Profiling a digital camera is a controversial process. There are those that say it’s possible, there are those that say it isn’t. Some raw converters (such asAdobe Camera RawandLightroom) use their own internal profiles while others (Phase One’sCapture One) provide generic profiles for each camera supported. Most photographers just ignore the whole topic, use what their raw converter gives them, and move along.

But for some photographers, those for whom colour accuracy is vital including product photographers and especially anyone shooting art work such as museums, the use of highly accurate custom profiles is very important.

One approach uses Camera Raw or Lightroom andACR Calibrator from Chromoholics. This is a free Photoshop script that when used in conjunction with a moderately pricedMacbeth Colorcheckerand the calibration function within both LR and ACR, allows those program’s embedded profiles to be tweaked for your specific camera. Better than nothing, but still calibration, not profiling.

The second alternative is to have a custom profile made by a third party. This involves acquiring a target, photographing it, and then sending the file to a service bureau to have a profile made. This can cost as little as $100, but it’s not completely in your own control, and each time a new camera needs profiling there are additional costs and delays.

The third approach, and the one that some high-end users prefer, is to do ones own camera profiling. There are only a handful of products on the market that do this, and the one under discussion here isColorEyes Commercial.

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At Sheridan College

In May of 2007 I was invited byIntegrated Color Corp.,andSheridan Collegein suburban Toronto to view the installation and then training of the teaching staff at Sheridan on the ColorEyes product. For those unfamiliar with Sheridan, it is one of the finest training facilities for photographers in Canada, and among the top film production, animation, and photography schools in North America.

Sheridan has adopted the ColorEyes profiling system for use by students beginning with its September, 2007 academic year. Using ColorEyes students will create their own profiles for the cameras assigned to them, including Canon cameras and Phase One backs on Mamiya 645 cameras.

Below is an 18 minute-long audio / still video recording made during the staff training session. I have edited down about 4 hours of discussion and many dozens of stills to recreate a brief look at how a leading educational institution utilizes this advanced tool to train its students for the demands of working as professional photographers in the first decade of 21st century.

I believe that you’ll find this videoblog contains some very informative discussions about the nature of image capture with digital cameras and backs.

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Press the PLAY button to start the video

Running time: 18 minutes

Press the PLAY button to start the video

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September, 2007