GretagMacbeth or ColorVision?

TM
Posted By
Trevor_Morris
Oct 21, 2005
Views
539
Replies
17
Status
Closed
Does anyone have any experience (good or bad) or opinions with regards to the pros and cons of the following products?

GretagMacbeth Eye-One Display 2
ColorVision Spyder2PRO Studio 2

Thanks very much.


Cheers,
Trevor

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RK
Rob_Keijzer
Oct 21, 2005
Trevor,

Since 3 months I use a GretagMacBeth Eye one Display 2. I use it on my CRT’s, and have tested it on a friends LCD flatscreen.

In all cases I have good results with it. It is also capable of reading the ambient light temperature, and subsequently advise on it. In one of the video journals from Michael Reichmann he says that this device (after measuring the ambient light) also adjusts the brightness level according to that. However, that is not the case. It just advices, and I wouldn’t want it otherwise I might add.

It is also simple to operate. You decide where to place the colorimeter on the screen, so your On Screen Display doesn’t get in the way.

You can set up a reminder to warn after a pre-determined time that a new calibration and profiling ought to be made.

Finaly, there is no restriction as to the number of pc’s the software is installed on.

Hope this helps.

Rob
BL
Bob Levine
Oct 21, 2005
Thumbs up for Eye-One. I haven’t tried it on an LCD yet, but that will change next week when I get my new Dell Ultrasharp 24" widescreen.

Bob
TM
Trevor_Morris
Oct 22, 2005
Thanks guys, your comments are very helpful and apprecitated.
GS
Gustavo Sanchez
Oct 23, 2005
I have an Eye-One and it’s dead easy to use and the results are nice. No opinion about the ColorVision Spyder.
T
Trackside
Oct 24, 2005
I have had 2 copies of the Spyder2 and both generated obvious and unacceptable magenta highlights in their profiles – avoid IMO. Unfortunatley teh dealer has gone out of business so I can’t return it for a 3rd copy.
C
Clyde
Oct 24, 2005
wrote:
I have had 2 copies of the Spyder2 and both generated obvious and unacceptable

magenta highlights in their profiles – avoid IMO. Unfortunatley teh dealer has

gone out of business so I can’t return it for a 3rd copy.

Hum! I have the Spyder2 also and I have no problems with it – at all. It gives me a nice monitor look that color management converts perfectly to my Epson R800. OK, maybe not perfectly, but close enough that my eye can’t tell. I even get nice neutral B&W prints; the real test.

I’m very happy with my Spyder2. It doesn’t hurt that it is the less expensive of them either.

Clyde
JW
John_Waller
Oct 26, 2005
Have you had a look at independent online reviews such as:

http://www.drycreekphoto.com/Learn/monitor_calibration_tools .htm


Regards

John Waller
C
Clyde
Oct 27, 2005
wrote:
Have you had a look at independent online reviews such as:
http://www.drycreekphoto.com/Learn/monitor_calibration_tools .htm

No I hadn’t. So, I just did. …Mildly interesting.

Of course, I read plenty of reviews before I bought my Spyder2. As usual, they were all over the place. For just about any product you can find reviews on the Internet that are wildly pro all the way to wildly con. After a decade or more of this I have learned to take all of it with a grain of salt. I guess I do watch for trends in the reviews. i.e. If no one liked the Spyder2, I would be very cautious.

One of the most interesting things about this review – to me – was how important the match of monitor to color management system. That may explain other reviews and user reports being all over the place. So, they didn’t include my monitor in the test. (ViewSonic Professional Series PF775b) This probably means that the conclusions don’t mean much to me.

Their conclusions on the Spyder2 were mildly interesting, nonetheless. I will agree that it isn’t particularly fast. However, I only calibrate once a month (or when hardware changes) and always have plenty else to do while it works. So, I plan.

Their 2nd negative I don’t see. They claim it isn’t good in the highs and brights. They say that wedding photographers should avoid it. Well, I am a wedding photographer and don’t see the problems they found. Maybe that isn’t a problem with my monitor. Heck, it may have to do with my printer too.

So, I will keep happily using my Spyder2.

Thanks anyway,
Clyde
TM
Trevor_Morris
Oct 30, 2005
Nope, hadn’t run across that link. Thanks John.
DM
David_M_Jacobson
Oct 30, 2005
I have the PhotoCal (not OptiCal) Spyder, the older version that will only work on CRTs, not LCDs. It seems to work okay. I haven’t detected the magenta cast Trackside, "GretagMacbeth or ColorVision?" #5, 24 Oct 2005 3:44 am </cgi-bin/webx?14/4> comments about. But maybe I just don’t know what to look for.

Now, here is a story, and I’m not sure what you should make of it.

For years I used Windows98 SE and Photoshop 7. All worked well until I got a Nikon D70 and Nikon Capture. When I installed Nikon Capture, it seriously messed up the color. (Reds that had been rendered within the screen gamut were now saturated into clipping on screen.) I tried uninstalling it, but that didn’t help. Then I tried removing and reinstalling the Spyder, and again, it didn’t fix the problem. I finally reformatted my hard drive, and upgraded to Windows XP Professional, reinstalled the Spyder and Photoshop, leaving Nikon Capture in the box (where it has remained ever since), and that fixed it. But I’m not sure I can blame the Spyder for not getting things right after whatever evil Nikon Capture perpetrated on my system.

One very annoying thing with the Spyder is that the license restricts it to use on only one computer. That seems like a wrench coming with a license that I can only use it on one car. This is not like software that I could just copy and let other people use for free. You have to have bought the device for the software to be of any use at all.
TM
Trevor_Morris
Oct 31, 2005
Thanks for the information David.
TM
Trevor_Morris
Nov 7, 2005
Thanks guys. I bought the Eye-One.
T
Trackside
Nov 7, 2005
Quote "One very annoying thing with the Spyder is that the license restricts it to use on only one computer" – nope I have instaled it on multiple PC’s and Mac’s. Unfortunatley I’m on my 3rd Spyder2 and it still produces a magenta cast in the highlights – you made theh right choice with the Eye-One IMO.
BL
Bob Levine
Nov 7, 2005
The Eye-One did a nice quick job calibrating my new LCD. I’m definitely sold on LCDs now. It’s amazing how far they come in the last year or so while prices have been dropping like crazy.

Bob
LH
Lawrence_Hudetz
Nov 8, 2005
I’ve used both and here’s my finding.

With crt’s, they tracked color almost identically. Very slight differences due to the fact that Eye one checks more than RGB. However, on grayscale, Eye One come out with greater repeatability, as it cals both end points and gray scale whereas ColorVision (my model, anyway) has you set up the black point by eye. Now, maybe because I have been doing b&w since 1959 I have a good eye for the deep blacks, so I actually prefer the ColorVision system. But from a strict calibration routine not dependent on subjective judgement, Eye One has better repeatablity.

So far as color, I have no cocerns about either. EyeOne calibrates the Epson 9600 system,(a Dell(!) monitor and ColorVision cals my LaCie. I move freely from one to another. (They are completely separate systems).
TM
Trevor_Morris
Nov 8, 2005
So far, I’ve found the Eye-One dead-easy to install and use. The colors appear very good so far (although, obviously I’ll need to assess this further over time). Also, I love that I can install and calibrate both at home and work with a single license. Top marks thus far.
M
marionbabich
Nov 8, 2005
We have two LaCie Blue Eye monitors and calibrate them with the LaCie Blue Eye 2 calibrator. It’s fast, easy, and right on with calibrating colors. In my opinion well worth it.

Marion

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