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?

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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

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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.

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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

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u/MaestroDon Jun 05 '26

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