datacolorSpyder Checkr 24 - Has 24 Target Colours, Includes a Grey Card, Calibrates Your Camera for Consistent Image Colour Across Multiple Camera Systems and Lighting Conditions

You may think that this is an over-priced piece of flimsy plastic, but when you realise that it's engineered to have perfect colour fastness for years, and the resulting images you process will be colour perfect, it really is worth the investment.To use, you select your camera body, lens and lighting condition, and take a picture with the checker roughly central and about 1/4 of the frame. Bring it into the photo editing suite of your choice and crop it down to include just the checker, set the white balance using the 50% gray patch, then send it to the Spyder Checkr24 program (you can do this in Lightroom by using Edit In, and selecting the Spyder Checkr24 Editor.The software displays your image, along with an overlay showing where it will sample the image. This can be moved and scaled, but if you've done your cropping properly you'll not need to adjust this. You then tell it to save the calibration - in my case as a Lightroom preset. I recommend saving it as [camera body] [lens] [lighting condition] e.g. D810 24-70 VR Daylight. When you next start Lightroom you'll have a User Profile with the name you gave. Apply that, and it uses the HSL panel to adjust your colours to match reality.I calibrated every combination of my bodies and lenses that I shoot with in about 10 minutes.In reality you shouldn't need to create a profile for every lighting condition, as it works by adjusting colours relatively to ensure consistency. But it would be useful to take a calibration image if you have very challenging lighting conditions, or if you require absolute accuracy for product shots, or fine art, then it's a godsend.It really comes into its own if you shoot multiple cameras and/or lenses on the same shoot, and is pitched heavily at videographers to ensure colour matching between their A and B rolls.I'm delighted with the results, and you can really notice the difference, even if you apply the profiles to your back catalog.

Beneficial product. Works for video as well. Must have if you want to upgrade your video or picture quality.

Great if you need an affordable colour checker for colour matching multiple cameras or getting consistent white balance using the large grey card on the back. Is already compatible with Davinci Resolve too. Keep in mind that it won't allow you to perfectly match the cameras immediately and still requires you to put in the appropriate effort beforehand and some additional manual work in post, but does most of the heavy lifting for you.The only real drawback is the durability. It's very flimsy and feels quite easy to bend and warp. But is slim so it can slide into any backpack quite easily with the included sleeve to prevent markings on the colours. And a minor note is while it is matted it is still quite prone to reflections at slight angles so it is important to place it in a well lit location facing as directly towards you camera/cameras as possible.

I’ve started an online business recently and getting the right colours are paramount - even if the person viewing them may not have the most accurate colour profile, at least I know I’ve done the right thing in showing my products accurately.So this is an A5 size ‘plasticcy’ feeling grid with colour blocks on one side and grayscale blocks on the other.I have to give credit to Datacolor as they have two guides on their website - a quick start guide - and a more thorough guide which really spells out what the grid does and more importantly how to use it in Lightroom and CaptureOne. It’s not too technical either.Here is a quick rundown of how it works after you’ve installed the Spydercheckr software.1. Setup your scene with lighting and everything and take a photo of the grid where your subject it.2. Take all your subjects photos with the same lighting setup.3. Repeat step 1 if you’ve going to take photos with different lighting or locations.3. Import your photos into Lightroom (I don't use CaptureOne)4. Apply white balance using the grey colour grid as the reference.For the colour correction magic:1. Within lightroom, crop the photo of the colour grid tightly - but don’t do anything else like Exposure, Contrast, so on!2. Right click the colour grid photo and you’ll see a new option: Edit In > SpyderCheckr3. The SpydrChecker software will open and automatically match up your grid with its internal references.4. You’ll get save the profile into Lightroom as a Preset (in development mode).5. You have to restart Lightroom for the Preset to show up.6. Apply that Preset to whichever photos you like.7. Done!The difference might be so subtle your eyes might not even notice.If you want to prove it to yourself, just take a look at the HSL panel within Lightroom’s Development window.Conclusion: I definitely think this is worth buying. Especially for clothing and accessories. The grid is made out of plastic so will last a long time, the price is competitive compared to its bigger competitor and I’m happy with the colours that are referenced.Recommended Product!

used it as a white balance reference for my photography

This little cardboard completely changed my portrait photography workflow. All you need is shoot this target every time you change light or location, it adds 1 minute while taking pictures and safes you hours with processing. You get your white balance and colours accurately in just few clicks and you can fully focus on your creative processing.One thing I would change - make wider borders to make it easier for models to hold and don't cover any of the colourful rectangles.