Should I get the spyder2pro?

[Jeff92]

There is one on my local cl for 25 bucks. Is it worth a shot? I am currently uncalibrated and am really new to photography. Is this model any good?

 

[KmH]

spyder 2 pro reviews - Bing

For only $25, it's hard to go wrong.

I recommend X-RITE's products myself.

 

[tirediron]

It's a great calibrator, but IT DOESN'T RUN UNDER WINDOWS 7! Vista and lower? Fine, but if you're running Win 7, save your $$.

 

[Josh66]

There is open source software for it - dispcalGUI. It runs on Linux, so I know you can make it work on Windows.

 

[Jeff92]

Ok thanks I have w7. Thanks for the tip

 

[Jeff92]

I went and got it today. I guess something is better than nothing. Thanks for the advice people and OllllllllllO thanks for that software I'll be using that.

 

[Josh66]

I went and got it today. I guess something is better than nothing. Thanks for the advice people and OllllllllllO thanks for that software I'll be using that.

A lot of people say that it's better than the software that comes with it.

You'll also need to install ArgyllCMS before installing dispcalGUI. The dispcalGUI website should have more information, and probably a link to Argyll (though it should be pretty much the top result of a google search).

 

[Jeff92]

Will that have the drivers for the spyder2 hardware? Auto driver install failed, naturally lol. Thanks again

Edit: finally back to my computer and not posting from my phone anymore. I see argyll is the driver I need. I will refer back here if I need any help but I think the infinite amount of resources on google will walk me through this. Thanks a ton OllllllllO I hope this works on my w7 64bit

 

[Josh66]

They (dispcalGUI) list the Spyder 2 as a supported instrument... But it does look like the Argyll CMS is what is going to control what is supported and what is not. Argyll CMS should have all the drivers you need.

dispcalGUI

Get Argyll CMS here:
Argyll Color Management System Home Page

 

[MTVision]

Will that have the drivers for the spyder2 hardware? Auto driver install failed, naturally lol. Thanks again

Edit: finally back to my computer and not posting from my phone anymore. I see argyll is the driver I need. I will refer back here if I need any help but I think the infinite amount of resources on google will walk me through this. Thanks a ton OllllllllO I hope this works on my w7 64bit

When you say it failed are you talking about the spyder 2 software? If so its because it isn't suppose to be compatible with windows7. There is an update for spyder2 that you can download and then get it to work on windows 7. I can't remember exactly what I had to do - I think it was compatibility mode - but I had some issues with it. I ended up using the dispcalgui thing mentioned above

 

[Jeff92]

I am working on this now, trying to get dispcalgui to work. I think I did the driver wrong, back to square one lol

 

[IByte]

Worse case just call customer service and direct you to the most up to date firmware. You be able to download their software free. Afterwards check your windows update for compatiblity drivers happy hunting, was think on getting one myself .

 

[Josh66]

ABSOLUTE worst case - boot Linux up on that sh!t and I guarantee it will work. (It's hard for me to call that a worst case scenario though, but some people are pretty attached to Windows.)

That last computer I bought shipped with 64 bit Windows 7 - I only used it long enough to open the DVD tray and reboot, but I know for a fact that dispcalGUI & ArgyllCMS will work with Linux Mint. I see no reason why it won't work in Windows though. Worst case (getting the Spyder2 to run on Windows 7), it will run 32 bit instead of 64 bit. Absolute worse case sticking with Windows, you might have to compile some code from source. That isn't as hard as it sounds.

 

[Jeff92]

I got it going now. Just pretty much left everything as it came default except I changed the icc to laptop. Not sure how to set the first step up to havea the rgb bars all in the center without a manual rgb slider to adjust it... maybe im missing something. I just ran it as is and I guess I will see what happens

 

[IByte]

ABSOLUTE worst case - boot Linux up on that sh!t and I guarantee it will work. (It's hard for me to call that a worst case scenario though, but some people are pretty attached to Windows.)

That last computer I bought shipped with 64 bit Windows 7 - I only used it long enough to open the DVD tray and reboot, but I know for a fact that dispcalGUI & ArgyllCMS will work with Linux Mint. I see no reason why it won't work in Windows though. Worst case (getting the Spyder2 to run on Windows 7), it will run 32 bit instead of 64 bit. Absolute worse case sticking with Windows, you might have to compile some code from source. That isn't as hard as it sounds.

A bad experience with good ol' Billy Gatesl? Lol yes windows have a lot of bloatware, but tech savvy people could disable the crap without receiving the dreaded blue screen.