Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-02-29)

(^44) I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

AWARD

WINNER

2020

ACCESSORY

‘Itdelivers

gorgeouslittle

printswith

finedetailand

vivid colour’

Nominees

■BillinghamHadleyPro

2020

■DatacolorSpyderX

■FujifilminstaxminiLink

■ManfrottoBeFreeGT

XPROCarbon

■RodeWirelessGO

■VallerretMarkhofPro2.0

■ Vanguard VEO Select 49

Datacolor SpyderX

Fujifilm instax

mini Link

Accessory of the Year

Accessory of the Year

COLOURmanagementcanbesomethingof a

minefieldforphotographers.Thecrucialfirststepto

gettingthecoloursrightin yourphotosis monitor

profiling,andDatacolorhasmadethisquickerand

easierthaneverwiththeSpyderX.Witha completely

redesignedspectrophotometerhousedwithinits

sleekwhiteplasticshell,it’scapableof completingthe

processin twominutesflat.Successivecalibration

checkstoensurecontinuedcolouraccuracycantake

aslittleas 30 seconds.

Datacolor’ssoftwareguidesyoustep-by-step

throughtheprocess,showingusefulcontext-

sensitivehelpontheright-handsideof thewindow

whenyouhoveryourmouseoveranyof thevarious

options.It’sa modelof clarity,andgoesaboutasfar

asrealisticallypossibletoensurethatyoudon’t

overlookanydetail.

Fourdifferentkitsareavailable,withthemost

affordableSpyderXProoption(£159)beingidealfor

photographerswhojustwanttocalibratetheir

screens,andgettheirlaptopanddesktopmonitors

tomatcheachother.For£399,theStudiokitadds

theabilitytocreatepaperprofilesformorereliable

colourprintingat home.If you’veeverstruggled

gettingcolourstolookright onscreen and in print,

this is a fi ne solution.

WHILEwenowpredominantlyviewourimagesonphone

orcomputerscreens,nothingmatchesreal,physical

prints.Producinglargeprintsfordisplaycanbevery

satisfying,butthere’salsoa lottobesaidformaking

smallprintstocarryin yourwalletorgiveaway.Thisis

whereFujifilm’sinstaxminiLinkexcels.

Thissmartlittledeviceis poweredbya built-in

rechargeablebatteryandconnectstoyoursmartphone

ortabletviaBluetooth.Comparedtothefirm’solder

Wi-Fibasedmodels,thismakesit bothlesspower-

hungryandsimplertouse.There’sjusta singleexternal

control,in theshapeof a largepowerbutton.Simplyturn

theprinteronandit’llconnecttoyourphoneandbe

readytogo.Thesleek,curvy,attractivedesignis available

in a choiceof threecolours,andat 12.5x9x3.5cmand

209gin weight,it’llslipeasilyintoa coatpocketorbag.

Everythingis controlledthrougha dedicatedfreeapp

forAndroidoriOSdevices.It’sattractivelydesignedand

offersa goodrangeof functionsthatareallmade

intuitiveandaccessible.Mostimportantly,thedevice

consistentlydelivers gorgeous little prints with fi ne detail

and vivid colour.

Whywelikeit

●Super-fastprofiling

●Reliableand accurate
results

●Straightforward,easy-to-
use software

Whywelike it

●Easytouse

●Excellentprintquality

●Simple,reliable Bluetooth
connection

AWARD

WINNER

2020

ACCESSORY