On1 Photo RAW 2024 - Indepth Review - When You Try *Too* Hard

I've been putting On1's latest point release of their RAW photo editor/asset manager to the test, trying its new AI functionality and it wasn't all plain sailing. It's a big app, so it's a big review!

0:00 Intro
0:33 Background
2:19 The Interface
4:15 Demosaicing
7:55 Brilliance A.I.
11:50 Masking
15:02 Super Select A.I.
17:46 A.I. Keywording
21:08 A.I. Denoising
22:11 Conclusion & Rating
23:48 Closing Thoughts

[geoffreykingston]

I use Capture One as my primary RAW convertor and was considering purchasing On1 Photo RAW 2024 as a plugin as recommended by some users. Andy's candid and honest review has saved from making a totally useless purchase.. Thanks.

[dogdad]

On1 2024 is awesome for someone who understands the software and knows how to use it.

[Eigil_Skovgaard]

Thank you. Same melody for half a decade - 'almost usable'. I got me a license years back and ended up being deeply disappointed with ON1 within a month, and the wasted money was not the issue. Since then, I have been aware of the fact, that improvements are introduced in small increments, as if a totally well functioning application would prevent future sales.
Changing subject: It would be nice if we, your loyal audience, could download the raw images you use for tests, e.g. the one you used for testing the demosaicing in this video - It would be interesting to compare how the favorite raw editor performs.

[RYHAN]

As a photographer myself, i find on1 raw to be very capable tool. This review was over critical especiallially on brilliance AI piece. It gives you plenty of control to adjust. Editing photos is a creative process and very subjective. anyone expecting a tool to do everything for them perfectly by a click is being unrealistic. No tool is perfect i found on1 to allow me to to do everything at a fraction of the cost as others. Yes i do have adobe suite at work so i know it well. I also used capture one before and own neo too which is brilliant for quick adjustments. As you stated, the devs have put a lot in this features wise and not all have been executed perfectly but if you have a limited budget then its really between this, neo and acdsee. The other two your comparing to are nearly 3x the price.

[shlomoeshet]

TY Andy. ON1's best feature to me is the rich variety of presets and effects. Its weakest points are: 1- performance & stability (crashes), 2 - masking.

[tonygorham]

Will you update this for v 2024.5 which seems to have fixed much of this?

[beniciomoldenado]

Great review. I like your style and sense of humor. I really like that you pointed out shortcomings. Nothing seems to be too catastrophic but they are worrisome. I am sorry I did not see your review 'before' I purchased Photo Raw 2024.

[grandegulo]

Thank you very much, the video is very useful and informative.

[AXNJXN]

Negatively constructive criticism... but done the right way! Impressed and appreciative on what you've shared. Made me pause from purchasing it with what you've showed...

[HadleyHope]

Slightly harsh! I use both PhotoLab and ON1, as a Fuji shooter PhotoLab is great for correcting images, but I find ON1 better for creative edits.
On the Brilliance AI you could have either turned down the whole opacity of the change, or better just opened up the advanced settings and turned down the colour using the slider, just two clicks which is not bad.

[drac]

I completely agree with your comments about Keyword AI. You did not do a photo with people so you did not mention some other totally useless keywords such as "nose" and "chin". Masking is also a weak spot - mainly refining the edges. They have improved this over time, but there are still issues in some situations. Interestingly the feature you liked the most is one that I do not use (grading, finding photos). I make the file name of a photo useful in finding a group of photos taken at the same general time or that contain specific people. However I am still waiting for ON1 to be able to ID specific people (a feature PhotoShop Elements has had for years). I use PSE to go through photos and find unique people whose names then get added to the metadata of all photos they are in.

[blackislepeastoo]

For 'non-professional' photo editors who are not into importing into an app but just using the O/S file manager ON 1 is far superior. In fact with the latest updates I have canned Lightroom and just use Bridge/ACR/Photoshop. For finishing off or creative effects I use Actions/Scripts and ON1 Effects 2023. If anything, it's the lack of an equivalent to Actions and/or Scripts which is the main negative for me.

[bilgyno]

Thanks! I found this very useful. Looking for a raw editor for basic work, should be relatively easy to use. I'll strike ON1 from my list now. Still hanging between PhotoLab and Lightroom, with slight preference for the first because of no subscription.

[derekstey]

I don't think it matters what software you choose. As long as the software you are using helps with your creative process. Even the best software is useless if the individual using it doesn't make it work for them.

[philipzwick]

I gave you a thumbs down because you failed to illustrate a major benefit of Brilliance AI, which are the local adjustments it makes to the image. These adjustments and their masks can be accessed to tweak the result to taste without having to go through individual masking as with Super Select. Which you dinged by picking a very difficult image to mask with the boat overlaps and tricky masts. Thus, BAI does much more than say Auto in Lightroom or the previous version of On1 Raw.

Then you spent a lot of time being critical of Keyword AI, a feature that does not have anything to do with editing images. While ignoring the ability to apply a multitude of useful Effects non-destructively in On1 Raw that require Photoshop with Lightroom. Also, you describe your preferences like Capture One with no mention of the cost differences. So your review is incomplete and biased.

[AhmadAlnusif]

I found that this version is *much* faster when navigating photos and modules compared to last year's version

[mjpt]

As an amateur photographer I don’t have real big requirements for photo editing. Currently I’m on the photography plan for Lightroom and photoshop which costs around $14/mth with 1tb of storage.

Wondering if getting the basic On1 outright and pointing it to iCloud Drive for storage would work. I haven’t looked at the pricing yet. But I would have it on my Mac Mini and MacBook Air as well as the iPad Pro 12.9.

200gb iCloud storage is about $5/mth.

Only other thing is tethered capture. I don’t do it much but when I do it’s bloody handy for my family portrait shoots.

What do you think, Andy?

[procentnibanan]

For someone who doesn't want an expensive lightroom or photoshop, ON1 is fine for me. It can do HDR, it can do panorama and even Focus bracketing and I would say better than Luminar NEO. I'm not sure, but Capture One and even DxO Photolab can't do this. And for me, as a landscape photographer, these tweaks are important.

[axcss]

...why do I get a "mocking" tone on your On1 "review"???

[philmarsh]

As an ON1 user for a few years now - 1 that has upgraded yearly eventually when a cheap enough deal was offered - I downloaded the trial of 2024 when it first came along and was disappointed enough not to bother considering upgrading this year. They do have a history of promising the miraculous and delivering the medicre (eg their AI masking when it first came along a year or 2 back). However, their new 2024.5 upgrade is due this month and (they say) features enormous improvements to the AI masking and speed of use. Whether this is the upgrade 2024 SHOULD have been...who knows. Sounds like that's what they're trying to accomplish. Be interesting if you did a review of that when it comes along.

No issues with your criticisms of 2024 - on a user group there are many grumbles about how useless Brilliance AI has turned out to be, and the denoise AI.