Colorvision Spyder2 Pro

Covey

As this is not the current model, I was wondering if anyone has any experience with this one.

Does it cut the mustard?

DotOrg

i'll have the spyder 3 on sunday and can tell you how that one goes for me if that is any use?

Paulw

Borderfox has the Spyder 2.

I have the Spyder 3 and find it brilliant. Very clear and vibrant colours. It made a major difference to the colours on my monitor. I have it a good few months now.

Borderfox

spyder 2 is grand I use it all the time

quilmore

I have it too
it does the job

at work I have 2 different looking, same make and model, LCD screens, I could never get the 2 to show the same colours, included software is only good for 1 monitor at the time (at least I haven't found how to do it)

but still, the profiled monitor looks v good, same as my CRT at home

Valentia

Paulw wrote: »

I have the Spyder 3 and find it brilliant. Very clear and vibrant colours. It made a major difference to the colours on my monitor. I have it a good few months now.

Actually that is not its job Paul. The vibrancy of the colours should be totally due to what you produce. The job of the Spyder is to give an accurate representation on screen of your work in a colourspace aware application regardless of the colourspace that you are working in.

This means that when you work on an image and someone else looks at in their own calibrated monitor on a colourspace aware application that it will look exactly the same as you saw it. Safari is the only colourspace aware browser so if yoy forget and post an image on Flickr as an AdobeRGB than Safari isthe only browser that will show it correctly on a calibrated monitor.

As far as Spyder2 or 3 goes I don't know how anyone can tell if one is better than the other except by comparing the results on a variety of Spyder calibrated monitors.

quilmore, if it is not making the image the same on all your monitors it is a waste of money. That is it's only function. It's function is not, as I said, to make images look "better"

So making your images look better is not its job. Making them colourspace accurate is.

Paulw

Valentia wrote: »

Actually that is not its job Paul. The job of the Spyder is to give an accurate representation on screen of your work in a colourspace aware application regardless of the colourspace that you are working in.

Ok, I didn't word it properly. The image on screen now look much more like the image printed. Truer colours to the real image.

I have two monitors at home, and one in work. Since I now have them all calibrated with the Spyder 3, all my images look the same, no matter which screen I view them on.

My uncalibrated monitors seemed to make them less colourful and darker. The Spyder has given me a truer representation of the photo. :rolleyes:

Borderfox

I use it on a sony vaio laptop and the spyder 2 makes a small amount of difference, you can see it when the profile loads at startup. Although I think Stephen said it would go off quicker and not be as accurate on a laptop. I can give you a loan of mine if you want Tommy, always best to try before you buy and to be honest you only need to calibrate them once a month.

Covey

Thanks all.

Thanks a lot for the offer Keith, but I've gone ahead and bought it. Secondhand for €50 so can't lose out really.

T.

quilmore

Valentia wrote: »

quilmore, if it is not making the image the same on all your monitors it is a waste of money. That is it's only function. It's function is not, as I said, to make images look "better"

I couldn't agree more
the only problem I have is on the pc with 2 monitors
the software provided with the spyder2express is only good for a single monitor, for multiple monitors you need the pro version of the software

Covey

Has anyone used the printer calibration software that comes with it? Any good?

Valentia

Covey wrote: »

Has anyone used the printer calibration software that comes with it? Any good?

Nope. Just got the basic version. The full one is expensive and the printing calibrating bit looks very complicated.

quilmore

Covey wrote: »

Has anyone used the printer calibration software that comes with it? Any good?

AFAIK it's not calibration as such
it has a few printer profiles for some printer models

a more generic calibration suite that will calibrate your monitor and will scan a print out to generate a custom printer profile cost somewhere over 500 +vat (there was one on demonstration in photofest, it looked like a big measuring tape if you know what I mean)

leohoju

quilmore wrote: »

I couldn't agree more
the only problem I have is on the pc with 2 monitors
the software provided with the spyder2express is only good for a single monitor, for multiple monitors you need the pro version of the software

If you look at this, it'll explain how you can have a dual monitor configuration on Windows XP while using the Spyder2Express. It's all about renaming your profiles apparently.

quilmore

leohoju wrote: »

If you look at this, it'll explain how you can have a dual monitor configuration on Windows XP while using the Spyder2Express. It's all about renaming your profiles apparently.

great find! thanks

quilmore

leohoju wrote: »

If you look at this, it'll explain how you can have a dual monitor configuration on Windows XP while using the Spyder2Express. It's all about renaming your profiles apparently.

I now have dual monitor and Vista as OS, I've created a profile on the monitor on the left, renamed the file then created another profile for the monitor on the right and then associated each monitor with their respective profile
but still I can see some difference (minor I have to admit) in warmness in whites and light greys
can you please tip your hat again? I couldn't find anything of help so far

leohoju

quilmore wrote: »

I now have dual monitor and Vista as OS, I've created a profile on the monitor on the left, renamed the file then created another profile for the monitor on the right and then associated each monitor with their respective profile
but still I can see some difference (minor I have to admit) in warmness in whites and light greys
can you please tip your hat again? I couldn't find anything of help so far

Could it be down to your monitors? Are they the same type?

I've also since read somewhere (some forum or other, not this one), that you can use the Pro software with your Express serial and then you should be able to use dual profiles or match your the profile of one monitor to the other. I haven't tried this myself and have a feeling it could be a red herring, but possibly worth a try.

quilmore

monitors have LG.Philips LM201U04 and LG.Philips LM201U05 panels (S-IPS)
they should look the same after calibration I'd say
I'll look into pro, thanks for that

leohoju wrote: »

Could it be down to your monitors? Are they the same type?

I've also since read somewhere (some forum or other, not this one), that you can use the Pro software with your Express serial and then you should be able to use dual profiles or match your the profile of one monitor to the other. I haven't tried this myself and have a feeling it could be a red herring, but possibly worth a try.