Datacolor Spyder 3 Express, Display Calibration Hardware & Software for Professional Photographers and Studios, English, for Windows & Mac

2012-08-01T21:00:00

Calibrating your monitor can make a big difference in how your print colors come out.

Joe's P.

2012-04-15T21:00:00

This was my first display calibration device. On a scale of 1-10 my tech abilities are in the 6-7 range. I was apprehensive I might not figure this out. It was simple to install, setup and use. I have been using it for over a year. I changed the factory setting from updating almost weekly to about once a month, so now I re-calibrate my screen about once a month.

MICHAEL K.

2012-04-15T21:00:00

For the price, this is a very good calibrator. I do not print many photos, so I cannot comment on its accuracy on any particular type of paper or printer. And every photo looks differently on different monitors, but I have been pleased with the accuracy of the colors across numerous monitors.

KIRTE K.

2012-04-15T21:00:00

I have relied on Spyder and its predecessor for many years, for both former CRT and present LCD monitors. I take photos on top-of-the-line point-&-shoot Canon camera with many manual controls. Photos are for documentation of textile projects, research on same and on plants, insects & spiders as an amateur naturalist, and, lately, of grandchildren. I optimize the light and color of my photos in PhotoShop Elements. Many photos I print myself on a Canon i9900 printer and many will only be seen on my computer monitor. The color accuracy of my Samsung monitor is very important to me, for textile documentation in particular. I read reviews from Imaging Resource and others to choose this product for an amateur enthusiast like myself, with price and simplicity playing a major part of my decision. The Spyder3 noticeably changes the color of a desktop stock photo as I boot up Windows, and what I see on my own photos is very, very close to what I get on my printer, though not exact. I re-calibrate about every 6 months or before a big print job and find little drifting on my present LCD monitor chosen for graphics.

SUSAN S.

2012-01-22T19:00:00

Works like it should. The only thing missing is it does not adjust the brightness of the screen.

ColoradoActionSports.com

2011-12-27T19:00:00

I bought a new Epson R3000 printer and wanted to maximize color cohesiveness between my monitor and print jobs. Either the Apple iMac I'm using does a great job or this device didn't make much of a change. When I flipped between the two profiles (Apple's Color Sync & The newly created Spyder Color Profile) the difference was nil and my printer did not show any improvement. The prints already looked great, but I always wanted to try one of these. Again, maybe it's because my Apple Cinema display is already well calibrated. It was very easy to use, but I just couldn't justify the purchase. I'd only recommend this to a friend if they suspected their color was way off on their monitor.

MICHAEL M.

2011-12-18T19:00:00

easy to use, but on my DellSE98WFP it left a pink cast that I could not get rid of and I just did not trust it was right. I unistalled and now I'm out of [$] :(

The c.

2011-12-18T19:00:00

Truer colors on the monitor, making for better post production and printing

Ruth

2011-12-01T19:00:00

This thing is amazing. It calibrated my NEC Multisync EA231 without even touching the controls on my monitor. My first test was from Photoshop Elements 10 to my Canon Pixma 9000 and I was amazed at how close the screen color was to the printer - not absolutely perfect, but darn close and much better than prior to calibration. Highly recommended product for the casual, yet serious photographer.

SCOTT H.

2011-11-20T19:00:00

Will only work for main monitor (not the monitor I wanted it for.) Now I either have to change my setup, or send this back... still deciding.

CSConradEsq

2011-11-14T19:00:00

I bought this because my prints from the lab were coming back looking much different from what I saw on my screen. This little device fixed it. All I had to do was run the software and put it on the screen and it calibrates the screen properly. Now when I send pics to the lab they come back looking like they should. The only problem I see is that there is no gamma correction. That really isn't a problem because I manually adjusted that with ease. I understand the pro version of this does gamma as well but it just wasnt' worth the extra money. In the end, this hit the exact spot I needed to hit.

kfreels

2011-10-09T21:00:00

I had an earlier version of Spyder that I was never able to use successfully since the computer I had at that time had an athlon processor. I gave up on color calibration and took my chances. When I got a message that my color profile on my present computer had been corrupted I realized I'd have to try calibration. My old Spyder software was out of date so I ordered Spyder 3 Express based on reviews by people who were very satisfied. I have been very happy with it. My prints from [@] or other printers (I don't print myself) look like what I expect and the software is very easy to use and fast.

BONNIE D.

2011-09-04T21:00:00

Easy to use, sometimes fails to stay on screen for the duration of the calibration.

BRYAN D.

2011-07-24T21:00:00

I am a semipro photographer. I calibrate my MacBook pro. Not fancy, but does the job with minimal fuss and good accuracy. More expensive systems give you more control and ablity to use across machines easily. This doesn't but at the price does everything you could reasonably want. Calibrating across multiple machines in a pro studio? Not for you.

Joel B.

2011-02-19T19:00:00

Great starter set up to color calibrate monitors to ensure your images are perfect. It is quick and easy to use, and the reminders to recalibrate are awesome. If you want better color performance you need to spend more $$.

Believe F.

2011-01-11T19:00:00

It just worked was fast and easy. I run a dual display and was skeptical at first that it would work with my setup but it did. The device just applies 1 color profile to both monitors, luckely both of mine are similar so it worked flawlessly.

ANDREW V.

2010-11-21T19:00:00

I ran a studio for 9 years before moving into a job in the IT field. After 12 a 12 year hiatus I decided to get back into photography since pro quality DSLRs had come down to a price that I could justify as a hobby. I sent my first order to a lab to be printed only to find that the colors weren't as they appeared on my screen and they were too dark as well. I realized that I needed to calibrate my monitor but I didn't want to spend a fortune. It didn't have to be exact, but I wanted something where the colors would at least be close. This unit fit the bill. It was priced below $100 and it was very easy to setup and use. Once I opened photoshop I could clearly see the difference. My next set of prints came back still a bit dark, but acceptable. (I still had a bit to learn about ICC color profiles for proofing) but the colors were spot on and I was very pleased with the results.

KEVIN F.

2010-11-21T19:00:00

I had some trouble at first and contacted Datacolor support. They responded quickly and we got the problem solved.

Gregory F.

2010-11-20T19:00:00

Initial use provided noticeable improvement in color. It's worth the cost if you're fairly picky.

Jeff

2010-11-20T19:00:00

Easy enough to set up. Followed the instructions. Prints were better after calibration. On a budget and this seems to be a good way to get closer to what I see on my Samsung monitor.

MICHAEL M.

2010-11-20T19:00:00

Many times I manually adjusted my LCD monitor, thinking it was calibrated pretty accurately. But each time I adjusted it the inkjet color prints were not right. Then I ordered the Spyder3 Express and used it on my monitor. WOW! What a striking difference it made. My inkjet prints are now VERY ACCURATE. The software does it all. No need to be a genius. Glad I bought it, especially when it was on sale. Thanks Adorama.

CTJazzfan

2010-11-20T19:00:00

I was absolutely impressed with the Spyder 3. The colors on the monitor became more intense and vivid. Also black is now black instead of being milky blackish grey. Looking at my own photos as well as those online seem to pop. A great product and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it and priced very reasonably.

Dick

2010-09-04T21:00:00

I am a student photographer and I needed a monitor calibrator of good quality and low cost. This one works great for me.

Marfa O.

2010-08-28T21:00:00

I am a student photographer. I needed a monitor calibrator that would fix my color issues, but I can't afford to pay an arm and a leg because I am also spending money on camera equipment, lighting etc. But I still had to calibrate my monitor. I purchased the Spyder 3 Express not sure of how well it would work. I couldn't believe how easy the set up was. When it was all set and done I could definitely see a difference as I browsed through my photos. If you're on a budget but you still want quality, this is the product for you.

Marfa O.

2010-08-23T21:00:00

Perfect choice for simple, basic calibration needs. Recommended for any photo enthusiast.

JODI C.

2010-08-20T21:00:00

This calibration unit worked great. We were having problems with the prints we ordered from Smugmug being different than the images we were seeing on the monitor of our MacBook. Smugmug recommended we color calibrate our monitor. We used the Datacolor Spyder 3 and now our prints are exactly what we see on the monitor. Color and exposure are perfect.

CANDICE D.

2010-04-20T21:00:00

The laptop I bought had a really cold tone compared to prints and I bought the Spyder 3 express to try and adjust it. The prints match what I am seeing now and the laptop is much better now.

LINDA B.

2010-04-18T21:00:00

This product works great for the price - there are higher models that do more, but for the price it works well. It says it dosnt do multiple monitors, but I set each of mine as the primary monitor and calibrated away, renamed the profile and set the appropriate profile to each monitor. The results were significatly improved over no calibration.

Bryan B.

2010-04-11T21:00:00

Works very well and is easy to use.

Norm

2010-04-10T21:00:00

My print colors were not like the screen image. This darkened the screen image so when I corrected the colors the printed copies were a lot closer to what I wanted

Daddy911