[NorthPentax]

I bought DxO Optics Pro Standard, only 105,4GBP.

-The software don't work with Adobe DNG files.
-It makes my 20MB DNG files from my K20D, 3 times bigger!
-It's painfully slow.
-It takes longer to batch prosess images, than it takes to do it manually in LR2.


I just hope they offer me a refund.

[Canada_Rockies]

I agree with all of your comments, particularly the processing speed, but disagree on sending it back. Compare the before and after images and figure out how much time you save not having to do all those corrections yourself. I am talking about correcting the uneven exposure levels across the image with your wide angle lenses, and even removal of vignetting. I am thinking of fixing the lens distortions - even the mustache distortions from my 12-24 - which cannot even be done in another programme.

I do not always use DxO to process my images. I find, for example, that images from my DA* 50-135 don't really need any DxO level processing for any use I have for them. However the other two DA zooms have flaws (as does every wide angle zoom lens on the face of the earth). DxO removes those flaws to the point that high quality printers such as MPix.com rate them good enough for 24x36 inch prints, and I am delighted with a pair of 16x24 inch prints I just got back last week.

Give it a chance. Don't forget you can down a couple beer while it works, or mow the lawn, or turn it on at bedtime and have a good night's sleep while it chugs away. On first receiving my copy, I felt very much as you do right now, but have reversed my opinion completely. For US$150 I ended up with a perfect 12-24mm zoom and a perfect 16-50 zoom. Worth it for me!

[OregonJim]

Albert is right. Even with all the negatives you pointed out (and I agree with them), the end result is worth it.

Give the product some time to mature. I'm sure the DxO folks aren't sitting still...

[jeffkrol]

Ever since seeing this thread (and the rootkit sony fiasco) I'd be very leary of DxO.
that said I also dislike Adobe's method of anti-piracy as well, though it seems like less problems (from others) as of late.....
Warning: DxO Optics Pro Version 5 Uses Pace Interlok: News Discussion Forum: Digital Photography Review
Then, they [DxO] use a vicious DRM scheme for copy protection, that installs an extension on your computer, effectively patching the kernel and in some cases introducing instability. It is - from a technological point of view, no different than SONY's rootkit - it is NOT removed upon deinstallation of the software, and writes all over your disk to make your life difficult in case you really want to eradicate it from your drive. Thank god OS X allows you to monitor File system events and therefore I can keep track of what it does, but on windows the usual solution is "back up your data and reformat". Great. As usual, these technologies just sc**w the honest, paying people, I am sure that motivated hackers could break their scheme.
DXO Optics Pro 5 Receives rage and criticism due to Pace Interlock DRM
Re: DxO & copy protection: News Discussion Forum: Digital Photography Review

[Bart]

I bought DxO Optics Pro Standard, only 105,4GBP.

-The software don't work with Adobe DNG files.
-It makes my 20MB DNG files from my K20D, 3 times bigger!
-It's painfully slow.
-It takes longer to batch prosess images, than it takes to do it manually in LR2.


I just hope they offer me a refund.

Me, I process all my pictures with DxO and I'm very happy with it.
If you can accomplish the same thing with LR2, then you must be quite good.
As for the refund, you did use the trial version, I suppose?

[NorthPentax]

I did not

How do you use DxO? Describe your workflow and what file format you use. Do you shot in PEF or DNG?

[jem]

I originally purchased DxO as my primary workflow package as well. I saw their lens/body specific support, downloaded the trial and bought the full package based on what it does with my 12-24 & 16-50. Like you, I was disappointed for all the reasons you mention (especially workflow) and bought LR - much, much better at general processing and workflow. But I still use DxO as a specialty tool for the lenses they support and for that capability the package is worth it for me. I just wish they would support more of my wides...

[Bart]

I did not

How do you use DxO? Describe your workflow and what file format you use. Do you shot in PEF or DNG?

I use PEF but DxO does work with DNG from the camera.
As for my workflow, it's very simple.
I transfer from the card with Expression Media.
Should I see anything clearly wrong, I delete those.
Next I batch rename and transfer to the folder structure I use.
Next step is to import the batch in DxO and run it through the process, creating full sized jpegs to be stored in my folder structure.
This conversion does take some time but, like Canada_Rockies stated, this doesn't need my attention and I can do something else during this time (like reading this forum ).
And by the way, exporting pef to full sized jpeg in LR takes it time as well.

After the processing is done, I import the jpegs into the proper Expression Media catalogue were they are tagged and rated.
Should I notice anything that could be enhanced, I go back to the DxO batch and fix it, recreating the same output file for these individual cases.

Finally, the photos I like best are resized to fill my screens resolution and these are stored in another folder.
These get uploaded to my zenfolio account as well.

There you have it, my work flow. It's a lot more complicated to write this out than to follow it, actually.
I have exactly 3 lenses that do have a Module in DxO. It is a misconception that DxO only works with the lenses that do have a Module.
As for PEF versus DNG, I choose PEF because it's more compact on the card.

A final suggestion: always use a trial version. That is what they are there for.
Once I was ready to pick a car simply based on reputation and reviews I read but the dealer refused to close the deal if I didn't take a test drive first .

[Canada_Rockies]

My work flow is like this:

The camera is set to PEF only, except when I am out of town and don't have this laptop with me. In that case, I set the camera to PEF + JPEG ***. If I had **** I would use it, but I have a K10D. I can then let my daughter or whoever have the JPEG shots, and do the post processing when I get home.

If it's just party shots or other images that I really don't care about having vignetting and lens distortions corrected, I skip the DxO steps 6 through 13.

1. Card Reader in Computer USB port using SanDisk Card Reader.
2. Cancel all those automatic import windows I cannot figure out how to turn off. Lightroom 1.3, Elements 6.0, etc.
3. Copy all files from the card to a directory on the hard drive. I use [My Pictures] / [From Camera]
4. Remove card reader and replace card in camera.
5. If I want to do another card as well, repeat from 1.
6. Open DxO. I pour a cuppa while waiting for it to load all its goodies.
7. [Select] all the images in the [From Camera] folder
8. [Prepare] Quick walk through to red light all the ones I don't want to process. Of course, I don't do very many of these, my focus and exposure and composition are always perfect, and I never take a picture of my foot.
9. Second walk through to see if any images need perspective or horizon corrections, and do that while I'm in there. Lightroom will do horizons, but it won't do perspective (keystone) corrections that I know of.
10. Click [Process] - I have a default output that puts the output in a folder called [DxO LR Exports]. I export DNG files.
11. Take wife out to dinner, cutting down the "Aren't they done yet?"
12. On return to home, check progress.
    1. "498 images processed, 273 queued" - have a shot of Pinch (Dimple to you folks from the UK) and go to bed.
    2. "753 images processed, 18 queued" - have a shot of Pinch while checking out PentaxForums.com
13. Next morning take a few aspirin and open Lightroom 2.3 to import the images.
14. Import the images in batches with appropriate keywords applied to each batch. Please note - this saves a whole bunch of time compared to applying the keywords after import. A whole bunch of time. Really, a lot of time. It even helps the hangover because I don't have to do it one image at a time.
15. As each batch is imported, have a shot of Pinch. Lightroom doesn't do warp speed either, particularly when you have standard previews to create.
16. If the screen is blurry and I cannot find the keyboard within two minutes, do something else
17. When the screen is clear and I can find the keyboard, fix white balance and gross exposure problems in Lightroom. I prefer to do it here rather than in DxO, although I could do this in DxO just as well.
18. Now I'm ready to rate the images. I usually wait until the Pinch has worn off before I do this in case the blur is not in the image.
    1. Flag as Pick
    2. No Flag
    3. Flag as Rejected
19. [Ctrl][Backspace] removes the rejecteds (or hides the evidence)
20. Filer to flagged only and rate 1 - 5.
21. At the same time, if these are pictures of visits we made during a trip, assign a colour to Aunt May and a different one for Jack and yet another for Aggie.
22. Crop any images that need it.
23. Now I am ready for Claire to do her review. She's slowly getting used to the idea that I don't want to sit her down and show her all my goofups.
24. Export the various family email pictures one colour at a time.

That's it. Ready for the next trip, as soon as I head for the store to get some replacement Pinch.

All kidding aside, this work flow really makes life a lot easier. In short hand

1. put the images on the hard drive
2. DxO them.
3. Lightroom them
4. PT Lens if needed to tweak things at this point
5. Photomatix if wanted (HDR or simply Highlight/Shadow 2 image)
6. The Panorama Factory if wanted to make a Panorama.

I split the functions between the programs because each of them does things better than the other. The computer time is really not that high. I can do two 4 Gb cards (4-500 images) in a couple of hours on the computer and have final product. The elapsed time is longer, but I can do other important things while the computer is working. Sometimes it's beer instead of Pinch.

[NorthPentax]

Thanks.

I use LR2(.3) like this:

I shot in DNG

-Import and convert to compressed DNG. I use minimal on intial previews, it's faster right away and I don't to waut that long to see my pictures.

-I flag as Picks or I reject

-I delete rejects and go on to prosess/develope all my pick's.

- I export to Photoshop CS4 if images need more work, save as psd's.

-If I need to export to Flickr, Facebook or sending images of for print, I have export pre-sets for all those needs. I delete jpg's after I have used or/and uploaded them.


My problem is that DxO don't work after I have imported in to LR with the compressed DNG.
So I don't compress DNG now. Problem solved.
My second problem is that it's easier to pick and reject my images with LR and then use DxO.
DxO doesn't work this way. DxO first then LR2. I'll find a way.

How big are your DxO-DNG files? 60MB?
Why are jpg's the same size as compressed DNG or PEF's? around 9-10MB!!

Let's send mail to them and ask for more lens support.

I want support for DA 10-17mm, DA 55-300mm and DA 17-70mm.

[Canada_Rockies]

How big are your DxO-DNG files? 60MB?
Why are jpg's the same size as compressed DNG or PEF's? around 9-10MB!!

Let's send mail to them and ask for more lens support.

I want support for DA 10-17mm, DA 55-300mm and DA 17-70mm.

My K10D produces PEF (my choice - I get more on a card) and the DxO outputs from the latest batch range from 38,621 to 46,746 Kb. I just converted one original PEF (9,848 Kb) to DNG compressed, and the file came out at 34,894 which is not a huge space saver over the DxO output of 38,621. I wish they would support my M lenses. That would be a real time saver! I can understand, though, that they have no way of knowing which lens I am using, so I would settle for my A 70-210 and FA 24-90.

[deejjjaaaa]

My problem is that DxO don't work after I have imported in to LR with the compressed DNG.
So I don't compress DNG now. Problem solved.
My second problem is that it's easier to pick and reject my images with LR and then use DxO.
DxO doesn't work this way. DxO first then LR2. I'll find a way.

just do not use .DNG - use .PEF... .DNG does not offer you any real advantages and just gives you less freedom w/ raw converters... .PEF is supported in full by more raw converters than .DNG, as you can see yourself... as for the using DxO as a raw converter from LR - you can do this as long as:

1) DxO will accept the full filename of the raw file as a command line parameter.

2) your raw file will be in the filesystem and not in LR database.

3) you will write and compile a simple program that accepts the command line parameter containing the name of TIFF file from LR and then starts DxO after replacing the extension in that command line parameter with ".pef" for DxO to process it.

4) that program is set in LR as an additional external editor.

5) you will overwrite the original TIFF file generated by LR, which will be thinking that you actually edited it (instead you will do a raw conversion w/ DxO).

[deejjjaaaa]

Why are jpg's the same size as compressed DNG or PEF's? around 9-10MB!!

because pentax raw files contain undemosaiced raw data @ 12bit per pixel, put some loseless compression on top of it and you will get pretty close sizewise to a high quality 24bit (8bit x RGB) per pixel JPG file.

[NorthPentax]

Thaaaaaaank you, deejjjaaaa

I went out shooting today. Used PEF for the first time. Imported with LR, used "Edit in" from the menu. Works just like I want it to work. Now we only need more lens support

It look like it's possible to import and export pre-sets in DxO? Maybe DxO users on this forum want to swap pre-sets?

[Bart]

... Now we only need more lens support...

You can contact DxO with a request to add a specific lens (or lenses). If they receieve enough requests, they might add it.
If nobody requests anything, nothing will be added. They have limited resources an try to accomodate for the most 'popular" lenses. Just have a look at what is available for the more 'common' brands .