[argyllcms] Re: DIY reflective spectro

Graeme Gill wrote:

Making a usefully accurate spectrometer yourself is a non
trivial exercise. Where does the diffraction grating come from,
and how do you calibrate it ? To do it properly, you need
access to laboratory grade standards or instruments to compare it
to, and it would be all to easy to end up with a low accuracy
instrument. (I thing some of the astronomy crowd have attempted
this sort of thing, with some degree of success ?)

Indeed the astro crowd have built beautiful instruments. Using Nikon lenses, machined metal parts, dedicated b&w CCD sensors.

I'm not so sure. As a learning exercise, or to create an instrument
with special capabilities, or as a start up venture for a company
that intends to manufacture such things, it's a fine idea.

My experience has been a wonderful educational project, that as Graeme says produces a device of *low accuracy*. And some aspects of the design have been totally ignored (eg. illumination). The end result is also totally unsuited for measuring a large number of patches.

As an alternative to a commercial instrument, I'm not
sure it really works out, unless your time and effort are very cheap.

I agree 100%. Commercial instruments may seem expensive, but they are instruments. Just look at the price of a "entry level" spectrometer from Edmund Optics, and a b&w astro CCD camera and compare with an X-Rite. To put it bluntly, a spectrometer is not a webcam.

Stephan.

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