The best €80 I ever spent
Posted on May 11, 2007
Filed Under Rant, Shout Out, customer service, photography, review, shopping | Leave a Comment
Ok, that may be a bit of hyperbole but I delira with the Spyder2 Express software program I received today. I actually bought in two weeks ago at Photofest from Sheldon Photographic but it, ahem, took awhile to arrive in the shop.
To be honest, I was a bit suspicious that I kept getting different delivery dates over the telephone but, luckily enough, I had 3 hours free today to, more or less, wait in the shop for the gadget & software to arrive. In fairness, I think the delay was due to the the manufacturer, ColorVision.
The Mister of Sheldon Photographic was a true gent and I’m almost certain to return tomorrow to get a Tokina 100mm macro lenses. The Nikon 105mm version has VR (vibration reduction) but it’s around €1,000. The Tokina is around €400 and it’s just as good. Tokina was started by Nikon engineers wayback when when they got fed up with the direction Nikon, the company, was heading.
I’d recommend his shop if you’re into photography. His knowledge is encylopaedic and his prices are keen. And make sure you ask to see the Hasselblad motorbike photo! His website is pants and there’s no on-line ordering/browsing etc so you have to physically go to his shop. But, what the heck, Malahide is a nice spot to visit anyway! And the Malahide International 10th Festival of Piping and Drumming is on this weekend. I won’t be able to make it because I’m going to the, err, (flickr) meetDublin meet up in Dublin tomorrow.
Anyway, the Spyder2 is a gadget that produces an accurate colour calibration of your monitor. It took about 10 minutes and the difference is phenomenal. My photos look sharper and more vibrant; there’s real depth to (some of) them now. And, of course, I can see how the colour cast was way off. It explains why my printed photos looked so different from the on-screen version.
In particular, the background colour of this blog is horrendous – thanks for telling me, guys!! I’ll change it as soon as.
Seriously, I can’t recommend the Spyder2 Express highly enough. If you look at colour images regularly, you have to buy this!
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