I recently bought the Lumariver Profile designer Pro software. Seems pretty good, although I don’t much to compare it to. Could be an option.
This is not a correct assumption… clarified on the website… all their products use the same software…
ColorChecker Camera Calibration software
Build custom camera profiles using ColorChecker Targets or the ColorChecker Digital SG Target together with either the stand-alone ColorChecker Camera Calibration software or the Adobe Lightroom® Plug-In.
This advanced camera profiling technology provides excellent results with all supported reference targets, producing profiles that work exceptionally well under virtually any lighting condition. Auto-detection will locate the target automatically in your image making the profile creation process even easier. Whether you are shooting with just one camera or multiple cameras, color professionals can easily establish an accurate color foundation and maintain control of their colors.
You will be able to:
- Minimise color differences between cameras and lenses
- Adapt for mixed lighting
- Match color balance across different scenes
- Reduce the need for manual color adjustments
ColorChecker Camera Calibration software creates custom color profiles for both Adobe Camera RAW (ACR) and ICC workflows.
The software can be used with any size of the ColorChecker 24 patch charts: Nano, Mini, Passport, Classic, XL or Mega.
Or for superior results you can use the 140 patch ColorChecker SG chart.
Been posting on my phone, now that I’m home I can write fuller posts… 
dcamprof uses Argyll scanin to read the target shot into a .ti3 file; he does this because scanin does a good job of figuring out where are patches in a target shot. scanin doesn’t do the step that calculates the matrix from the target reference file.
To be clear about the ColorChecker versions, there was an original patchset, then they apparently had to change pigments to a more environmentally-friendly mix in 2014, per Torger. This appears to be the “2” version in the X-Rite and Calibrite product names.
dcamprof has the relevant ColorChecker reference files in data-examples/, cc24_ref.cie and cc24_ref-new.cie for the ColorChecker Passport original and 2014 patch mixes respectively.
I get it, “one-and-done” with the target and accompanying software. But, there’s another consideration, target finish. A finish that produces glare will be very challenging to use. The matte finish of the ColorChecker Passports is relatively easy to shoot in this regard. This is what I bought and I’ve had very little problem shooting either daylight- or studio-lit targets glare-free. I struggled mightily with the semi-gloss finished coloraid.de IT8 target.
Glen also I could be wrong but it sounds like the OP wanted to buy the passport as it was cheaper but thought the calibrite software for that card was somehow crippled so they contemplated buying it but then trying to use dcamprof if it was supported…
That is not the case so the OP may not even bother using dcamprof it was only to try to get away with the cheaper card but they both use the same software so this whole assertion is really pointless. THere are more options to play with in dcamprof and it will support it but I don’t think this particular user cares about that. Dcamprof was a means to an end to get around a perceived issue with the calibrite software that is not in fact an issue at all…
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Yeah and after all that, I really think glare management needs to be his first consideration. Doesn’t matter what software, if you can’t get a glare free target shot this whole process becomes exceedingly frustrating. Wish I had posted that sooner…
I still haven’t invested in a spectrophotometre such as an X-Rite i1pro 2 to do my own measurements and possibly share them.
So this thread is still open:
Also see spectrophotometer: I want to measure my colorchecker
I basically have the same problem as you: I’d love to have spectral data for both pages of the colorchecker passport version 2, after 2014.
Not sure I caught your drift, though: what did you end up doing, @Grant_Robertson ?
I only have a 24 patch…does any software make use of those extra specialty patches and if so how?? I feel like they are there for creative purposes… the xrite software only has data as far as I can see for the 24 patches… the others are for creative manual adjustments aren’t they??
That’s what the video you linked claims. Seems like they might be for tweaking white balance, specifically.
I do think that the Spyder Checkr Photo, with its 48 patches, is the more useful design. And at least darktable can make use of all 48 for profiling.
the extra patches can indeed be used to get a slightly warmer or cooler WB with the X-rite dedicated software. But, if I look at it from an Argyllcms + dcamprof perspective, these patches are just additional patches that can make the initial capture more robust (falloff correction, glare, etc.) because some of them are redundant — and that is exactly my point. I consider the extra patches not necessarily immensely valuable but still, when building a profile for an artificial light source, I think it’s worth exploring that.
Do note that for the lucky owners of a pre-2014 colorchecker passport, someone has done these spectral measurements with an i1pro 2 and made them available here:
(iii) the luminous landscape forum has some data, for a pre-2014 colorchecker passport, too:
page 1 : DCamProf - a new camera profiling tool
page 2 (24-patch card) : DCamProf - a new camera profiling tool
- yes, the SpyderCheckr48 is more useful — and there’s even a new, more compact version, à-la Colorchecker Passport, with quite a lof of patches. Of course, we don’t have the spectral data, but only some references from Datacolor, in their software.
- too bad the built-in profile maker in darktable is so tightly linked to the toolchain pipeline, with apparently no option to export.
That’s the Spyder Checkr Photo I mention. It has the same patches as the SpyderCheckr48, plus two big WB targets.
And their support isn’t very forthcoming. Took several months just to confirm that the Photo has the exact same colors as the 48, so support could be added to DT.
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reeeally? I thought it differed in some way. Well, then, again, someone would have to carry out a few measurements to be sure.
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Nevermind. I just read the posts about the Calibrite software being able to work just the same with both the ColorChecker Passport Photo 2 and Duo. So, I will just buy the former for $120 US. But… later.
Ignore his paragraph: I’m just gonna pay the extra money for the Color Checker Passport Duo, so I can use their software to generate ICC and DNG Color Profiles (DCP), and just forget about DcamProf altogether. Maybe, maybe, sometime in the future, when I have lots of time, and if I am not satisfied with the profiles I can generate with the X-Rite/Calibrite software, then I may give DcamProf another shot.
However, I will not be paying $120 for a color chart any time soon. So, I’ll just be winging it till then. I have no interest in trying to use some kind of home-grown color chart and fighting with lots of poorly documented open -source software. Could I figure it all out? Oh hell yeah. I’m a former network manager, with a 4.0 in my Computer Science / Education major. Do I have other things to do with my time? You betcha!!!
Yeah, I was just basing my statement on what they say on the Calibrite website for those two products. However, I did notice, on their download page, that there is only one program for making camera profiles. I guess I just assumed that the software worked differently based on some code that you had to enter from the packaging. It is very common for vendors to limit their software in this way, so they can just maintain one code base. Though, to be clear, I have no idea if this is what they are doing, or if the person who wrote those web pages was just full of it.
I’m sure it’s great software. But I’m just not up to paying another $110 US for software to go with a $120 US color chart. I will, however, keep it in mind if I become desperate to get my colors straightened out. I’m hoping that the Calibrite ColorChecker Passport Photo 2, with its software will do the job. If it doesn’t, then I will definitely let everyone know about that.
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This is exactly why I am willing to pay $120 or $200 US for their color chart. Lots of people say that you can just make your own chart. But then there will be all kinds of other problems:
- Glare
- All the work necessary to get the the profile generating software calibrated to that particular print of that particular chart.
- Keeping that home-printed chart from just wearing the F out as I use it all the time. (The ColorChecker Passport is safe in a plastic case, and was designed for years of consistent use.
The classic ColorChecker 24 is just too darn big to be hauling around in my camera bag. And, it doesn’t really have anything to keep it from being damaged. It is more for studio use.
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Who said that?
Anders does in his dcamprof documentation. However, you need a spectrophotometer to read the patch spectra; the Calibrite i1Studio will do it for $549US. Actually, as such instruments go that’s not a bad price and it’s got a specific patch-read mode. I kick myself for not buying one when X-Rite sold them for about $80US, have had numerous need to read patch colors for paint-matching and such, in addition to the camera profiling thing…
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Exactly.
I’d get the Calibrite version and use it with dcamprof data. Poking around to participate in this thread, I have developed enough confidence in what they’re selling to use it with the X-Rite data.
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Agree with you Glenn. I have seen no evidence that the product changed in any way after the Calibrite rebrand, and X-Rite kept their patch colors for the main 24-patch charts HIGHLY standardized such that the only thing that differs between the 24-patch products (other than one well-documented manufacturing change quite a while ago) is the physical layout of the patches (and even that is minimal).
Note that the chart definition dcamprof bundles for the Passport includes the patches on the other side of the device. If you want to calibrate against just the 24-patch side, you need to use the non-Passport chart definition. (I forget the exact file name and won’t be able to pull it up until tonight, if I even remember to do so when I get home.)
The Passport Photo 2 works great with dcamprof, and WILL generate DCP profiles - I can tell you without a doubt that the bundled profiles in RawTherapee for the Sony A6300, Sony A6500, and Sony A7M4 were all generated using a Passport Photo 2, because I’m the one that generated them.
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