It’s that time of the year again. The time when DxO releases a “major” update to their flagship software – but should you, or I, upgrade to DxO Photolab 10?
Yes – version 10 hit the downloads page at DxO.com on September 1st. But before you hit the go-faster button and get your free trial, I’m happy to share with you a few of my thoughts about DxO Photolab 10.
I have been lucky enough to have had early access to the Photolab 10 beta version for a couple of weeks prior to the public release so I have had sometime to play with it.
In a nutshell, I cannot get very excited about it!
Maybe it’s because I am getting more cynical as I get older.
Maybe it’s because my approach to my photography is changing…again!
Maybe it’s because with each new iteration of Photolab the “improvements” place more and more demands on my now ageing computer. That’s my way of saying the app is now slower! Or seems slower. Or it’s another way of saying I cannot afford a computer upgrade.
Or maybe it’s because, as I read elsewhere recently, there is not a great deal more new, good stuff that can be added to software that is already stuffed full of good stuff. If you follow my meaning.
Or perhaps I should say software that already has everything in it that a photographer of my capabilities and calibre will ever use. Or never use.
Yes. That’s me being cynical.
Seriously though, all the great things you’ve come to love about DxO Photolab are still there.
Top notch RAW correction. The best optical corrections including lens distortion, lens softness control correction, vignetting and chromatic aberration corrections. DeepPRIME noise reduction. Control point and control line local adjustment technology.
And of course AI masking.
what's new in photolab 10?
Here is the list…
- there is a new automated sensor dust removal tool;
- AI depth masking is now included;
- the AI vehicle and people mask can now recognise multiple vehicles or people in an image;
- AI can recognise various features of each person – e.g. face, hair, clothes, and so on;
- PL10 has a new advanced color grading tool allowing targeting of shadows, mid-tones and highlights separately;
- in customize mode the app now recognizes in-camera cropping;
- there is a direct export link to Affinity to allow pixel level editing;
- the control point masking technology has been upgraded to allow elliptical control points;
- a control brush mask is introduced;
- and there’s probably more…
So why can’t I get very exicted about Photolab 10? I think it is evolutionary rather than revolutionary.
I probably wouldn’t use many of the new tools. Maybe the in-camera cropping recognition tool. And the elliptical control point. Possibly the depth masking. Those three are pretty cool.
And I think the AI people masking options are very clever too. But I wouldn’t use them. I rarely photograph people deliberately.
But let’s take a quick look at the three new features that appeal to me.
will i upgrade to dxo photolab 10?
As I said earlier I cannot get excited about this latest version of DxO Photolab at all.
In my opinion I do not think it is a value for money upgrade if you already have Photolab 9.
However if you are are about to become a new user, the core best-in-class features that already exist in DxO Photolab probably make this a very good package for enthusiast and above photographers.
As for me. Well I think I’m going to take a break from Photolab for a while and revert to something less sophisticated. Like Photomator. Which I have had sitting on my Mac for the best part of a year. And which by all accounts is a very good photo editor.
Okay – Photomator doesn’t have lens correction.
But I am now the owner of a brand new OM Systems OM5 Mark II M43 camera and the jpegs out of it are pretty darn good. Lens correction already applied in camera. Not perfect. But plenty good enough.
More soon about my OM5.
And that means that this story didn’t age well…