Which calibration device?

[Manfred M]

There is one thing about Spyder that has not been mentioned so far, longevity. I am not sure if the same applies to Color Munki.

I am still using a Spyder 2 to calibrate my Win 10 monitor. I only had to download a new driver because I upgraded to 64 bit.

I also use the Spyder 2 Print Fix to make Printer Profiles, and the Spyder 4 download runs the old colorimeter perfectly well.

I notice today, that there is now a Spyder 5 Download available. Here's hoping.

Roy

My x-Rite i1 was around before the first Spyder was even on the market. Frankly, there is little to go wrong with the devices and the only issue is software obsolescence. So far the old software still seems to run on the modern machines, but who knows for how long...

[Simon Garrett]

There is one thing about Spyder that has not been mentioned so far, longevity. I am not sure if the same applies to Color Munki.

I am still using a Spyder 2 to calibrate my Win 10 monitor. I only had to download a new driver because I upgraded to 64 bit.

I also use the Spyder 2 Print Fix to make Printer Profiles, and the Spyder 4 download runs the old colorimeter perfectly well.

I notice today, that there is now a Spyder 5 Download available. Here's hoping.

Roy

There are several sorts of longevity. The fact that drivers are still available is one sort, but one should also bear in mind that the dyes in the colour filters in the colorimiter eventually degrade over time. I've no idea how rapidly they degrade (or whether Spyder or xrite devices degrade faster). I seem to recall mention that they may no longer be accurate after 5 years or so, but that might be quite wrong.

Note also that the Spyder 2 is not suitable for wide-gamut monitors. The dyes in the sensor are such that it can't measure colours much beyond sRGB.

[James G]

There is one thing about Spyder that has not been mentioned so far, longevity.

Roy, Manfred, I'd certainly agree that any calibration device out there has a significantly longer 'life', particularlyin comparison with standard monitors. I have seen comments on various forums though, that older devices have gelatine colour filters which do/can degrade.

That said, I had a Spyder 3 (now passed to a friend), and a more recently acquired Spyder 5. From a 'printing' standpoint, I had noticed no issues or degradation.
I decided to get the Spyder5, (at a photo fair, at a discount price), earlier this year, rather than wait for issues to develop with the Spyder 3. I cannot in all honesty say I was having any problems with the Spyder 3 and it is working perfectly well for my friend.

[Chri5]

Good God, I go away for a few days now I have 3 pages of comments to read

[Mike Buckley]

Good God, I go away for a few days now I have 3 pages of comments to read

If you had configured CiC to display 40 posts per page, you would have only barely more than one page to read.

[Polar01]

Please note those that use Spyder 2 & 3, that Datacolor is about to discontinuation support of those two, just received notice from Datacolor today. I am including link that I got in an e-mail.

http://info.datacolor.com/acton/rif/...?sid=GuE6OtLip

Cheers: Allan