Spyder2PRO Studio Review

First announced at the Photokina 2004 photography show, Spyder2 is said to deliver a five-fold increase in sensitivity when compared to the previous Spyder model, resulting in more accurate ICC profiles and monitor colours. Spyder2 is available in a range of different packages - in this review I look at Spyder2PRO Studio, which works with CRT, LCD and notebook displays on both the Windows and MAC platforms. Spyder2PRO Studio includes more sophisticated and flexible calibration software and other bundled extras that are targeted to the advanced amateur and professional photographer. Last year I reviewed the consumer level ColorPlus package, which drastically improved my uncalibrated monitor, so I was intrigued to see if Spyder2PRO Studio could produce even better results. Read my review to find out.

Website: Spyder2PRO Studio Review

Published: Saturday, May 14, 2005

Reader Comments

1. Dear Mike,
   
   I'm very interested in the Spyder and am studying about color management. I have a laptop that I use for my image work. Can this be calibrated by a Spyder? It's a Sony Viao.
   
   Sheila Macdonald

   Sheila Macdonald at 05:54pm on Monday, May 16, 2005

2. Hi Sheila,
   
   yes, you can calibrate CRT and LCD (including notebook) monitors with a Spyder2...
   
   Check out http://www.colorvision.ch/spyder2pro for more info.

   Felix at 10:18am on Tuesday, May 17, 2005

3. As Felix has said, yes you can calibrate laptops - they are treated as LCD screens by the Spyder2PRO software.

   Mark Goldstein at 12:22pm on Wednesday, May 18, 2005

4. Surely you must realize that a review like this is utterly meaningless if you make no comparisons to print output! (?)

   will at 04:14pm on Wednesday, June 29, 2005

5. Maybe the Spyder2PRO is better than the original Spyder Pro... which was so bad that it should come with a consumer warning. It's inaccurate, comes with glitchy and clums software, and while it's sold as being suited for flatpanel monitors, it isn't.
   
   Point is, many of the shortcomings of the original Spyder PRO were in the software, which Colorvision discontinued as soon as the Spyder2 PRO came out.
   
   Caveat emptor.

   Frank van Wensveen at 09:21pm on Friday, July 01, 2005

6. Hm, don't know why the old SpyderPRO didn't work well for you. For me it did an excellent job... On flatpanels as well as CRTs. I got the new one (Spyder2PRO) a few months ago (looks like I should have waited for the photographyblog offer going on now...) and have to say that the software has improved a lot though, the interface just looks much nicer and it allows you to get a detailed explanation for every single step, if you want to). We now use the Spyder2PRO for calibrating all the studio monitors and I gave the old one to a friend (who's still using it on a regular basis, AFAIK)...
   
   What Will said about comparing to print output... Well, it always depends on your situation (do you print at home? /what printer? / what papers or inks? / ...). If you want to make sure you get perfectly matching prints, you'll also need to take care of printer profiling. However, this won't be possible without calibrating your screen first, that should be your first step towards a colour managed workflow. So I think it absolutely makes sense to review the Spyder like that (especially if you consider that probably most visitors haven't looked into colour management at all until now). But hey, maybe there will be a follow-up article on printer profiling some time?
   
   Anyway, great review Mark, thanks. I only wish you had done the special offer sooner...

   Daniel Scott at 09:10am on Tuesday, July 05, 2005

7. Yes, I will be reviewing a couple of products that do printer profiling, in addition to monitor profiling, in the next few weeks.

   Mark Goldstein at 01:49pm on Friday, July 08, 2005

8. Thanks to all who share their expertise, experience and knowledge. I'm an advanced computer user who has spent a fortune on printers in an effort to get a decent colour match, totally ignorant of the monitor calibration "thing". Please can someone help me, I'm using both a MAC and a PC with an Epson R300 printer, but my grandchildren all look like they came from Mars when I print their photos. I'm at my wit's end. Please bear in mind that I'm an advanced user/trainer but not in the area of CRTs LCDs CMYK or RGB...this is a hobby for me in my old age. Also my printer is a CMYK printer but I haven't found in Adobe Elements how to convert my RGB photos into CMYK.... and GAMMA is a GREEK word to me. Thanks

   pargiec at 07:23pm on Thursday, July 14, 2005

9. I'm confused. My sole objective for wanting to calibrate my monitor is so it matches my prints. Will Syder2Pro allow me to accomplish this? Both Spyder2Plus and Spyder2Pro Studion feature ProfilerPLUS for scanner-based printer profiles - but what does this mean? Does my printer have to have a scanner hooked to it? Why didn't the review cover this?

   Gary Porter at 07:10pm on Saturday, September 10, 2005

10. Hi, I readyour review about the Spyder Pro2. Excellent work with complete and precise explanation. Many thanks.
    Eugene

    Eugene Kirk at 09:07pm on Tuesday, September 12, 2006

11. Hi,the article was great I only wish I could print out the parts 1.2 etc so I could use them as a visual aid card pack whilst calibrating the monitor.I did try to enlarge them for printing but they became unreadable.Eyes not what they used to be worst luck.but as I said great article and infomative.
    Regards,
    Samuel Graham Walker

    Samuel Graham WALKER at 08:31pm on Saturday, September 08, 2007