Camera Labs

It's been out for a couple of days and I just got round to purchasing it. I was already a user of version 6, and one feature alone was worth the update cost: speed! V6 can be pretty slow, especially for my working style of bulk batch converting. As a previous user, I got a decent discount for the update too.

The speed is improved through optimised algorithms, even with some new processing tricks added. Further bonus: it uses OpenCL to accelerate further.

I've only put through a random selection of 21 raws from the 7D, taken with a supported lens for correction. Defaults used in the respective versions.

So how much faster is it? Following are the times taken to complete the batch conversion of the 21 raws.

V6.6: 234 seconds
V7 CPU only: 201 seconds (1.16x speed of V6.6)
V7 OpenCL: 88 seconds (2.66x speed of V6.6)

DxO claim "up to 4x" speed improvement. My hardware is an i7-2600k stock, 8GB ram running Windows x64, with a HD5850 currently installed. So I do have a relatively fast CPU with a mid range GPU. If you have a slower CPU and faster GPU the relative improvement could be much greater.

Haven't pixel peeped if the new processing looks much different than the previous version yet.

Another bonus is the user interface has been revised. This is better for me, where I didn't like the old "projects" based mindset. I just wanted either to batch process a load, or process one fiddling with all the options manually. Now projects are optional, you can work on single or multiple files at once without creating projects.

I did participate in a write-in survey on the software in the past where the UI and performance were high on my list of desired changes. I have to assume I wasn't the only one with those thoughts and it is nice to know they have changed this.

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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.