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!

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.

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.

dxqcanada · Jan 20, 2015

What's the cost to rent them ?

I am selling my Spyder3 Express soon.

MichaelHenson · Jan 20, 2015

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

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?

dxqcanada · Jan 20, 2015

PM me if you are interested in buying my Spyder.

I upgraded to a Spyder4 Pro

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

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.

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.

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?

MichaelHenson · Jan 20, 2015

KmH said:
MichaelHenson said:

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

Click to expand...

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

Um, I'm clueless...

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

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.