Vital pieces of equipment*

*Or as she who must be obeyed would describe them; “more toys”.

Travelling to Bangkok to meet Camberley provided an opportunity to head for the shops to obtain a vital piece of equipment; a monitor calibration tool.

I cannot pretend to being particularly colour aware. I suspect that I am slightly colour blind, and if I open alternate eyes then a piece of white paper switches between appearing almost white and appearing almost yellow. If I close both eyes, the problem goes away, but that is hardly a solution. So, when working on photos I am not the most adept at ensuring that the white balance or the colours are correct. But even my best efforts are useless if the monitor is incorrectly calibrated. What looks OK on my monitor may look entirely different on another monitor. This may be because the other monitor is way out of calibration, but that’s not my problem. At least I should ensure that my monitor is displaying colours correctly.

For some years I have been calibrating with a little tool called the Spyder 2. I’d hang it in front of my monitor, run a software program, and it would do the job. And then it didn’t. The makers had failed to keep the software up to date and it wouldn’t run when I upgraded to Lion. What to do?

Write a stern letter of complaint, demand a refund and swear never to buy their products again. Alternatively, give the Spyder 2 to Nik and go and get a brand new Spyder 3. Always one for the wimpy solution, I chose the latter.

I wanted the cheap and cheerful Express version; ideal for a semi-colourblind hack with limited needs for accuracy. So I went into the shop and asked for it. “No have”.

So, with much reluctance I would have to settle for the Pro version. designed for “Serious photographers and creative pros”. I don’t think I qualify for either category, but I told the shop I would just have to buy the Pro version. “No have”.

All they had left was the Elite model, “Display Calibration for Professional Photographers, Studios and Ninjas”. It was like me trying to date Thandie Newton, so much in a different league we could be on different planets. And of course it cost a bomb, no way was I buying it…..

Anyway, it is actually rather good; it will even adjust the monitor brightness to compensate for ambient light. All I need to do now is become a professional photographer; or a ninja.

Leaving the shop with my credit card in tatters, I spotted some LED lights. Having “invested” in a full set of studio lights, I couldn’t really see the point of using little LED lights. But then Nik bought some and they proved very useful for smaller subjects. And there was the very same model sitting on a shelf. And there was another model at three times the price sitting on the same shelf.

The more expensive model had two batteries that you stuck on the back so you could use it anywhere. And there were knobs for altering the temperature and intensity of the light.

You can hand hold it, stick it on a tripod, or even mount it on a camera:

Pretty cool; but after blowing my budget with the calibration tool, no way was I buying this…..

Haven’t had the chance to use it yet.

Comments 🔗

2011-08-23 | Wally says

‘All I need to do now is become a professional photographer; or a ninja’. Well that’s a no brainer - it’s got to be the ninja option !

2011-08-23 | Spike says

Not sure I look good in all black, but I’ll give it a go.

2011-08-23 | TheSon says

So this is where I got my legendary money management skills from. Those lights do look amazing though.

2011-08-24 | Camberley says

My fault again?

2011-08-24 | Spike says

Thank you son, I knew I had given you some skill, was never sure what.

Remember, no pockets in a shroud (and always carry WD40).

2011-08-24 | Spike says

Well, it certainly isn’t mine; so that only leaves you.