TechRadar Verdict
The results can be good, but the limitations soon become obvious.
Pros
- +
Free
- +
Produces some good effects and results
Cons
- -
No highlight recovery
- -
Basic features and tools
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Canon Digital Photo Pro 3.2 is a pretty basic application that comes free with Canon EOS SLRs.
You can view, edit and convert images individually or as a batch. The tools are limited but useful. Disappointingly, DPP doesn't make any attempt to recover highlight detail - a feature we take for granted as a benefits of shooting RAW.
Increased definition
It can mirror the 'picture styles' (Standard, Landscape, Portrait and so on) that are available on EOS cameras. And if you shoot in black and white mode, DPP displays your shot as black and white.
You can make changes to the contrast, saturation and brightness of the image, too, though there are no clever highlight/shadow adjustments here.
Digital Photo Pro may be basic, but it produces good results. The most obvious advantage is the increased definition it offers compared to JPEGs shot in-camera.
This is a weak point with EOS SLRs, and you can expect any RAW converter to produce sharper pictures, but DPP seems particularly well-tuned and the definition is excellent, though the noise may be slightly increased too.
Limited features
We've already mentioned that there's no highlight recovery, which is a big disadvantage, but as long as you expose so as not to clip the highlights, it's not always going to be a problem.
The ability to mimic the camera's own 'picture styles' is very useful and the white balance presets match those of the camera perfectly.
Overall, though, while Digital Photo Pro's features and performance may be adequate for many users, it doesn't offer the scope and all-round quality of paid-for applications.
