I'm shopping around for a color calibrator and there's a million out there. Does anybody have suggestions on which one to consider? Some are CRAZY expensive and others are dirt cheap. I'm a believer you get what you pay for but there's a genuine financial limit. Any suggestions??
It really depends on what you need it to do, and how good your display is. If you have a low-end display, or a laptop display, there's generally not much point in spending a huge amount of money on a calibrator, as the display itself won't be capable of showing a full range of colours. You'll be able to get the colours it can show to be correct, which is an improvement, but I'd rather spend the money on a better display than a calibrator for a bad display.
At the other end of the scale, if you have a very high-end display, it may have what is known as a hardware LUT. This allows the data from the calibrator to be sent to the display itself, rather than being held at the computer end. This has numerous benefits, so is worth doing, but displays with hardware LUTs only typically support one or two calibrators (that can use the LUT, you can use any calibrator but most won't give you the full benefit), so you'll need to buy the model that your display supports.
Assuming neither of those is the case, and you have a monitor with a full sRGB coverage (or ideally, full or near-full Adobe RGB coverage), then you next need to decide what you need the calibrator to do. Do you just want to calibrate your display, or do you also want to calibrate a printer, or a projector? More advanced models will be able to do this as well, but you pay more for them.
If you just want to calibrate a display, and you have a reasonably high-end desktop monitor, then I'd recommend something like the Spyder4Pro or ColorMunki Display models, both of which have a great balance of features for a reasonable price, and produce accurate results.
If you have a laptop or low-end display, you might only need something like the Spyder4Express, although to be honest I'd be putting the money towards a better display in that case.
While you can spend a lot more on a calibrator, in terms of accuracy you're very much into the realm of diminishing returns, and given that displays drift out of calibration over time, you need to be calibrating your display very regularly for the greater accuracy of the more expensive models to make a significant difference. They'll also sometimes have features designed for pro use such as the ability to complete the calibration more quickly, which is valuable in an office environment but less so for home use. Unless you need extra features, such as printer calibration, or you already have a very high-end display and plan to calibrate it every 2-4 weeks, then there are probably better ways to spend money.
@abirkill Thanks for this info. I found that if I go directly to a good printing source with onsite, highly calibrated monitors, I can then make final edits to insure that what I see on the monitor will, in fact, be the printed result. I made the error last time to trust my high end monitor and it did not really print well at the local printer--even though I saw it on their screen. I have one old monitor and one new. The difference is remarkable. I work on my newest monitor for the closest accuracy, but I may invest in a calibrator at some point.
@darylo Another possible option if you are considering a new display is to buy one that comes pre-calibrated -- Dell offer a range of Ultrasharp monitors that come with pre-calibrated sRGB and, in some cases, Adobe RGB profiles, as do some other manufacturers. While they will drift slightly over time, for many people they will be more than accurate enough to get reliable prints for the lifetime of the display.
Finally, if you are a member of a local camera club, or considering becoming one, ask around -- many clubs have either a centrally owned calibrator available for members to use, or have members who will rent one out for a very low fee.
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At the other end of the scale, if you have a very high-end display, it may have what is known as a hardware LUT. This allows the data from the calibrator to be sent to the display itself, rather than being held at the computer end. This has numerous benefits, so is worth doing, but displays with hardware LUTs only typically support one or two calibrators (that can use the LUT, you can use any calibrator but most won't give you the full benefit), so you'll need to buy the model that your display supports.
Assuming neither of those is the case, and you have a monitor with a full sRGB coverage (or ideally, full or near-full Adobe RGB coverage), then you next need to decide what you need the calibrator to do. Do you just want to calibrate your display, or do you also want to calibrate a printer, or a projector? More advanced models will be able to do this as well, but you pay more for them.
If you just want to calibrate a display, and you have a reasonably high-end desktop monitor, then I'd recommend something like the Spyder4Pro or ColorMunki Display models, both of which have a great balance of features for a reasonable price, and produce accurate results.
If you have a laptop or low-end display, you might only need something like the Spyder4Express, although to be honest I'd be putting the money towards a better display in that case.
While you can spend a lot more on a calibrator, in terms of accuracy you're very much into the realm of diminishing returns, and given that displays drift out of calibration over time, you need to be calibrating your display very regularly for the greater accuracy of the more expensive models to make a significant difference. They'll also sometimes have features designed for pro use such as the ability to complete the calibration more quickly, which is valuable in an office environment but less so for home use. Unless you need extra features, such as printer calibration, or you already have a very high-end display and plan to calibrate it every 2-4 weeks, then there are probably better ways to spend money.
Finally, if you are a member of a local camera club, or considering becoming one, ask around -- many clubs have either a centrally owned calibrator available for members to use, or have members who will rent one out for a very low fee.