Photography News Issue 57

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Photography News | Issue 57 | photographynews.co.uk

Buyers’ guide Digital

Datacolor Spyder5 and SpyderCHECKR Proper monitor calibration and colour control is vital if you want to edit and print images with true-to- life colours. That’s what Datacolor’s Spyder5 and SpyderCHECKR provide. The Spyder5 comes in three versions: Spyder5EXPRESS, which offers quick and simple calibration; Spyder5PRO with advanced features and interactive calibration

darkroom essentials There’s no doubt that effective image editing and storage is just as important to digital photographers now as darkroom skills were back in the days of film. Here’s a selection of gear to make your editing easier and more efficient than ever before

for all of your laptop and desktop displays; and Spyder5ELITE, offering

expert colour accuracy, themost precise calibration, and integration for projectors and video displays. The SpyderCHECKR is a calibration chart with replaceable colour cards, and comes with a tripod mount, so you can place it in the scene as a reference. The SpyderCHECKR’s calibration software then analyses the results of your test photo and instantly creates a profilewhichyou thenapply inyourRawworkflowusing, for instance,PhotoshoporLightroom,socorrectionisautomatic. From£90 datacolor.com

Wacom Intuos Pro tablet Most of us use a mouse when photo editing, but those who get used to using tablets would never go back. When you get used to it, using a pen on a tablet can be a more intuitive and accurate approach; it helps when working on precise areas of an image, and you can make adjustments pressure sensitive, too, for a really tactile feel. The Wacom Intuos Pro comes in small (320x208x12mm), medium (338x219x8mm) and large (430x287x8mm) versions. It has a sleek, matte black design and is made of premium quality materials including anodisedaluminiumand fibreglass composite resin. The includedWacomProPen2 is only 8mmthick, and comeswitha standwhich stores spare nibs. Connection is via USB or Bluetooth, so you’re quickly up and running, with the pen soon becoming a natural extension of your hand. The tablet also has a trackball and programmable hotkeys for evenmore control over your editing. From£184 wacom.com

Eizo ColorEdge CS2730 27inwith shading hood Eizoproduces someverynicemonitors indeed, and they’re aimedsquarely at photographers, videographers and retouchers looking for the very best in performance. The CS2730has a 10-bit display, so it’s capable of showing an impressive one billion colours simultaneously, resulting in smoother colour transitions than with a standard monitor. The 27in screen has a rich 2560x1440 QHD resolution, a 99% Adobe RGB colour

space gamut and uses the latest IPS LED backlit panel technology to make sure there’s uniformity in colour and brightness across the full panel. The viewing angle is up to 178°, and it has a sleek, user- friendlydesignwithaslimmerbezelthanprevious models. The CS2730 comes with Quick Color Match and ColorNavigator software installed to aid calibration, and it comes with a one-piece magnetic hood to reduce glare from ambient lighting and improve colour reproduction. It also has a five-yearmanufacturer’s warranty. £980 eizo.co.uk

Serif Affinity Photo Affinity Photo is a dedicated photo editor with some great features at a very attractive price. It does everything a photographer could want from an editing package, and it does it efficiently and elegantly. Affinity Photo is stuffed to the gills with functions you need, from cloning and healing to liquifying and tone mapping. All editing is non-destructive and fast, and real-time previews mean there’s no lag or guesswork. The photographer-centric design extends to the intelligent user interface witheverything logically laidout andnodistractions. Youcancustomise theworkspace to your preference, setting up toolbars and tabswherever you like, and then there are Personas, like workflow sections; each one of these – Photo, Liquify, Develop and Export – manages tools for that particular activity, so it’s a streamlined working environment. Combine

Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom have long been the choice of both working and enthusiast photographers when it comes to editing and organising their images. Part of Adobe’s Creative Cloud, the apps are available

as a Photography Plan, where you pay less than£10amonth, always having access to the latest versions of the software. Across the package you’ll have access to tools for Raw conversion, basic and advanced image editing, organising, storing and sharing your photography. Lightroom has seen interesting recent updates, and now comes in two versions, Lightroom CC and Lightroom Classic CC. The Classic CC version is the familiar desktopapp,with the formerbeinga cloud-based service, including 1TB of storage, and therefore optimised

the desktop app (£48.99) with the iPad app (£19.99) and you work seamlessly across the two; the app isn’t a lite or cut-down version, being as fully featured as the desktop version. From£19.99 affinity.serif.com

towork acrossmobile devices. £9.98 amonth adobe.com/uk