Datacolor Spyder3Pro Display Calibration System from Datacolor
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The DataColor Spyder3Pro provides monitor color calibration for serious photographers and creative pros who require a high degree of color accuracy; from capturing images, to digital editing and printing. The Spyder3 is the only colorimeter available on the market offering a seven detector color engine, with an aperture several times larger than other devices, thereby increasing its light sensitivity by 400 percent for increased accuracy and performance. This ensures consistent color on all LCD, CRT, and laptop displays.
Among its most innovative features is a proofing capability called SpyderProof that brings an impressive level of color control to any digital workflow. SpyderProof enables professionals to evaluate calibration with a before and after mode. Professionals can view four quadrants of thematic photos to specifically evaluate saturated colors, skin tones, gradients, and black and white images to ensure the desired calibration results.
As compared to its award-winning predecessor Spyder2, the Spyder3 offers a sleeker design that's 37 percent smaller and incorporates third-generation Spyder technology. The updated form factor includes an embedded ambient light detector and desktop cradle. It also includes an easy-to-use, photo-centric user interface with features that photographers and creative professionals need.
Designed for the way photographers work, the Spyder3Pro is the next generation in calibration accuracy, precision and speed, allowing you to create profiles to your specifications and bring an unprecedented level of color control to your work.
- Third Generation Spyder Technology
- The Spyder3 colorimeter is based on a state-of-the-art optical design, using a 7-detector color engine and a very large light aperture, providing unrivaled performance. In conjunction with the patented filter array and embedded ambient light sensor, the Spyder3 provides industry-leading performance for the precision calibration of LCD, CRT, projector and notebook displays. 1
- Elegant Form and Function
- With a unique fusion of design excellence and functionality, the Spyder3 offers a small footprint, embedded ambient light sensor, and LED indicator. Furthermore, the desktop cradle can be used for storage, or ambient light monitoring.
- Fast and Precise Measurement
- The Spyder3 has increased light sensitivity by 400% as compared to the previous edition, and also features the largest screen sample area or aperture in the industry resulting in improved accuracy on LCD screens and a faster calibration time.
- Super-Fast ReCAL
- ReCAL reduces full calibration time by more than half allowing you to quickly and easily re-calibrate on a more frequent basis or before any important shoot or post-production project.
- Intelligent Ambient Light Control
- Embedded with a next-generation, high precision sensor, Spyder3 automatically measures the ambient light within a room for a new level of precision calibration.
- Support for Next Generation Displays
- The patented Spyder3 optical design and color engine enable precise calibration and profiling of the latest in wide gamut, LED backlight and AdobeRGB displays.
- SpyderProof Function
- Evaluate your calibration in before and after mode using four quadrants of thematic photos targeting Saturated Colors, Skin Tones, Gradients and Black & White. Zoom in on any photo to scrutinize highlights, shadow detail, color or tonal response. Softproof the images using your own custom profiles. Designed for the way photographers work, SpyderProof brings you an impressive level of color control to help you achieve color excellence.
- Cross-platform Compatibility
- Spyder3Pro software runs on today's popular hardware and software platforms, including Windows, Macintosh and even Intel based Macintosh systems, and is the only calibration product that works efficiently on any computer, running Mac OS X or Microsoft Windows XP (32/64), Vista (32/64), and 7 (32/64).
| System & Software Requirements |
Windows System
Macintosh System
Please Note:Built-in USB cable close |
REVIEW SNAPSHOT®
by PowerReviews(based on 430 reviews)
Ratings Distribution
94%
of respondents would recommend this to a friend.
Pros
- Accurate colors (238)
- Easy to navigate (220)
- Easy to collaborate across programs (133)
- Easy to customize (75)
- Versatile (67)
Cons
- Not very powerful (8)
- Inaccurate controls (7)
- Difficult to navigate (5)
- Lacks adjustability (4)
- None that i can see (4)
Best Uses
- Professional quality (183)
- Presentations (39)
- Photo editing (26)
- Educational purposes (12)
- Improving efficiency (12)
- How long have you owned it:
A month or less
57%
(4 reviews)
One-to-three months
Three-to-six months
More than six months
- Reviewer Profile:
- Quality oriented (277), Budget shopper (48), Graphics enthusiast (23), Photographer (13), Business user (11)
- Primary use:
- Personal (240), Business (156)
- Computer Platform:
- PC (58), Mac (23)
Most Liked Positive Review
Easy to use, bad documentation
The main difference between Spyder3Pro and Spyder3Elite (for my purposes) is that Spyder3Elite lets you define your own "targets" with your choice of black and white luminance, gamma and color temper...Read complete review
The main difference between Spyder3Pro and Spyder3Elite (for my purposes) is that Spyder3Elite lets you define your own "targets" with your choice of black and white luminance, gamma and color temperature, or customized curves. Spyder3Pro gives you a set of canned targets to use and disables the features that let you define them yourself. Targets include color temps of "native", 5000, 5800, 6500, and gamma of 1.8, 2.0, 2.2, 2.4. You cannot set your own black/white points (min/max brightness) and the program doesn't tell you what they are set to, so you have to live with what they give you. No good way to match a specific paper/ink DMax. DataColor has a web page with feature comparisons for their different calibration tools.
Pros: Software is a bit quirky but stable. Easy and quick to install. Be sure to download and install the SW updates (mine shipped with 3.0.1, current level is at 3.0.4). Follow the instructions on screen and calibration is pretty straightforward. Accurate color and contrast after calibration. Compared on a couple of different screens and it seems very consistent, esp. with respect to contrast. One screen (Toshiba) was a bit more saturated looking than the other (Sony Vaio). A quick calibration check tells you whether you need to recalibrate. The black point seems a bit too low to me -- it's difficult to tell the difference between the lowest black levels in the SpyderProof image. This seemed better after upgrade to 3.0.4. Sensor works well on my LCD screens.
Cons: It's pretty clear that Spyder3Pro is a hobbled version of Spyder3Elite. The help screens are still the help screens for Spyder3Elite. This makes the help confusing, as it refers to various features and controls that aren't there. Also there is a broken link that was obviously cut/pasted into multiple help files, with the same typo (http://http//www....). It was fixed in some of the 3.0.4 help but not everywhere. The software recommends leaving brightness and contrast settings at default for LCDs, but then prompts you later to adjust them. It seems to work fine if you just leave them alone. Later calibration passes don't do all the tests in order to improve speed (a plus, although it doesn't take that long anyway), but it's not really clear what the path is through the recalibration process or how you might do a complete recalibration if you wanted to. Can't set black/white points (I know, I already said that, but it's still bugging me).
Other: Haven't really made much use of the ambient light features, so can't speak to that yet. The SpyderProof lets you display various photos (not your own) while switching the calibration on/off. I could do that with the original Spyder by unchecking the "enabled" box while I had my own photo on the screen.
For most amateurs, the extra 100 bucks for Spyder3Elite to be able to fine-tune the targets might not be worthwhile, but I would think that for serious amateurs and most pros it would be a necessity.
VS
Most Liked Negative Review
Decent device. Support questionable.
This device is spun as the holy grail of color management, when it really is just your basic color calibrator. It appears to do its job just fine, and the price is reasonable. ...Read complete review
This device is spun as the holy grail of color management, when it really is just your basic color calibrator. It appears to do its job just fine, and the price is reasonable. On the other hand, the construction has seriously cheaped-out relative to its predecessor, and you can tell accompanying software is not well thought out. The spec's are limited. For example, while it states it supports dual monitors, it fails to tell you the additional hardware requirements to do so. So once you get it, realize what it doesn't do and what you weren't told, contact their tech support, account for their guidance, get it running, then it works.
REVIEWS
Reviewed by 430 customers
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Displaying reviews 1-20
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Pros
- Accurate Colors and Controls
- Easy To Collaborate Across Programs
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Spyder3Pro Display Calibration System from Datacolor:
I was constantly questioning what my photos actually looked like when I would edit at home and look at them at work or on my ipad and see differences in highlights and shadows. Now I trust the screen I am editing photos on.
The calibration of my laptop and iPad (with the free app) were quick and painless. Calibrating the flat panel I use with my desktop wasn't as simple, but I think that had more to do with the limitations of my monitor (it's a less expensive model from almost 5 years ago), not with the Spyder system.
- Primary use:
- Personal
- Computer Platform:
- PC
Pros
- Accurate Colors and Controls
- Easy To Collaborate Across Programs
- Easy To Customize
- Easy To Navigate
- Versatile
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Spyder3Pro Display Calibration System from Datacolor:
Very easy to use but very successful nevertheless, it took 5 mminutes to calibrate correctly my screen.
- Primary use:
- Personal
- Computer Platform:
- Mac
Pros
- Accurate Colors and Controls
- Ease of Use
Cons
Best Uses
- Professional Quality
Comments about Spyder3Pro Display Calibration System from Datacolor:
I use it to calibrate my Dell Ultrasharp 2410 monitor, and so far it seems to be doing a great job. The colors displayed are accurate when compared to the prints. I had to manually tweak the screen brightness when the ambient light changed, though. The price drop decided it for me, and B&H shipped it to Canada very quickly. The Spyder 4 hardware might be newer, but this one is good enough for all practical purposes, and much cheaper.
- Primary use:
- Personal
- Computer Platform:
- PC
Pros
- Accurate Colors and Controls
Cons
Best Uses
- Professional Quality
Comments about Spyder3Pro Display Calibration System from Datacolor:
I have owned a Spyder2 for several years and it help up nicely. The 2 will not function with Windows 7 (it did for almost a year but then started giving error messages - after several tries of different solutions given me by Datacolor support they finally said the 2 has known issues with Windows 7 and I should update).
My actions speak as loud as any words. I purchased the same product - newer model. Doesn't have all the bells and whistles of other products but works perfectly.
- Primary use:
- Business
- Computer Platform:
- PC
Pros
- Accurate Colors and Controls
Cons
Best Uses
- monitor calibration
Comments about Spyder3Pro Display Calibration System from Datacolor:
Let me start by saying I have tried the many of the 'free' calibration option available, which involve mainly eyeballing the settings, and well, that just made things worse. If your eyes are like mine and just don't see color that precisely, this product is for you.
I haven't been using the Spyder3Pro for very long, I recently recieved it as a gift, but once I ran my first calibrations (Acer Laptop and Dell LCD displays on a 64bit Windows7 platform) the difference before calibration and after calibration was quite apparent. The images displayed on my screens were much, much closer in color and contrast to that of their print counterparts. No more flying by the seat of my pants hoping and praying to get a print close to what I see on my screen - the Spyder3Pro saves me that stress.
Having said that, and having read what others have been saying, this device is not the holy grail of photographic tools, it isn't perfect - nothing is - so if you are expecting it to be then you are setting yourself up for disappointment.
It does has its drawbacks, while I find they are minor, you may not. The documentation included in the box is negligible, and the online help leaves much to be desired. A little research however can lead you to more specific answers to problems and questions that other users have experienced, however. I also was a bit put off by the fact that during calibration the device sits exactly in front of the monitor control dialog box, making it somewhat hard to adjust the built in monitor contols during calibration, but a little memorization of what buttons I needed to press fixed this problem. Also a little more control over exactly what the software is doing ould be nice - I believe the Elite version offers more features - for an additional $50 or so.
All in all I am satisfied with this product and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to improve their workflow. Just don't have unreasonable expectations - the value of the tool all depends on how you use it.
- Primary use:
- Personal
- Computer Platform:
- PC
Pros
- Accurate Colors and Controls
Cons
- Can't turn off LED light
Best Uses
Comments about Spyder3Pro Display Calibration System from Datacolor:
Item work as advertised and I could calibrate my 2 monitors in now time 5 out of 5 for this. However one cannot turn off the LED light. Why must it have an LED light? I bought a Display Calibration System, not a light source! Only way to get the light off is to disconnect the unit. So after calibration I unplug the dam thing and store it until I will need it for recalibration. So I can't use the ambient light measurement function as advertise. Give me a function in the software to turn of the light and I will give it a 5.
- Primary use:
- Personal
- Computer Platform:
- PC
Pros
- Accurate Colors and Controls
- Easy easy easy
- Easy To Collaborate Across Programs
- Easy To Navigate
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Spyder3Pro Display Calibration System from Datacolor:
Easy to set up and use. I needed a good monitor calibration software but not spend an arm and a leg on it. Spyder3Pro Display from Datacolor offered me both. I have had my monitors calibrated for over a month now and see a very big difference with the photos I send to get printed. Well worth the investment.
- Primary use:
- Personal
- Computer Platform:
- PC
Pros
- Accurate Colors and Controls
Cons
Best Uses
- Professional Quality
Comments about Spyder3Pro Display Calibration System from Datacolor:
very easy to use the instructions are quite straight forward...Calibration was as described...just that my monitor was already fairly close to a correct calibration ( one wouldn't know unless you do a calibration. I also like that the spyder monitors the room light and will tell you if you need to adjust your screen...good device to have.
- Primary use:
- Business
- Computer Platform:
- Mac
Pros
- Accurate Colors and Controls
- Easy To Navigate
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Spyder3Pro Display Calibration System from Datacolor:
This is a very easy product to use and the results are great! I've tried using other free applications to adjust the gamma on my laptop and external display and never got close to calibrating either properly using the "eyeball" method. After using Spyder3 Pro, those swatches really look to be the same shade of gray.
I didn't expect miracles with my laptop display since it's just a built-in AMD Radeon HD4200 adapter but the calibration made such a big difference.
I am a casual photographer who posts photos on Pbase and Flickr. But I am particular about post-processing images so I am thrilled that my displays are finally calibrated after reading about the importance of doing so for many years.
This is a nice product at a reasonable price (and now there's a $20 rebate to boot). This is perfect for a hobbyist like myself.
- Primary use:
- Personal
- Computer Platform:
- PC
Pros
- Accurate Colors and Controls
Cons
Best Uses
- Professional Quality
Comments about Spyder3Pro Display Calibration System from Datacolor:
Easy to use, accurate calibration of colors.
- Primary use:
- Personal
- Computer Platform:
- PC
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
- Professional Quality
Comments about Spyder3Pro Display Calibration System from Datacolor:
Easy and fast install
- Computer Platform:
- PC
Pros
- Accurate Colors and Controls
- Easy To Collaborate Across Programs
- Easy To Customize
- Easy To Navigate
- Versatile
Cons
Best Uses
- Professional Quality
Comments about Spyder3Pro Display Calibration System from Datacolor:
Easy to use
Great color in my images
- Primary use:
- Business
- Computer Platform:
- Mac
Comments about Spyder3Pro Display Calibration System from Datacolor:
I wanted to make sure that my prints for my clients were coming back like they appeared on my screen...my new spyder software allows me to do that and after having some new test prints sent back to me I am surprised at the difference. There was some differences in what they asked for than what my monitor displayed that gave me some confusion on set up.
Pros
- Accurate Colors and Controls
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Spyder3Pro Display Calibration System from Datacolor:
I just upgraded to Lion and decided to upgrade to Spyder3 from Spyder 2 pro. I use an Epson 3800 and my prints were dark. The color match now is much better and I am delighted.
- Primary use:
- Personal
- Computer Platform:
- Mac
Pros
- Accurate Colors and Controls
Cons
Best Uses
- Professional Quality
Comments about Spyder3Pro Display Calibration System from Datacolor:
I am a semi-professional photographer and this fits my needs perfectly. So easy to setup, unbelievable.
- Primary use:
- Business
- Computer Platform:
- PC
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Spyder3Pro Display Calibration System from Datacolor:
I have held off writing this review for over a month in the hopes Datacolor could resolve my problem. My problem has been with "customer service." I owned a Spyder 2 which worked well. I upgraded to the Spyder 3 in September 2011, and it didn't work well at all. Following the instructions carefully, the results of running the software was that the "after" (corrected) screen always looked worse than the "before" (unadjusted) color profile screen; the exact opposite of what their promotional materials depict. Whites came out a dull muddy beige as opposed to a bright white. After two phone calls and 21 emails back and forth between me and their US and Swiss offices I am no further along.
- Primary use:
- Personal
- Computer Platform:
- PC
Pros
- Accurate Colors and Controls
- Easy To Navigate
Cons
Best Uses
- Professional Quality
Comments about Spyder3Pro Display Calibration System from Datacolor:
I use 2 of these, one for my home & one for my office monitor. I use it for the purpose of editing photographs. I think this product is a must for anyone serious about photography! Without it, you really have no idea of what colors are going to print. But, even with this product, you must be careful about who prints your photos to get an accurate color. My prints turn out the same as the colors on my monitor with the help of this calibrator and a good photo lab!
- Primary use:
- Business
- Computer Platform:
- PC
Pros
Cons
- Inaccurate Controls
Best Uses
Comments about Spyder3Pro Display Calibration System from Datacolor:
Tried for several days with Spyder support with no avail to calibrate a CTR with Spyder 3. The Spyder 2 we are currently using was not supported by Win 7.
Had Spyder 2 and it worked like a charm.
We have been awaiting a return call from support but have not received it after a few days.
If we can't resolve it shortly, we will be looking for another product.
- Primary use:
- Business
- Computer Platform:
- PC
Pros
- Accurate Colors and Controls
- Easy To Collaborate Across Programs
- Easy To Navigate
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Spyder3Pro Display Calibration System from Datacolor:
I could not get my monitor to align with my printer no matter how I tried so I bit the bullet and invested in the Spyder3 Pro. No regrets. My printing looks marvelous now!
- Primary use:
- Business
- Computer Platform:
- Mac
Pros
- Accurate Colors and Controls
- Easy To Collaborate Across Programs
- Easy To Navigate
Cons
Best Uses
- Professional Quality
Comments about Spyder3Pro Display Calibration System from Datacolor:
I purchased this due to some unfortunate printing errors that were creeping up on me - colour casts in photo prints that were not showing up on my monitor.
Well, it was because I had calibrated my monitor by eye, and basically taken those casts out!
With the SPYDER3PRO, there is no room for error. I calibrated two high end TFT IPS monitors, and the difference was astonishing. I will never go without. Coupled with Xrite Colorchecker passport, and my photos have never looked better.
- Primary use:
- Personal
- Computer Platform:
- Mac
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Cables & Adapters
- Price: $5.96
Hardware Expansion
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- Original: $58.99
- Save: $14.62
- Price: $44.37
Care & Cleaning
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- Original: $4.99
- Save: $0.50
- Price: $4.49
What's in the Box
- Spyder3 Colorimeter
- Desktop Cradle
- Screen Cleaning Packets
- Spyder3Pro Software CD-ROM
- Quick Start Guide
- 2-Year Limited Warranty
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