Using Spyder2 for first time

[gleff]

Hi All,

I just bought myself a 'Spyder 2 Pro' and i'm trying to use it for the first time.. Well actually, i've been using it for the first time for the last 30 attempts

I'm not having a huge amount of luck though. For some reason the final profile IMHO looks worse than the original. Eg. The old profile was bright and had a bluish tint to images which I kinda like. The final profile always seems to have a slightly darker brightness and yellowish tint even though i'm using 2.2 for the gamma and 6500 degrees kelvin for the temperature. The original monitor profile was also set to 6500 degress kelvin. Not sure of the gamma.

I'm after my monitor to display images the closest possible way to the actual output of my D70 and be the correct colors so when I do image editing it's done right. Also to be close to what it would look like printed.

Am I doing something wrong, or am I just not used to the difference and think it's worse, when it's actually not?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks
Geoff

[sirhc55]

Geoff - get used to the difference. Gamma is 2.2 for PC’s and 1.8 for Mac but I set mine to 2.2 to cater for you PC guys. Also remember to set up your monitor calibration under a static light that you would normally work under. I calibrate at night and do most of my colour balancing at night when I can be sure that the lighting conditions are the same.

[gleff]

Geoff - get used to the difference. Gamma is 2.2 for PC’s and 1.8 for Mac but I set mine to 2.2 to cater for you PC guys. Also remember to set up your monitor calibration under a static light that you would normally work under. I calibrate at night and do most of my colour balancing at night when I can be sure that the lighting conditions are the same.

Thanks for that. I'm starting to get used to it already.

[shakey]

What sort of monitor do you have and how old is it. If its an old CRT it may not be possible to calibrate it satisfactorily. You could photograph something like a paint colour choice card and compare it side by side with the photo on the monitor (Watch lighting conditions though) to see how accurately your monitor is displaying colours straight out from the camera.

What colour space you work in is up to you. Basically comes down to adobe RGB or sRGB. Adobe RGB has a wider gamut than sRGB but photos displayed on the web or, in general, printed at outside labs use sRGB. I use Adobe RGB and convert later to sRGB if necessary. If you use Adobe RGB best to make sure your D70 is using that as well. (p 59 in the user manual). I choose "convert to working RGB" in colour management policies in CS2. Means any photos taken with sRGB mode are converted to adobe RGB when I open them in PS.

Bob Johnson has some user friendly stuff on colour management over on his website.

Start here and keep clicking the "next" button

http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototip ... -lost.html

Hope that helps

[nito]

I find most monitors are too bright and has washed out contrast before the spyder. So as what chris has said it is normal.

[gleff]

cool.. thanks guys.

I'm starting to get used to it now. In fact, i've now used the spyder on my laptop as well.

Geoff
Ps. Shakey to answer your question about what monitor I have.. it's a Philips flat panel LCD.

[nito]

I have a HP lap and the spyder doesnt like that display becaue it doesnt give the desired brightness for optimum display.