Photo Editing Advice

[Noxvayl]

I've been asked to help build a PC for the purpose of photo editing. I've been advised to ask about Monitor calibration in here because it is more important than the hardware I manage to provide for my family member.

What should I look out for in a monitor?

What calibration tools are best to use?

What budget would you recommend for the above items with the view to start a freelance photography business?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I will add my answer from the other thread to start the ball running:

http://forums.hexus.net/review-my-bu...ml#post2473901

[Bobster]

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/24-de...0-400cd-m2-6ms

calibration? Spyder 3

[Noxvayl]

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/24-de...0-400cd-m2-6ms

calibration? Spyder 3

Thanks, I think £300+ is more than they can afford at the moment. Stretching the budget to include the Asus Pro Art for £230.

Do you think it would be wise to get a calibration unit second hand?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Like I said before just check if the backlight bleed issues which affected earlier examples of the PA238Q have been solved. However,it uses an 8 bit IPS panel and a 10 bit LUT which is unheard,AFAIK,for under £250. I don't think there is anything wrong getting a second hand calibration unit,although some of the newer ones do offer things such as ambient light level detection.

However,you can get a brand new Huey Pro from Ebay for around £54:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PANTONE-HU...item20bf15c59e

AFAIK,the Spyder 4 is a better but you are paying nearer to £90.

[Noxvayl]

@ CAT

Bleed issues are not as much of a problem in my opinion, I think too much is made of it. The 8bit panel and 10bit LUT will produce excellent colour in comparison to other monitors in a similar price range even if the the Asus has bleed issues. Personally I've used monitors with lots of bleed and found little difference between them and the ones with zero bleed; LED back-lighting, IPS and colour gamut made the difference that I could notice with my eyes.

Besides that the issues reported are from last year and are unlikely to be a major problem if you take into account the amount of people using the monitors happily and the reviews that found no bleed issues. I tend to take a slew of forum reports with a grain of salt based on the probability that it is a very small sample that provides little indication of the production quality.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I do like the PA238Q,especially considering that both Amazon and Ebuyer have it for around £203 delivered. You get Nectar points with Amazon purchases and Top CashBack does 5.05% cashback and Quidoc upto 5% cashback on Ebuyer purchases.

[Noxvayl]

Settled for these components purchased for the net total because of delivery to Jersey:



Went with everything from Scan because it is easier to have everything from one supplier and we were sure to get everything excluding VAT with no hassle. Will be looking into a calibration tool once the computer is working because the Asus monitor comes calibrated and will be significantly better than the current set-up.

Thanks for the help

[Bobster]

Thanks, I think £300+ is more than they can afford at the moment. Stretching the budget to include the Asus Pro Art for £230.

Do you think it would be wise to get a calibration unit second hand?

you're starting up a professional photo business and going to buy cheap kit?

only reason i can think that people would sell their calibration kit - is they've found its **** and want to dump it off on someone else..

[Noxvayl]

you're starting up a professional photo business and going to buy cheap kit?

It is a small business being set up privately, it isn't something Venture Capitalists are investing in...

only reason i can think that people would sell their calibration kit - is they've found its **** and want to dump it off on someone else..

I would of expected some people that are upgrading their kit from mid to top range equipment, in line with their business becoming more profitable, to be a viable option for second hand purchase. Not everyone can start photo editing professionally with the most expensive kit.

[Bobster]

there's a saying in the photography realm, buy cheap, buy twice..

[g8ina]

You could always save a bit by using a calibration service. I seem to remember somewhere doing an onsite service in UK, but I'm Bob will help with that one ?