Nik Collection 2.5 aims to recreate the Golden Age of analog photography

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DxO’s updated plug-in suite comes with 15 new classic film simulations for both color and black and white photography

DxO Nik Collection 2.5
(Image credit: DxO)

DxO has just announced Nik Collection 2.5, an updated version of the celebrated Nik Collection 2 plug-in suite which adds 15 new classic analog film types to recreate the ‘Golden Age’ of analog film photography.

The Nik Collection is now owned and developed by DxO, the company behind PhotoLab 3, which we rate as one of the best photo editing software applications you can buy.

The Nik Collection includes seven different plug-ins and works with Photoshop, Lightroom Classic and Photoshop Elements. Version 2.5 has been updated for compatibility with the latest Affinity Photo 1.8 software, too.

There are many different plug-ins and effects tools on the market, but the Nik Collection has a scope and a power that still sets it apart from the rest. It includes the Analog Efex Pro 2 plug in, Silver Efex Pro 2, Color Efex Pro 4, HDR Efex Pro 4, Viveza, Dfine and Sharpener Pro. It also comes with DxO PhotoLab Essential, DxO’s powerful image browsing, raw processing, editing and optical correction software. For more, see our How to use Nik Collection 2 tutorial.

• Nik Collection 2 review

Classic films recreated

The new analog film effects are divided between Silver Efex Pro 2, which gets ten new ‘iconic’ black and white films, and Color Efex Pro 4, with five new classic color films

Color Efex Pro 4’s new color film simulations include Agfa Precisia CT 100, chosen for its neutral colors and deep blues, which make it ideal for landscapes, Fujifilm FP-100C for its rich tonal gradations, Fujifilm instax, Fujichrome Provia 400X (granularity, ‘radiant’ colors and contrast) 400X, and the very much on-trend Lomography Redscale 100. Some of these films are no longer in production, so this is a way to get their characteristic ‘look’.

The Nik Collection 2.5 by DxO (to give it its full title) is available in both Mac and PC versions from the DxO website. It’s a free update for existing Nik Collection 2 users, £69 for owners of the Nik Collection 2018 and £125 for new users (which includes a copy of PhotoLab Essential). DxO PhotoLab can be bought separately (see below):

Read more:

• This is the best photo editing software today
• DxO Nik Collection 2 review
• These are the best film scanners right now

Rod Lawton
Rod Lawton
Contributor

Rod is an independent photography journalist and editor, and a long-standing Digital Camera World contributor, having previously worked as DCW's Group Reviews editor. Before that he has been technique editor on N-Photo, Head of Testing for the photography division and Camera Channel editor on TechRadar, as well as contributing to many other publications. He has been writing about photography technique, photo editing and digital cameras since they first appeared, and before that began his career writing about film photography. He has used and reviewed practically every interchangeable lens camera launched in the past 20 years, from entry-level DSLRs to medium format cameras, together with lenses, tripods, gimbals, light meters, camera bags and more. Rod has his own camera gear blog at fotovolo.com but also writes about photo-editing applications and techniques at lifeafterphotoshop.com