Take back control of your colour
Posted on Feb 25, 2023
Is what you’re seeing on your screen the same as the colours captured with your camera? To make certain, you only need one product: the Datacolor SpyderX Elite
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Here’s a problem photographers don’t talk about enough. As image makers, we try to represent a scene with our own creative vision, but what if the colours witnessed when making the images aren’t accurately represented when it comes to editing on the computer?
Modern monitors are energy efficient, but may not be giving you the true colour representation that you captured in-camera. Hues can be off if your display hasn’t been calibrated – and this means two important things. First, you could be left with results you aren’t happy with; and second, it’s going to cost you further time and effort to put these uncorrected colours right in post-processing. Time that could be spent outdoors in the studio shooting more imagery.
This is where the SpyderX Elite comes in. Made by Datacolor, it’s a complete colour management solution and makes use of the SpyderX, a cleverly designed colorimeter that reads the screen, measuring and assessing colour information. The SpyderX Elite is market-leading; not only did the company spend three years developing the lens-based colour engine technology featured in the colorimeter – giving greater precision to screen colour, white-balance and shadow details – but the device also features higher light sensitivity than most rivals. Along with the colorimeter, the Datacolor system brings intelligent colour control management software to your computer. The two elements work together to recalibrate your monitor and keep colours accurate. Plus, once you’ve bought the system, it’s yours for life – no monthly subscription charges like other software.
Calibrating your monitor takes a matter of minutes, with the user walked through the process via a step-by-step wizard. What’s more, the features keep coming; for example, the SpyderX Elite boasts an integrated ambient light sensor which measures your room light throughout the day, allowing you to adjust display brightness and contrast to ideal levels. There’s also a soft-proof feature, where you can upload ICC printer profiles to get an even closer match from the colours on the screen to the hues that end up on your prints. This is an important consideration for photographers who are making prints to sell – customer satisfaction over accuracy of colour on a print that they’ve shelled out cash for is critical.
For anyone doubting the difference an accessory like the SpyderX Elite can make, look at the before and after review feature. With this option, you’ll see just how much of a change there is between what the monitor offers as standard and how the colours are fine-tuned using Datacolor technology. SpyderX Elite can also tune side-by-side monitors so that everything is in sync and as it should be, giving you confidence in both monitors while still allowing that double-screen set-up to speed up your workflow.
When you consider all these features and benefits, it’s no surprise that readers of Photography News picked the SpyderX Elite as best colour management solution in our 2022 Awards. Made to work with both Mac and Windows systems, the Datacolor SpyderX Elite is backed up by a warranty and should be on the wish list of every image maker looking to take control of the colour in their photos.
For more, head to datacolor.com
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