See a spot of color you like? Scan it with this $59 doodad and instantly your smartphone shows the RGB values – and a lot of other stuff, including what brands and shades of paint to buy to match that color accurately. The Datacolor ColorReader EZ DC10-3 even suggests a full palette of other colors that complement the sample scanned. For photographers it’s a chance to objectively identify colors numerically and replicate them in Photoshop.
We’ve reviewed Datcolor’s Spyder-branded color calibration devices for your computer monitors and displays in the past but haven’t heard much from them in recent years. The good news for photographers who like to take control of their color management is that Datacolor’s still around and just launched a new color calibration tool for your monitor.
Datacolor has released a brand new color management tool for photographers: the Spyder5 monitor calibration device. Datacolor’s new line of color management devices now includes Spyder5EXPRESS, Spyder5PRO and Spyder5ELITE, at varying pricepoints and feature sets.
Pssst! Got two minutes? Calibrate your monitor with the new Datacolor SpyderX Elite so that you’re not looking at your image gallery through a dirty screen door.
Datacolor has just unveiled Spyder5 Capture Pro, a comprehensive color-management bundle for photographers who are serious about precise color calibration from capture to post production. The package incudes four sophisticated tools for streamlining your workflow while obtaining perfect results.
Capturing “the decisive moment” is more than just clicking the shutter at the right time and it’s more than luck, too. It’s an artful combination of experience, talent, and preparation. Being prepared for the unexpected is just as important to photojournalists and documentary photographers as it is to a Scout and that includes selecting and using gear that can be deployed at that right time, even if preparing for a single shot or two takes several hours. Some of these tools may be obvious while others not so much.
Don’t gamble with your image files. If you’re serious about the pictures you take, be serious about the memory cards you use to store them. There is a handful of reliable, consistently dependable brands available, and one of the most popular with advanced photographers is the Delkin Black lineup. Let’s zero in on their latest SD card and find out why.
Answer quickly—what is the brand and capacity of the memory card that’s in your primary camera right this minute? Don’t know? Read this and you might want to switch to a card made by Delkin Devices.
A Shutterbug reader, Tracy Valleau, e-mailed me, suggesting that I take a look at the 24” widescreen Dell UltraSharp U2410 LCD display with 1920x1200 pixel resolution. What makes it suitable for digital photography and professional graphics is its wide color gamut of 96 percent of Adobe RGB and the fact that its white luminance is adjustable from 80.0 to 90.0 CD/m2, both of which provide a high reproduction screen image quality. Its 12-bit internal processing assures a smooth rendition of tones on screen. The screen is in a bezel and stand that is sturdy but light, with an excellent design that’s carefully manufactured. In all respects, this Dell U2410 is quite affordable at a list price of $599, while entirely competitive with more expensive brands favored for a color-managed digital photography workflow.
Like most photographers I occasionally become equipment obsessed, but sometimes even the smallest tool, something as simple and useful as a new LensPen, can make creating new images a little easier. I’ve often said that the most important piece of equipment is the one between a photographer’s ears, but creating images also requires tools. Choosing the right tool or accessory may not make the difference between a good photograph and a bad one, but may make the difference in whether or not you even try to capture it.
Iconic photojournalist Robert Capa once said, “If your images are not good enough, you’re not close enough.” That’s why many of us try to shoot as close as possible to our subjects and fill the frame.
If you geek out (like we do) over the technology tools that power our digital photography habit, you will fanatically Jones over OWC. In the sleepy little town of Woodstock, IL a wide awake company called Other World Computing offers just about everything a photographer, computer maven, Apple fan or Mac freak could ever want.
There was a time when it was considered blasphemy for a serious landscape photographer to leave home without a sturdy tripod. But with recent developments in camera and lens technology, the advantages of shooting handheld are at least worth considering.
Many photographers shoot with vintage lenses on their modern mirrorless cameras (using an affordable adapter) for a number of reasons. Old glass tends to be far less expensive than modern counterparts, and build quality is often superior to today's plastic wonders.
Tiffen recently introduced the Domke Sling Bag and Tech Pouch, two carry solutions optimized for pros and enthusiasts. Their designs are based on input from content creators and photographers, and "…every element was designed with a specific reason to give them a better product" as per Tiffen COO Andrew Tiffen.