[rgomes]

Hi!

What would be your suggestion for a hardware monitor calibrator?

I have an iMAC and was about to install Lightroom 3.0 on it. I worked with DPP for years but was tired of working on an image in DPP, print it on my Canon i6600 only to discover that the colours were way off what my screen was showing me.

Someone mentioned that I should have my monitor/printer calibrated so that they produce more accurate prints.

I am shooting in RAW using a Canon XSi.

Please let me know what I could be looking at doing/buying and how much it might cost. (Or please point me to a good link to a forum or a website)

Thank-you so much!

 

[grog]

Check out the Spyder products from Datacolor:

http://spyder.datacolor.com/index_us.php

They aren't exactly cheap but they work very well and are very easy to use.

 

[redzone]

you can also do it by eye

print a photo and compare it to the digital and adjust monitor / video settings till they match.

 

[Gino Cerullo]

Another popular display calibrator is the X-Rite i1Display 2.

http://www.xrite.com/product_overview.aspx?ID=788

I have an older model of a similar device from them called the MonacoEZcolor and MonacoOptixXR that seem to work quite well.

 

[rgomes]

Hi Gino,

Thanks for the reply. I too have heard much about the "X-Rite i1Display 2" monitor calibration system. Many swear that is the only way to get your iMAC glossy screen calibrated properly. On the other hand, people who have used the Spdyer3Pro (or Elite) versions swear their monitor has never looked better and more accurate.

They are all about the same price ~$300 CDN.

I would consider myself a serious/amateur photographer. Not a professional by any means. But after having purchased Lightroom 3.0 for my MAC I see it pointless to complete/work on any type of post-production on my photos only to find that when I print, it doesn't match what I saw on the screen. So is it worth it for me? I still don't know!

 

[Gino Cerullo]

I can't recommend one product over the other. I'm sure either one will do what you want.

As for whether you should bother buying one in the first place depends on how serious you are about your photography and, probably more importantly, how you will be displaying your images.

If you are going to be printing them out and hanging them on the wall, a calibrator may be worth your while so you can get predictable results.

If you are just going to be viewing them on screen or posting them to galleries for viewing on other devices and never plan on printing and hanging them then you may not want to bother with a calibrator as each device will display those images differently anyway.