LucisArt & Topaz Adjust?

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[SpiffyPix]

Someone in another thread asked an excellent question:

Do you consider photos that are altered LucisArt and Topaz Adjust HDR photos?  I've only seen a handful of photos from these programs, but they look HDR-ish to me.  Does anyone have any feelings on the subject?

Melanie
http://www.spiffypix.com

[arkitekt]

In my opinion the answer is no. LucisArt can simulate the HDR effect but I have never found it gives good consistency. The creators of Lucis Art are now trying to sell it only to professional togs/studios and have hiked the price up considerably for the new version. I would liken Lucis to an image enhancement programme but never true HDR. I used to use it more for sharpening and bringing out the contrast.

Topaz when it was first launched was hailed as the poor mans alternative to Lucis and got considerable attention on FlickR. Once again I would say it is an image enhancement program with some very good presets. It does seem to simulate the HDR look better than Lucis; but is it true HDR?

Well that's my two pennyworth

[gnasheruk]

The simple answer is no, they are not HDR images. I have and use Topaz (I would like Lucis, but it's just too expenive)and I find it really useful to bring out detail (especially in skies)and is excellent at getting rid of noise, it just doesn't get the same results as processing multiple RAW HDR's.

[10megapixel]

I have both programs as Photoshop plug-ins and achieved decent results when I "merge to HDR" my exposures in Photoshop and then use the Lucis/Topaz programs on the image. The results I get with Photomatix are MUCH, MUCH better without a doubt.