Colour checking may not be the most dramatic or exciting way to use a camera, but it’s still incredibly important. Taking a few images of a chart can prevent annoying casts and give the photographer far more control over the likes of saturation levels. The Spyder Checkr takes an ages-old concept and adds some clever innovations, solving a fair few issues and adding functionality.

For shooting on location the chart is impressively compact, folding up into a 23.5cm x 17cm size which can easily slip into a camera bag. The metallic casing makes the Checkr feel pretty substantial as well, and at least able to put up with a reasonable amount of bashing around. A tripod thread at the base of the Checkr’s spine makes it far easier to mount and shoot without the need for anyone to hold it. The top of the spine offers a spring loaded screw, which can be used to hold the Datacolor midtone controller SpyderCube.

Both sides of the chart can be exchanged, which is incredibly useful for two simple reasons; if the chart gets faded after repeated exposure to the sun and to utilize a different chart. In order to confirm how much the chart has faded a small, light-sensitive square sits at the bottom of the left panel giving a clear indication of when a replacement is needed. Although there aren’t any replacement charts in different colours at the time of going to press there are plan to release alternatives soon. The software is relatively simple, in that it is designed to aid other programs to process the images.