Quick review: Iridient X Transformer (beta)
Recently I talked about the new Iridient developer coming out soon (HERE), well a public beta is out (DOWNLOAD HERE) and from first impressions it’s good, but needs a little more to make it function better.
First thing I will say is it’s a bit difficult to use within Lightroom at the moment. (Read major edit below).
MAJOR EDIT:
Stupid me, I didn’t read the HELP FILE… anyway long story short, you can definitely set it up to work as a “plugin” here’s the instructions:
http://www.aevansphoto.com/ixt-lightroom-plugin/
Anyway, I did processed an image real quick. I’m actually very impressed. When I imported the DNG files I had to turn OFF sharpening because it was TOO sharp. So here’s Iridient (left) vs the best I could do in Lightroom (right) I think the results speak for themselves. Here’s some 100% crops:

See the extra details you get from the iridient file? You can turn down sharpening etc. in settings too, this is default IXT settings
TIP: Turn sharpening to “Low” in IXT for a more manageable DNG. You can add a LITTLE sharpening in LR to taste after that (NR too).
Open in a new window to see full size.

Grass has a lot less of the paint effect you get with LR.
In the second one you can see that grass/foliage is MUCH better rendered than with LR. You don’t get that weird paint effect like you get with LR.
CONCLUSION
So the program is in beta, so I won’t judge the interface issues too much until I get the final program. (If you read my “Major Edit” above, you’ll know I was the idiot here, while it’s a bit convoluted, I actually read the help file included with the program and now IXT functions the way I want it to). BUT the RESULTS are amazing and well worth the price I feel.
Thanks for reading,
P.S. the price for IXT is actually really reasonable. I do intend to buy when I can. However, at the moment I can’t even afford the $29.99usd asking price… once I get a bit of work and such I will definitely buy this product.