I am trying DXO from http://www.dolabs.com and so far I like it very much.
It is a software that corrects lens distorsion (and also colour etc) in a very intelligent way: if your photo was taken at 26mm, it will recognize it from the exif and correct the distorsion at 26mm. It does the job automatically which is excellent because editing photos can be time consuming.
Buying perfect lenses is expensive but now we can buy average lenses and have all their distorsion corrected :)
It is for SLRs only, with the exception for two bridge cameras: the Minolta A2 and the Sony F828.

There is a list of lenses and cameras supported at http://www.dxo.com/en/photo/optics_pro/cameras_lenses.php

Sophia: you can try the demo for the D60 with Canon EF70-200mm f/4L USM as it is available ;)

Olly

I will try it :) At this time,the only lens that i have from these that are available is the canon 70-200 4L,but i'm sure when i get the wide-angle lens it would be very usefull :D
Thanks :)

I will upload tomorrow two photos, one "normal" and one treated by DXO. The modification is very good. I am not convinced by the noise reduction system they have, but just correcting the distorsion and the light is already very good :)

This is good information, Olly, thanks for posting it!

I just uploaded the photos at http://www.pbase.com/boxerworld/dxo_optics_pro_v30

Before:
http://www.pbase.com/boxerworld/image/47181428
After:
http://www.pbase.com/boxerworld/image/47181442

Before:
http://www.pbase.com/boxerworld/image/47181577
After:
http://www.pbase.com/boxerworld/image/47181628

Before:
http://www.pbase.com/boxerworld/image/47181693
After:
http://www.pbase.com/boxerworld/image/47181703

It is amazing how it shows details in dark areas. I am glad I did not delete the too dark photos :D
I believe in the future this kind of software will be included within the camera.

Olly

Very impressive!!!i post-proceeded one of your original photo on photoshop to see if i could take the same results,but the photoshop isn't as good on deep dark parts as the Dxo.When i increase the brightness on the dark parts the noise would increase too.I finally had to add sharpen,because the photo proceeding on photoshop lost some of the details.
After all this proceed on photoshop,the photo on Dxo is much better,and as you said,it is amazing how it shows details in dark areas

Here is your original photo proceeded on photoshop
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a211/savra/test/ftiagmeni.jpg

Olly did you test a photo with a lens which is not available?I wonder if i try with my macro or the 28-135,what results i would take?

You still did very well with Photoshop!

It works fine with a lens that is not available too. For example, if I use it with a photo taken with the Sigma 70-200 (unlisted), it will still correct the exposure/white balance etc. What it will not do is correcting the lens distorsion/chromatic aberration etc but that's fine as the distorsion is invisible with that lens ;)
What's fantastic with DXO is the fact everything can be automatic. It took one minute for it to improve one photo.
For the moment I am using their demo and it can treat only 5 photos at once (I still managed to do about 500 photos that way LOL). I will certainly buy it as with the Nikon D70 it does improve well photos.

For the moment I am using their demo and it can treat only 5 photos at once (I still managed to do about 500 photos that way LOL). .

What do you mean with the "only 5 photos at once"?and then we have to download a new demo package again?This is why they say that we can download several demo packages in the 21 day trial period?

What I mean is you can only select 5 photos at once in the demo instead of selecting all photos in a folder per example. So if you have 100 photos, you would have to select 5 photos 20 times. The number of photos it can treat is not limited. You can run it all day if you want, but you would need to stay in front of the computer to reselect 5 photos more. With the paid version, you can take a nap and when you are back, all the photos are done.
No need to redownload the software :)

Thank you,i'm ready to download it now :)

Wow! I found the improvements amazing and that was on JPEG not even RAW. I'm looking forward to seeing what it does to my RAW images!!! What I haven't figured out yet (still going through the manual) is how to view the images once I'm not in the DXO program. It says it cannot read the file :confused: I must be doing something wrong. It's really a wonderful product.

Figured it out I think :)

Here are two pictures (not the same picture but very similar)

Photoshop: http://www.megapixelworld.com/photography/showphoto.php?photo=1098&cat=500&ppuser=14

DoX: http://www.megapixelworld.com/photography/showphoto.php?photo=1154&cat=500&ppuser=14

The one with DoX looks much like what attracted me to the photo. The difference is impressive.

Glad to see it worked well for you too! I am going to get it next month :)

Olly

Glad to see it worked well for you too! I am going to get it next month :)

Olly

Can't wait to hear how well you like it :) Olly, what are the main differences between the pro and elite versions (aside from the price)?

There is none in fact. The Elite version is for the professional cameras only (they pay more for the same software).

There is none in fact. The Elite version is for the professional cameras only (they pay more for the same software).
How unlucky for them!!! :p

Yes, they are! And with some lenses you will pay more than for some others. When you buy the software, one lens module is "free". I am thinking about taking a module of an expensive lens I will purchase later as the module for the lens I already have is the cheapest.

Olly

I got an email from DxO with a promotional code that will save you a little $$$ if you haven't. I'm seriously considering this purchase since I don't trust my photo editing skills and this makes life just so much simpler. :D

I got one a long time ago but I don't think it is the same?? I think the one I got was a discount before they upgraded to their version 3. Is your promotion from the day you posted? I will look at my mailbox :)
I know I will purchase it as I like when things are automatic :D
I am not good at improving photos by software and it would take me too much time too!

Olly

I got an email from them, and it is a good news :)

New DxO Optics Pro 3.5 version announced!

Version 3.5 will ship in November with many exciting new features.
In particular, this version will include the second generation of DxO Optics Engine. DxO Optics Engine V2 will be able to eliminate a much broader range of unwanted color fringes in your images and in particular “purple fringing”.
DxO Optics Engine V2 also preserves a greater surface of the image when correcting distortion and takes our Lens Softness correction to a new level of performance.
You’ll also find user-defined cropping of the image in 3.5.
Version 3.5 will also improve processing speed by up to 100% by taking advantage of multiple processor or dual-core computers.
Additionally a number of workflow and UI enhancements will be included in this version.
A final this version will be free of charge for all users of version 3.0!

Unrestricted access to all DxO Lens Modules as of today!

Earlier today, we announced that with immediate effect, all new and registered users of DxO Optics Pro 3.0 or greater have free, unrestricted access to our library of DxO Lens Modules. More than 240 camera & lens combinations are currently supported by our DxO Lens Module library and we keep adding more!
Visit our website or online store to find out more about this great added value.

So from now we do not have to pay per lens anymore :)

Olly

Please when you buy it,post some tests (after/before)here :)

Oh, this is so tempting for me when there never seems to be enough time to work on the photos as I'd like. I'm having trouble resisting this time!

I will get it when I come back from France (October 20). I am leaving to Nice on Tuesday. I think it is really a good software for people who do not have time to improve their photos.

Got today an email about discounted rates for DXO!

For a very limited time – offer ends October 31st at midnight CET* - we are offering big savings on DxO Optics Pro 3.0 Mac or Windows.

Save US$20 / €15 on DxO Optics Pro Standard Edition with promo code STANDARDSAVE
Save US$40 / €30 on DxO Optics Pro Elite Edition with promo code ELITESAVE

Unrestricted access to all DxO Lens Modules!

Registered users of DxO Optics Pro 3.0 or greater now have free, unrestricted access to our library of DxO Lens Modules. More than 240 camera & lens combinations are currently supported by our DxO Lens Module library and we keep adding more!

Free upgrade to version 3.5!

Version 3.5 will ship in November with many exciting new features.
In particular, this version will include the second generation of DxO Optics Engine. DxO Optics Engine V2 will be able to eliminate a much broader range of unwanted color fringes in your images and in particular “purple fringing”.
DxO Optics Engine V2 also preserves a greater surface of the image when correcting distortion and takes our Lens Softness correction to a new level of performance.
You’ll also find user-defined cropping of the image in 3.5.
Version 3.5 will also improve processing speed by up to 100% by taking advantage of multiple processor or dual-core computers.
Additionally a number of workflow and UI enhancements will be included in this version.
A final word : version 3.5 will be free of charge for all users of version 3.0!

I am buying it before the 31st ;)

Another photo comparaison with DXO :)
This is the original photo "out of the box":
http://www.pbase.com/boxerworld/image/55338934/original

Here is the same photo treated automatically by DXO:
http://www.pbase.com/boxerworld/image/55338948/original

Olly

Totally useful!! I want to buy it now :D

That is very very cool :D

Wow, what an improvement! :)

Great improvement,but as it would be fixed very easy in photoshop,i would like to see what the Dxo could do with a photo like this :)

http://www.megapixelworld.com/photography/showphoto.php?photo=1900&cat=500&perpage=12&sort=3&ppuser=1
Have you tried to fix the percpective?

Sophia: all my photos are already treated by DXO ;)
The original photo of Notre Dame is almost black.
Actually I do not think it is that easy with photoshop because DXO corrects the distorsion as well. Even the 50mm prime lens has distorsion.
With photoshop you would need time to manipulate all photos... With DXO, I have 500 photos in a folder, then launch DXO and 3 hours later (the time for a good diner ;)) all the photos are done :D

Does it ever ruin a photo? Any flaws in it?

It doesn't alter the original photo, it makes a copy so at the end you end with twice more photos. Sometimes DXO doesn't work well, like with high ISO dark photos but that is just because I am using the fully automatic mode. There is an expert mode but I am too lazy to read the manual... :p

Fair enough :)

Actually I do not think it is that easy with photoshop because DXO corrects the distorsion as well
You can do it with Photoshop but you have to do it manually,CS2 has this option.
With photoshop you would need time to manipulate all photos... With DXO, I have 500 photos in a folder, then launch DXO and 3 hours later (the time for a good diner
That's right!I have never edited 500 photos in photoshop,usually,i would delete 90 out of 100 photos that i took,thus i have only 1-2 photos per day to edit in photoshop ;)

Impressive, the pictures of the kids in the windows, the second is not there anymore.