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.
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
It's my granddaughters play tonight so, I'll be getting a raft of 3200 ISO low light shots to use when testing all the perspective RAW noise reduction applications.
If you have the software (or trials of it), I would suggest using DxO Photolab or PureRaw, then final process in Topaz Photo AI. I've experimented with countless apps, and settled on this process. It helps that they are both automated if you want them to be, so very larges batches can be processed with surprisingly good results.
DXO Photolab 7 has an AI noise reduction process built in.
I hate the process that I'll need to go through but Topaz, DXO and Luminar all have to be tested before I make the plunge.
I need to watch for getting my head up my butt because an application is more easily assimilated. By that I mean DXO is built to work exactly as I already work so I don't want to jump to an incorrect conclusion just because the glove fits.
Oh, I get that. It will be interesting to see which way you go with this.
I'm significantly nuts, and this will be an intense time. 30 days is not enough time to evaluate a professional level application professionally.
I'm also going to try the newly released Nikon RAW converter and consider an old school concept of pure developer concept of RAW conversion with enhancements all done post conversion.
I tried that technique with the Nikon and AfterShot Pro applications on some previously more interesting images and had some solid results with improved saturation, vibrance and RAW noise reduction. The reds in flowers, birds and iridescent blues on birds were improved significantly using software I've had for years in new ways.
All of this is well and good but to get a nice image and motion freeze at ISO 6400 in summer shade requires the new AI noise reduction must be acquired.
MY BRAIN HURTS!
Tell me about it!
With me, it was an ease-of-use case. I used to shoot a lot of weddings and events, and still do occasionally. I have used DxO for a long time and have developed a really good workflow for it. And, you can do some pretty extensive editing in it if you want to. And, I used to do do exactly what you describe, but doing the minor enhancements and cropping in RAW then further editing in Photo-Paint or Paintshop Pro.
Then Topaz came up with Photo AI. I now do all raw conversion in Photolab, using a chosen LUT or template. I then directly export the batch to Photo AI, and let it do its magic. Rarely do I need to touch the image again. It was a godsend. Noise is never an issue, even though I use Micro 4/3rds equipment. It was like I upgraded my camera equipment to medium format. I also use Anthropics Portrait Pro on some portraits, mostly to clean up the bride's face or remove teenager's zits, because that is also a batch automated app.
I only use Photo-Paint and often Painter when I want a drastically one-off stylized image, or when I feel the need for background replacement, etc.