Leica Q2 processed in DxO PhotoLab 5

[clasami]

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After I exchanged my Q2M for a Q2, the question was which editor to use with the DNG files. Turns out that for me, DxO PL5 renders colors and WB closest to what the OOC JPEGs look like. With LR, WB is off and applying Daylight or AutoWB doesn't help. C1 also has that WB thing (on the warm side). Of course, on can say that with RAW files it doesn't really matter. Everything can be adjusted to taste. True, but in partocular with WB, I like to have a good starting point.

Now I have to figure out how to get this into a workflow as my main raw editor for the time being is LR.

[Guest]

Assuming you've imported into LR I think the easiest option is to select the photos you want to edit in DxO and then use File->Plug-in Extras->Transfer to DxO.

This video explains it well Adobe Lightroom Classic & CC to DxO PhotoLab 2 Workflow | DxO Blog

[clasami]

vor 19 Minuten schrieb Corius:

Assuming you've imported into LR I think the easiest option is to select the photos you want to edit in DxO and then use File->Plug-in Extras->Transfer to DxO.

This video explains it well Adobe Lightroom Classic & CC to DxO PhotoLab 2 Workflow | DxO Blog

Thank you.

[clasami]

vor 58 Minuten schrieb Corius:

Assuming you've imported into LR I think the easiest option is to select the photos you want to edit in DxO and then use File->Plug-in Extras->Transfer to DxO.

This video explains it well Adobe Lightroom Classic & CC to DxO PhotoLab 2 Workflow | DxO Blog

Works well, except that the crop factor is disregarded when handing the image from LR to PL5. But I have presets in PL5 for that. Or is there another way to transfer the image with the crop factor applied?

[Guest]

Unlike LR, DxO doesn't process the crop metadata in the dng. You would have to save a cropped image in a different format, eg tiff, then transfer to DxO, but you wouldn't be working in raw so that defeats your purpose.

[hedleyw]

For all of my cameras (excluding my Q2M obviously) I open the raw first in DXO Photolab and do all my edits from there. I don’t want Lightroom doing any raw development as DXO’s is far better in my experience at extracting detail and handling any noise. When I’m done editing I catalogue the raw files in Lightroom. If you’re more Lightroom focussed perhaps DXO Pure Raw workflow would be a better fit?

[clasami]

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vor 7 Stunden schrieb hedleyw:

For all of my cameras (excluding my Q2M obviously) I open the raw first in DXO Photolab and do all my edits from there. I don’t want Lightroom doing any raw development as DXO’s is far better in my experience at extracting detail and handling any noise. When I’m done editing I catalogue the raw files in Lightroom. If you’re more Lightroom focussed perhaps DXO Pure Raw workflow would be a better fit?

It seems as if LR sends the RAW-file w/o any edits to PL5. But: It also seems that I can just as well start in PL5, apply the basic processing steps (Exposure, WB, Noise and Lens Correction) and then export as JPEG for catalogueing and further edit in LR. As a matter of fact, I do like the way LR edits an image more. PL5 is more "automatic" with its Smart Lighting and Clear View options (they often deliver nice results, though), and less usable Highlight/Shadow/Black and White controls. In particular my Fuji files come out way better in PL5 than in LR.

Pure Raw seems rather limited and pretty expensive so that I might just as well continue with PL5.

 

[SrMi]

You can "pass on" all LR edits, including any cropping to DxO output. To do that, you must invoke LrC's Photo>Save Metadata To File before invoking DxO PhotoLab or DxO PureRAW. Once demosaicing and NR is done in DxO tools, the file returned to LrC contains all modifications from the original.

Note that DxO's output produces wider images than LrC or in-camera JPG.

Edited September 15, 2022 by SrMi

[clasami]

Unless I am doing something wrong, the Q2 crop is not applied in PL5 after saving to metadata in LrC and handing the file to PL5 via plug-in.

[SrMi]

27 minutes ago, clasami said:

Unless I am doing something wrong, the Q2 crop is not applied in PL5 after saving to metadata in LrC and handing the file to PL5 via plug-in.

The crop and LrC modifications will be applied only after it is exported from PL5 back to LrC.

BTW, it is best to export as linear DNG.

 

[clasami]

vor 37 Minuten schrieb SrMi:

The crop and LrC modifications will be applied only after it is exported from PL5 back to LrC.

BTW, it is best to export as linear DNG.

 

But I am not exporting - I am using the transfer to PL5 plug-in. That seems to open the unedited RAW to PL5.

[SrMi]

8 hours ago, clasami said:

But I am not exporting - I am using the transfer to PL5 plug-in. That seems to open the unedited RAW to PL5.

I see, then it does not work .

My workflow is different. I use Lightroom and Photoshop to organize and process the files, while I use PhotoLab only to demosaic, apply lens corrections and noise reduction. 

[clasami]

vor 2 Stunden schrieb SrMi:

I see, then it does not work .

My workflow is different. I use Lightroom and Photoshop to organize and process the files, while I use PhotoLab only to demosaic, apply lens corrections and noise reduction. 

It is what I have done with my Fuji files. Results in a RAF and a DNG file. But the results from PL5 are so much better.

I have now purchased Color Fidelity profiles for the Q2 for use in LrC. First impression is that they look good - but not like the OOC JPEGs.

[clasami]

Short update on Color Fidelity profiles: Standard and Neutral are close, but not identical, to OOC JPEGs and DxO PL5. But I guess that is also not the point of the profiles. The do render less saturated than the Adobe Color profile, and WB looks much better, too.

Edited September 16, 2022 by clasami

[clasami]

Thought I share an image de-mosaiced and with NR and lens correction in DxO PL5 and LrC. Look at the green painting on the wall. There is no NR applied in LR - but even if I did, the face would not be as crisp as with DxO PL5.

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[SrMi]

7 hours ago, clasami said:

Thought I share an image de-mosaiced and with NR and lens correction in DxO PL5 and LrC. Look at the green painting on the wall. There is no NR applied in LR - but even if I did, the face would not be as crisp as with DxO PL5.

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By default, PhotoLab 5 applies strong sharpening. I assume that is the reason why you observe the crispness. 
I do not think it is important how the file looks initially, but how good you can make it.
IMO, DxO overdoes it with sharpness, and I prefer to do it at the end, not at the beginning. That is why I have it turned off when I use DxO's PL 5 as the first step. Unfortunately, one cannot fully disable sharpening in PureRAW.

[clasami]

No amount of sharpening in LR will get you to the same result. What can be seen is not so much sharpness but texture and color of the face lines in the PL5 image.

 Sharpening is a matter of taste. PL5 returns sharper images with most cameras by default. But I don't think it "overdoes", though. In particular Fuji files come out sharp, yet w/o the "worms" that LR can produce even with an enhanced Raw file. In PL5, lens profile sharpening and sharpening can be disabled.

[SrMi]

On 9/23/2022 at 12:02 AM, clasami said:

No amount of sharpening in LR will get you to the same result. What can be seen is not so much sharpness but texture and color of the face lines in the PL5 image.

 Sharpening is a matter of taste. PL5 returns sharper images with most cameras by default. But I don't think it "overdoes", though. In particular Fuji files come out sharp, yet w/o the "worms" that LR can produce even with an enhanced Raw file. In PL5, lens profile sharpening and sharpening can be disabled.

I am certainly seeing artifacts when using PL5's sharpening and DeepPRIME. I am happy with the results from Topaz Sharpen AI (last step).

Edited September 25, 2022 by SrMi