I use AfterShot Pro 3, so I won't have a COW.
I've used DxO Photolab and it's predecessor DxO Optics Pro since 2006. Nothing compares. rien n’est comparable.
I'm looking to upgrade my processing for high ISO low light images and I'm leaning toward DXO Photolab 7. I'll check out a few others but so far DXO seems to fit my insanity better.
I think you won't be disappointed with Photolab 7. It's an amazing raw editor. Fast, and automated, and extensive editing capabilities for a raw processor.
For where I want to go I have no choice but to explore modern technologies. I didn't bother updating last year as the products hadn't progressed far enough for me.
AfterShot Pro hasn't been updated in 7 years and for low ISO shooting it works well but I'm looking to move to significantly higher ISO settings to capture movement and I want to expand my low light capabilities.
That means serious noise reduction capabilities. Using AfterShot Pro, PaintShop Pro, Affinity Photo 1 and Photo-PAINT I'm good up to ISO 1600 with good lighting. To freeze movement I need ISO 3200 and 6400.
Give Luminat Neo a spin. The Noiseless AI plugin works very well indeed. My 7D produces very noisy images at 1600 ISO and needs all the help it can get. My 5DsR has a much better sensor and over double the pixel count so I can get noiseless images just by downsampling.
I will be test driving several applications. I looked at Luminar but my first peek left a bit of a bad taste. It looked too much Macish to me.
No matter all applications will get an intense test drive, editing applications are like lenses, you date your camera but you marry your lenses. Same for applications they will be a long term commitment.
The sharpening algorithms in Luminar are also very good indeed.
In the end how well the application works will guide me decision.
Yeah, that's what counts in the end. I did make the mistake of pre-ordering Luminar Neo before it was released. I wound up uninstalling it. If you think Corel pushes selling plugins, you ain't seen nothing yet, wow was I ever bombarded with push ads to buy more and more from Luminar! And some of it was necessary to get full functionality at the time--mind you this was a couple of years ago, so I don't know the state of it now. I already had DxO and just needed something for that last bit of processing, preferably something automated that would obey my set parameter. That's when I tried Topaz Photo AI and it blew me away. For me, the combination of DxO (which is already automated) for raw processing, then a pass through Photo AI is as close to perfection as I've seen. But of course, your mileage may vary. This is just my experience.
Yep, testing is certainly going to be alot of work