Huey or Spyder 2

Which of the circa £100 versions is the best bet?

Paid about £75 for my Huey Pantone. Very happy with it. Don't know if the Spyder has more functions.

huey works...there's a "Pro" software update available for a small fee.

Just bought the Spyder3elite. Is a little more expensive, i know. I think every system is good aslong as it let's you take control over gamma and color tempeture. The less expensive ones like the pantone huey(basic version) and Spyderexpress won't give you the option to control colortemp. and gamma. Either way............,you will most certainly be suprised about the difference of your screencolors before and after. Calibrating your monitor is the first and most important step in precieving the perfect print.

good luck,
Martin

Thanks Guys. Just been reading about the Eye-One 2 as well.......... Think I'm leaning towards the Spyder 2

You might like to explore these options first - which I believe don't require costly hardware:

http://www.argyllcms.com
http://lprof.sourceforge.net

I haven't tried either yet but I intend to quite soon.

Also, if you need calibration targets, I've just received a set from here:

http://www.targets.coloraid.de/

which are a fraction of the price I found them elsewhere and, although I haven't tried them yet, the quality looks very good. The service was good, too, and they even sent a small bag of sweets with the order. And, yes, there were all different colours.

I am soon to set about calibrating all my kit to overcome some annoying colour casts I've been getting when ordering prints.

I've got the huey pro and it does let you control colour temp and gamma just so you know

You are right. That's why i said: ''The Basic Version''
Regards,
Martin

Just trying to get my head around this and as you seem to know more than I, this subject scares me, can you please explain simply why I would want to be able to change the color temp and gamma anyway?

I am thinking to get the Huey and not sure whether to get the Pantone or Pro versions.
I have just one LCD monitor and need to get my images accurately displayed so they print the same as what I see.
There are just too many choices and getting confused!
Lilly

And just to add to the confusion, does the same apply to a Mac?

Quite probably not
The defaults (which are normally D65, gamma 2.2 and native white balance) will be just fine and dandy!

Some include ambient light compensation (or at least measurement). It's pretty likely that you'll need to reduce the ambient light to almost nothing - you'll be surprised how bright a condition you work in!
Matt

Lilly

I recognise the need to calibrate my monitor but also rcognise that I am an amateur with fairly basic needs and computer equipment. I spent quite some time talking to one of the guys in Calumet in Wardour Street who was extremely knowledgeable about calibration and monitor profiles. He had lost count of the number of times he'd been out to professional clients who had mucked up their profiles by using calibration software that was beyond their capabilities to use. In most cases, the default gamma and colour temp was all that was needed and the extra choice that came with more expensive software often served only to increase the chance of messing up.

He recommended getting the Spyder2express and just running it with all the default settings. Often, this was easily accurate enough for most uses which are, ultimately, to calibrate your monitor to a known standard.

I bought the Spyder2express on this recommendation, ran it under Windows and transferred the .icm profile to my Linux system. It's a definite improvement. Should I have got the pro software? Maybe but my chances of messing up would have probably increased exponentially. Ultimately, I'm happy with the express version because it does exactly what I wanted and was only £60.

Adrian

I must admit feeling a bit guilty starting this thread as the last couple of files sent from my trusty PowerMac G5 to the Canon Pixma iP6600D printed absolutely fine apart from perhaps a touch too light - so i'm saving my money at the moment!

Hi Lilly, sorry for the delay in answering your question. The anser has been given by Matt already The need of changing the gamma and D factor has everything to do with the lighting conditions you are working in. But you have to know this: You will be fine with the basic versions if you keep all the variables the same. So that means: no judging a beautiful sunset on screen while behind you there is a beautiful sunset seen thru the windows. Always work in indirect light, with no direct light reflecting on your screen. And....remember, calibrating your monitor is the first of many steps to the perfect print. If you are willing to spend about 35 usd i can only recommend you the video tutorial : From Camera to Print. It can be bought on:http://www.luminous-landscape.com/
I bought it myself and considder it the best investment in knowing all about colour management.
And to Unlocker, yes it applies also to Mac.
Good luck.
Martin.

Thanks everyone for your time and advice, this afternoon I went for the Huey Pro £87 Morris Photo inc p&p., sd be with me tomorrow.

Decided in the end to invest the 30quid extra for the PRO. Mainly because if in the future I do need to use it on a MAC laptop, I will be able to alter the Gamma etc, plus the PRO measures the various color patches (about 30 in all). This is one area that improves over the original Huey, which only measured about 15 colors.

Not sure if I have wasted 30quid but I think I have the version that will cover most eventualites. I will resist twiddling the default settings until needed Adam! thanks for that advice!

This was the review that swung it for me for those trying to decide: http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews_huey_pro.php

Lilly