DxO Optics Pro Coverage

As per my ACR vs DxO comparisons, I found DxO Optics Pro to be a tool worthy of consideration, at least for certain cameras.

I wrote DxO Optics asking for a license in order to expand my coverage of their software (see my previous ACR vs DxO comparisons). Here is the response I received:

We offer full functioning trial versions for all our programs that you can use. These last for a month and will give you the ability to try each program and see what they will do for your images.

Regarding a full license, my apologies, but the decision I was given is that we are unable to fulfill this request

I explained that my request was to give them ongoing coverage of their product, I have no need for it for any personal use, so the response is a non-sequitur.

I test many software products, especially on MacPerformanceGuide. The need for use of nearly all of them is episodical, and thus coverage of any particular program is rarely a return on investment (no ROI), my coverage of DxO included therein from what my data tells me. Software also retains zero value over time, unlike lenses.

I have to consider not just the cost of the software (about $299 for DxO Optics Pro, which is not the real issue here), but whether covering it in detail will generate a return on investment of my time and effort, and whether I would need to license it for multiple machines, and whether license failures will bite me and incur hits to my time and workflow— that was my past DxO experience and a big reason why I am reluctant to pay for a license; I might have to abandon it as before. [One reader has written with severe criticism of this post, and to claim that the DxO licensing approach has been fixed, but I cannot substantiate this without actually buying a license. My thinking is that any tool that can monkey-wrench my workflow must be avoided.]

Update: I logged into an old DxO account of mine, and found a $99 upgrade offer. Well, why not. But the sale would not go through (“Your bank refused to authorize your payment by credit card.”). No Paypal option. Bummer. Back to work.