DXO Launches PhotoLab 5 with Beta Support for Fujifilm X-Trans
Today DXO labs launches the latest version of DXO PhotoLab and it contains several new and improved features. However the big one, and the one I never thought I would ever see, is that the software now supports FujiFilm X-Trans cameras. While this support is currently in beta, it finally brings the software to Fujifilm shooters.
I’ll get into the details of Fujifilm support in a little while, but first here are the official list of new features:
(The following is an excerpt from the official press release)
U Point technology: New pointer — Control Lines — and improved sensitivity settings
DxO is further advancing the most efficient and intuitive local retouching and adjustment technologies available by adding a second type of pointer: Control Lines. This new tool complements the technology's existing Control Points by allowing users to carry out touch-ups on large areas with an easy-to-use selection method. To make them even more precise, Control Lines and Control Points are now equipped with sensitivity settings. Photographers can easily adjust the effect of their edits based on the luminance and chrominance of the targeted areas.
A PhotoLibrary packed with metadata and keyword management features
PhotoLab 5 now processes IPTC and EXIF data and third-party application synchronisations. It also includes advanced means of keyword prioritisation via an interactive tree structure. In addition, this new version optimises the software's photo library management tools by reorganising them.
DeepPRIME: more efficient and up to 4 times faster
Trained by deep learning methods using millions of images analysed in DxO laboratories over the past 20 years, DxO DeepPRIME technology uses artificial intelligence to develop RAW files. It drastically improves digital noise reduction while ensuring more efficient demosaicing. Traditionally, these two operations have been carried out separately, each introducing flaws that adversely affect the quality of the other. With deep learning, DeepPRIME takes a holistic approach that combines the two steps into one.
The deep-learning approach of DxO PhotoLab 5 and DeepPRIME in particular has been significantly optimised in terms of reactivity as well as processing and export times. These improvements are available to everyone and are up to 4 times faster for Apple Silicon Mac users and 1.5 times faster on the best Windows architectures.
Support for Fujifilm X-Trans sensors (Beta)
For the first time ever, DxO PhotoLab 5 now supports Fujifilm X-Trans sensor cameras. From the recent X-E4, X-S10, X-T4, and X100V through to the older X-E2 and X-70, no fewer than 18 Fujifilm cameras are now supported. In addition, 605 new DxO modules have been made available. Created through the exclusive DxO Labs calibration process, these modules automatically remove optical defects such as distortion, chromatic aberrations, vignetting, and lack of sharpness.
"We are very happy to finally open our doors to the community of Fujifilm photographers," said Jean- Marc Alexia, VP Product Strategy. "Our goal is to offer them the best solution available in terms of image quality. To this end, we have created a website specifically dedicated to collecting their feedback. We can't wait to hear what they think."
Fuji photographers are welcome to submit their feedback and comments via the following website: www.dxo.com/feedback-xtrans-beta
End of press release
Initial Impressions of Fuji Film Support
So, I’ve been trying this out for a couple of weeks, and when it comes to Fujifilm support, I have both good and bad news!
First of all, the good: It does a really good job. It is capable of some of the best conversions that I have seen, and I’ve tried and tested a lot of options. But there are a few caveats, which brings us to the bad..
In order to get the best results you need to use Deep Prime.
For those unfamiliar with the software, Deep Prime is the company’s AI-based noise reduction technology that works at the demosiacing level. For the Fuji X-Trans conversions the software taps into Deep Prime to give you a better quality image.
Fuji X-Pro2 Photo - Converted in DXO PhotoLab 5
Without using Deep Prime the results are mediocre at best and suffer form many of the issues Fujifilm users are familiar with when using software such as Lightroom. These go away when you enable Deep Prime, but the problem with Deep Prime is that the software only renders the technology when exporting. You can get a small windowed preview when working on your images, but in order to see them fully rendered you need to export them.
Shot on Fujifilm X-Pro 2 - Converted with DXO PhotoLab 5
Shot on Fujifilm X-Pro 2 - Converted with DXO PhotoLab 5
This gives you two options. You can work with your images as normal, and then when you’re ready to export, export your image as a Tiff or Jpeg with Deep Prime enabled. Alternatively, if you would prefer to see the better quality conversion, you can export it as a DNG file with just the optical corrections and demosiacing and noise reduction applied, and this will give you an editable DNG file which still retains the ability to work with it as if it was a RAW file. This is kind of like how “Enhance” works in Lightroom, or X-Transformer.
While it is a bit of a roundabout way of working, the results are impressive.
But there’s more bad news. They do have support for matching Fuji’s Film Simulation modes, but this needs the companion application DXO Film Pack (a new version of which was also launched today) in order to get access to these. The advantage though is that these will work on all cameras, and not just those from Fujifilm. They are very good though, but I wish the company had provided these as standard.
One other thing - it wasn’t mentioned in any of the information released, but hopefully DXO Pure Raw will be updated soon to support X-Trans also. There’s no information or timeline on this now though.
Anyway, this is just an initial announcement post, so I won’t go into X-Trans support in too much detail here.
I am planning to do a tutorial on how to use DXO Photo Lab for X-Trans conversions, where I will explain how to get the best results. In the mean time, you can download a trial of the software now, and try it for yourself.
Availability
DxO PhotoLab 5 (PC and Mac) is available now from the DxO online store at the following introductory prices until November 14, 2021:
- DxO PhotoLab 5 ESSENTIAL Edition: £99.99 instead of £129.
- DxO PhotoLab 5 ELITE Edition: £149.99 instead of £199.
The DxO PhotoLab 5 license does not require a subscription and can be installed either on two workstations (DxO PhotoLab 5 ESSENTIAL Edition) or three workstations (DxO PhotoLab 5 ELITE Edition).
You can find out full details including localised an upgrade pricing by visiting the DXO website. There is also a 30 day trial version available.
If you buy through the above links, we get a small commission, which helps run this site.
