Easily Color Match Different Light Sources
Review by Michael Corsentino
Sekonic’s new C‑800 Spectromaster color meter is leading edge tech with more color rendering modes and capabilities than any other color meter currently available. Developed in coordination with photographers and cinematographers, the C‑800 gives image makers the tool they need to precisely match one light to another. Even with the same kind of lights, color can vary from one to another. Add in mixed lighting scenarios, and color can easily be all over the map.
The C‑800 helps tame that beast, allowing users to measure color in any one of the following rendering modes: CRI, TLCI, TLMF, TM-30-15, and the new Spectral Similarity Index mode (SSI). With SSI, users can define any light as a standard, or choose a predefined standard (CIE D55, for example), and obtain an SSI score based on how well lights match up.
The C‑800 measures LED, HMI, fluorescent, tungsten, natural light, and flash from 380 to 780 nm, with a color temperature range of 1,600K to 40,000K and illumination from 1 to 200,000 lux in ambient light and 20 to 20,500 lux in flash light. That’s power and flexibility in your hands! No slouch in the usability department, the C-800 sports a 270° swivel head, dark calibration without a cap, an easy-to-read 4.3″ LCD color touchscreen, and a Customize function. New display screens provide easy interpretation and understanding of the new data fields the C-800 is capable of providing.
CIE1931 (x, y) is a new feature giving users the ability to measure and dial in specific chromaticity coordinates. Hue and Saturation units of measure have also been added to make it easier to match RGB LEDs with any light source.
It’s safe to say Sekonic has covered all bases with this feature-rich color meter. If metering color and matching lights is what you’re after, it doesn’t get any better than the C‑800. ■
