[rpjallan]

Just as the title says - has anyone tried the new DXO PhotoLab 7 yet?

[K2 to K50]

+1 for this!!!

[mtngal]

I guess no one has tried it? I saw the email but haven’t figured out if any of the mentioned improvements would help me out (my needs are simpler than a pro’s needs). I have PhotoLab 6 and use it often.

[rpjallan]

I am still on PhotoLab 5. I skipped 6. I will upgrade to 7 soon. I just thought I'd seek out other's opinions. I think it's a pity that you don't have access to the luminosity masks unless you get the film pack, which I'm not really interested in.

[Larrymc]

I'm still on PL 5.15.0 Elite, FilmPack 6 Elite and ViewPoint 3. I tried PL 6 when it was originally released but I found that the processing time for the benefits of the improved deepPrime XD just wasn't worth it. Additionally the GPU processor requirements for XD efficiency really required a much newer processor than my system could handle, it was at the end of its upgrade life. At the ripe old age of 77 I decided that what I have will serve me well for my photography needs. So to make a short answer longer, no I am not planning to upgrade to PL 7.

[sbh]

I’ve tried it a bit and find it to be quite good. The updates are pretty useful and I think makes it much more interesting. Currently I use capture one and silkypix DS pro. Still I find that SP has the best image quality for my taste and I like it most although it is so slow to browse. CO I have mainly for tethering. Other than that I would choose DxO over CO today if I was due for an upgrade or Start from scratch.

[Craigbob]

I'm on 6 Elite, but with the cost to upgrade to 7 being so expensive, I'm probably going to wait until black friday to upgrade.

[Des]

I'm on 6 Elite, but with the cost to upgrade to 7 being so expensive, I'm probably going to wait until black friday to upgrade.

I'm still on version 5 but I was thinking the same thing.

I read on the DxO forum (if I understood correctly) that in future the upgrade price will only be available if you have the most recent edition. So if I don't upgrade to PL7 I may have to pay full whack for PL8 or a later edition.

[rpjallan]

I read on the DxO forum (if I understood correctly) that in future the upgrade price will only be available if you have the most recent edition. So if I don't upgrade to PL7 I may have to pay full whack for PL8 or a later edition.

I haven't seen that. They have always supported upgrades for the last two versions on all their stuff. Given the prolific amount of software out there now, I would suggest they might lose some market share if they do that.

[K2 to K50]

I have V5 Elite also, and am also considering the upgrade to 7. The improvements to the Local Adjustments processes look interesting. I am also currently passing some files through to Affinity Photo v1 to finalise the conversion to JPEG eg Live Filter High Pass sharpening, and sometimes select the main subject in Affinity for further selective exposure adjustments when I find it too hard to get what I want out of DxO Local Adjustment. A little worried that my system might be nearing its ability to cope, expecially with the upgraded Denoising in Dx0: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 960 @ 3.20GHz 3.20 GHz 4 cores. Nvidiea Ge Force GTX 1050 Ti on a 4K display.

So also contemplating upgrading my Affinity package to Affinity Photo v2.

@Des; I believe I recall you also finish processing with Affinity?

Unless I can find a way of Using Affinity for the whole process. But I am still fighting a steep learning curve with Affinity - still trying to get my head around working with layers, combining layers, moving between Develop and Photo Personas etc.

[Des]

They have always supported upgrades for the last two versions on all their stuff.

Yes I must have misunderstood. The DxO web site (https://support.dxo.com/hc/en-us/articles/5860200261405-Why-is-my-upgrade-pr...cense-pricing-) confirms that upgrade pricing to PL7 is only available for users of PL5 or PL6. No indication of any change in future. This pricing policy "is designed to reward customers who regularly upgrade their DxO software".

The point is that those of us still on PL5 will need to upgrade to PL7 or expect to pay full price for any upgrade after that.

@Des; I believe I recall you also finish processing with Affinity?

No I haven't used Affinity Peter. Sorry can't help there.

I finish some images with the Nik Collection, particularly Color Efex Pro. The detail extractor filter is quite useful. So is Darken/Lighten Center (sic).

[rpjallan]

For me, PhotoLab 7 has enough new features to warrant an upgrade from version 5.

[Des]

It's great that DxO now have Robin Whalley on board as a demonstrator.

Here's a short introduction to the new features in PL7:

You Tube

You Tube

Some nice features here, although nothing really indispensable IMO for the PL5 or PL6 user. (This video doesn't cover what might be more useful: luminosity masking. This is available only when FilmPack 7 is installed.)

For those who are considering PhotoLab for the first time, here is a brief intro to PL7:

You Tube

You Tube

[rpjallan]

It's great that DxO now have Robin Whalley on board as a demonstrator.

I think he’s been doing stuff for DXO for a while now. He does some good videos but his accent drives me nuts!

[Des]

He does some good videos but his accent drives me nuts!

It's a Lancashire accent isn't it? To all those in the UK thinking, "pot, kettle, black", let me say: I'm quite partial to regional accents, Lancashire in particular. ;-)

I've always liked Whalley's videos because they are well thought out and well informed, he doesn't waste time, and he doesn't make it about him. Not something you could say about most photo vloggers on YouTube.