Camera Labs

Just been announced. I'm installing the trial as I type...

New features over previous versions are better "default" value output i.e. without user adjustment of settings. This is potentially handy for me since I tend to do a batch convert of very different exposed files to jpeg as opposed to doing them one at a time.

Another new feature is one-shot HDR. Kinda what you can manually do with raws anyway...

Also claimed improvement in processing speed and the usual addition of support for more cameras.

I'm having a look at it...

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

For a full default process with lens correction on 7D (18MP) it is averaging about 18 seconds an image total throughput - on AMD X6 at 3.5 GHz. Unfortunately I don't have the figures from trying previous versions.

1st test batch should be done in about 2 hours or so when I'll do some pixel peeping.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

My brain just imploded. I noticed the trial version said version 6.2. Went back to the DxO website and looked again. Doh! Version 6.5 is only announced, not out yet. So the testing I did wasn't what I thought it was...

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

.
Wait for it, wait for it...

OK, now you can get it...

Here

Bob.

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OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

Downloading now

I recently converted a batch with 6.2, so I can do side by side comparisons later.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Somebody's been watching How I Met Your Mother?

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Graham
Flickr

.
[off-topic]
Nope. It's a phrase used in some movies, usually spoken by a drill sergeant to encourage the troops to wait for the word of command. Apparently it dates back to 1935 and a play by Noel Coward called Red Peppers (source).
[/off-topic]

Bob.

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OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

Initial impressions - not a significant difference in it on what I can see. Comparing some well exposed low ISO images they're practically identical. Only switching side by side can you just make out slight level differences. I guess I should feed it something more challenging to chew on.

On any speed improvement, that's inconclusive. The PC I installed it on is somewhat ram starved and also runs distributed computing projects. I think that has had an impact.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Oh I guess Barney didn't come up with it then

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Graham
Flickr

DxO 6.5 does make a more noticeable difference in other conditions than my earlier one.

In the case of an underexposed shot, the old version had the low level low frequency colour noise. The new version deals with that nicely without compromising detail. Even in well exposed shots, it does seem to deal better with smooth gradients too (e.g. in bokeh). It does seem to offer a tangible improvement over 6.2.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Done a bit more testing of it... I've never come so close to buying it! It really works well at removing low frequency splotching in shadow areas at any ISO setting, as well as bright spots at higher ISO.

I dug out the same raw test files from my earlier test on DxO 6.0. This more demonstrates the detail performance but you can see the coarse colour noise removal too.

The order is: 50D camera jpeg, DxO 6.0 defaults, DxO6.5 defaults.


ISO200


ISO6400


ISO12800

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Ok, this will be my last post on DxO for the night. I just tried out the new single file HDR feature in it. This test is more on the dynamic range processing. The original camera jpeg has deep shadow areas in the bushes near the front, as well as highlights about blowing in the clouds.


Camera JPEG


DxO 6.0 defaults


DxO 6.5 defaults


DxO 6.5 HDR light


DxO 6.5 HDR realistic


DxO 6.5 HDR artistic

I quite like the stronger two HDR settings.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

I can't imagine me ever saying this, but those HDRs actually look pretty good!

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I take pictures so quickly, my highschool was "Continuous High".

Can i correct hot pixels with DxO?
Im looking for a setting to do this but can't find it yet.