Camera ReviewRonMartBlog

DxO PureRAW 6 Is a Game-Changer for Nikon Z8 Raw Files

A forgotten shutter-speed reset left me with a collection of high-ISO files I thought were headed for the trash — until DxO PureRAW 6 surprised me.

DxO PureRAW 6 Is a Game-Changer for Nikon Z8 Raw Files — click for my latest discount offer

TL;DR ⚡

My Nikon Z8 files at ISO 5600 to 25,600 cleaned up dramatically with DxO PureRAW 6 + DeepPRIME XD3 before I did any creative editing. Noise dropped, fine detail held together better than I expected, and the files were easier to finish.

What stood out

• Happy accident outcome: A newbie mistake (leaving shutter speed at 1/800) turned into a strong real-world test of high-ISO recovery.
• Firsthand result: All five examples looked meaningfully better before any post-processing style work.
• Best stress test: ISO 25,600 still produced usable detail after DeepPRIME XD3.
• Workflow note: Z8 processing felt quicker than my prior Canon/Sony PureRAW runs (subjective, not lab-timed).
• Practical value: This is a rescue/quality tool, not a mandatory everyday step for every frame.

What happened in the field

I was out shooting with my daughter, having one of those great father/daughter conversations while walking through the woods. After some action shots, I forgot to reset my manual shutter speed from 1/800 sec. For the rest of the walk I forced higher ISO than I wanted due to this silly mistake..

While I was happy with the photos, I was so frustrated with myself, and ready to salvage what I could. I usually reach for Imagenomic Noiseware first, but these files were so bad that I decided to run them through DxO PureRAW 6 first.

The point of this article is simple: these files recovered far better than I expected, and they recovered extremely well before I started any of my normal editing.

Lightroom comparison screenshots (the setup)

Girl reaching for a leaf (ISO 6400)

Lightroom side-by-side preview for Z8-866 before and after DeepPRIME XD3.

Arms folded portrait (ISO 8000)

Lightroom preview showing the noise/detail tradeoff before final editing.

Pose on tree branch (ISO 7200)

Lightroom preview with visible high-ISO cleanup from DeepPRIME XD3.

Walking up a tree (ISO 25,600)

The toughest file in this set: ISO 25,600 previewed in Lightroom before creative edits.

Happy smile on a forest path (ISO 5600)

Lightroom side-by-side for cleaner tones and retained texture after DeepPRIME XD3.

Before / After recovery results

1) Girl reaching for a leaf — ISO 6400

This one stands out because of the cleaner high-ISO output without turning skin and foliage into mush.

Before | After ISO 6400: fine texture in hair and clothing holds up while high-ISO grain is significantly reduced.

2) Arms folded portrait — ISO 8000

This file had the kind of rough noise I normally dread. The after file stayed natural enough to keep working with confidence.

Before | After ISO 8000: cleaner skin transitions and better edge definition without the plasticky look.

3) Pose on tree branch — ISO 7200

This shot is where tonal cleanup helped mood and clarity at the same time, especially in shadow-heavy woodland detail.

Before | After ISO 7200: reduced color noise in darker areas and stronger subject separation from the background.

4) Walking up a tree — ISO 25,600

This was the torture test. At this ISO, I expected compromise. I still got a file I’d use.

Before | After ISO 25,600: major noise reduction with surprisingly strong preservation of structure and contrast.

5) Happy smile on a forest path — ISO 5600

This was the least extreme ISO in the set, but still a great reminder that cleanup matters even before final editing.

Before | After ISO 5600: cleaner tones and improved micro-contrast while keeping the expression and moment intact.

Closing thoughts

This shoot could have been a painful lesson with a bunch of photos that would never see the light of day. Instead, it became a good reminder that recovery tools matter when real life gets messy and your settings aren’t perfect.

DxO positions DeepPRIME XD3 in PureRAW as a major leap for denoising/detail recovery and states support for both Bayer and X-Trans workflows. In this Nikon Z8 set, my real-world result matched that promise closely enough to call it a big win.

Practical next step: check the before/after sliders above and try out PureRAW 6 in your own workflow. Stay tuned for my full Nikon Z8 review coming soon.

Related Articles

DxO PureRAW 6 — The King of RAW Detail Recovery?https://www.ronmartblog.com/2026/04/review-dxo-pureraw-6-king-of-raw-detail.html Nik Collection 9 Mini-Review: What’s New, What Matters, and How to Save 15%https://www.ronmartblog.com/2026/04/nik-collection-9-mini-review-whats-new.html Quick Look at Nik Color Efex 8https://www.ronmartblog.com/2026/02/quick-look-at-nik-color-efex-8-discount.html

Canon 1D Mark IV

Camera ReviewRonMartBlog

Canon 1D Mark IV: Looking Back at the Camera That Changed Sports Photography

Table of Contents

1. What I Remember Most

February 2010: The Day Everything Changed

I bought my Canon 1D Mark IV in early 2010, and I'll admit—I was nervous about the price. This wasn't an impulse buy; it was a commitment. At the time, I called it "the most amazing piece of camera equipment I've ever owned," and I meant every word.

I'd been shooting since 1984 on a Canon AE-1, but the 1D Mark IV was something different entirely. This was a camera built for one purpose: capturing fast action with minimal missed shots. Formula 1. Kids' sports. Anything that moved too fast for my previous bodies.

I even wrote a new user's guide for it back then, because the AF system was so sophisticated—and so complex—that I was getting emails from friends asking how to configure it properly.

The Specs That Mattered in 2010

By today's standards, these numbers look almost quaint. But in 2010? They were the benchmark every other manufacturer was chasing:

Feature	Canon 1D Mark IV (2010)	Why It Mattered
Burst Rate	10 fps	Fast enough to catch the peak moment in a baseball swing or a car exiting a corner
AF Points	45 points (39 cross-type)	More coverage meant less recomposing, more keeper shots
ISO Range	100–12,800 (expandable to 102,400)	Indoor sports and night events became genuinely possible
Sensor	16.1 MP APS-H (1.3x crop)	The crop gave extra reach with long glass—perfect for motorsports
Buffer	~28 RAW at full speed	Deep enough for most action sequences before needing to pause

The AF system was genuinely complex. I had custom functions programmed into my camera's favorites menu just to switch between tracking scenarios—AI Servo sensitivity, first/second image priority, expansion patterns. You had to learn this camera. It didn't hold your hand.

That complexity frustrated some shooters, but for those of us willing to put in the time, the keeper rate was unmatched. I said it then and I'll say it again: properly configured, this camera had the best AF system on Earth in 2010.

Formula 1 and Kids' Sports: Real World Use

I used the 1D Mark IV for two very different subjects that shared one requirement: speed.

Formula 1 cars at full throttle leave zero margin for error. Miss focus and you've got motion blur across the frame. The 45-point system let me track cars through corners while the 10 fps gave me enough frames to pick the perfect moment of rotation. Paired with the 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II—which I still consider one of Canon's finest lenses—this combo delivered shots I'm proud of to this day.

TODO: Select 1-2 F1 photos from SmugMug gallery https://smugmug.ronmartblog.com/F1/Best-of-F1/n-MvMDd — use authenticated SmugMug picker in ReviewComposer to resolve hosted URLs and add EXIF captions

Formula 1 shots captured with the Canon 1D Mark IV and 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II

Kids' sports were the other proving ground. Youth soccer, basketball, you name it—the 1D Mark IV tracked my kids through chaos. No more spray-and-pray. I could trust the camera to nail focus while I concentrated on timing and composition.

How Far We've Come: 2010 vs. Today

Here's where this gets humbling—and honestly, kind of incredible.

Feature	Canon 1D Mark IV (2010)	Canon EOS R1 (2024)
Burst Rate	10 fps	40 fps (electronic shutter)
AF Points	45	1,053 with AI-powered subject tracking
ISO Range	100–12,800	100–102,400 native
Buffer	~28 RAW	1,000+ RAW at 40 fps
Eye/Subject AF	Manual point selection	AI-powered eye, face, vehicle, animal tracking
Viewfinder	Optical (pentaprism)	9.44M-dot EVF with real-time exposure preview

The 1D Mark IV's 45 AF points were revolutionary. Today's Canon R1 has 1,053 AF areas with deep-learning algorithms that track subjects through crowds, predict action, and nail eye focus on athletes moving at full speed. What took me careful custom function programming in 2010, the R1 handles automatically—and better.

Four times the burst rate. Twenty-three times more AF points. Buffers that essentially never fill. And that's just Canon; Sony, Nikon, and others have made similar leaps.

The features that made the 1D Mark IV a flagship professional tool are now standard equipment on cameras costing a fraction of what I paid. That's not diminishing what the Mark IV was—it's showing what it helped make possible.

What I Remember Most

• The weight and build: This was a tank. Integrated vertical grip, weather sealing that actually worked, a shutter rated for 300,000 actuations. It felt like professional equipment because it was.
• Learning curve: The AF system's complexity frustrated a lot of photographers. But once you dialed it in for your subject, the keeper rate was worth every hour spent reading the manual.
• That 1.3x crop factor: The APS-H sensor gave extra reach without the quality hit of APS-C. Perfect for motorsports where you can never have enough focal length.
• High ISO confidence: Shooting at ISO 6400 and getting usable files felt like a breakthrough. My older bodies couldn't touch it.

Closing Thoughts

The Canon 1D Mark IV was the first camera that made me feel like I could capture what I actually saw—not just an approximation limited by technology. It was expensive, complex, and demanded that you meet it halfway. But when everything clicked, it delivered.

Sixteen years later, I look at what today's mirrorless cameras can do and I'm genuinely amazed. The 1D Mark IV was legendary for its day, and it earned every bit of that reputation. But the truth is, we've come so far that its groundbreaking specs are now baseline expectations.

That's not nostalgia talking—that's progress. And for those of us who shot through this transition, it's been one hell of a ride.

Related Articles

• Canon 1D Mark IV New User's Guide — My original 2010 setup recommendations

Camera ReviewRonMartBlog

Kyoto Girl 2026 Edit - Revisiting old photos again

For those of us who have been editing photos for a decade or more, there are countless images we once considered finished masterpieces—judged by the standards and tools available at the time. As editing software has evolved, it’s often worth revisiting some of those favorites and starting fresh, using modern versions of the very same tools we relied on years ago.

I decided to do exactly that with this image, which was featured on the Imagenomic website for many years.

I hope you enjoy this refreshed look at how I originally edited the photo, along with a quick comparison showing how today’s improvements to those same tools can deliver dramatically better results.1

Table of Contents

1. Video review
2. Closing thoughts
3. Related articles

Video Review 🎥

If the player doesn’t load here, watch on YouTube.

Closing Thoughts

Thanks for checking this out! I’m curious—what editing tools do you think have changed the most over the years? Are there any products you’d love to see me re‑edit past photos with or dive into in a future review?

Related Articles

Imagenomic Portraiture 5 Review (2026): Pro-Level Skin Retouchinghttps://www.ronmartblog.com/2026/04/imagenomic-portraiture-5-review-2026.html AI Editing: Cheating, Tool, or the New Normal?https://www.ronmartblog.com/2026/01/has-ai-made-photo-editing-obsolete.html

Camera ReviewRonMartBlog

Sony a1 II + 28-70mm f/2 GM Review: A Five-Figure Dream Camera—But Is It Worth It?

With the Sony a1 II Mirrorless Camera and FE 28-70mm f/2 GM Lens now costing well into five-figure territory, the obvious question is whether this setup is actually worth the money. In this review, I’ll walk through my real-world take on its strengths, its weaknesses, and whether this configuration makes sense for anyone beyond the deep-pocketed few.

Sony a1 II + 28-70mm f/2 GM Review: A Five-Figure Dream Camera—But Is It Worth It? — click to check current price / availability

✅ Pros

• ✅AI-based subject recognition makes autofocus feel smarter and more dependable
• ✅Eye autofocus remained impressively reliable, even at extreme distances
• ✅The FE 28-70mm f/2 GM is a versatile, inspiring lens for almost any creative vision
• ✅Excellent image quality with impressive detail, color, and dynamic range
• ✅Blisteringly fast performance across the board

⛔ Cons

• ⛔The body-and-lens combo is priced well beyond what its real-world gains justify
• ⛔Handling and body design feel more consumer than pro at this price point
• ⛔The FE 28-70mm f/2 GM feels like a great 2016 lens, not a particularly exciting 2026 one
• ⛔Inconsistent hot shoe compatibility with my older Elinchrom Skyport triggers was a real frustration
• ⛔The rear LCD still trails Canon’s fully articulating vari-angle touchscreen in real-world flexibility
• ⛔Reduced-size Sony RAW files caused compatibility issues in some software, including DxO
• ⛔Sony’s higher-speed EVF modes come with a visible drop in viewfinder quality

TL;DR ⚡

For all it offers, the step up from Sony’s cheaper siblings comes at a point where the law of diminishing returns is impossible to ignore.

This is an outstanding Sony flagship combo, but it lives deep in diminishing-returns territory. If you truly need 50MP, fast burst performance, strong AI AF, and premium glass in one kit, it delivers. For almost everyone else, the smarter move is dropping down a tier on the body or lens and keeping thousands in your pocket.

Table of Contents

1. Who it’s for and who should skip
2. Real World Shots
3. Recommended products
4. Closing thoughts

Who it’s for

• Sony shooters who want one no-compromise flagship body for portraits, wildlife/birding, school events, and high-resolution cropping.
• Serious enthusiasts or paid shooters who will actually use 50MP files, fast burst capability, and top-tier AF—and already have the computer/storage setup to support that workflow.
• Photographers who specifically want the FE 28–70mm f/2 GM look and are willing to pay a premium for a fast standard zoom that behaves more like a bag of primes.
• Existing Sony users already invested in premium GM or Sigma Art glass who want the best native body Sony offers without switching systems.

Who should skip

• Anyone shooting mostly family, travel, portraits, or general hobby work who would get 90–95% of the result from an A7R V, A7 IV-class body, or a good 24–70mm f/2.8 for far less money.
• Buyers stretching financially just to own the flagship. Your own review says the real-world gain does not justify the premium for most people.
• Photographers who plan to pair this body with older triggers, older accessories, or mid-tier glass and expect a seamless premium experience.
• Action shooters expecting an automatic leap in keeper rate without real setup time or system familiarity, especially if they already shoot another brand well.
• Anyone with modest storage, backup, or editing hardware who doesn’t want the workflow tax that comes with big 50MP files and premium gear expectations.

Real World Shots 📷

The photos below are real-world samples. Click any photo to open the original size.

Click here to view the entire gallery of images taken for this review.

I handed this setup to my 10-year-old daughter and had her take this shot of me under my Elinchrom lights. Even in that kind of casual real-world use, the image quality and tonal range were hard not to appreciate.

f/8 for 1/125 sec at 70 mm ISO 100 [0 EV, Pattern metering, No flash, Manual with FE 28-70mm F2 GM]

I dropped the ball a bit here by not putting a gelled light behind me to create better separation from the background. The good news is that the RAW file had enough flexibility to rescue the shot and add that separation later in post. Click the photo to open the original size 👆

Right after unboxing the camera, I stepped into my daughter’s room and took a quick snapshot just to get a feel for it. As first impressions go, it was a good one, with surprisingly solid ISO 12800 performance and reliable eye autofocus from the very first shot.

f/5.6 for 1/80 sec at 61 mm ISO 12800 [0 EV, Pattern metering, No flash, Aperture priority with FE 28-70mm F2 GM]

I quickly learned that, much like Nikon, this is a camera that rewards being very deliberate with your metering choice. It does exactly what you tell it to do, not necessarily what you hoped it would do. Canon bodies tend to be more forgiving in this area. Click the photo to open the original size 👆

The only reason I’m showing this admittedly terrible photo is because I wanted to see whether the AF could lock onto the bird—and how Sony’s AI autofocus would handle such difficult conditions. I’m happy to report that it passed with flying colors.

f/2 for 1/1000 sec at 70 mm ISO 160 [0 EV, Pattern metering, No flash, Shutter priority with FE 28-70mm F2 GM]

I’d encourage you to open the full-size original and zoom in on the bird to really appreciate what this camera and lens combo was able to pull off. Then try the same thing with your current camera, and you may come away even more impressed. Click the photo to open the original size 👆

I love this shot because it really shows off what this lens and camera can do: excellent sharpness, beautiful bokeh at f/2.5, strong subject separation, and gorgeous in-camera color. Frames like this are exactly why I enjoyed shooting with this combo.

f/2.5 for 1/80 sec at 70 mm ISO 400 [0 EV, Pattern metering, No flash, Aperture priority with FE 28-70mm F2 GM]

This is another shot where it’s worth downloading the original and doing some serious pixel peeping to appreciate the sharpness, tonal range, and impressive ISO 400 performance. Click the photo to open the original size 👆

As tempting as it is to live at f/2, this lens—as with most lenses—gets even sharper when you stop down a bit. In this case, that means you end up with a very sharp f/2.8 image while still enjoying the light-gathering advantage that, to me, is the real benefit of owning an f/2 lens instead of an f/2.8 one.

f/2.8 for 1/80 sec at 63 mm ISO 500 [0 EV, Pattern metering, No flash, Aperture priority with FE 28-70mm F2 GM]

This was a tough scene to meter, with a very dark foreground subject set against harsh sunlight in the background. The camera did a reasonably good job of holding most of the scene together, and the detail preserved in the full-size RAW file was enough to recover the harsher highlights in post. Click the photo to open the original size 👆

For this long exposure, I intentionally spot metered on the rock above the waterfall, which explains why the rest of the scene ended up darker. Unfortunately, the EXIF data claims pattern metering across the board, even though this shot was actually taken using spot metering.

f/22 for 1/2 sec at 70 mm ISO 200 [0 EV, Pattern metering, No flash, Manual with FE 28-70mm F2 GM]

The detail and tonal nuance in the shadows are quite good here, and this shot really shows that off—especially on displays that can render a broader range of black tones. Click the photo to open the original size 👆

Be sure to check the gallery for the f/2.8 version of this same shot. It delivers the added sharpness you’d expect while still maintaining very similar separation and bokeh. Ultimately, your intended output size will determine whether that extra sharpness matters more than the slightly creamier tree bokeh in this f/2 version.

f/2.8 for 1/80 sec at 70 mm ISO 250 [-1 EV, Pattern metering, No flash, Aperture priority with FE 28-70mm F2 GM]

This was a surprisingly tough shot to compose because the main tree is leaning. Straighten for the subject, and the background looks crooked—particularly the tree on the left. Straighten for the background, and the subject starts to look accidentally tilted. Such is life in photography. Click the photo to open the original size 👆

When it came to photographing my daughter skating, the Canon R6 Mark II I reviewed absolutely mopped the floor with this camera, which is pretty shocking given the price difference. No matter how I configured it, I couldn’t get the kind of consistent accuracy I was getting with the Canon. That may say more about me than the camera, but after enough misses like this, I stopped fighting it and put the camera away.

f/2 for 1/640 sec at 70 mm ISO 640 [0 EV, Pattern metering, No flash, Manual with FE 28-70mm F2 GM]

The awful white balance here was entirely on me, not the camera. I simply forgot to reset the setting after shooting in the woods earlier in the day. Click the photo to open the original size 👆

Any parent who has tried to photograph kids in a school play already knows that only basketball is worse when it comes to ending up with a pile of unusable shots. Even at ISO 1250, though, this unedited RAW file had a lot going for it. My lens didn’t have the reach I really needed, and my angle from the stands as a regular audience member certainly wasn’t ideal, but with a quick crop and a little Lightroom work, this would be a perfectly usable shot—which says quite a lot.

f/4 for 1/250 sec at 70 mm ISO 1250 [0 EV, Other metering, No flash, Manual with FE 28-70mm F2 GM]

Given my distance from the subjects, I knew that even at 70mm I could get plenty of depth of field at f/4, so I went that route to keep the ISO down. I also took my chances at 1/250 sec, betting that the movement would be subtle enough—and in this case, that proved to be the right call. Sony’s Highlight metering mode was brilliant for this kind of scene. Click the photo to open the original size 👆

While multi-segment metering didn’t do me any favors here, the eye autofocus absolutely nailed the shot. Zoom all the way in and you’ll see just how precisely it locked onto the iris.

f/2.8 for 1/80 sec at 70 mm ISO 320 [0 EV, Pattern metering, No flash, Aperture priority with FE 28-70mm F2 GM]

Again, please excuse the composition—I had to stay seated and make the best of what I had, and let’s just say I didn’t exactly pull it off. 😄 Click the photo to open the original size 👆

Highlight metering let me down a bit on this one, but I was glad to come away with a better sense of both its strengths and weaknesses. In fairness, it did exactly what I asked it to do.

f/2.8 for 1/125 sec at 70 mm ISO 250 [0 EV, Other metering, No flash, Manual with FE 28-70mm F2 GM]

This is a scene where center-weighted metering would have been the smarter choice. Click the photo to open the original size 👆

I didn’t quite get the shutter speed right, but the AF system still proved impressively capable by locking onto the eyes through the distracting fur.

f/2.8 for 1/400 sec at 70 mm ISO 100 [+0.7 EV, Other metering, No flash, Manual with FE 28-70mm F2 GM]

I believe I used spot metering for this one, though entire-screen average or even multi-segment probably would have been the better choice for a scene like this. I also intentionally bumped exposure compensation to +0.7 EV to keep the snow from turning gray, and the good news is that no highlight detail was lost when processing the shot. Click the photo to open the original size 👆

Although f/2.8 would have provided more reliable depth of field, I experimented with f/2 at a greater distance to evaluate the results.

f/2 for 1/1250 sec at 70 mm ISO 100 [0 EV, Pattern metering, No flash, Aperture priority with FE 28-70mm F2 GM]

Ideally, I would have used exposure compensation or better metering. Time was tight with my daughter ready to leave, but the raw data in the ARW file is more than enough to recover the shot. Click the photo to open the original size 👆

Recommended Products

Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN II Art Lens (Sony E)

Sony HVL-F60RM2 Wireless Radio Flash

Closing Thoughts

The Sony a1 II and FE 28-70mm f/2 GM form one of the most capable all-in-one pro kits on the market, especially if you want flagship action performance, flagship resolution, strong hybrid video, and a standard zoom with a more prime-like f/2 look. It's a natural choice for those with a big investment in the best lenses available for the Sony E mount.

But if your work rarely lives at the extremes—high-speed action, ugly light, tight turnarounds, and high-pressure assignments—you’ll probably get better value by dropping down a tier on the body and/or sticking with a 24-70mm f/2.8 or a SIGMA Art series lens. This is exactly where diminishing returns get very expensive, so there's no way I'd buy this camera or lens.

👉 Click here to learn more

Imagenomic Portraiture 5 Review (2026): Pro-Level Skin Retouching Without the Plastic Look

Software ReviewSkin SofteningPortrait Enhancements

Imagenomic Portraiture 5 Review (2026): Pro-Level Skin Retouching

Imagenomic Portraiture just got a major upgrade. Its intelligent auto‑masking speeds up the workflow by accurately identifying where skin softening should apply with minimal manual input. New features like Fill Light make it easy to brighten faces without complex masking, while Uniformity helps balance facial tones for a more polished look. Improved sharpness tools bring texture back naturally, and the upgraded shine‑reduction effectively eliminates harsh hotspots—making the overall retouching process faster, smoother, and more professional.

Imagenomic Portraiture 5 Review & Discount — click to check current price / availability

TL;DR ⚡

The new Imagenomic Portraiture is faster and smarter. Auto‑masking needs almost no manual input, Fill Light brightens faces easily, Uniformity balances skin tones, improved sharpness restores natural texture, and shine‑reduction removes harsh hotspots.

A smarter, faster Portraiture provides realistic skin softening that brightens faces, evens tones, restores texture, and removes shine with minimal effort.

Table of Contents

1. Who it’s for and who should skip
2. Pros and cons
3. Video review and tutorial
4. Before & After
5. Closing thoughts

Who it’s for

• Studio Portrait Photographers
• Wedding Photographers
• Commercial Photographers
• Anyone who wants skin and hair to look magazine ready

Who should skip

• Photojournalists who rely on authenticity

✅ Pros

• ✅Can purchase as a subscription or one-time price
• ✅Achieves smooth skin without blowing details — even on high contrast portraits.
• ✅Softens while still providing features to preserve sharpness and texture
• ✅Gives hair that shampoo commercial look
• ✅Powerful AI masking makes fill lighting on the face trivial

⛔ Cons

• ⛔Expensive one-time price
• ⛔Still easy to make people look like they belong in the wax museum if you don't use as intended
• ⛔Warmth, Tint, Brightness and Contrast Enhancements are better left for other photo-editing products

Video Review & Tutorial🎥

If the player doesn’t load here, watch on YouTube.

Before & After

Before | After Final Before and After taken with a Canon 5D Mark III using a 300mm f/2.8L IS II at f/5.6 for 1/1250sec @ ISO 800

Before | After New Fill Light feature - On (before) and Off (after)

Before | After Uniformity Feature - 0 (before) and 40 (after) - pay attention to the shadows by the mouth

Before | After New Reduce Shine feature - Before (0) and After (40)

Before | After Get smooth hair with the Hair Mask - Before (Mask hair - 100) vs After (Don't mask hair - 0)

Before | After Return face texture with Sharpness - Before (0) and After (Max - 40)

Closing Thoughts

Nearly 20 years ago, my mentor insisted that if I wanted the best results for skin softening, I should use Portraiture—and they were absolutely right. Over the years, I’ve spoken with many top‑tier pros working on high‑value projects, and Portraiture was one of their “secret sauce” tools. Meanwhile, countless tutorials claimed you could get the same results manually. What I learned is that Portraiture was always a step ahead—delivering next‑level quality faster and with far less effort. Getting perfect skin in seconds became a no‑brainer.

Fast‑forward to today: at first glance, it may look unchanged, but under the hood it’s faster, smarter, and loaded with improvements in object detection and workflow efficiency. It’s still a world‑class leader—and now it’s better than ever.

Although my review focused on using Portraiture in Photoshop, it performs just as seamlessly in Lightroom Classic.
If you’ve used Portraiture—or tried alternatives—I’d love to hear your experience. What tools are essential in your portrait retouching workflow? Drop your thoughts or questions below!

👉 Click here to learn more