DXO. Photo lab

[kinross]

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I am abandoned LR. Upgraded to Monterey on 2018 Mac mini and looking for new photo editor.

have left LR as I do not want subscription or anything linked to cloud. I have been looking at photo lab and seems a good option. Any one have experience of this software. I am a fairly light user now so would keep it at basic level. Trying to keep it fairly simple.

Thanks for any ideas.

Mike.

 

 

 

 

[mzbe]

It's a good option. They have a 30 day trial (as do most others) - I would recommend you try and see if you like it.

Also, that would save you some money by purchasing on Black Friday ... expecting discounts.

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[Jeff S]

Just so you’re clear in your choices, LR Classic has no cloud mandate whatsoever.  Yes, it’s subscription based, but Photoshop is included, all for ten bucks a month, which is less than I used to spend on the former billing plans.  Various new LR controls and features are also included, making editing simpler and more flexible. One can cancel at any time.

Jeff

[kinross]

Thank you Jeff. As usual a clear and handy reply.

I would prefer to stay with LR as I am completely at home with it.

I can accept the subscription ok. But everywhere I look it seems to rabbit on about cloud. Maybe I should download trial and take it from there.

cheers and many thanks.

Mike.

 

[Jeff S]

58 minutes ago, kinross said:

Thank you Jeff. As usual a clear and handy reply.

I would prefer to stay with LR as I am completely at home with it.

I can accept the subscription ok. But everywhere I look it seems to rabbit on about cloud. Maybe I should download trial and take it from there.

cheers and many thanks.

Mike.

 

The cloud is mandated with Lightroom, not Lightroom Classic, which is the carryover from the old LR, but now including many improvements, especially local controls, masking features, etc, plus of course all the latest Leica camera/lens updates.  The ‘Photographer Plan’ includes LR Classic and Photoshop for 10 bucks monthly.  I use it and store all my photos locally, just as in the old days.

Jeff

Edited November 8, 2022 by Jeff S

[kinross]

Thanks again Jeff. I find that if you are not very careful you get diverted into signing up for things you do not want. Will tread carefully.

Since updating to Monterey my Image print black is not connecting to my pictures folder nor is it connected to line. Will have to take it up with help desk. My best option may be to upgrade to V12. Will cost me but I think that image print is a brilliant printing program.

Mike.

 

[tom.w.bn]

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I left LR with Version 5 when a subscription model was seen on the horizon and used Capture One two versions long (still have C1 V12 on the PC) and used Photo Lab since then. Photo Lab has not a comparable library function and the meta data search is really slow but for me it's the easiest way to go from the raw conversion colour to my desired target colour. I like the handling and controls a lot. Photo Lab is more selective with the support of cameras and lenses. No support for monochrom DNG at all, no generic support for DNG. When Photo Lab does not support your camera, you can't work with files, even if they are DNG. If your camera and lenses are supportet, they do a really good job with the camera and lens profiles. I tried a lot of programs on the market and for me Photo Lab is the best compromise so far. They even added Fuji xtrans support this year so I don't need C1 V12 anymore to access my old Fuji files.

 

[Jeff S]

27 minutes ago, kinross said:

Thanks again Jeff. I find that if you are not very careful you get diverted into signing up for things you do not want. Will tread carefully.

Since updating to Monterey my Image print black is not connecting to my pictures folder nor is it connected to line. Will have to take it up with help desk. My best option may be to upgrade to V12. Will cost me but I think that image print is a brilliant printing program.

Mike.

 

IP is my go-to software for printing.  Their customer service is also exemplary.  I’m sure they’ll steer you right.

Jeff

[marchyman]

3 hours ago, Jeff S said:

The cloud is mandated with Lightroom, not Lightroom Classic, which is the carryover from the old LR, but now including many improvements, especially local controls, masking features, etc, plus of course all the latest Leica camera/lens updates.

Also, you get access to both Lr (cloud based) and LrC (full feature classic Lightroom) for the same $10/mo.

I played with the cloud based Lr for a while in addition to LrC.  You can use both at the same time, syncing your changes between the two.  I decided that the cloud based version was too limiting for my needs. It might be fine if you need to edit on a tablet or phone.  I prefer a largish monitor.

[Jeff S]

8 minutes ago, marchyman said:

Also, you get access to both Lr (cloud based) and LrC (full feature classic Lightroom) for the same $10/mo.

I played with the cloud based Lr for a while in addition to LrC.  You can use both at the same time, syncing your changes between the two.  I decided that the cloud based version was too limiting for my needs. It might be fine if you need to edit on a tablet or phone.  I prefer a largish monitor.

The OP doesn’t want the cloud-based LR, which as you say is also limited feature-wise, nor do I.  Adobe figured out that many customers shared the sentiment; otherwise they were likely going to eliminate LR Classic and force people to cloud-mandated LR. And they finally modified the naming of the products, which still can be confusing, but not nearly as much as when LR Classic still had CC as part of the name.

Jeff

[tom.w.bn]

Maybe the title of the thread should be changed. This is not a discussion about Photo Lab but about Adobe.

[Jeff S]

31 minutes ago, tom.w.bn said:

Maybe the title of the thread should be changed. This is not a discussion about Photo Lab but about Adobe.

Only because nobody has so far come forward in support of (or against) DXO in response to the OP’s original question.

Jeff

 

[luetz]

Interesting, how many PP users, shy away from anything subscription based.  I can understand if the monthly fee in your local is prohibitive but for me $10.00 @month for LR Classic and Photoshop is an absolute bargain.  

[convexferret]

Also, LR (not classic) is not cloud-based in the sense that you're running something on another computer. It simply has synchronising built-in natively to other machines or the iPad or iPhone version. I've seen a lot of confusion about this in many threads. It runs fine if you don't want to use cloud storage.

[kinross]

Agreed the tread has strayed, often happens. I have decided to accept subscription as I do not wish to learn another editor. Probably due to my age, 85.

I am confused. I had come to the conclusion that I need Lightroom classic. I understood that the only cloud connection was for updates, not forced storage.

I thought Lightroom CC was the fully cloud based version. Is there just an Adobe Lightroom?

I find this all very confusing and Adobe do not make it easy. Apologise for being dim.

Mike.

 

[Jeff S]

8 minutes ago, kinross said:

Agreed the tread has strayed, often happens. I have decided to accept subscription as I do not wish to learn another editor. Probably due to my age, 85.

I am confused. I had come to the conclusion that I need Lightroom classic. I understood that the only cloud connection was for updates, not forced storage.

I thought Lightroom CC was the fully cloud based version. Is there just an Adobe Lightroom?

I find this all very confusing and Adobe do not make it easy. Apologise for being dim.

Mike.

 

As noted, LR Classic is the old model, updated with better controls.  It used to be called LR CC Classic, but Adobe dropped the CC (creative cloud) reference. The newer model, now called Lightroom (some still mention CC) has more limited features (although more have been added over time), but is cloud-based.  You’ll want the $9.99 monthly Photographer Plan that includes LR Classic and Photoshop.  It comes with a small amount of optional cloud storage… just ignore it and continue using your own local storage. 
 

Jeff

[marchyman]

6 hours ago, Jeff S said:

Only because nobody has so far come forward in support of (or against) DXO in response to the OP’s original question.

Jeff

 

I looked at Photolab several years ago.  At that time it took about 30 seconds of trial use to rule it out -- it did not support all of my cameras, refusing to render images shot with my M 262.

Perhaps it is different today.

[Jeff S]

35 minutes ago, marchyman said:

I looked at Photolab several years ago.  At that time it took about 30 seconds of trial use to rule it out -- it did not support all of my cameras, refusing to render images shot with my M 262.

Perhaps it is different today.

I once explored LR alternatives, back when it seemed likely that Adobe might ditch LR Classic and force the cloud-based model. My research included DXO, but I likewise quickly ruled it out after asking their customer service about their slow, or sometimes non-existent, Leica gear support.  They offered no encouragement for improvement, saying it was difficult (aka not a priority IMO) to get sample gear for testing, and made it clear that Monochrom support was not in the cards at all.  
 

Fortunately, Adobe listened to customers and have since added many features to LR Classic, which is an encouraging sign for continuing support.

Jeff

[iRandom]

I've given DXO a try multiple times over the years. Each time I've found it to be finicky on what images it will open. It won't open RAWs from cameras it doesn't support as others have said. However, from time to time it will randomly refuse to open some images from cameras it supports. Even images that it was OK with before. 

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[kinross]

The last post had reminded me that I tried  the trial version of DXO some time back. I abandoned it because it would not open photos in Image print black. I chased it up with DXO and it was something to do with colour channels.

No offer of changes.

I have settled on LR photo package with minimal cloud storage. Will not use PS but dose not matter. Will put wheels in motion when I have time over weekend.

Will be sorry to finally switch off my Mac Pro 5.1. Keeps my office warm.

Mike.