DXO PureRAW5 Software Review

The latest release from the DXO photography editing software company is an updated version of DXO PuerRAW. So how does version 5 of this software perform and is it an improvement on the previous version 4?

In this DXO PureRAW5 Software Review we will take a look at what the software does and how well it delivers plus the real question - Is it worth purchasing?

What is DXO PureRAW5?This is a RAW file processing software that will remove any noise from you image and also correct any lens distortion and lens sharpness issues.

Changes From DXO PureRAW4

• Support for Fuji film Xtrans sensors

• Preview window improvement

• Interface updates

Downloading & Installation

The good news is that DXO offer a free 15 day trial of the software so you can have a play with it before you buy.The download and installation was fast efficient and seamless. It automatically installed itself as a desktop icon and as a plug in for Lightroom (not photoshop). If you are running other DXO software such as Film Pack or Photolab then the software will automatically update these when you next launch them.

Launching the software

If your using PureRAW5 via the desktop icon then a simple double click will launch the software and you will see the following screen

However if you are accessing directly from Lightroom then when you have selected the image(s) you want to process you simply go -File - Plugin Extras - DXO PuerRAW5

If it was a single image then the software will open at the main processing screen with your selected image in place.

If you uploaded multiple RAW files then you will see a selection screen showing the images as thumbnails.

If you upload multiple RAW files then the search feature in the software is ideal as you are able to select images using the Metadata and so can pick all the images that are above a certain ISO or and/or at a certain F stop. What this means is you can efficiently batch process if you understand your cameras performance. What I mean by this is if you know that above ISO XXX or at F stop XX you camera has issues then you can select these images and process them through DXO PuerRAW5, which is a nice feature. A word of warning you need to have been through you images first and culled out all of the rejects as you will generate even more copies and fill even more memory space!This ability to batch process is for me an important feature. In a similar manner if you like the lens correction that the software does then if you select all the images "below" your ISO limit XXX then you can dial down the two noise reduction sliders so eliminating noise reduction aspect and only applying lens correction to that set of images ( you are not able to turn the sharpening off - maybe an update idea DXO?)

The software will look at all the images in relation to the camera and lens combination used and download the relevant profile (so you do need to be on line for this aspect). If the software has seen the combination of camera and lens before then it does not need to download the profile again.

When an image(s) is selected you will get the option to process or preview and process and I would advocate the latter option as it give the most control.

In the top left hand corner of the main page are three selections

• File

  • Add all photos to lightbox

  • Add all photos from folder

  • Preferences

    • Language

    • Deep Prime Acceleration - how you processing power is utilised

    • DXO Pure Raw Widget - Detects if an external drive is added

    • Instant Preview - on/off

  
  

Main Image Processing Panel

The software will launch on the processing screen you are given a number of options:

In the top right hand corner are three icon buttons the

• Top Button - Main processing page

• Middle Button - Local adjustment page

• Bottom Button - Output settings

Main processing page

• Denoising & Demosaicing

  • DeepPRIME 3A version that requires less processing power

  • DeepPRIME XD2/XDA more advanced version that requires additional processing power

  • DeepPRIME XD3 X Trans Enables you to process images captured on this type of sensor i.e. Fuji images

    Note You are able to see which of the first two option give you a preferred result and select the one you want and the third option now means this software will work for X Trans images

  • You are given an estimated processing time

  • Sliders allow you to manually set

    • Luminance effect

    • Details effect

• Optical Corrections

  • Lens Sharpness You can toggle this on and off Decide how much is applied either via the slider or via a drop down selection. It does show an intensity value - what this means is unclear and you will need to establish a setting you like.

  • Vignetting You can toggle this on and off

  • Chromatic Aberration You can toggle this on and off

  • Lens Distortion You can toggle this on and off

  • Any crop effect is selected via a dropdown box
    

• Top Menu Bar

  • i This allows you to view the image metadata

  • If the filmstrip of available so that images are visible at the bottom

  • If the processing options window is visible on the right hand side of the screen

  • Full Image view This shows you the processed version of the image with the settings as you have requested and if you hold this icon down with the mouse it will display the before image.

  • Split Screen You are able to see the image with a variable split screen view of before and after - This is my preferred view

  • Zoom function

Local Adjustment Panel

This panel allows you to make local adjustments to the processing of the image using a brush tool. After painting in the are you want o adjust you can then change the level of the treatment on the image. An eraser tool is also available.

This whole panel I feel is a mistake in the development of the software

1. The brush tool is very naive compare to most software brushes today and does not offer sufficient control - an area DXO need to significantly improve in a future update

2. If the software is as good and accurate as it appears then why would you want to change specific areas of the processing, surely you would want an accurate starting image that you can process as you wish in you main software suite

Output Panel

• Output Format

  • DNG

  • TIFF

  • JPG It also tells you the size of the output file
    

• Destination

  • Original Folder

    • Sub Folder

  • Custom Folder

• File Renaming

  • This can be toggled on or off

  • A dropdown box gives you a selection of naming options for your output image

    • Date - File name

    • File Name - Sequence (001)

    • File Name - Processing Method

    • File Name - Date - Processing Method It will show you an example of the one you select

• Export

  • Don't export after processing

  • Adobe Lightroom

    opens in Lightroom

  • Adobe Photoshop Opens in Photoshop

  • Select another software

Conclusions

• A question you need to ask yourself is do you want to clean up your image(s) at the beginning (RAW image) or at the end of your processing - for me there is a distinct advantage of doing these types of corrections to you images at the beginning or you processing as the unwanted aspects will only get worse as you process and image and so even harder to correct.

•  Is it worth the upgrade cost? If you use this software repeatedly then the answer is yes, however if you only use it to a limited extent then its questionable as to the value of an upgrade.

• Is it a replacement for Photoshop - NO

• Is it a replacement for Lightroom - Possibly (although I feel NO)

• Is it a worthwhile addition to your available software - YES

• BAD Aspects The adjustment brush functionality is poor but this has little impact as the whole adjustment brush feel like an error in the design as it currently operates. Having said this about the brush its presence does not impact me an I will just ignore it.

• GOOD Aspects Does it do what it says on the tin? The answers is yes and with style. It does remove the noise in your image without leaving everything looking plastic like so many of these noise reduction software do and it does a great job of lens correction/sharpening.

• WARNING Be careful with you sharpening when processing the image in your standard software package as some sharpening has been done and its easy to over process. Similarly with the lens correction in Lightroom you need to ensure these are off as you don't want to double correct.

• WHO is it for ? If you are: High End or Pro photographer - YES Keen Club Amateur - Probably YES

  Casual Photographer - NO

• The QUESTION? Are you BRAVE enough? This is the question this software left me asking - are you BRAVE enough to shoot at a higher ISO where you know you will get noise, knowing this software will manage the noise issue.If you are brave enough then you can use the exposure triangle to you advantage.

Trust that the software will allow you to move from f4 to f22 with the knowledge that you can retain a fast shutter speed by increasing the ISO beyond your normal limit/setting thus delivering more noise and some lens distortion but a huge DOF and a steady image. With this software you can be confident that the noise and lens distortion will be managed by the DXO PureRAW5 processing - So be BRAVE!

Visit the DXO PureRAW5 site LINK

I have been given a 15% discount code by DXO - please feel free to use it PAR_IAN

#DXO, #PureRAW5