In Conclusion

This software is designed for those who not only need a good raw conversion package, with exposure, lighting and colour optimisation, but also for those who find it important to have their images correctly adjusted for the different lenses they use. If this is not enough DxO will also correct colour noise when using very high ISO. It does these tasks well, and a multitude of others, some specific to your camera and lens used and with many applied automatically.

Unfortunately, Optics Pro is basically useless for users who own camera bodies and lenses not yet profiled by DxO, so do check the compatibility pages on the DxO website before buying.

The program could be seen as not really an alternative to Lightroom or Photoshop, but rather it can work with them as a plug-in and in that sense completes the array of raw tools available to the photographer. As a standalone tool though it will satisfy the needs of many pro and amateurs. For me its only real frustration was the speed at which it worked, but if you don’t own Photoshop where you would normally do correction to image geometry etc. this may well not be an issue and the £199 to buy the Elite version or £99 for the Standard it could well be money well spent.

Postscript

Since writing the above, I have come across something else I feel should be addressed by DxO. If I am to compare it with ACR in Lightroom 2 and Photoshop, it is worth stating that Adobe's two programs seem more integrated than DxO does with either. For example, I can adjust a raw file in Lightroom 2, then export it to Photoshop for further editing. However if I export as a Smart Object, I can continue to use ACR in Photoshop. It would have been nice to think that I could make adjustments in Lightroom 2 using some of its unique tools, then import that file with its associated XMP or Sidecar file into DxO, and therefore take advantage of some of the great tools to be found there. At present, I can access all files imported into Lightroom 2 through DxO, but they only come as the original raw file and not with any adjustments I’ve made in Lightroom. If I do it the other way and using Photoshop, I import a DxO adjusted file, it comes as a non raw file and therefore I can’t take advantage of the tools in ACR. I suppose I can but dream.

The DxO Optics Pro 5 gets a DPNow Recommended award.

DPNow category ratings:

Features

Ease of Use

Output quality

Speed performance

Value for Money: Standard version

Value for Money: Elite version

DPNow review ratings explained.

Overall percentage rating:

Overall star rating

 

Check the latest price or purchase options for the DxO Optics Pro via
Amazon Germany is currently the only European Amazon outlet that supplies electronic goods like cameras, printers and scanners priced in Euros.
Each Amazon outlet can ship to most countries in the world.