Monitor calibration - Found a great price!

wholenewlightwholenewlight Registered Users Posts: 1,529 Major grins
edited July 3, 2005 in Digital Darkroom
Is anyone using the Gretag Macbeth Eye-One Display 1 to calibrate your monitor??? Or have any info about it's performance??

I just noticed on techbargains.com that J&R has the Gretag Macbeth Eye-One Display 1 for a mere $59.95 + 5.95 shipping.

I've done a google search. There is a newer model of this calibrator but I found a few test reviews that rate the "on-sale" version pretty good.

So, I can buy this on now or wait 6 mos and get a spyder 2 . . . ???

Anyone wanna make a reccommendation for me?

From the website:
Gretag Macbeth Eye-One Display 1 $59.88, Jun 22
J and R has the Gretag Macbeth Eye-One Display 1 PC/Mac Monitor calibration and profiling tool on sale for $59.88, $5.95 shipping, Tax in NY.
john w
http://cspics.smugmug.com/

I knew, of course, that trees and plants had roots, stems, bark, branches and foliage that reached up toward the light. But I was coming to realize that the real magician was light itself.
Edward Steichen

Comments

  • BaldyBaldy Registered Users, Super Moderators Posts: 2,853 moderator
    edited June 23, 2005
    You know... I've become jaded about monitor calibration since doing all the print color support at smugmug. The words of death seem to be, "it looked good on my calibrated monitor."

    I've never seen a returned print where someone would say, "here are the numbers from the Photoshop info window." If they know those numbers, their prints are right on.

    I believe you can get great color with a gray-scale monitor and the Photoshop info window, but you can't get good color relying on your eyes and calibration.

    Here's why:

    http://www.smugmug.com/help/display-color
    My Smug Mug
  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,708 moderator
    edited June 23, 2005
    Baldy wrote:
    You know... I've become jaded about monitor calibration since doing all the print color support at smugmug. The words of death seem to be, "it looked good on my calibrated monitor."

    I've never seen a returned print where someone would say, "here are the numbers from the Photoshop info window." If they know those numbers, their prints are right on.

    I believe you can get great color with a gray-scale monitor and the Photoshop info window, but you can't get good color relying on your eyes and calibration.

    Here's why:

    http://www.smugmug.com/help/display-color

    Isn't this the one of the main points of Margulis book "Professional Photoshop"? Use white, grey and black points to globally color correct your images. I always try to use the Digital Color Meter to read my white and black pixels - It is included with OS X.

    And to think, I just ordered a Spyder2Pro to calibrate my Cinema display as urged by Scott Kelby in his new book "The Photoshop CS2 Book for Digital Photographers"

    I recalibrated my Cinema display by eye with the Apple software and found it was not the same as the last time I did it, so I decided it was time to calibrate it right. And now you say I could just use a black and white monitor!! The horror!! The Horror!! :D:D:D


    Seriously - One thing I have learned is that the very same image file can look quite different when printed on the very same printer, depending on which driver or RIP you used. There are many slips twixt monitor to print than we fully understand yet, me thinks.
    Pathfinder - www.pathfinder.smugmug.com

    Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
  • DJ-S1DJ-S1 Registered Users Posts: 2,303 Major grins
    edited June 27, 2005
    Well, I just got a Spyder2 and spent 15 minutes calibrating my monitor for the 1st time. I cannot believe how far out of whack it was, and that I've been "correcting" all my images in PS when in reality I was completely washing them out. gerg.gif

    I am SO ANGRY about this. I have stuff I did for baptisms, family portraits, etc that I now see could have been so much better. I should have spent the $$ sooner. umph.gif

    Baldy, I see your point - you can still mess up a photo on a calibrated monitor. But without a calibrated montior, I'm now convinced you have little hope of getting anything decent unless you go strictly by the numbers and not at all by your eyes (and I think that's a tough sell for most folks).
  • grannyrobingrannyrobin Registered Users Posts: 134 Major grins
    edited July 3, 2005
    DJ-S1 wrote:
    Well, I just got a Spyder2 and spent 15 minutes calibrating my monitor for the 1st time. I cannot believe how far out of whack it was, and that I've been "correcting" all my images in PS when in reality I was completely washing them out. gerg.gif

    I am SO ANGRY about this. I have stuff I did for baptisms, family portraits, etc that I now see could have been so much better. I should have spent the $$ sooner. umph.gif

    Baldy, I see your point - you can still mess up a photo on a calibrated monitor. But without a calibrated montior, I'm now convinced you have little hope of getting anything decent unless you go strictly by the numbers and not at all by your eyes (and I think that's a tough sell for most folks).
    While I have a great deal of respect for Baldy, I'm convinced I'm one of those people who wouldn't be able to go strictly by the numbers and not at all by my eyes. What leads me to this conclusion is that I like to buy clothing on-line. Tee shirts come in all sorts of colors. There's one photo of the tee shirt and lots of little squares with color names beside them. When those color names cause me to do a double-take, it makes me want to climb the walls.

    Thanks for the mention of J&R Music World! I'm very grateful. And if I calibrate my monitor only to regret it... I'll be sure to let you all know.
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