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Datacolor Spyder5 PRO Display Calibration System USD $123.80 (~ AUD $174) Delivered @ B&H Photo Video

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More info from the Datacolor website HERE

Reviews from customers B&H Photo Video HERE

Price comparison @ DWI Datacolor Spyder5 PRO $299 from DWI

Also on special is the Datacolor Spyder5ELITE Display Calibration System USD$188 ~ AUD$265. DWI has it for $389

With the ever increasing choice in monitors, the Spyder5PRO Display Calibration System from Datacolor helps you maintain consistency from production through post and delivery. Designed to provide Serious photographers and designers seeking a full-featured and advanced color accuracy solution, the Spyder5PRO allows you to calibrate multiple monitors, from laptops to desktop monitors. The PRO software incorporates advanced calibration features for setting gamma, white point and gray balance, and allows you 16 choices for calibration settings.

The included Spyder5 Colorimeter (probe) features a 7-detector optical engine. Compact and portable the Spyder5 mounts to your monitor via lens cap counterweight. Featuring a 5 minute initial calibration time, and a recalibration time of just half that, the Spyder5PRO system gets you up and calibrated quickly, and monthly recalibrations allow you to stay calibrated even faster. With 3 ambient light settings, before and after evaluation, and basic display analysis the Spyder5PRO is a powerful tool in your color correction arsenal. A reusable storage box protects your Spyder5 Colorimeter unit when you need to take it traveling.

Spyder5 calibrates your monitor to an industry color reference standard to ensure on-screen colors are accurate, grays and whites are consistent, shadow and highlight details are protected, and skin tones are true-to-life.
The software provides you a calibration wizard, with interactive help.
The software supports storing 16 calibrations choices, allowing adjustment of white point, gamma, and ambient brightness among other settings.
Spyder5PRO allows you to calibrate laptops and desktop monitors.
Featuring 3 ambient light settings, you can color correct with confidence knowing that your monitor stays calibrated even as ambient lighting conditions shift.
Before and After calibration evaluation is possible using a Standard Datacolor image, or your user imported images.
You can calibrate your monitor in just 5 minutes, and monthly recalibrations can take half that.

Related Stores

B&H Photo Video
B&H Photo Video

closed Comments

  • +1

    wow, not bad, recently bought spyder 4 elite from gumtree for about $150

    • +22

      Based on the value you place on computer screens, it's highly unlikely that your monitor's colour accuracy is important to you :-)

        • +18

          Of course. You are visually comparing pixel-to-pixel against themselves!

          These kinds of calibration devices are primarily to match colours during the process of [real world] to [camera] to [monitor] to [editing] to [printer]. And also to match them to other calibrated devices in other locations.

          In this way, you can adjust colours, brightness, etc in photoshop using your monitor then have the result printed (in a calibrated device) and what you get back will match what you saw and optimised on-screen.

          It's all about WYSIWYG. Without a calibration process, complex and critical tones like human skin can print out wildly wrong, even though they "all look fine" on the non-calibrated screen.

        • +10

          @jv: LOL jv spoken like a true pro ;) Please tell me you are not a professional photographer?

        • @jv:

          Look at a whole line of TV's…they all look different. Now imagine they get calibrated to look the same ;-)

        • +4

          @jv:

          My inkjet and laser both print colours different to each other, they're the ones that need adjusting, not my monitor.

          Certainly, and you'd be wise to download and install the manufacturer's Colour Profiles for those printers to help with that variance. However your monitor ALSO needs calibrating as well. I bet that neither of those printers produces an image that matches what you see on-screen.

          Anyway this is not about calibrating your monitor to your (crappy consumer grade) printers. It's about calibrating your monitor to a known and repeatable standard, so that images printed on CALIBRATED printers will come out as expected. And that what is seen on your monitor is how it will appear on another (calibrated) monitor.

          If you are producing professionally printed artwork, a calibrated monitor is essential. Otherwise there is a risk that (for example) you have 10,000 brochures printed and they are rejected because the skin tones have a green cast, or the product image in the brochure isn't shown as the same colour as the product in real life.

        • +1

          @jv:

          so true! If you are gonna print then you need to calibrate the printer as well. I'm sure you know though that this kind of gear is only relevant for high end monitors and printer combos….colour management is ridiculously complex. I use a high end Eizo monitor and still cannot get consistency…the whole thing sux!!

          More often than not, once you get a good skin tone then the rest is personal preference, depending of course on what you are doing!!

        • @llama:

          Don't different parts of monitor produce different brightness and colour, particularly at edges; and, isn't there a colour shift depending on view angle? How practical is a colour profile even after calibration?

        • +1

          @jv:

          Define "green" …

        • -2

          @Mr Wowtrousers:

          Define "green" …

          Are you colour blind?

        • -4

          @slipperypete:

          once you get a good skin tone

          Don't people's skin tone vary too?

        • +3

          @jv:

          Seriously. Tell me what green is. If you say "green is green", think about it, have a long hard look at yourself in the mirror, then try again.

        • -3

          @Mr Wowtrousers:

          Tell me what green is.

          Light that has a wavelength of about 510 nm…

        • +1

          @jv:
          About? That's not very precise.

        • +1

          @Mr Wowtrousers:

          Green is the color between blue and yellow on the spectrum of visible light. It is evoked by light with a predominant wavelength of roughly 495–570 nm. In the subtractive color system, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combination of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; in the RGB color model, used on television and computer screens, it is one of the additive primary colors, along with red and blue, which are mixed in different combinations to create all other colors.

          The modern English word green comes from the Middle English and Anglo-Saxon word grene, from the same Germanic root as the words "grass" and "grow".

        • -2

          @ceribik:

          That's not very precise.

          Precise enough for me…

        • And if you sent a photo that looked fine on your monitor to a commercial printer, would the colours look the same as you see on your monitor? I'll answer that - there's a very, very small chance that they would.

          It's almost like you'd need a device to calibrate your monitor to a common standard…

        • -1

          @dazweeja:

          And if you sent a photo that looked fine on your monitor to a commercial printer

          I often use Snapfish and the results are great… Epson inkjet results are great too, not so much with the HP laser though…

        • @jv:

          The people that buy this product need more than great, they need the colours to be identical.

        • -3

          @dazweeja:

          they need the colours to be identical.

          how do you know if they are 'identical' ?

        • +9

          Don't get sucked in by attention-seekers who have zero interest in the product and are simply posting rubbish for the sake of posting.
          You're just wasting your time.

        • -3

          @eug:

          Don't get sucked in by attention-seekers

          I think dazweeja's comments are very valid

        • +1

          @jv: You use a calibrator. Yay! I think we're getting there!

        • @jv:

          "Are you colour blind?"

          That was actually pretty funny… upvote for me

        • @FabMan:

          Well look who's a Mr Smarty Pants :D

          The point is, without some precise way to measure it, saying something like "make this part of the image green" is meaningless. Saying "Make the green on your computer the same as my green" by eyeballing it is also pointless. My idea of what green is and whether the two greens are matching might be very different from yours.

          Hell, in Japan, various shades of green are called blue and vice versa. Traffic lights are often pretty much blue/aqua and people call them green.

        • @Mr Wowtrousers:

          I agree, you two were just arguing so loud I wanted to butt in.

        • @Mr Wowtrousers:

          Seriously. Tell me what green is …

          One of the pretty colours in a salad sammich.

          The colour of an apparently hesitant upvote, given comments below referenced to something only marginally dearer, but better?

          Also, with just a little bit of red, this -

          https://www.instagram.com/green-gorgeous.png

    • +3

      It is a bargain for those who do post-processing in Photoshop as photographers.

  • Seems quite a good deal.

    However the first few lines of the description are a bit confusing, as it's not immediately clear that your links to DWI are actually just for price comparison. I actually clicked through to DWI, and was coming back to comment that the price in title was wrong! Yeah, I know… but we are all time-poor and often need things clearly spelled out for us.

    Also, I am not sure why you copy/pasted that massive block of marketing text from the B&H webpage… anybody who is considering one of these would already know what they do.

    In any case, the place for accurate info is the manufacturer's site. It's worth also doing some serious Googling and read reviews - to check the difference between Pro, Elite, etc as well as what improvements Spyder5 gives against the commonly seen Spyder4 series.

    • I added the price comparison bit. Thanks for that. I will add a link directly from the Datacolor website as well.

      • Price comparison is definitely good. It's just the wording that could be improved.

        I was over excited (been looking for a deal on these for a while now) and rushed in, and then stuffed up in my haste!

        • When you say "rushed in" Do you mean you bought one at a higher price than this?

        • @Jase2801:

          No I haven't bought one, but been on my "must buy" list for years. I am preparing lots of marketing materials using a crappy low-end LG monitor that has no calibration.

          Rushed in here because of the great price $174 mentioned in the title. Clicked the (original) first link in the description, and was shattered when the website showed it was almost double at $299 LOL DOH.

        • @llama: LOL my bad sorry. It's nearly 1am here. My brain is not functioning properly.

        • +1

          @Jase2801:

          It's almost 1am here in Sydney too… and I am still at work, staring at that poxy LG monitor ROFL.

  • +4

    A deal getting many upvotes and here I am sitting wondering what the hell this thing does?

    • +3

      Calibrates your monitor so that it's neutral colour, rather than a high blue, yellow or magenta tint..

      Not really useful to 90% of the people on here..

    • here I am sitting wondering what the hell this thing does?

      http://spyder.datacolor.com/display-calibration/

      Plus my post above, https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/232533#comment-3425539

    • +1

      Calibrates your monitors so that the colour output is accurate.

      This is particularly important if you're into photography or digital art.

      As a consumer, it's probably not a big enough deal to spend money on the problem, but it is nice, and you can lend it to your friends and use it on every monitor you own.

      • +1

        Good for pros who process images for printing.

        Most people have their monitors set on contrast and brightness that is too high. There is an argument that if you are publishing images on the web even if you calibrate your monitor before processing your images, they won't be seen as the true correct image by most viewers who have uncalibrated monitors. So there might not be much point in calibrating your monitor for web use.

        • +4

          One shouldn't aim to simply be average just because everyone else is, well, average. :)

          If your monitor is calibrated, any work you do will appear correctly to anyone with a high-end device that's already calibrated at the factory, e.g. MacBooks, Surface Pro 4 / Surface Book, iPads, Galaxy S6/Note5/TabS2, Dell Ultrasharps, etc.

        • @eug:

          If you cared enough to consider calibrating the display, I imagine you'd already have a good factory calibrated display, which would be plenty for digital work.

        • +2

          @TheContact: The factory calibration won't last forever. It will go off calibration as the monitor ages.

        • @eug:
          You're right! Completely forgot about that. And I even go to the trouble of doing my monitors at work every 2 weeks 'casue I'm paranoid hah!

        • @TheContact: Do you see much change in two weeks?

        • +1

          @Sturmeh:
          Nope. Honestly, the change would have to be pretty drastic for me to notice after waiting through the calibration heh.

          Sometimes I do wonder why I bother though, as I'm constantly chasing my tail with the printers proofs, which then have to be further adjusted on the press ugh. Suppose it would make judging the needed adjustments easier..errp, bit of a rant haha

  • This device can also be used to calibrate your TV using Calman or HCFR software.

  • Does it work on a curve screen monitor?

  • Does anyone know if it's worth the upgrade from the spyder 3 elite?

    • I have the 3 elite too and was considering this. Not sure if it's gonna be much better. The 3 is still doing a good job. Might try one of the open source software listed below and give that a try.

      • I don't use it that often but was just a thought…my monitors aren't really worth that much anyways

  • +2

    It's not the same model..and I understand one needs to calibrate periodically. But here's a link to hire a calibration device for $25 per day in Sydney.
    http://www.camerahire.com.au/item/datacolor-spyder4-pro-moni…

    • +2

      Yeah but now I can rent out mine for $25 a day, so I'll be saving $9125 a year, who's the winner now?

  • Wouldn't you also need to calibrate your room (as well as the monitor?)

    • If the monitor is reflective, such as sold by Apple, then yes - 'Space Grey' would be my choice.

    • +1

      It takes into account the ambient light in your room, so adjust it under the same conditions you work under.

  • can this work on the TV screen and what is the difference between the Spyder5 PRO Spyder5 Elite?

    • Only software difference.

  • Can someone confirm that for someone who doesnt own a printer and doesnt do any photo processing, or photoshop work at home then this device is not required. I hate to miss out on a bargain but also try to understand the need for this device as I have been using monitors for over 20 years and not once did I think oh it would be great to have a calibration device.

    • -5

      You definitely must buy one for each monitor and TV in your house. Buy additional ones for disaster recovery too.

    • +1

      No it is absolutely not required - although you may end up with a better looking screen (as anyone who uses the Windows built-in colour calibration can attest to). Using this rough and ready built-in method is effective but only for the screen setup for that user.

      If it matters to you as a user that colours look the same on all devices - like it does for video editors, image editors but not people storing thier instagram collection - then it's required.

    • +1

      It's more so that your monitor will match your printed results after you've done image processing or colour correction. Like other people said above, if you're trying to get colours right for the web then other people's uncalibrated monitors are gonna undo it all for you anyway.

      These are really only for people who want their printed work to match their processed image. If you don't process and print your own photos or do colour correction to video footage, you're not going to have any benefit from a calibrated monitor. Standard 'ignore jv' disclaimer applies.

    • +1

      As a couple of other people have said - it is not critical, but I have two different brand monitors on extended mode and it helps to get the two looking similar in their colours and brightness. You can probably do this by manually mucking around with the controls or use the Windows manual calibration software, but that can be a bit hit and miss.

      It also means when I take photos down to get prints, I might get back something similar to what I see on screen… although different outlets have their printers calibrated differently. A Big-W near us prints everything much darker than on screen but a nearby camera store prints pretty much what I see on screen.

      My monitors are calibrated every couple of months because the back-light in the monitor fades over time.

      Bottom line - if you haven't felt the burning need, or don't struggle to fix the colours and brightness on your monitors, spend your money somewhere else.

      • Great responses thanks all for the clarification.

  • +1

    Anyone have any idea how it compares to the i1 Display Pro?

    • +1

      I was looking into colorimeters recently and looking around the general consensus seems to be that the i1 display pro still does a better job. The spyder 5 and datacolor products in general seem to suffer from QC and/or inaccuracy issues. Ended up picking up a Colormunki Display for $184 shipped off ebay.

      • I've used both makes (different models). I found that the X-rites far better than the Datacolor. By better I'm mean more consistent, the datacolor often gave varying calibrations in controlled environments. Also back then the X-rite software was downloadable off the website and required no software key. As far as I know the datacolor needs a key so the software could only be installed on one computer.. pretty stupid when you invest in hardware and need to calibrate a number of computers that include inbuilt monitors (like iMacs). That and the quality comparison made me sell the datacolor Spyder 4 I had and upgrade my i1 display to a Colormunki Photo.

    • The i1 Display Pro can adjust some UltraSharp monitor settings directly, which is a lot easier than having to manually adjust the r/g/b settings on the monitor. Can the Spyder5 do it?

    • +1

      Agree with qwerks - x-rite is a lot better. Spyders are a hell of a lot better than not calibrating but give inconsistent results (i.e calibrate the same monitor twice in a row and you will see a difference)

      • Which X-rite would you recommend?

  • +3

    As a (semi) aside, when you are doing pro colour matching, like compositing on films etc, even calibrated monitors will look different to each other. That's just they way it is. That is why you always go by the numbers. This "green" is 0.3, 0.8. 0.45 and that "green" being 0.35, 0.82, 0.48 (R,G,B values) might "look" exactly the same on two monitors right next to each others. Unless the numbers match, you can't be sure.

    • Isn't the whole point in calibrating a monitor so that the green at RGB(0.3, 0.8. 0.45) looks the same as the green at RGB(0.3, 0.8. 0.45) on the second monitor?

      • As qwerks said below, even same brand, same model monitors will look slightly different.

        • That's what I am wondering about. If the monitors looks slightly different then I would imagine they aren't calibrated correctly?

        • +1

          All calibration does is try to neutralise the discrepancies of any peripheral whether it be a monitor, printer, camera or whatever else. Any given device has it's limitations and idiosyncrasies. What a monitor calibrator does is it reads the colour values produced by a monitor (ie pure red 255,0,0 pure green 0,255,0 pure blue 0,0,255 and a number of other combinations in between) and reads the output. It then creates a profile that compensates for the specific characteristics of that display. In the end the colours on any calibrated device has its own characteristics and will only give a color accurate representation of what that monitor can produce. It is not uncommon to have a colour shift from one side of the monitor to the other. It might be subtle and doesn't really matter to most people but it is obvious when doing colour critical work. In cases where colour is critical I read the RGB values, just like Señor Wowtrousers says.

          Also there are environmental factors that affect the calibration and viewing of the screen. Working in changing lighting conditions (near a window) will affect the calibrator as well as how you perceive the colour.

          In my experience it is nearly impossible to get a "perfect" calibration between two monitors.

    • +1

      True. Monitors vary. Monitors age. Having calibrated Eizo's in a dual monitor configuration they never are the same. Even most (lower-end) monitors have a color shift across the screen.

  • +1

    Yep true that, we've got 7 calibrated displays that vary. Pull get less aviation the higher end monitor you go, but as you said, the numbers is where its at.

    • Sounds like your "calibrated" displays aren't calibrated then?

  • Finally purchased one - has also been on my list for a long time… After reading reviews seems cheaper to buy the PRO version rather than the ELITE, download open source software, and use that to calibrate as many people seem to complain on amazon that the provided software is lacking.

    I believe the open source combination they recommend is dispcalGUI + Argyll CMS

    • Thanks the heads up, I was trying to decide if elite was worth it. Good thing the hardware is identical.

  • +1

    Great post, thanks for this. I've been wanting a personal calibrator since leaving my agency and their xrite one. Also picked up the Chromecast and Chromecast audio.

  • Surely it'd be better off if you rented something like this - I mean how often is it required … every time you change monitors/tv… or am I mistaken?

    • +1

      Recommended to calibrate once a month.

    • +2

      If you print photos as part of your profession, or make up advertisements you'd want to calibrate after every ink or toner change. This calibration is important to match what you see on the screen.

      Otherwise, forget about it.

    • LCD screens drift over time. Pros calibrate regularly when shooting.

  • I can't get checkout working. It says the checkout in closed?? 😱
    How can an online shop be closing shop lol

  • "Get notified when checkout reopens"
    so I won't be able to biy till they reopen ?
    And then the deal will be over ?

  • What happens after a year has passed with this device? The lens on it could slightly age/distort causing it to change how it calibrates your screen.

    As such I want a calibration tool that can calibrate the calibration tool for calibrating monitors.

    • +1

      I've heard the older Spyders filters deteriorated over time, which is one reason why the X-Rite ones are generally recommended over them. I don't know of the Spyder5, but it seems according to a reply to a post I had made earlier, the X-Rite i1 Display Pro is still superior, though more expensive.

  • Have any of these got an averaging routine for a multiple-monitor setup?

    • The cheaper Spyder will only let you do one monitor profile on each PC (you can fool it with some effort), but the better ones set multiple monitors at the one level, so in a sense, yes it is an average. This one will do multiple monitors and says it monitors ambient light to adjust your monitor between day and night.

      The greens in a photo should all look pretty much the same as you move the photo across monitors…. but unless you spend a lot of money on the monitor and have the same brand, model and batch, there will always be slight differences.

      • My understanding was that having eyefinity / nvidia surround causes windows to behave like it has a single monitor and can therefore only use one colour profile for the three screens.

        I think you are talking about setting monitors with a colour profile each, such that in effect they all end up having the same colour?

      • Hi,

        I have purchased the Pro version (still waiting) but i do have multiple monitors that are different and i only just realised it wont do it.
        Do you have any links or ideas how i can get around this limitation?
        Would it be as simple as doing one monitor at a time, saving the colour profile and adding it back manually later?

        Thanks for your help.

  • +1

    Have been using them since number 2 and cannot recommend them enough to people serious about their photography and a must to anyone who charges for their photography.

  • Spyder5 PRO vs. ColorMunki Display for HDTV calibration?

  • http://www.curtpalme.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11436

    Many experts recommend not buying these Spyders, as they aren't accurate.
    Comments?

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