The TRUTH About Topaz Photo AI

I've been seeing a lot of advertisements for Topaz Photo AI over the last few week and wondered whether the app actually does what it says it does. Well, I put that to the test by purposefully destroying my images and seeing how well it can recover them. The result? Let's talk about it.
Welcome to Teh Rant.

[@definingslawek4731]

I am honestly shocked at how much money they spend on marketing and shocked at how many people seemingly pay for it and think it’s good.

[@thetexadian]

I generally shoot animals (at various zoo) with my A7R3. With the power of the Denise function I have taken to shooting manual with auto ISO. I set my shutter to 800 to 1000 depending on the animal. I set the aperture based on the depth of field and let the camera choose the iso. I as a matter of course put the image through Toppaz AI or DXO depending on the needs of the picture. Topaz is a better Denoise, but DXO is a touch easier to use. I put all shots through one or the other because I find with a bit of caution I do not get over processed with either program. I do not use the programs for sharpening (I use High Pass for more control). I am currently testing the enhance for resolution from the Generative AI if needed. It seems to work well but the jury is still out.

[@DEVILFISH1122]

Topaz is absolutely legit, especially with low rez pictures

[@tectoramia-sz1lu]

I use Topaz for noise reduction and sharpening. I find it brilliant. Then again I don't go to extremes.

[@brentpolk8331]

Enhancing resolution even by .05 or .1 will utilize more Ai processing and give you a tighter image in many cases.

[@markattardo]

Interesting results. One question that came to mind is how sharp is your lens at f22? Is diffraction softening the focus?
Good video. Your audio is surprisingly clear.👍👍

[@Teh_Rant]

It’s definitely diffraction that’s softening it. It’s probably much sharper if there wasn’t a lot of specular highlights but I did notice that the contrast resolution suffered significantly at f22.
Haha thank you! Definitely working on the audio but glad it was good enough!

[@danniemck]

Reviewers at pc world use topaz labs ai as part of their r/v for new pc parts
Glad to see its useful. Now to figure out if its worth it for a very casual photographer/ denoising all my old photos for shts n gigs

[@photosfromphilly]

It's better to test at night...and the noise is clearly visible on a dark background

[@ginjoe6860]

Crashes waaaaaay too much,screw it

[@restoreupscale1521]

The face upscale feature is pretty decent.

[@Teh_Rant]

Definitely is! Version 2.0 is out!