How to Get Perfect Color In Your Photography - Datacolor SpyderX Review

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[tamasdebreczeni]

I don't know if you are supposed to hold it in hand, it has the counterweight to hang it on the monitor

[tonydesarzec]

If you plan to print your photographs I strongly recommend that you calibrate your monitor. If you use something like a Datacolor Spyder you’ll get good results. But what settings should you calibrate to? It can be confusing. The film and television industries set the colour of grey (white point) at 6500 Kelvin (D65). But digital cameras use a white point of D55 (or D56). Then again, the printing industry sets the white point at 5000 Kelvin (D50)! So when you mix your images, if you plan to print them, use a white point of D50. If you watch movies on your screen, calibrate to D65. Fun isn’t it? The printing company I use recommend the following settings for your monitor if you intend to print your photos -

 The brightness of the monitor should lie between 90 and 120 cd/qm.
 The colour temperature must be set at 5.000 Kelvin (D50).
 The monitor gamma should be adjusted to 2.2.

I hope this helps.

[robertlagrange]

does this produce printed images to match the screen. Currently I have to print than go back and adjust brightness until I get the desired output.

[eavesphoto]

I use something similar from Xrite, i1 Display Pro. Essentially it does the same thing as the hardware reviewed here. Xrite, Datacolor Or both reputable names for a Calibration hardware. The video is spot on for calibrating your monitors for color consistency. I calibrate my MacBook Pros and my Benq displays with the Xrite.
A couple things to remember about calibrating it with MacBook Pro displays.
You should have the laptop plugged in to power, turn off auto brightness, turn off true tone and disable automatic graphics switching (in system preferences). Try and calibrate the average room lights or close to the lighting conditions that you’re going to be editing. I’ve got my brightness on my monitor calibrate it to around 120 - 140 cd2 (brightness scale values). While laptop manufactures may say their screens are nice and bright. Nice and bright not only accelerates battery usage but it’s also not as accurate for colors. With my MacBook Pro calibrated to the brightness that is recommend it. The screen brightness is pretty much around half of the maximum brightness of MacBook Pro.. Whatever software or hardware you use remain consistent when using it. Because color consistency is what all photographers are striving for. Happy new year everyone

[bigbrownmab]

If your using screens for pc, make sure you get a screen that can do 99%adobe rgb or your prints will still be off compared to what you see on the screen. I have the spyder pro.

[frederick]

yes halfway there you need to profile the camera too

[josewantland]

I’m Photography student at OCC ( Orange Coast College ) In Costa Mesa CA and we have seen a BIG BIG difference when we print our work, base on a monitor that looks calibrated but it hasn’t being calibrated the right way, SO if anyone is sending image files to be printed ! you might get a disappointing printing outcome.

[simonharding]

I would love to print more of my stuff, but colour calibration has always put me off doing this. Would this unit help me to create prints that closely resemble what I see on screen? How would this work?

[archivist]

Out of necessity, I have a cheap monitor, and the colour is very different from in my cameras or what is ultimately printed. It has pretty much ground my workflow to a halt. I no longer see the point in taking photos if I can't edit them with any confidence. And it really hurts to admit this. :'(

Calibration would be a good idea.

[calvinchann]

it’s no surprise that your Apple screens are more consistent out of the box because they’re all Apple. What is the maximum period before it starts nagging you to re-calibrate?

[GauravAreng]

I've always been so curious about this. Thought of just renting one from my local camera store and calibrating my laptop - but I always thought it won't make that much of a difference considering no one else around me have calibrated theirs. So what's the deal with these honestly? Does it truly help that much? I don't see too much of a difference between the laptop and my phone or someone else's phone for that matter. Just a little more saturation I suppose. Is it super critical to do this? I use a MacBook Pro (2019 16 inch) and a Google Pixel. It kinda looks accurate to me, I suppose. Do I expect life-altering results of I calibrate my monitor? Sorry, sounds stupid, but really want to figure out my expectations before jumping in to do something I may not need to really do.

[fvvideo]

The final touch to this product is to attach to your eyes since they are the ones making the final perception.

[tomhughes]

i dont edit my images, the colour standards are terrible on monitors . there doesnt seem to be a standard even tv's g through the channels and the colour standards are a mile out from channel to channel, but its a great topic,

[busterbelln]

You hang the lid over the back of the screen which facilitates hands free operation and you can go make coffee or something while it does it's thing.
In my opinion calibration is merely an insurance that your edit is near accurate. Every one else that views your image on a device or with human eye will see color different. I have the spyder pro but have not calibrated in a long time, perhaps something I should get done.
When you can manipulate any colour to become any hue what is the point of mathematical perfect colour?

[burtgummer]

Not really needed, use the one built into the Mac . It’s expensive and just hype. Also, for it to be effective, anyone who looks at your images on a monitor must also be calibrated.