Which of these color calibration tools would you suggest?

[ellis_vener_photography]

I recommended the colorMuki Display and ColorChecker Passport combination for a simple reason: she's going to be a

novice student.

 

The software for the ColorMunki Display is not as capable as the i1 Display Pro, that is true. However I think unlikely that

she will be in the business of needing the i1 Display Pro's advanced software features. Andrew is, and as a working

professional photographer I am, but she won't be. She'll simply need to be able to calibrate which ever display she ends

buying or using. One thing she needs to be aware of is that unless the display she purchases has its own color graphics

hardware built in she can create a profile for her laptop's display or her external display but can only use one at a time.

 

The ColorChecker Passport (and it's software) will be used for a) setting a neutral WB value when she needs to do that ,

and for creating a custom camera profile of/ when she uses Adobe Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw (the raw image

processing program tat is part of Photoshop and also for clarity, it's the also the raw processing engine that Lightroom

uses.

 

Hopefully the classes and teachers she will have will put an emphasis on learning to find her way as a maker of

photographs and to use light, that express to the world her thoughts, feelings and sense of what she makes of the people

of the people and things she encounters in her journey through life. Technology and equipment are necessary for

photographs to be made but have very little to do with the practice of photography. The more complicated the tools, the

more you are encumbered by them, the more involved you become with managing them, the further away you get from

making real photographs.

[digitaldog]

<blockquote>

<p>However I think <strong>unlikely</strong> that she will be in the business of needing the i1 Display Pro's advanced software features. Andrew is, and as a working professional photographer I am, but she won't be.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>She doesn't have to use the advanced controls until she needs them (and she mostly likely will depending on the display and print viewing conditions). It's a bit like suggesting someone buy a new camera that dosn't capture raw because this is an entry level class. But some day student probably will want to capture raw. Now the original purchase causes buyer remorse. You can pay (me) now or you can pay (me) later, your call. Of course we are all aware of budget issues. </p>

<p>One can't make an informed decision unless they know the facts. The facts are, the added cost in the Pro package is totally market generated which upsets me. You're paying for the same hardware, crippled speed wise but more importantly, you've got inferior software that provides far less useful options that make the hardware and the process of calibrating a display possible. I don't attribute this to a lesser expensive car that will take you to point A then B the same as the more expensive car that does this but has seat warmers. The added functionality in the Pro software can make the difference between a print and display matching and a print and a display not matching. Much like the lesser expensive car that overheats before you can get to point B from point A. </p>

[Christal1664882414]

<p>I don't know how far I'll be able to go after taking this photography class......it's hard to predict. It is indeed a fine program that IMO takes a comprehensive approach......composition, light, use of all features on the camera, developing your eye, technical issues, equipment possibilities and matching it to our style of photography, and much more. The main thing I'm convinced it will do is help me determine if I have a talent for this. I've been a professional concert violinist all my life, and I'm not sure one art transfers to another. I'll soon find out. I know I have much to learn. Many, many people who attended this photo program as novices are now professional photographers, and many are doing great things. So it's hard to predict what equipment I may need in the future.</p>

<p>The main thing I've learned from your posts is that I should not scrimp on the monitor, and I won't. Beyond that, since it's much more complicated than I realized, I think I'll let the experts at the school guide me. They'll also have many different monitors, printers, etc., so I may actually get to try some of them before purchasing anything. </p>

<p>I do appreciate your help.....thanks so much!</p>