Luminous Landscape Forum
Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Digital Image Processing => Topic started by: NikonMike on May 01, 2008, 01:36:25 pm
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I (finally!) got my x-rite ColorChecker and I'm about to calibrate my camera for Lightroom.
However, one of my photog friends just told me that these expensive things fade and after 3 months (!) they're not accurate anymore.
That just doesn't sound right - I bet many spend longer time on shelves before being sold! Also they typically only get out of their cover for a few moments when one needs them, right?
Is there any concern about ColorChecker's longevity - assuming I'm not keeping it at the window exposed to the sun all the time?
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I (finally!) got my x-rite ColorChecker and I'm about to calibrate my camera for Lightroom.
However, one of my photog friends just told me that these expensive things fade and after 3 months (!) they're not accurate anymore.
That just doesn't sound right - I bet many spend longer time on shelves before being sold! Also they typically only get out of their cover for a few moments when one needs them, right?
Is there any concern about ColorChecker's longevity - assuming I'm not keeping it at the window exposed to the sun all the time?
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I think they suggest you replace it after a couple fo years.
Andrew Rodney??
Mike
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They recommend replacing them every 2 years for consistency. However, their pigment system is supposed to have insanely good archival specs. As I travel around to client locations (several per week) I often compare my colorchecker to theirs. Some people are obviously more careful about not touching the front with their fingers. For relatively clean colorcheckers I've never been able to visually detect a slight difference between them. Several years ago I used to measure them with a spectro and found the Delta E tolerances to be extremely low.
One client had his original Macbeth colorchecker that he said he bought in the 1960s when he first got into photography. It was an odd size and the edges were all beat from use but we closely compared his to mine under daylight and could not detect even the slightest difference between the color patches. Very impressive!
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Thank you for your responses, especially Scott's insights based on his vast experience. I also found a wealth of resources at his web site.