Tiffen Dfx 3 Review

Introduction

The third version of Tiffen Dfx is a software program for adding exciting film-like effects to your digital camera pictures. Tiffen Dfx 3 boasts enhanced multi-processor acceleration for faster interaction and rendering of images, brand new filters for optical effects, updated host support, interface improvements and more. It joins a multitude of other programmes offering similar features, so what makes it stand-out from the rest? Our full Tiffen Dfx 3 review will determine just that. The standalone version of Tiffen Dfx 3.0 is available for $169.95. The Tiffen Dfx 3 Photo plug-in is available at an introductory price of $199.95.
Installation of Tiffen Dfx 3 is an easy enough process but it's worth noting which variation of the program you want. As well as Mac and Windows options, there's also standalone and plug-in. Notably, other programs will allow you to open one program as either a standalone or plug-in but Tiffen is different. If you have the plug-in option, opening the program from the desktop to input the activation key simply won't work. To open the program in an editing suite, you need to have a picture open. Then you can activate and register your product.
Launching Tiffen Dfx
We used Adobe Photoshop CS4 for our base program that we launched Dfx 3 from. You need at least CS3 for Dfx 3 to work. To open the program, go to Filter, Tiffen, Dfx v3. The program launches quickly and as we browsed through the features, we noticed that the rest of it is also lightening fast. Multi-processor acceleration is one of the new features of Tiffen Dfx 3 to make it faster for the consumer, with changes to filters practically instantaneous. There are other new features in v3 such as 10 more filters and improvements to the interface.
Even though ten doesn't sound much, adding those to the vast amount already available and you have hours of messing around adding the right feel to your pictures. You get the usual filters found on any program such as ND, grads, warm ups, blur, contrast, cross processing and lens distortion correction, but Tiffen Dfx 3 also has some other features not normally seen, including filters such as X-Ray, Infrared and Ozone. It makes us sit up and see a program that's different to the herd of filter plug-ins.
However, it's all very well discussing the originality of them, but if they don't look realistic then there's no point. First we'll take a tour of the workspace before looking at the filters in more depth.
Main Interface
The main Tiffen Dfx 3 workspace is quite simplistic in its approach. There are only four drop down menus in the top left corner. Those drop downs also have a minimum of options within them. Below that are four more options. The cog icon represents the render action. Once all the filters and editing has been completed, Dfx 3 will render it to the picture and load it into Photoshop. The X will cancel any actions while the two circled arrows resets all changes.
The final icon adds a mask to the picture and there are a number of masks to choose from. The mask can also be edited once applied. It's worth noting at this point that the program isn't non-destructive. If you want that kind of performance it's worth making a duplicate layer before launching Dfx 3. Not that it's much of a problem - it only takes a few moments to create a new layer, but it sets the program back a few years. Every program we've reviewed recently has been non-destructive so it's a surprise to see this from Tiffen.
Once you've selected a picture that you want to edit, there's a ridiculous amount of filters and setting to choose from in Tiffen Dfx 3. However, they're all laid out with little thumbnails to give a small preview, while clicking on them once will preview the changes on the actual picture. Should you decide you like the filter, double clicking the thumbnail will confirm it onto the picture. If you make a mistake, the left side of the window shows the history with each filter applied. The title is above the filter, not below so don't accidentally delete the wrong one.
Rendering

Each filter that appears along the bottom of the frame has several other filters that will pop up on the right side of the window. There are also a few other useful tools along the top of the preview screen.  For example, you can zoom into the image, make side by side comparisons or perform a split screen comparison if you prefer. The split screen can be done vertically or horizontally.
Split Screen
There are a number of new features in Tiffen Dfx 3, some of which seem useful such as the BeBlock, DeNoise and DeBand filters. Others are a little cosmetic such as the Colour Shadow filter. The idea is that it creates a high contrast image in a similar fashion to a Warhol pop art image with different colours instead of black and white such as what Warhol would do. Tiffen liken it to Apple's iPod advert but we've not seen it to pass judgement. Any features that have a point on the picture - such as Rays - can be manipulated so that the effect will originate from the point. For example, the rays will emit from the point on the photograph. On our sample, we placed it where the sun was in the shot so that the rays look as though they're coming from the sun.
Colour Shadow Effect
There are a select few filters that are both cosmetic and useful such as the Film Stocks filters. They simulate popular film types and there are 113 variations from Agfa to Polaroid. Without the actual film stocks in front of us it's difficult to say exactly how precise they are to the real deal. Fans of those types of film such as Agfa CT Precisa or Fujifilm Provia will be able to tell though. Interestingly, when the filters are applied they don't look as strong on the final image as when they're on the preview in the Tiffen program.
Applying Rays

Conclusion

The price of Tiffen Dfx 3 is $199. Using the Reuters conversion calculator, that works out to around £130. For that, you get an extensive program with lots of interesting filters to use and have fun with. Having fun does seem about the extent of it. That's not to say serious operations can't be performed on it. Adjustment filters are present such as Levels and there's a histogram, but these can be done in Photoshop anyway so it's nothing new.
Tiffen Dfx 3 isn't the easiest to use. The navigation isn't the most intelligent we've come across and the downside to all those filters and their variations is that it takes an age to get through them. To use the program effectively, you'll need a full understanding of the program and know the filters inside and out.
Also the filters aren't non-destructive, meaning that they don't create a new layer when they've loaded back into Photoshop from Tiffen Dfx 3. It's easily got around by simply opening a new layer before going into Dfx but other programs do it automatically and it's that expectancy that makes the program look bad.
However, in its defence, Tiffen Dfx 3 is lightening fast. The Tiffen website mentions almost nonchalantly that they've improved processing power. We think they've understated it because it's super fast. Changes are instantaneous when previewing or making the final render - it goes so fast that it puts other programs to shame.
If you want a digital effects filter system and you need to work fast then Tiffen Dfx 3 is the program for you. It has its downsides but we think that using it often will get rid of those. It took us around a week of regular use to remember to automatically create a layer before opening the program. After that our original issues were a thing of the past.
The filters look nice when applied to the right pictures. The trick is to explore Tiffen Dfx 3 which does take time until you find your feet. Features such as the noise reduction aren't that powerful and we had to run a couple of pictures through Nik Software's Dfine 2.0 which we reviewed last year.