Thank you for taking the time to do this wonderful video on the new release of Photolab 8, I really enjoyed watching it and learned something new, muchas gracias ❤🎉❤
Thank you. I bought DXO PL7 about 6 months ago. After this review I will wait till PL9 or for a very very good black friday deal to keep up with the latest and greatest.
The only thing that would impress me and have me dropping every other program for Photolab is if photolab had a AI precision masking tool, the other apps have it, but photolab is still behind in this? Why? It’s frustrating to see them focus on every other feature expect for AI masking. What’s the point of all these features if I can’t easily make a targeted selection?
I agree it quite worrying that they have not implemented AI masking until today when every other has. That why I thought they needed to do a Q&A to reassure customers.
And not wanting to answer the Capt. Obvious question: "Why aren't you developing masking?!?" is probably a key reason DxO didn't want to do a Q&A! (Excellent review, TBP.)
Lol I though so to. In their last live presentation they were asked the same thing as well as why can't they process mobile RAW files. I guess their tired of answering (or not answering the same questions! 😃
I own PL7. In my opinion the improvements make upgrading from 7 to 8 a must have. I will upgrade but wait for the Black Friday sale. I never use XD because of the facial artifacts you mention. The improvements in that area alone are enough to make the upgrade worthwhile.
I'm an amateur micro four-thirds shooter and already have v6, plus a Lightroom subscription and Topaz Photo AI. Denoising high ISO photos is of real benefit. Still on the fence with my upgrade decision mainly due to the $105 price tag.Thanks for your excellent review, and for drawing attention to their quiet launch. That troubles me too as it seems as if they could be avoiding the obvious question from their customers: why no new masking.
Yes $105 would be reasonable if they added more features than just 1/2 stop denoise improvement. Some competitors might have given this as a free update. Hope they give some reassurance on what the future of photolab holds. People want to build skill on software they know has a bright future and is constantly innovating.
Your channel is consistently good. I have learnt a lot of affinity and I also have dxo photolab 7. I won’t upgrade. I just bought it three months ago. Can’t justify it. For me DeepPrimeXD is awesome on my Canon 7D mark ii and I’m happy with my gear. Great video. Underrated channel
Thanks! 😃 How I wish I could speak french! I suppose you do? Voila is actually popularly used in American pop culture just like "Bon Voyage" and "Bon Apetit" 😃 No word in English to subtitude this apt word!
Having trialled PL7 , decided that pure raw 4 coupled with LRC is a much better option! So I will stick with Lightroom for now. Thanks for the review..
I have kind taken the same approach: either LR or PS in conjunction with PureRAW often results in my “best” results. The integration of both with the Nik Collection works better than from all current versions of PL. However, there are cases where PL can do much more precision edits, and PL8 is pushing me towards that approach more … even then, all my photos are managed by the LR catalog. I understand that there are plenty of users who either can’t afford all this software, or insist on a single software solution. As for AI: I think those wanting AI selection may not fully understand or appreciate the power of control point masking in both PL and Nik. In most cases I can get better blended and pleasing edits. Consequently, often my workflow is to use PureRAW from Lr, with some editing in Lr (including its masking, where appropriate), and then passing it on to Nik, and (of course) saving it in the Lr catalog. If you check the box in Nik for bigger TIFFs, you can go back and adjust, as long as you use only one plugin, like Color Efex or Silver Efex. That may seem like a lot of work, which sometimes can be consolidated in just PL, but I think my better images are worth it.
I've been a user of DxO since the days you had to buy individual camera body modules and lens correction files. I regularly upgraded Optics Pro through the years and jumped to PhotoLab when it was released. I'm now on PL 7, but I don't think this upgrade has enough "meat." I'll wait and see what future versions bring to the table.
Yes that was my thought too. I thought this release was a carbon copy of last year. Really unusual to have so little new features in Photolab. They have to reassure customers on the future road map.
I'll probably wait until Black Friday to upgrade. I do like to use PL as my main RAW photo processor but have to keep LR/PS as B/U because of the things that PL doesn't cover ie panos, iPhone, HDR, occasional layer composting. Also I had to rely on LR as my RAW processor for almost a month after I bought the new Canon R5 MarkII because it took that long for PL to provide support for the files while Adobe supported them from the release of the camera.
I have tested version 8 against 6, just like I did when 7 came out last year and again, I just don't see $109 dollars worth of upgrades, not even with 7 and 8 combined. Where is the vignette tool? I supposed this is something slipped into filmpack just like the luminosity masking feature. This "ring fencing" of features has really turned me against DXO. I don't see me upgrading again.
Yes I think a lot of customers feel this way. I thought this release was a 7.1 level upgrade certainly not 8. They should have given away Luminosity Mask if their not adding anything important like AI masking.
Yes Affinity is a good supplement. Some commenters have said they have both DXO and Lightroom and Photoshop. That might overkill but good for them to be able to afford it!
I’m upgrading from PL6. There are always vey incremental updates. I think this PL8 gives slightly more than the average upgrade. I will probably keep upgrading every other year since one then is able to upgrade and not buy it new as if you skip more than 1 version.
Thanks for the feedback. I think there might be enough here coming from PL6 to upgrade to PL8. Not so much PL7. Good for DXO to give customers an upgrade price every two years.
Honestly version 7 made the difference, 8 remains with an upgrade that is not entirely justifiable. If you have NIK 7, you already have the color selection masks, the Luma curve that has been in Capture One for years has been in NIK 7 for a year now. So why do they insist on keeping two separate programs? Make them pay for a complete one and go. As for the noise, I don't know why but Capture One does it very well. I like DXO for its simplicity but this expense is not justified for now. Then lastly, why NIK 7 has the language in Italian and DXO "doesn't" is all to understand!
Perhaps two different teams are working on Nik and Photolab hence the inconsistency. I thought they would at least add in luminosity masking if they were not going to add AI masking. Instead we get hue mask which is of much more limited utility. Makes no sense. They need to do a Q&A to answer what's going on with Photolab.
@@takebetterphotos8132 Correct, today I have version 7 (with some annoying limitations) which could be a nice suite but is fine for quick developments on all the HDs I have without creating catalogs and more. But then you see all this and you see other SW like ON1 that I have always owned and for the new version it seems to include many new features! Even here I do not intend to upgrade because the basic AI for the sw does not fit into my concepts of development. I prefer that these algorithms work only on the masks to have maximum precision and today there is only one sw Capture One that satisfies me! (I do not use Adobe and I have Affinity for any additional work where I really hope they give a twist to this latest sw) See you soon and always a nice to see your videos.
Thank you for taking the time to do this wonderful video on the new release of Photolab 8, I really enjoyed watching it and learned something new, muchas gracias ❤🎉❤
Glad to hear it! Let me know if your getting it!😊
Thank you. I bought DXO PL7 about 6 months ago. After this review I will wait till PL9 or for a very very good black friday deal to keep up with the latest and greatest.
The only thing that would impress me and have me dropping every other program for Photolab is if photolab had a AI precision masking tool, the other apps have it, but photolab is still behind in this? Why? It’s frustrating to see them focus on every other feature expect for AI masking. What’s the point of all these features if I can’t easily make a targeted selection?
I agree it quite worrying that they have not implemented AI masking until today when every other has. That why I thought they needed to do a Q&A to reassure customers.
@@takebetterphotos8132 Agreed, they need too do a Q&A.
And not wanting to answer the Capt. Obvious question: "Why aren't you developing masking?!?" is probably a key reason DxO didn't want to do a Q&A! (Excellent review, TBP.)
Lol I though so to. In their last live presentation they were asked the same thing as well as why can't they process mobile RAW files. I guess their tired of answering (or not answering the same questions! 😃
You just saved me $100 on upgrade fees. Thank you for your work.
Glad I could help!
I own PL7. In my opinion the improvements make upgrading from 7 to 8 a must have. I will upgrade but wait for the Black Friday sale. I never use XD because of the facial artifacts you mention. The improvements in that area alone are enough to make the upgrade worthwhile.
I'm an amateur micro four-thirds shooter and already have v6, plus a Lightroom subscription and Topaz Photo AI. Denoising high ISO photos is of real benefit. Still on the fence with my upgrade decision mainly due to the $105 price tag.Thanks for your excellent review, and for drawing attention to their quiet launch. That troubles me too as it seems as if they could be avoiding the obvious question from their customers: why no new masking.
Yes $105 would be reasonable if they added more features than just 1/2 stop denoise improvement. Some competitors might have given this as a free update. Hope they give some reassurance on what the future of photolab holds. People want to build skill on software they know has a bright future and is constantly innovating.
Your channel is consistently good. I have learnt a lot of affinity and I also have dxo photolab 7. I won’t upgrade. I just bought it three months ago. Can’t justify it. For me DeepPrimeXD is awesome on my Canon 7D mark ii and I’m happy with my gear. Great video. Underrated channel
Thanks for the positive feedback! 😃 Good move to stick with Photolab 7--you are not missing much. I had to zoom in super close to see any difference.
Always good and clear explanations. Et voilà! (waiting all that in french now I did notice you can speak that language!)
Thanks! 😃 How I wish I could speak french! I suppose you do? Voila is actually popularly used in American pop culture just like "Bon Voyage" and "Bon Apetit" 😃 No word in English to subtitude this apt word!
Having trialled PL7 , decided that pure raw 4 coupled with LRC is a much better option! So I will stick with Lightroom for now. Thanks for the review..
Good choice!
I have kind taken the same approach: either LR or PS in conjunction with PureRAW often results in my “best” results. The integration of both with the Nik Collection works better than from all current versions of PL. However, there are cases where PL can do much more precision edits, and PL8 is pushing me towards that approach more … even then, all my photos are managed by the LR catalog. I understand that there are plenty of users who either can’t afford all this software, or insist on a single software solution.
As for AI: I think those wanting AI selection may not fully understand or appreciate the power of control point masking in both PL and Nik. In most cases I can get better blended and pleasing edits. Consequently, often my workflow is to use PureRAW from Lr, with some editing in Lr (including its masking, where appropriate), and then passing it on to Nik, and (of course) saving it in the Lr catalog. If you check the box in Nik for bigger TIFFs, you can go back and adjust, as long as you use only one plugin, like Color Efex or Silver Efex. That may seem like a lot of work, which sometimes can be consolidated in just PL, but I think my better images are worth it.
I've been a user of DxO since the days you had to buy individual camera body modules and lens correction files. I regularly upgraded Optics Pro through the years and jumped to PhotoLab when it was released. I'm now on PL 7, but I don't think this upgrade has enough "meat." I'll wait and see what future versions bring to the table.
Yes that was my thought too. I thought this release was a carbon copy of last year. Really unusual to have so little new features in Photolab. They have to reassure customers on the future road map.
I'll probably wait until Black Friday to upgrade. I do like to use PL as my main RAW photo processor but have to keep LR/PS as B/U because of the things that PL doesn't cover ie panos, iPhone, HDR, occasional layer composting. Also I had to rely on LR as my RAW processor for almost a month after I bought the new Canon R5 MarkII because it took that long for PL to provide support for the files while Adobe supported them from the release of the camera.
Thanks for the feedback. Good news for DXO that you use it even though you have already LR/PS which I thought overlaps DXO in functionality 😊
I have tested version 8 against 6, just like I did when 7 came out last year and again, I just don't see $109 dollars worth of upgrades, not even with 7 and 8 combined. Where is the vignette tool? I supposed this is something slipped into filmpack just like the luminosity masking feature. This "ring fencing" of features has really turned me against DXO. I don't see me upgrading again.
Yes I think a lot of customers feel this way. I thought this release was a 7.1 level upgrade certainly not 8. They should have given away Luminosity Mask if their not adding anything important like AI masking.
No, you certainly won't be upgrading from V6 to V9+ as DXO only allow upgrade from 2 versions.
@ianyorke2617 That's an important consideration. I guess best to avail of their much cheaper upgrade price.
It's amazing software, but unless you can do HDR, focus stacking or compositing panoramas on it, it's just not usable for me.
Yes they need to put in more features!
For these things I have Affinity Photo.
Yes Affinity is a good supplement. Some commenters have said they have both DXO and Lightroom and Photoshop. That might overkill but good for them to be able to afford it!
I’m upgrading from PL6.
There are always vey incremental updates. I think this PL8 gives slightly more than the average upgrade.
I will probably keep upgrading every other year since one then is able to upgrade and not buy it new as if you skip more than 1 version.
Thanks for the feedback. I think there might be enough here coming from PL6 to upgrade to PL8. Not so much PL7. Good for DXO to give customers an upgrade price every two years.
Honestly version 7 made the difference, 8 remains with an upgrade that is not entirely justifiable. If you have NIK 7, you already have the color selection masks, the Luma curve that has been in Capture One for years has been in NIK 7 for a year now. So why do they insist on keeping two separate programs? Make them pay for a complete one and go. As for the noise, I don't know why but Capture One does it very well. I like DXO for its simplicity but this expense is not justified for now. Then lastly, why NIK 7 has the language in Italian and DXO "doesn't" is all to understand!
Perhaps two different teams are working on Nik and Photolab hence the inconsistency. I thought they would at least add in luminosity masking if they were not going to add AI masking. Instead we get hue mask which is of much more limited utility. Makes no sense. They need to do a Q&A to answer what's going on with Photolab.
@@takebetterphotos8132 Correct, today I have version 7 (with some annoying limitations) which could be a nice suite but is fine for quick developments on all the HDs I have without creating catalogs and more. But then you see all this and you see other SW like ON1 that I have always owned and for the new version it seems to include many new features! Even here I do not intend to upgrade because the basic AI for the sw does not fit into my concepts of development. I prefer that these algorithms work only on the masks to have maximum precision and today there is only one sw Capture One that satisfies me! (I do not use Adobe and I have Affinity for any additional work where I really hope they give a twist to this latest sw) See you soon and always a nice to see your videos.
Thanks for the feedback! Yes masking should be a priority for all companies!
I've been playing with the trial or some days. Not impressed. Doesn't support iphone very well, will not purchase.
Yes strangely they did not address shortcomings. Very worrying.