If You Shoot With an Older Camera...you can get a copy of DxO Optics Pro 9 for free. Courtesy of DxO and DigitalCamera UK, which is a magazine.

Check the list of supported cameras first; most are more than two years old.

The free license is not upgradable.

The current version of the software is DxO Optics Pro 11. It's currently on sale for $149 from $199.

DxO & DigitalCamera | DxO.com

[UncleVanya]

Thanks!

I have 8 from last years give-away, but never really got into it. 9 has the PRIME engine and a plugin for a much smoother integration with Lightroom, so it might be in with a chance.

Holy slowness though, it took 7 minutes for me to export a single image back to Lightroom using the PRIME engine... I don't do much high-ISO shooting, but I'll keep at it to see if it's worth it. For the price of free, the only cost is time and it's not like I need to watch the bar go across while it's processing.

Prime has gotten faster in each version. I don't export back currently so I can't comment on that but I can say exporting to flickr or disk with prime on adds extra time (perhaps a minute or two max).

[BrianR]

Prime has gotten faster in each version. I don't export back currently so I can't comment on that but I can say exporting to flickr or disk with prime on adds extra time (perhaps a minute or two max).

Are you using a newer version? I have read it's improved in both speed and quality. For what it's worth, exporting the same dng with prime disabled took 40 seconds. I'm seeing a pretty huge differential. It was similar for exporting to jpeg.

When I have time, I'll select a handful of images to give a serious go with DxO 9 and try exporting both ways to see how the quality compares to my normal straight up Lightroom routine.

[UncleVanya]

Are you using a newer version? I have read it's improved in both speed and quality. For what it's worth, exporting the same dng with prime disabled took 40 seconds. I'm seeing a pretty huge differential. It was similar for exporting to jpeg.

When I have time, I'll select a handful of images to give a serious go with DxO 9 and try exporting both ways to see how the quality compares to my normal straight up Lightroom routine.

I have DXO 10 elite. I have not tried the direct integration in a long long time. I need to set it up again. SO I can't say that this is faster - my exports have been to jpg or flickr/jpg.

[Des]

Are you using a newer version? I have read it's improved in both speed and quality.

I have been through versions 8, 9, 10 and I'm now on 11 (Elite edition in each version). Each version is better than the last, but for features the jump from 8 to 9 was probably the biggest (PRIME noise reduction, portrait rendering and smart lighting in particular).

As far as speed of processing is concerned, v.11 was a big improvement on v.10. With PRIME NR, DNG files from the K-3 typically export in 2-3 minutes on my laptop; it was typically about 4-7 minutes with the same size files on the same computer in v.10. (There was only a marginal difference between v.9 and v.10.) The speed will of course depend on the size of the file, the extent of the NR, and the processing speed of the computer.

I highly recommend this free download to anyone with a qualifying camera who is looking for a free processor. Even at version 9, the program is very well featured, but allows for a lot of automation too. I did not find it difficult to learn (at least to a functional standard), despite the dearth of on-line tutorials (of the kind that are available for Lightroom).

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/software/graphics-and-media-software...1200381/review

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Last edited by Des; 12-10-2016 at 04:03 PM.

[aslyfox]

sorry for the newbie question

just getting into pp work

is this for working with RAW or will it work with JPEG as well

is this for working alone or to work with other programs such as light room

[UncleVanya]

sorry for the newbie question

just getting into pp work

is this for working with RAW or will it work with JPEG as well

is this for working alone or to work with other programs such as light room

RAW and JPEG both.
In version 10 and 11 Lightroom integration is possible but this also works entirely stand alone. It is not a cataloguer it only edits. Version 9 isn't as well know to me so I am not certain about its integration.

[Des]

RAW and JPEG both.

UV is right, but of course the range of things you can do with a jpg image is much more limited: eg the basic noise reduction is available, but the more sophisticated PRIME noise reduction isn't.

is this for working alone or to work with other programs such as light room

The original version 9 didn't work as a plugin for Lightroom. You had to export files from DxO to DNG, and they could then be worked on in Lightroom or other editors. This is what the user guide for DxO OP v.9.1 said:
"The DNG format is designed for files that you intend to archive or that are going to undergo further post-processing with DNGcompatible software such as Adobe Camera Raw/Photoshop/Lightroom. The DNG generated by DxO Optics Pro is a 16-bit linear DNG format, which is only available for original images shot in RAW."

But version 9.5 of DxO OP introduced seamless integration between DxO and Lightroom. See details here:
- Friends at last: DxO Optics Pro becomes Lightroom’s bestie thanks to new raw-sharing capability (updated)
- DxO Optics Pro 9.5image quality now directly accessible from Adobe Lightroom | www.dxo.com

I can't tell from the access page for the free download linked at the beginning of this thread which iteration of v.9 of DxO OP is being offered. But I suspect that it is v.9.5 because the pdf list of supported cameras includes several that were first supported in v.9.5 (e.g.Sony A6000).

Maybe someone who has done the download can confirm?

---------- Post added 12-19-16 at 07:20 AM ----------

sorry for the newbie question just getting into pp work

If you go ahead and try DxO, you might find some of their tutorials useful: Photo Tutorials, Video Tutorials, Webinars | DxO Academy | www.dxo.com

Any editing program can be a bit daunting at first. I found the DxO presets a helpful start (until I used them as a base for developing my own).

What I found worked for me was to pick a preset (the DxO default is often quite good), then try to adjust the exposure, and only worry about colour, contrast, noise, dust, horizon correction and so on (as required) after the exposure was fixed. As you practise adjusting exposure, try to learn to read the histogram - it's a very useful tool.

In starting out, I found the most remarkable thing to be the amount of detail that could be recovered from over-exposed and particularly under-exposed parts of an image. So much so that I changed my shooting practice to lean more towards under-exposure and to try harder to avoid blown highlights (except where they didn't matter).

Here's a cheap trick. If you darken the blacks a little (e.g. -4 to -8) it creates the impression of more contrast, without looking too artificial.

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Last edited by Des; 12-18-2016 at 01:37 PM.

[BrianR]

This is version 9.5.2, it comes with the plugin to pass files back and forth with lightroom.