On Jun 7, 2014, at 5:25 PM, Brian T.Aderer <ennigmatick@gmail.com> wrote:

Quick question - If I shoot a reflective IT8 color target on Chrome film, assuming accurate lighting, then scan it and generate an IT8 profile from the result, will I end up with an accurate full workflow calibration profile assuming I keep all variables constant?

That's the basic camera profiling process. A lot depends on the lighting you use. If the lighting is a close match for D50, the profile will be broadly useful; otherwise, it'll really only be useful for that lighting. If you use a spectrophotometric reading of the lighting to generate the reference values for the chart (ArgyllCMS can do this), the profile will be broadly useful, though you wouldn't want to use this approach for fine art reproduction. The one "bakes" the deviation of the illuminant from D50 into the profile resulting in rendering in the same spirit as what you'd get with a contact spectrophotometer measurement; the other results in a more faithful rendition of the actual lighting of whatever scene you're shooting in akin to measuring with a spectroradiometer.

Would the above process work for digital cameras?

The process is the same, regardless of camera technology. Developing film has more steps with more variables than digital and therefore more room for error, but with good process control the variables can be held within desired tolerances. I would, however, suggest that there might not be much practical reason for profiling film. Profiling is mainly intended for colorimetric matching everything at every step along the way, and digital is much, much better than film for reliable colorimetric matching. Film's strength lies in the "look" of the chosen emulsion, and that "look" is nothing more nor less than a (predictable and desired) deviation from colorimetric rendering. That is, if you're shooting film, I would hope that it's to embrace film's charms, and not to try to make it work like digital. But if you're aiming for colorimetric perfection (the ultimate goal of profiling), that'd be not only a waste of good film but likely an exercise in frustration. Right tool for the job and all that.... Cheers, b&