calibrite ColorChecker Digital SG CCDSG

Durch die Anzahl der Farbfelder ermöglicht dieses Target sicher eine mehr Farben umfassende Kalibrierung als z.B. das kleinere ColorChecker Passport. Schon das ColorChecker Passport hatte die Farbpräzision meiner Nikon D6 deutlich gesteigert. Aber verglichen mit der Hasselblad X2D, deren werkseitige Farbkalibrierung jedes Kamerasensors mit ungleich mehr Farbfeldern arbeitet, reicht auch die Anzahl der Farbfelder dieses Targets noch nicht aus. Aber der Vergleich ist wohl nicht wirklich fair. Das Produkt ist aber sicher excellent und zu empfehlen.

First of all, I received this very pricey CCSG chart to replace my old 2016 x-rite copy which I fear may have faded, you pay for accuracy right? I have used the x-rite with great success to build camera profiles for many years now. Upon opening the case, I find irregular dents on the plastic frame separating the patches, then bubbles in the paint of one of the gray patches, then scuffs on some of the outer black control patches. Definitely bad quality control in the factory as an initial impression. Then I tried to build a color profile with the chart as I have done dozens of times with my old x-rite version ... the drama begins! I spend maybe, 8, 14, 27 hours pulling my hair out and second guessing everything I have done for years trying to figure out why the same workflow I have been using with my old Colorchecker SG was producing terrible and inaccurate color profiles. Dozens of hours spent wondering what I am doing wrong, and how I cannot repeat a very simple process I have done many times before, (just for fun) I decided to shoot my old x-rite version with the perfect lighting setup, then swap to the new Calibrite chart, take the two images and compare them in PatchTool, which will give you the numerical difference between the two charts.... Shockingly, the red patch G4, was, TERRIBLY, HORRIBLY off between the charts. The deltaE (the measurement of color error) was 8X, where 1x is imperceptible, above 2x is considered a fail, it was 8x OFF! The new patch was also much less saturated and lighter than the old, the opposite of what you would expect if my old 2016 chart had faded! The effect of this 8x error on the red patch basically ruined all the adjacent orange/red colors in the color profile when the calibration software tried to make it fit into the supposed standard colors that this chart was supposed to match. Terrible results all around! Unfortunately, it took me days of frustration to realize it was possible for such an egregious manufacturing error on a $400 standardized color chart to make it past QC and to the public! As a fair warning to anyone purchasing a Calibrite product to use for to build color profiles for your camera or scanner. DO NOT trust that the colors are accurate, just because it costs $400, does not mean that the quality control department at Calibrite actually is doing their job. If you want to buy a Colorchecker SG for color profiling; because of Calibrite's basic QC failures; you now HAVE to also purchase a calibrated spectrophotometer (about $1800) or spend $600 to purchase a CCSG from Image Science Associates which has been professionally re-measured. My one word summary of this product and company: CalibWRONG.

So a little background on myself before reading this review. 33 years running a custom photo lab, last 10 years spent specializing in fine art reproduction and custom Giclee' prints. Bachelor of Arts degree from Brooks Institute of photography, Major was color technology. I have created literally hundreds of icc profiles, I have participated in beta testing various color management systems, etc. I currently have over $10,000 worth of software and hardware for creating ICC profiles. I spent at least five hours with the digital SG chart and X-rites Camera calibration chart. The way just about every ICC profile creation software works is they compare the target with known measured values versus what the camera or scanner captured and then attempts to make the capture as close to the original as possible. Depending on the computer programmer and the algorithms that's where the magic happens. There is of course limitations when you're talking about inks, paper, etc. The results should be consistent as well. My first four attempts produced some of the wackiest looking color I've ever seen. Indications were readings were grossly off. Since the camera has been producing very good results, I'm assuming that the target values for the chart are wacky. Quality control is probably all over the place. One other person who reviewed this color checker had similar things to say. Considering how critical these charts are, if you don't have quality control then you have nothing more than a glorified piece of plastic with some nice colors on it. After about seven attempts and carefully checking every little nuance in my workflow I gave up. Chart is going back. This thing is worthless. Please save your money. It does appear the smaller color checkers are far more accurate, which is not exactly what you would expect when you're spending nearly $400 to get the very best. Totally disgusted. Shame on you X-rite!

The Calibrite ColorChecker Digital SG target replaces the X-Rite Digital SG target. The gloss of the 2 targets looks identical to my eye and I used the new Calibrite target to make a camera profile today with no issues. I am sorry that the Calibrite target has NO date on its. My last X-Rite SG target was labelled as a 2019 edition. I try to renew the targets every 2 to 3 years and the lack of a date is a problem.