts to my eyes.
This will be very personal and what I like may not be what others are looking for.
I come from medium format (Fujifilm GFX100) and have been used to the characteristics of the wider dynamic range and 16bit files and the Fujifilm profiles.
The process I have outlined below will apply equally well to other raw files from other brands.

Changing cameras can be a headache if you have a certain look you have come to like.
New sensor designs often change the colour science and ‘look’ and it can be hard to tweek a new camera to fit your old preferences.
I am very much going through this process with the Canon R5 at the moment.

So for now I have settled on the following process.

1. I will load all the raw files into LR and cull the shoot.
2. The selected images will then be sent to DxO Photolab 5 where I apply my preset.
3. The raw files are then converted to DNG with the Photolab adjustments applied and returned to LR

The round trip takes around 30 seconds per image.

To round trip the raw file from LR to PL and back - do the following:

Select the raw file in LR - the adjustments you may have made in LR are ignored.
Goto File - Plug-in Extras - Transfer to Photolab 5 (same process for DxO PureRAW)

In Photolab 5 I use the following settings (I have saved a preset with the settings):

Vignetting set to 100 - removes the darkened corners, if present.

- DeepPRIME noise reduction ON
- Lens Sharpnes is ON and set to +0.69 (this can be adjusted to taste)
- Chromatic Aberration ON
- Unsharp Mask OFF
-
No other adjustments are applied.

I have saved this as a preset named DxO PureRAW

Then export the file back to LR with the LR Export button.

It will prompt you to choose a setting - I use this:
Click Export

Once the file is back in LR - switch OFF sharpening and Noise Reduction.
Also dissable Profile Corrections as that has already been applied by DxO
Again, I have a preset saved in LR with my preferred settings.

From here you simply edit the raw file as normal.
Choose a camera profile.
Adjust to taste.

- Important -
You must make sure that the DxO DNG isnt’t overexposed.
LR will not be able to recover as effectively as it normally does.
If the raw file is too ‘hot’, bring the ‘Exposure Compensation’ down in Photolab before exporting to LR.
Then simply add the lost exposure back in LR.

Let’s look at what is achieved by this process.
In the following examples the normal LR file is on the left and the DxO processed file on the right.

Remember that NO sharpening and NR is applied to the DxO files in LR.
The LR de-mosaiced file has normal Unsharp Mask and Color NR applied.

I will use some simple holiday images in these examples.

Example 1:

100% crops
Notice the finer detail in the rocks and plants - almost as if an anti-aliasing filter has been removed.

Example 2:

DxO also does a good job of removing aliasing artefacts and bring out the finer details in fabric.
The DxO processed files are more colour accurate and neutral to my eyes.
Notice the magenta/purple cast in the regular file on the left (Canon Neutral profile):
200% crop:

Another example where DxO has removed artefacts and brought out finer detail.
200% crop

Finer detail in foliage

Now let’s look at the noise reduction from DxO.
The DeepPRIME algorithm is very good and combined with the DxO lens sharpening it does a great job of reducing noise whilst retaining fine details.

ISO 1600 example

Notice how well DxO has managed to retain detail in the hair and fabric whilst reducing the noise.

Another example at ISO 1600 (I haven’t shot any higher yet).

Now, there is one downside to this process.
The DNG files that are created by DxO are really big.

A standard Canon R5 CR3 file is around 45-60mb.
The DxO DNG files vary between 130mb and 180mb.

That is a big increase in storage requirements.
Whether that matters is down to induvidual circumstances.
Personally I want the best files I can get so I will accept the memory hit.

In summary I find the DxO proccessed files to have better colour, more detail and lower noise.
Combined with the linear camera profile I feel I get a better result than with LR alone.

I am interested to hear what others do.
Please feel free to discuss here.

I use Canon software to do RAW processing, I save it as a 16 bit TIFF and then I edit in Corel Paintshop Pro.

I downloaded DxO Photolab 5 and I really like it, but I'm not sure yet if it replace the Canon Photo editor.

Macro guy wrote:

I use Canon software to do RAW processing, I save it as a 16 bit TIFF and then I edit in Corel Paintshop Pro.

I downloaded DxO Photolab 5 and I really like it, but I'm not sure yet if it replace the Canon Photo editor.

I have quickly dabbled with DPP, but only long enough to decide I didn't like what I got from it.
It is also very slow and that can matter if you need to process a big shoot of several 100 images.

I am not saying DPP doesn't work for others, it just doesn't seem to fit my work process.

Rob de Loe wrote:

Thanks for sharing this Mads. I'm reminded of the early days of X-Trans where people were searching for the best RAW processing. I used Iridient X-Transformer for a long time on X-Trans files because it did a lot better than Lightroom in my view, but then Lightroom caught up so I stopped using it.

Two quick thoughts/questions:

1. I do see the improvements you're claiming in terms of fine detail in all of your comparison photos. However, it's not clear to me that you couldn't have achieved those inside Lightroom. I'm not saying you could have! Perhaps you've determined that for yourself already. My point is that in a post like this, it's not possible to "close the case" because even if you can't do it, maybe someone else can. Does that make sense?

If you're interested, it might be interesting to post a RAW file that you think can't be developed in LR to get what you're seeing with your workflow, and then let people have at it.

2. One improvement that is amazing to me is how aliasing is handled. It's not a problem I have to deal with a lot, but I've never been able to achieve the results I'm seeing in your sample on my GFX 50R files using Lightroom, Capture One or Iridient. I know that it's possible to do better because the Fuji JPEGs created in camera can remove aliasing that these other tools cannot.

I have tried to match the sharpness within LR using its tools, but there is more going on in the DxO process that I cannot equalise with LR alone.

I wonder if DxO is using the lens profiles to achieve this?
The control II use in Photolab 5 is labeled Global Lens Sharpness.

Yes seems like many here use Lightroom/ adobe or Capture one.

I personally like DXO better, simply as it has the folder tree option to allow me to directly access my images, which I sort into folders. Capture one used to do this, but looks like it has been removed.

I also like the output that DXO provides.  The lens profliles actually make a difference,  and it encourages me to use my Fujifilm 35-70mm lens as there is a profile for it with the 50S. Other lenses work, but it doesn't pull out as much and some features aren't available unless you have a profiled lens.

Rob de Loe wrote:

If you're interested, it might be interesting to post a RAW file that you think can't be developed in LR to get what you're seeing with your workflow, and then let people have at it.

Sure, why not.

Here is a link to a Canon R5 CR3 file.

https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/0e8NxjRUluPCK7RomIDisHglA#Shared_Files

I have attempted to add the xmp file so you can develop the file to match the image below.

Left is LR de-mosaicing and my best effort in LR using its native sharpening tools.
Right is DxO de-mosaicing with no added sharpening in LR.

Everyone are welcome to have a go.
Post your best effort results here if you like.

100% crops

Let me know if there are any issues accessing the file.

Rob de Loe wrote:

Fun! I'm looking forward to trying it out.

However... for those of us not in the Apple ecosystem, is there another download option? I have nothing Apple so I can't access the file.

I have copied the files over to my OneDrive account.
See if this link works:

Shared RAW Files

Rob de Loe wrote:

Mads Bjerke wrote:

Rob de Loe wrote:

Fun! I'm looking forward to trying it out.

However... for those of us not in the Apple ecosystem, is there another download option? I have nothing Apple so I can't access the file.

I have copied the files over to my OneDrive account.
See if this link works:

Shared RAW Files

Got 'em! Thanks Mads

Great. I look forward hearing your experience.
I really doubt you will match the DxO processing as I think there is more going on at the demosaicing stage than Camera RAW is capable of.

Fascinating, and convincing.  Even my the standards of your typically-detailed and informative posts, this was extremely useful.  Thank you for the work.

Rob de Loe wrote:

How about this?

First one is 50% to roughly match your posts. The second is 100% on my screen so you can see the difference more clearly. Left is your processing (using your XMP). Right is my edits on top of your processing. All in Lightroom.

50% to match Mads' samples

100% on Rob's screen

P.S. Is the kid with the blue shorts taking a leak in the bushes?

Unfortunately the screen shots I have posted are leading you astray as the quality gets compromised if you try to scale them.

Go back to the OneDrive folder and you will find a TIFF and JPG at full size.
Use these to compare against and see how you get on.

As far as the kid is concerned I wouldn't be surprised 

Adam007 wrote:

Fascinating, and convincing. Even my the standards of your typically-detailed and informative posts, this was extremely useful. Thank you for the work.

Glad you find it useful.