Digital Photographer's Software Guide - Bertemes - Net

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The Digital Photographer's Software Guide
Spyder3Pro
Vendor: Datacolor
Purpose: Mid-range monitor-calibration system for serious photographers
Description
Spyder3Pro is Datacolor’s mid-range monitor-calibration system, aimed at serious and
professional photographers who need to ensure high color fidelity in their work. It comes
with the new generation Spyder3 colorimeter, a precision instrument with a seven detector
color engine, large light aperture, and an embedded ambient light sensor. It differs
from Spyder3Elite (see that entry) in being substantially less expensive, but lacking the
Expert Console and many advanced features.
Spyder3Pro offers four gamma choices: 1.8, 2.0, 2.2, and 2.4; and four color temperature
choices: 5000K, 5800K, 6500K, and native—thus giving 16 target combinations.
What the vendor calls a SpyderProof Function lets you zoom into images to analyze
highlights, shadow detail, color, or tonal response. You can check for saturated colors,
skin tones, gradients, and black and white, all on the same screen using four quadrants,
and then softproof the images with your profiles.
Spyder3Pro has dual monitor support and works equally well on Apple Macs or PCs.
Comments
Not many photographers require all the sophistication of Spyder3Elite, and for most
users Spyder3Pro is the less complex and easier-to-use option. The Spyder3 colorimeter
is a joy to use with any monitor. You can remove the suction cap, which is useful
only for increasingly obsolete CRTs, and back-tilt your flat panel display to ensure good
contact. Because monitor color changes over time, it is best to calibrate fully every
month, and then use the fast ReCAL option to perform a quick check before important
shoots.
Version: Spyder3Pro 3.0.1 (2008)
OS: Windows 2000, XP 32/64, and Vista 32/64; Mac OS X 10.3 or higher
RAM: 128MB
Supported file formats: N/A
Price level: Approx. $170
Address: Datacolor, Digital Color Solutions, 5 Princess Road, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648, United
States
spyder.datacolor.com
www.spyder3.com