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The lower level ColorChecker Classic is around $59 USD, Datacolor Spyder comparable one is also around $50... meanwhile there's some DKG Tools for only $25.

Current on B&H:

So the X-Rite and Spyder low levels are both 24 while the DKG is 18. But from a quality and color accuracy point of view is there a difference between the 3? Do any of them last longer in terms of color degradation? The one I hear about the most is the X-Rite ColorChecker Passport which isn't terrible at $100, but then I'm not sure if the additional colors and name recognition are valuable or just marketing ploy.

RyanFromGDSE
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The more samples / swatches you have the more accurate your device characterisation will be, as a matter of fact X-Rite has the ColorChecker DC for that: http://www.rmimaging.com/information/colorchecker_dc.html

  • X-Rite samples / swatches pigments are fairly stable although their lifespan is usually 2 years, it can be shorter or longer depending how heavily you use the chart and under which illumination conditions.
  • Last time I checked Spyder 24 has some reversed samples / swatches compared to X-Rite ColorChecker Classic (likely a patenting issue), be aware of that if you intend to use one of them in place of a X-Rite ColorChecker Classic. I cannot comment on its samples / swatches durability though, I have only used one of it once.
  • The DKG Color will not be very useful for accurate colour calibration because having not enough samples.

In the VFX industry, we pretty much only work with X-Rite colour rendition charts as their spectral power distribution don't vary too much between batches. Here is a great link with further reading: http://www.babelcolor.com/colorchecker.htm

Kel Solaar
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  • Hmm thanks, this seems to answer my questions though that link adds all new questions. I use CaptureOne Pro, for the color portion so sounds like I might be better off just getting a Gray Card. – RyanFromGDSE May 03 '16 at 01:34
  • A gray card just give you a basic calibration, a Color checker makes more adjustments to the profile. – Rafael May 03 '16 at 14:17
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    Take a look at this: http://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/61491/do-i-always-get-the-same-colours-when-i-set-the-white-balance-correctly/61502#61502 to see the diference between white balance and color calibration. – Rafael May 03 '16 at 14:30
  • @Rafael thanks and upvoted your answer there. But CaptureOne uses ICC Profiles and the X-Rite uses DNG Profiles so it sounds like its very complicated to use together. – RyanFromGDSE May 03 '16 at 14:38
  • Good point. This probably is a matter for a new question. But basicly a ICC profile is a "real" profile, "conected" to the hardware. A "dng profile" is more like a "flavor", in this case a more acurate "flavor", and the dng flavor is related to the lighting conditions, not to the camera. – Rafael May 03 '16 at 14:42
  • @Rafael this is the only other question I've found on the subject and it doesn't have a real solution http://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/67640/is-there-an-automated-way-of-color-correcting-using-a-color-card-in-capture-one – RyanFromGDSE May 03 '16 at 17:51
  • @Rafael: What you said is quite incorrect, a DNG profile is definitely comparable to an ICC profile and exactly address the characterisation of a given camera. Adobe can and add some creative rendering intent into some of their DNG profiles but the "Standard" ones are very precise calibration profiles of a given camera. As a matter of fact they are even more precise than ICC because they account for camera metamerism by characterising the device under two different illuminants (tungsten and daylight for example). – Kel Solaar May 03 '16 at 22:08
  • Hum. True. Actually I sometime ago was asking about how to convert between them. – Rafael May 03 '16 at 22:44
  • @KelSolaar ^ since Raf didn't ping you – RyanFromGDSE May 08 '16 at 00:23