DxO with the Q3

[Woodstock]

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Apologies for what is essentially a software question and some may therefore not consider particularly relevant, but I have noticed quite a few references to DxO Photolab in use with the Q3, and would value feedback on this combination.

 

I have used LR for two decades very happily, but having decided to take a new approach to my photography, have bought a Q3 and got rid of all my other cameras apart from an IR converted X100T. Related to this is the feeling of possibly also considering a change in DAM/Raw converter/post processor. I have already decided to incorporate Pure Raw 4 in my workflow, but wondered about going the whole hog and using Photolab 7.

i will get the trial versions to try but would be grateful if anyone would like to point me towards any areas of this software that they have found particularly rewarding or problematic, so that I may concentrate on those when running the trial versions. I should say that I do not use anything other than the simplest set up of the LR DAM so don’t think the rather less configured DxO version would be problematic for me.

 

Many thanks.

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[David Wien]

I use PhotoLab 6 and will probably upgrade to PL7 or 8 around Black Friday. It has more facilities than Pure Raw. I also have ViewPoint 4, which adds functionality to PL. I have personally found nothing of interest in Film Pack to make it worthwhile; but you may find use for it

In converting Q3 raw files there is only one problem with PL6, and DXO are working on fixing it, and that is that certain specific reds/oranges emerge "too loud". This is, however, fixable with the colour controls that are in PL6, and the fix is only needed when those particular hues are present. It is not a showstopper for me. The rest of the program I find easy to use and it does what I need. In my opinion, the perspective controls (including what come with ViewPoint) and the control of brightness of dark colours are particularly useful, as is the noise reduction.

David

[Denebola]

See that you mentioned DAM, and in the case you're using Windows, I may suggest

https://www.photools.com/

A very advanced DAM, which (of course) you can use together with Pure Raw, to close the loop.

Den

[Paul W]

I use LR but own DXO Photolab-5 as well. When I use the Q3 to zoom or set to monochrome, LR renders the DNG with those settings. I can change the crop in Develop module but, for me, it is quicker to begin from what I chose in-camera, and sometimes it is  reminder of what my vision for the image was. With Photolab-5 I cannot see the Q3 settings I chose - only the original un-zoomed DNG in colour. Just a thought to keep in mind?

 

Paul

[David Wien]

9 hours ago, Paul W said:

I use LR but own DXO Photolab-5 as well. When I use the Q3 to zoom or set to monochrome, LR renders the DNG with those settings. I can change the crop in Develop module but, for me, it is quicker to begin from what I chose in-camera, and sometimes it is  reminder of what my vision for the image was. With Photolab-5 I cannot see the Q3 settings I chose - only the original un-zoomed DNG in colour. Just a thought to keep in mind?

 

Paul

This is not a compelling reason to subscribe to LR, in my opinion. I prefer to keep my memory updated for free and use PL! 😀

David

[JNK100]

I use PL6 with my Q3 and find it excellent. The reduction is noticeably good. 

Like another contributor mentioned, unlike LR it does not preview a raw in-camera crop and the std. colour settings are too vibrant.

Overall it works well in my view with the Q3 once one gets used to it.

 

[David Wien]

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30 minutes ago, JNK100 said:

I use PL6 with my Q3 and find it excellent.  ...

Like another contributor mentioned, .... the std. colour settings are too vibrant.

Do you find this is so with all colours? I only have to adjust some reds and oranges.

David

[JNK100]

2 hours ago, David Wien said:

Do you find this is so with all colours? I only have to adjust some reds and oranges.

David

Yes David, to my eyes all colours seem unrealistically saturated. I turn off 'colour rendering' in PL6 and this works fine in my view

Jeff 

[Woodstock]

Thanks to all responders for their thoughts.