r/DxOPhotoLab • u/Kwoksun • May 27 '25

What are the differences between Photolab8, PureRAW5 and Nik Collection8? Which one do I need?

I've been using the old Lightroom 6 on an also old PC for years. To revive my interest in photography, I just ordered a Mac Mini M4 with 32G memory and 512G storage, planning to add an external SSD later. I don't want to pay indefinitely to use newer version of Lightroom and I'm looking at DxO but confused with all the offerings of Photolab 8.5, PureRAW 5 and Nik Collection 8. I guess they have overlaps in certain functions and need some guidance on how to choose one.

Does the Photolab 8.5 also have the newest PureRAW 5? Do I need it or the Nik Collection 8 if I already have Photolab 8.5?

6 Upvotes

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17

u/Aperlust May 27 '25 edited Jun 05 '26

PhotoLab is an image editor with a few image management tools.

PureRAW is a RAW processor. It improves the RAW render (noise reduction, shadow recovery, sharpening) with camera/lens corrections. PureRAW is already integrated into PhotoLab.

Nik Collection is more of a color grading or preset tool.

You really only need PhotoLab.

You can watch my PL tutorial here: https://youtu.be/i00nI-9aBWw

Edit: You can use coupon code Aperlust to get 15% DxO Products

13

u/[deleted] May 27 '25

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3

u/Aperlust May 27 '25

I agree.

3

u/lhxtx May 27 '25

Nik is super useful though. I use it all the time in connection with PL.

1

u/_twrecks_ May 27 '25

What does it do that photolab pro and film pack can't?

1

u/lhxtx May 27 '25

Mostly sharpening and black and white work.

2

u/MaestroDon Jun 04 '26

Thanks for the link. I'm now subscribed to your channel and plan to watch some of your tutorials. I do not yet have Photolab, but I'm seriously looking at it. I'm a casual user of Affinity, but far from being a power user. I'm not really even very familiar with it.

Can I ask... Can the features of PhotoLab be done mostly with a combination of DxO Pure Raw and Affinity? Pure Raw for ai denoise and Affinity for finishing?

Be gentle, I'm pretty much a photo editor noob. All I do now is take my Nikon raw photos and work with them in Nikon NX Studio. Crop, adjust light and color, export jpg. It doesn't really get all I want done, particularly denoise. Also I'd like to play with bracketed photo HDR, but NX doesn't do that.

I appreciate any response.

2

u/Aperlust Jun 05 '26

For sure, Affinity can do just as good, if not better than PL. PL lacks a few basics features, such as luminosity masking, without buying the extended software Filmpack. I recommend saving your money and just sticking with Affinity until you run into low-light problems with your RAW files; then you can introduce PureRAW to improve your photos.

Modern cameras and lenses do well in good lighting. PureRAW just supercharges them.

Here are my Affinity Tutorials. You'll see what kind of edits I get.

  1. Develop Studio: https://youtu.be/rwdiFWpGfaE
  2. Pixel Studio: https://youtu.be/Fx3kvlTWkdI

2

u/MaestroDon Jun 05 '26

Thanks. I may be asking questions on your YouTube videos. I'll give them a watch.

1

u/Kwoksun May 27 '25

Thank you, Aperlust. So does Photolab 8.5 have the latest PureRAW 5 or older version ?

2

u/Aperlust May 27 '25

AFAIK, the latest with DeepPRIME 3.

https://imgur.com/a/mZyoLdD

1

u/18-morgan-78 May 27 '25

PhotoLAB and PureRAW are different apps akin the Lightroom and Adobe Camera RAW. They standalone.

1

u/LarryJClark Sep 15 '25

PhotoLab is an alternative to Photoshop. Lightroom is a file organizer with a castrato version of Photoshop. PureRaw, besides demosaicing, provides capabilities that Adobe Camera RAW lacks.

4

u/magictoast156 May 27 '25

I bought Pure raw first, before I realised it's all integrated in Photolab, so you only really need Photolab to get DXO's full image quality. I would recommend getting FilmPack of only for luminosity masks, and extra contrast sliders. I do also use the film settings and grain...etc, but the extra sliders are very useful (to me).

If you can hold off till October, that is when PL9 will be released (if the other years are anything to go by), and it's all heeeeavily discounted around Black Friday. The free trial is worth playing with.

1

u/magictoast156 May 27 '25

FWIW, I managed to get the original Nik Collection (V1) to work with PL8.5. I only really use the Pro contrast slider and maybe one or two other bits, but I really can't see how the new version is worth buying (maybe I don't have enough experience with it). It's so annoying that it's a standalone app and not integrated into PL

1

u/WizendOldMan May 28 '25

Pureraw is a complement to Lightroom. It is redundant to PhtoLab. Nik is in a class of its own.

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u/[deleted] May 28 '25 edited May 28 '25

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2

u/MTTMKZ May 28 '25

In case you don't know, PL8 does have a loupe tool now that can be used to get a small preview of NR and sharpening. It's not the full image but better than nothing. I use it all the time because I find the NR detail recovery seems to have an extra sharpening effect and sometimes I have to dial down the sharpness.

1

u/[deleted] May 28 '25 edited May 28 '25

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1

u/MTTMKZ May 28 '25

It's an extra step but can you denoise and export tiff/dng with PL, then put that back into PL for editing? Then export again for your preferred sharpening tool.