If you pay the extra for the Elite version of PhotoLab then DxO Prime Denoise is something you'll find useful as noise can be removed without losing too much detail but the process can take a while so you'll have to be patient. As too are the lens correction profiles which correct for distortion, fringing and other lens issues. The RAW editing options, and results, are excellent. That's not to say you can't learn how to do this, as the software is pretty self-explanatory, but it's very different to basic programs such as Elements. If you're a beginner, there are presets you can apply to images but to get the most out of the software, you really do need to be able to dial in adjustments using the various manual options available. The Customise area is still excellent and offers plenty of tools for the intermediate/advanced photographer to get the most out of. The best way to describe the PhotoLibrary is 'basic' but DxO is great at bringing new features/improvements to PhotoLab so perhaps this is an area they will continue to work on. You can also organise the images in the image Browser by certain criteria should you so wish. Those who use 2 screens might find this feature useful but most of the time, we left it where it was. Search results are displayed in a grid which can then be moved/adjusted in size. You can't edit/add EXIF data to images either, something you can do in Lightroom. You can, also, add several different search criteria which is useful, it's just a shame that you're limited to a specific list of what can be searched for. For example, keyword searching isn't supported which is a really useful tool for sorting images but you can apply star ratings and a selection tag.

If you're thinking it sounds very similar to Adobe Lightroom then you're right as there are elements which are the same but, for the moment, some aspects aren't quite as good. Choose used and get affordable access to kit that doesn’t cost the earth. Every month, visual storytellers sell more than 20,000 cameras and lenses to MPB. MPB puts photo and video kit into more hands, more sustainably.

Review dxo photolab 2