# Renting a Calibrator | Which one?



## MichaelHenson (Jan 20, 2015)

I'm going to rent a color calibrator to try out and am wondering which to go with? Borrow Lenses has the Spyder 3 and the X-Rite ColorMunki available for rental. 

Questions:
1. Is there a reason I should go with one over the other?
2. I'm red/green color blind so my ability to distinguish nuanced tints and whatnot is diminished a bit. Is the color calibration something that I'm going to be able to do or will I need to have someone sit with me through the process?

Eventually, I realize I'll need to pick one of these up to have on hand but I'd prefer to just rent one for the time being...

Thanks!


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## KmH (Jan 20, 2015)

Most print labs and many pro photographers and editors recommend the X-Rite ColorMunki.
A display needs to be re-calibrated about once a month and whenever the ambient light falling on the display changes.


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## MichaelHenson (Jan 20, 2015)

Haha! So with a laptop I should just constantly have one connected then?   I guess I'll rent the ColorMunki. Although, the price difference between that one and the Spyder for purchase is pretty considerable.


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## dxqcanada (Jan 20, 2015)

What's the cost to rent them ?

I am selling my Spyder3 Express soon.


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## MichaelHenson (Jan 20, 2015)

$20 for the Spyder and $48 for the Munki. For a week...


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## MichaelHenson (Jan 20, 2015)

dxqcanada said:


> What's the cost to rent them ?
> 
> I am selling my Spyder3 Express soon.



Keep me in mind when you decide to move forward...depending on pricing I may take it off your hands. I'm assuming you're moving to something else?


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## dxqcanada (Jan 20, 2015)

PM me if you are interested in buying my Spyder.

I upgraded to a Spyder4 Pro


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## xvvvz (Jan 20, 2015)

You might want to search your local craigslist.  You can often find calibration systems there.  I would not buy or use a Spyder older than the Spyder 3.  The 2 and older were pretty bad.  Do you have a quality IPS display panel/screen in your laptop?  If not, keep your expectations low in regard to the benefits you will get with a laptop screen.  Been there, done that!

Doug


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## MichaelHenson (Jan 20, 2015)

xvvvz said:


> You might want to search your local craigslist.  You can often find calibration systems there.  I would not buy or use a Spyder older than the Spyder 3.  The 2 and older were pretty bad.  Do you have a quality IPS display panel/screen in your laptop?  If not, keep your expectations low in regard to the benefits you will get with a laptop screen.  Been there, done that!
> 
> Doug


 
I always forget about Craigslist... 

I'm using a MacBook Pro laptop. I saw some results on here from D-B-J when he calibrated his monitor and I just got some prints back that were a bit underexposed and colored weird. So, I figure now is a good time to look into doing this.


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## Buckster (Jan 20, 2015)

The ColorMunki (what I use) needs to recalibrate about once per month, and pops up a reminder to let you know.  It does not need to recalibrate due to ambient light changes because it takes that into account every few minutes automatically anyway.

It is good for displays only.  If you also need to calibrate scanners and/or printers, you will need to do more research.  I used to use a Monaco EZ Color Optix XR that calibrated everything like that, that was a a few operating systems ago, and I sold it on ebay when I needed to upgrade to keep up with a new OS.  I don't know what the current offerings for that complete of a calibration setup are.


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## KmH (Jan 20, 2015)

MichaelHenson said:


> $20 for the Spyder and $48 for the Munki. For a week...


For which version of the ColorMunki - 1 of the 2 colorimeter version or the spectrophotometer?


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## MichaelHenson (Jan 20, 2015)

KmH said:


> MichaelHenson said:
> 
> 
> > $20 for the Spyder and $48 for the Munki. For a week...
> ...


Um, I'm clueless...

This one: X-Rite ColorMunki Photo Color Management Solution Rentals


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## KmH (Jan 20, 2015)

That is the more expensive spectrophotometer and it can not only calibrate/profile a computer display, it can also profile printers, scanners, projectors.
A colorimeter is much less expensive and can't be used with so many types of devices.

For $89 you can buy a X-Rite ColorMunki Smile
Or for $169 you can buy a X-Rite ColorMunki Display
The one you are considering renting is a $459 X-Rite ColorMunki Photo

I would recommend you aspire to the ColorMunki Display because it detects how much ambient light is falling on the display. The less expensive Smile doesn't.


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## MichaelHenson (Jan 20, 2015)

Interesting...Thanks!


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## xvvvz (Jan 21, 2015)

>>MacBook Pro laptop<<

Good to hear.  The recent MBPs I have seen do have IPS displays that are worthy of the time to calibrate!

Doug


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## sm4him (Jan 21, 2015)

KmH said:


> That is the more expensive spectrophotometer and it can not only calibrate/profile a computer display, it can also profile printers, scanners, projectors.
> A colorimeter is much less expensive and can't be used with so many types of devices.
> 
> For $89 you can buy a X-Rite ColorMunki Smile
> ...



I have that mid-range one, bought it maybe a year ago and have been quite happy with it.  As already mentioned, yes, it requires about a monthly re-calibration, but it reminds you, and it's quick and easy to do--takes about five minutes. The rest of the time, it just stays connected and does a regular check of the ambient light (IIRC, you can choose how often it checks) and adjusts as needed.

To answer the other question you asked, yes, it's something you can do yourself, at least with the X-Rite ColorMunki Display unit I have. It does all the calculating and adjusting; no evaluation of color is required from you, so your ability to discern those different tints won't matter in the calibration process.


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## runnah (Jan 21, 2015)

Don't forget to buy a calibrator calibration tool.


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## MichaelHenson (Jan 21, 2015)

sm4him said:


> KmH said:
> 
> 
> > That is the more expensive spectrophotometer and it can not only calibrate/profile a computer display, it can also profile printers, scanners, projectors.
> ...



Thanks for the info!


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## Ysarex (Jan 21, 2015)

xvvvz said:


> >>MacBook Pro laptop<<
> 
> Good to hear.  The recent MBPs I have seen do have IPS displays that are worthy of the time to calibrate!
> 
> Doug



The retina displays are IPS displays -- the other MacBooks are TN displays.

Joe


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## MichaelHenson (Jan 21, 2015)

Ysarex said:


> xvvvz said:
> 
> 
> > >>MacBook Pro laptop<<
> ...


Pretty sure mine isn't a retina....So a calibrator wouldn't help me, correct?


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## Ysarex (Jan 21, 2015)

MichaelHenson said:


> Ysarex said:
> 
> 
> > xvvvz said:
> ...



*Calibrator will help you.* Hardware does play a limiting role. Consider this analogy; a guitar sounds better when it's tuned. You can tune a $1800.00 Martin guitar, a $199.00 Yahama guitar, and a $19.95 toy guitar. They'll all be tuned when you're finished but they won't all sound the same. TN displays have two problems. 1. They have a very restricted viewing angle -- you have to be right in front of them and not move much. 2. They have a limited physical gamut. Assume you have a photo that's in the sRGB color space. The sRGB color space is a defined range of colors. What happens if there are colors in the sRGB space (and so potentially in your photo) but your TN display isn't physically capable of displaying those colors -- this is the limited gamut problem: TN displays can't physically reproduce the full sRGB color gamut. It's not as bad as it sounds but it's not insignificant either. What happens is you see a color that is as close as the display can get but not spot on. MacBook Pro displays are pretty good as laptops go and worth getting calibrated.

You're doing more than just calibrate the display. The devices you're looking at also profile the display and that is likewise a critical job that makes a big difference. You want to get that done. Your processing software expects to find and use that profile and if you don't have it custom generated for your display then you get a generic default that isn't helping you.

Joe


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## Buckster (Jan 21, 2015)

MichaelHenson said:


> Ysarex said:
> 
> 
> > xvvvz said:
> ...


Calibrating is always a great idea, regardless of the display.  

People are all hot for IPS displays these days, as if you have to have one, but somehow photographers made beautiful photos with displays before IPS was invented anyway.  I know, it seems impossible, the way people talk up IPS displays, but it's true nonetheless.  Make of that what you will.

Yes, IPS displays let you move your head 3 feet right to left without affecting the way you see the display.  Umm...  I don't know about anyone else, but when I'm editing, my head probably doesn't move more than a couple inches right to left anyway, and it's not because I feel restricted by my display, or anything else.

And the additional colors they can display are no doubt great - if you can really tell the difference.

Here's a test to see how sensitive you are to color hues:

Munsell Hue Test

I don't have an IPS display, and scored a perfect 0 anyway.  Maybe the IPS display users can somehow do better with those awesome screens?


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## ruben_c (Jan 22, 2015)

Concerning the price, the expensive one includes creating your own profiles for your printer, which is not necessary unless you need very reliable prints made by your printer. And that will only make sense with mid to high range printers, not any all in one printer.

I recommend you a Spyder4PRO or a i1 Display Pro, because both work with ambient light compensation, the Spyder4Express won't.
I use a Spyder4PRO and do the SoftProof with my labs ICC profile. That's the workflow that work's best for me.

In any case I can also recommend you this eBook as a crash course into color management: 
http://spyder.datacolor.com/scripts/ebook-en/Spyder_eBook_EN_final.pdf


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## MrWrong (Mar 17, 2015)

Can these be used to calibrate TV's as well or will they only work on monitors?


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