Forums > Photography Talk > ColorChecker Pasport vs ColorChecker Classic

Photographer

miteff

Posts: 2

Sofia, Sofija grad, Bulgaria

Hello,
I am going to choose an ColorChecker and I need some advices. I do work mainly in studio and the size of the bigger one is an advantage for me.

The main thing that drags me to ColorChecker Pasport is Creative Enhancement feature.  There are few warming and cooling patches and I wonder whether they provide only color temperature adoption or other corrections also (tint, other color corrections, etc)? If there is a difference in color temperature, it seems to me that it is almost useless and I achieve that effect easily. If the correction is complex, I think Pasport version is better decision for me.

Any advices from ColorChecker owners will be highly appreciated.

Jun 03 18 08:50 am Link

Clothing Designer

GRMACK

Posts: 5436

Bakersfield, California, US

Once you deviate from the basic (main) patches to the upper ColorChecker Passport window for altering the warmth of a photo, it all becomes subjective and your personal preference as the colors change.

I have the large and small both.  My preference is for the smaller (ColorChecker Passport) being more convenient and protected in its case than having to package the larger one back up into the plastic wrap and cardboard box.  Only issue with the smaller one I have is me leaving it at some distant location (Put a bright colored lanyard on it!) - add to that lost list PocketWizards and a Minolta IV flashmeter too.

Jun 03 18 09:27 am Link

Photographer

Zack Zoll

Posts: 6895

Glens Falls, New York, US

I also prefy the passport, same reason. I've never used the 'creative swatches' beyond the initial 'what does this do?' phase.

As I said in the WB thread, I don't generally believe in using specialized equipment to perform a task if that task isn't going to be done as well as possible - so using the WB targets when I could instead create a custom, fully-tweaked correction curve doesn't really appeal to me. If I wanted to work fast, I'd use the WB dropper on a reference point (you always have one) , and eyeball it from there.

But if you don't already have a pretty good idea of how various color casts interact, using those WB targets is a good way to learn.

Jun 03 18 02:43 pm Link

Photographer

LightDreams

Posts: 4414

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

As I'm sure you know, the ColorChecker is used to get the correct range of colors, and is not just reading the white balance (creating a custom profile which adjusts for the range of displayed colors).

While useful, one of the problems is that when you start shifting the balance (to taste), some of those adjustments don't always "play well" and banding, or other issues such as strange color shifts (in some areas) can occur.  The full range of skin tones is one area where I personally noticed issues.

The heart of that issue, is that the subtle changes for each color target when adjusted for a specific camera sensor, etc, often don't "shift evenly" (and/or smoothly) when you start customizing the overall colors, or curves, etc, to taste.

So if you're just looking for accurate colors for that particular lighting and camera combinations, then great.

Or if you're looking to use one of the specific warming or cooling patches (on the Passport version), while trying to keep things generally on track, then that's also good.

Personally I take a different and (I find) much more powerful variation.  It will work with the Classic or Passport.  Start by Googling "ColorChecker dual illuminant".  I found that it took me a while, and various tries, before I built a great general Dual Illuminant profile for each camera / sensor.  Some early tries didn't impress me, but I kept trying until I found one of my test builds that seemed to consistently handle just about anything I could throw at it.  And that did it very well.  I now just use those same studio lighting camera / sensor profiles for studio shoots generally.

Once I succeeded, then I use the chart for a shoot and/or major lighting change.  In RAW (using my general dual illuminant profile for that camera / sensor), I start with the "correct" white balance.  Then I can significantly change the white balance and/or make other significant creative general changes.  All while keeping very smooth transitions between the colors and maintaining generally pleasing overall shifts in color tones (my goal).

The core concept is that instead of knowing how the colors should be individually adjusted for one particular white balance reading, if you have two (at VERY different white balance points), then the profile can do a much better job at guesstimating how that sensor is most likely to behave at different points along a wide range of white balance adjustments.

I wouldn't suggest this approach for newbies (it's a bit "techie").  But for anyone who's consistently shifting the color balance to taste and isn't happy with some of the banding or color shifts that can then occur with your ColorChecker profile, well for them it can be a real life saver! smile

Jun 03 18 06:06 pm Link

Photographer

miteff

Posts: 2

Sofia, Sofija grad, Bulgaria

Thanks for your answers smile

Jun 09 18 12:37 am Link