DxO Optics Pro v4 is RAW excellence.

by Thomas Theuerkorn, ©June 2007

The French developer DxO is well known for its premium dollar Analyzer, a tool that's widely used to determine the optical qualities of a lens/camera combination. The company also has been active to put that expertise to use for the consumer. The RAW conversion software Optics Pro has seen a major face lift with version v4, and v4.2 is finally a solid choice after initial stability and performance problems.

The first contact with Optics Pro can be daunting as the interface tries hard to streamline the process, but also sometimes simply seems to quit responding (due a less obvious codependence between tools and panels). While this is relevant to the Expert mode only, the interface is pretty and there is a high degree of automation that may ease the pain -- especially when processing in bulk or if less experienced. However, painful it is for those that want to dive deep into each parameter as some naming convention and the palettes require an hour or two to get used to.

The Plug-in FilmPack is closely marketed with Optics Pro, but costs extra. Added functionality may not compare to the price and most users are probably just fine without it. However, its unique functionality allows to simulate popular film styles in times where digital photography basically took over and the unique style of individual films has been virtually lost. It depends on your application if re-creating this look is worth the extra money.

[Versions] - Optics Pro comes in three versions where the Starter edition does not provide any RAW support and is pretty much useless for serious photographers, the remaining functionality with JPEG pictures (i.e. from consumer grade cameras) may not justify the expense of $79. However, powerful noise reduction and some geometry correction may still work well for entry level users.

The Standard version is basically identical to the Elite version only with limitations in the supported cameras, where prosumer models like Canon 30D and Nikon D200 are covered in the Standard version ($149) while Canon's 5D and higher as well as Nikon's D2X(s) require the Elite version ($299). As long as the EXIF data contains supported information regarding camera body and lens, much of the functionality remain available for both JPEG and RAW. Functionality scales back significantly with only the body supported but not the lens, and of course even more with unrecognized sources for JPEG pictures. The table shows available functionality for each case and input format.

The price difference between Standard and Elite is a result of labor intensive recording of camera/lens profiles. Otherwise both versions are identical as long as your camera and lens are supported.

[Interface] - When browsing photography related blogs, one will find lots of heated discussions about the Optics Pro interface, often not in the most favorable tone. DxO chose to develop their own philosophy on how the interface should react, and many trial users have major problems with that. (In fact, I uninstalled the trial version myself thinking this is not worth it.) However, upon closer examination it's really not as bad as one might think. All DxO would have to do is to guide the user better by providing better visual feedback on which tool is active and which is disabled. That would spare newbies the time and frustration it takes to grasp the co-dependence between the tool panels (right) and the tool bar (top). DxO has been made aware of those issues and so far resisted any pressure despite obvious bad press caused by minor differences from the norm.

Workflow plays an important role in the task of preparing one or many pictures with ease. DxO recognized the importance of such flow in version 4.0 and implemented a flow chart of sorts in the program, a little reminder of what's done and what's still left. This is a more accurate reflection of the actual progress or status than Adobe's Lightroom navigation system which is more or less a number of available modules. Of course it's possible to jump a step like the Organizer, but Optics Pro v4 works hard to keep it streamlined and guide the user to the preferred path. This can cause some confusion when the desired function isn't available since Optics Pro "insists" on completing another first and still doesn't really have a good way to guide the user. After a short adjustment period, this is one of easiest problems to overcome. For instance, even for one picture DxO Optics Pro requires to save project data which is simply a name and a folder to store settings for the process data in order to be retrieved later.

DxO can gather pictures from different folders in one project and keeps the originals in their position. That makes it easier to maintain the original order (i.e. shooting date) and freely compose projects in any combination (including duplicates) in a structure you prefer (i.e. by project, date, subject etc.). Gathering different files is as simple as displaying pictures in a certain folder and adding a selection to the project (bottom pane), then go to the next folder and repeat. This is a very intuitive process for everybody used to working with folders.

The next step is optional and the so-called Organizer is mostly for sorting pictures to make sure the right ones are being processed. The comparative view can display one to four pictures simultaneously, allowing to make decisions on which one to keep. Rating can be applied directly in this view and the picture can be removed from the project (not the disk) via the yellow "X". This is very helpful in comparing similar shots and have their priority established. In fact, the ranking system can be used to hide completed pictures, or selectively process pictures. This may be best done in the Enhance step and display set to hide anything with a rating. With all corrections complete for a picture simply select a star rating and voila it disappears leaving only those not yet rated.

[Functions] - With the availability of supported camera body and lens data, DxO Optics Pro can process pictures fully automated after selecting any of the 20 presets for specific tasks. A high degree of automation is derived from parameters like known equipment, ISO, focal length and other EXIF data. Despite Optics Pro's mostly excellent intelligence in automatically adjusting each function as needed, I prefer the control provided by the Expert settings. This allows access to the full power of this program and especially to correct problems an automated setting is not able to resolve.

With settings complete, the Process step allows to selectively convert pictures (i.e. by ranking) in either JPEG, TIFF or DNG. It's possible to generate multiple versions of the same picture (i.e. large TIFF for print and small JPEG for web applications) and essentially convert it into the aspiring new standard DNG (Digital Negative by Adobe, Inc.) for archival -- which is set to succeed similar the PDF format by the same company.

Processing also requires to name the project and determine the target directory. This task is a bit confusing as the nature of project files needs to be understood in order to work with it efficiently. (For starters, give it a meaningful name in case you want to retrieve the project at a later time.)

Despite a high degree of hands-free automation with respectable results (in Guided Settings), demanding users certainly will prefer to maintain control over every aspect by choosing the expert mode. It allows access to powerful optical corrections like distortion and chromatic aberration. Further, sharpness and noise reduction along with white balance and color adjustments (including tone curve) are available, each with detailed settings to optimize each function. The DxO lighting is a fully or semi-automatic function to both optimize dynamic range of a picture as well as extract detail by treating shadows and lighten features if necessary. Geometry corrections are DxO's trademark and not only does it sport one of the most powerful engines, it's also very easy to use based on lens modules and associated presets which can get you very close. Slightly confusing is the division in tools on the header bar (on top) and corrections palette (see below). It's probably best understood by taking the header bar as the main mode settings and config, while the Expert settings in the corrections palettes are refinements (most of the time).

Out of all the features, the most unique ones in DxO Optics Pro are geometric corrections based on measured characteristics of a typical camera / lens combination. Typically it's set to the measured typical value for distortion etc. and can be fine adjusted if need be. Provided your combination is supported, wide angle distortion, noise reduction and chromatic aberration are automatically corrected and with amazing results. While competitors typically provide color fringe elimination via manual sliders, Optics Pro is able to eliminate this side effect of chromatic aberration automatically and without much interaction. Not only that, it's also one of the most effective algorithms I have seen in any program. (including Lightroom and CameraRAW)

While lens distortion is only really important for wide-angle lenses and/or related imperfections, perspective corrections are basically needed for anything other than a telephoto lens. A good standard or telephoto lens typically has no significant problem and may render this feature less significant. Nevertheless, go wide and DxO will be an invaluable helper, especially the incredible Volume Anamorphosis. (Related to distortion but different image geometry phenomena depending on lens design.) There are extensive tools to correct geometry issues, like drawing a line to level the horizon or forcing two known lines to be parallel. Version 4.2 even adds a grid overlay to judge the result. Still missing are tools to analyze and measure picture details (geometry).

DxO Lighting is an interesting tool to help out with tricky situations by simply detecting typically underexposed portions of the picture and extract more detail. Nice, but use it carefully since it also increases the contrast and may cause banding by excessively expanding underexposed areas while compressing highlights. It's set to "Medium" by default and that's fine for normal exposure histograms. However, significant under- or overexposure may cause issues if your histogram is shifted intentionally to one side or the other (by trying to spread it across the whole spectrum).

Color correction can be very easy using a reference card and apply the changes to a number of pictures. Further, Optics Pro v4 provides four color adjustment points in addition to white balance and tint. This is especially useful as even colors can be exchanged (as long as the targeted color doesn't exist anywhere else in the picture where such a shift would be unwanted. Say you have a red flower on green grass, and simply by defining the Red and changing it to Yellow for example, you can quickly alter your picture. It's advisable to lock the Green in another color point to preserve the tone.

Tonal correction can be more difficult. Daylight appears to be a little yellowish at first, at least compared to the cooler default (AWB) in my Canon EOS 20D. Further, custom white balance of slightly noisier shots (i.e. ISO 800) can be tricky as Optics Pro seems to overcompensate and turn the picture tone towards pink. This is a bug that surfaced in 4.2 and can only be worked around by using the manual temperature adjustment. (Updates might fix this issue by the time you get to read this review.)

DxO also provides the photographer with a freely adjustable tone curve and automatically deactivates competing settings from the FilmPack. The shown curve demonstrates the freeform adjustment of the three color components (R, G, B) and of course the Master (Luminance). It can be easily seen that the curve form is not limited to typical splines.

Even DxO Labs cannot perform miracles and the results still greatly depend on the quality of the raw data. Yet, with the body / lens combination supported, the achievable quality is impressive. Distortion correction retains much of the original sharpness and adaptive sharpening as well as noise reduction (depending on lens properties and picture details) make it possible to create smooth dark areas and still retain or improve sharpness in the details. Best results are gained from RAW files due to the greater depth of color to work with and the availability of the full data directly from the sensor.

The last step in DxO's workflow is to view the results and compare each original with the processed result. This is not all that essential but a nice verification that the output is truly better than the initial picture. To do so one can simply stay in Optics Pro and no browsing of the destination directory is needed. Despite the ability to present your pictures in a slideshow from within Optics Pro v4, there is no print functionality available. This makes the focus of this program as a front-end RAW converter clear, but at least printing a catalog page (portfolio) would be a good way to keep track of the projects.

Overall, the workflow is well defined, though the co-dependency of the tools in the top left-hand corner and the corrections palette on the right allows for confusing moments when one tool disables others but without obvious clues for this to be the reason why the program seemingly stopped responding. This is typically the case when using the crop tool and the white balance tool on the top while the palettes on the right bearing similar parameters are not functioning until you return in either the Select or View mode.

[Performance] - DxO Optics Pro has seen significant speed improvements from v4.0 to v4.2 and that's mostly with regard to render speed of the preview. Only at 100% magnification all features are rendered in an incredibly detailed preview. Any other zoom level turns off some preview functionality (like sharpening). This becomes also visible in render times where a 20% preview took 2 seconds and the 100% view took 4 seconds. This doesn't sound too dramatic, but it adds up for large projects ... or when the user is more or less using the trial and error method. The CPU diagram shows Optics Pro during the conversion of 5 pictures (8.2MPx each). It can be clearly seen that DxO manages to keep the processor steadily busy while processing 4 pictures simultaneously. The load drops off when those four were cleared out of the memory and the fifth picture was processed after the first completed.

The number of simultaneous threads appears to be memory limited and 2 GByte allow for four pictures to be processed at the same time. (Indicated by actual page file usage.) Four 8.2 MPx pictures loaded the CPU to 100% for 80 seconds. The higher efficiency of the batch process can be easily seen when comparing it to a single thread which takes on average 30 seconds. Hence batch processing is about 50% more efficient due to better CPU utilization. (Derived from the example with 20 seconds per picture when batching, 30 seconds per picture with only one thread.) All process are asynchronous which allows to complete one load the next -- independent from other tasks. DxO Optics Pro keeps the user informed about the status of every currently active task and the phase it's in. Each picture is an independent task and can be aborted and skipped individually in case you change your mind without having to stop the whole batch.

The times given refer to my test configuration and with average settings. I am not sure how this scales with more memory and more processor cores. Processor core speed, however, certainly does have a direct impact on speed. Also, considerable impact on conversion time comes from the utilized functionality. Enabling all corrections (distortion, sharpening, noise, fringing, lighting etc.) increased process time in batches to about 30 seconds per picture while and an individual picture now took 45 seconds.

Overall redraw speed may be average or slightly on the slow side, but conversion speed is impressive considering the extensive optical calculations and especially the incredibly effective elimination of chromatic aberration as well as sharpening and distortion correction. It's best to set up your project, define all corrections and then simply let the computer do the rest. With DxO Optics Pro set to utilize all available CPU power, the computer come almost to a stop and you probably deserve a coffee break anyway. (Unless you choose to go fully automated and in that case the computer is doing it all anyway.)

[Overall] - The time invested in understanding each parameter pays off mostly in previously complicated geometry problems -- should your picture show distortion (especially in wide angle). Granted, every change that re-arranges pixels also reduces sharpness slightly due to necessary interpolation, but the results of DxO are quite respectable -- especially if you have pixels to spare (i.e. Eight MPx or higher). Lens softness is often mentioned in reference to Canon, as the standard rendition is typically "softer". Knowing the characteristics of a lens allows to compensate for this phenomena without creating the dreaded halos (over-sharpening). Another feature worth mentioning is the color balancing using up to 4 additional samples. (It's typically only three: white, mid tone, black.) They can be applied directly in the picture by clicking on a pixel and adjusting the displayed color wheel. However, it sounds easier than it is at first in practical use. (Make also sure your monitor is calibrated.)

With all the positive features in Optics Pro 4, DxO is missing out on user acceptance due to minor oversights like interface quirks and the lack of any interface to external editors. The lack of a print feature may be forgiven, but it still would be nice to be able to have a portfolio page generated. The low price of the Standard edition is a steal for users with supported camera/lens combinations. The Elite version is significantly more pricey ($299) and especially with the optional FilmPack starts to loose its price advantage. However, if supported the Standard version provides maximum functionality for prosumers at a moderate $159 and that's a strong plus compared to Lightroom or Lightzone.

Links

• DxO Optics Pro 4 product page
• DxO FilmPack review
• Lightcrafts Lightzone 3 review
• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom v1.0 review
• BenVista PhotoZoom Pro v2 review
• Genuine Fractals 5 review
• RAW converter comparison

 

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