Yes, I would say you were very fortunate, and that's interesting to have heard about. I felt very impressed with my friend, too, though I've always wistfully felt, since then...if only he got the book published.

I have been especially looking at the SW2700PT, but if my laptop has an 8-bit card, I'm going to look more closely at less expensive models, compare the specs...and probably the SW2700PT is still the better value even at 8 bit. It may be possible for me to upgrade my laptop to a 10 bit card once the warranty period is soon over, but I hedge on that, because I can probably increase its 8GB RAM to only 20GB.

I remain as yet pretty much a greenhorn. Until two weeks ago, I knew some monitors are better than others, but I had no idea monitors got calibrated. Then I got 2 8x12's back from a local printer I could not use. I started learning new things quickly....

I had got carried away and bought the D850. Well, I need to support that investment.

Yeah, and I think perfection can only be judged in the end by whomever controlled the camera, and so on, because he sees the details of that process (of control), all of which together he alone has the knowledge, as the finished result. In the end, it's the viewing of the photograph which is the perfection. And the viewing itself develops over time....

A friend of mine studied photography in college. Soon thereafter, he crashed one of Jimmy Buffet's parties with a friend and got caught red-handed by Buffet himself. Instead of throwing them out, Buffet said, "Why don't turn burgers for us?" So they turned burgers and one thing led to another...he became one of Buffet's photographers, so I imagine your story is similar to his.

Many years later, but not too many, given where we are now, he followed the Grateful Dead around, shooting events at their concerts. (One of his photos the Dead used on part of an album cover, but that photo was unrelated to these travels I mention.) I believe he told me some of these follower photos were of the very last concert before Garcia died. He has a big album full of them. He told me he was interested in getting them published in book form, but he hasn't followed through. I thought he captured some amazing expressions.

Interesting story of yours. Yes, and about art and making photos any way you want. I'm about to buy a colorimeter and an external monitor in the interest of getting color "right." And yet, I think some shades, to put it this way, can be lost in striving for an aesthetic of perfect representation. Just minutes ago, I viewed a shot I took five years ago on my former D60. From the RAW image, I created a sky with a shade of blue that seems so much better than what it really was. It's a shot full of fresh snow, on tree limbs over the stream I stood in the middle of to get it, wearing waders, the temperature at 13 degrees. It seems just the right shade to complement the frigid cold and the snow and the dark--though it was clear--water.

Photos I shot years ago on my Pentax K1000 and framed I will never take down from my walls. I even have two shots framed, which I keep up, done on a throwaway film camera I used after my Pentax got stolen, and I couldn't yet afford another. Now I'm shooting with a D850--I do keep my D7100--and while I am entranced with the quality I'm getting, even though as yet I'm only now about to buy an external monitor, I move ahead with trepidation, because I find the technicalities tantalizingly difficult. As someone recently commented on a post I submitted. "And now you miss the days of film," or something to that effect.

Thanks for the help!

Definitely getting somewhere with this. Going to buy the i1 Display Pro and one of the BenQ SW Monitors. I'm still not clear on whether I MUST also calibrate the laptop display. Asus told me my laptop cannot be calibrated...now I think I should get back to them...did they mean the hardware can't, and yet the display CAN be calibrated by the i1 Pro software? Any case, I'll go ahead and post these questions. I've watched the videos some of you have suggested. I'm concerned about any possible conflict between laptop and the BenQ without my calibrating both devices. One of the videos talks about selecting version 2, not version 4, so that no conflict occurs, but in that video the moderator calibrates both external monitor and laptop. I can take a clue, but I want to be more clear on the necessity or if there really is any necessity that both devices be calibrated.

You all have been very helpful, thanks.

Starting to view the videos, thanks. Also spent time on BenQ site and looked at Dell Ultra Sharp, too. I can't spend wild amounts of money, but the $600.00 range is doable. I'm stuck on HDR at this point, a little confused. Wondering if I need an HDR monitor for any HDR photography I might do. Not clear on this yet. If an HDR monitor makes all the images I shoot HDR, I'm wondering if that means the lab will make corresponding prints. The video about laptop display software adjusted by a colorimeter is helpful. Maybe my Asus display can be calibrated after all.

Helps. But do you need to calibrate the MacBookPro also? Or if you do, how does that help? Can you see how just calibrating the BenQ would be enough? Or maybe both monitors need to be in color sync? But then, wouldn't that presuppose that both monitors have the same color capability? (Absurd.)

I spoke to X-Rite Customer service about whether my Asus Vivobook 15 can be calibrated by the i1 Pro. I was told all recent displays can be. I put the question to him again, telling him that B&H Photo contradicts what he had just told me, and again citing the name of my laptop. He told me no problem. I wasn't so sure. I contacted Asus with my serial number. They tell me my laptop monitor cannot be calibrated by any device. (X-Rite seems not very trustworthy.)

So now my question is: If I buy the BenQ monitor, as I'm hoping to do, is it necessary for me to also calibrate my laptop? That is, do I need to buy a new laptop, too, if I am to work with a calibrated color, or can I solely calibrate the BenQ? I am assuming the BenQ supports software, that I can work in Lightroom on the BenQ monitor by keying on my laptop.

Lots to absorb! Thanks.

Yes, I shoot RAW, and I'm interested in using all the color space I can, eventually. Since for the most part now I'm displaying images on monitors, I export as srbg, since I read that Adobe rgb has problems on monitors. But I do have my camera set to srbg...and I'm wondering if I should have it set to Adobe rbg. Or does it make no difference, since I'm shooting RAW? I use Lightroom & I'm thinking that when I send exported jpgs to a photolab, I would increase the color space...if I can from those selected srbg in camera. But then again, apparently most labs accept 8-bit maximum, so does it make any difference? I'm shooting 14-bit RAW, Nikon D850.

I hardly know what to think, as yet, but you say is shows more than 100% Adobe rgb, so I would think so. I've got my settings on sRGB, if any difference in this respect.

Actually, I am beginning to think of getting a desktop photo monitor to plug into laptop. Maybe sooner than I had thought. But for now, just so I get this off my mind, there's no way to effectively sort of plug in the ICC profile a lab would send me, plug that into a Windows program and let it calibrate my monitor? I do need the colorimeter?

And there's no effective way to calibrate the laptop monitor without a device, in my case, as you suggest, the i1 Pro? No program within Windows itself to effectively do it? Also, I'm thinking the i1 Pro is probably necessary, rather than i1 Display, because the Pro adjusts contrast, not the Display. The Display also doesn't--at some level I don't understand or not yet--allow profile selection. I think I'm going to pass on the BenQ for now. I'll probably wind up buying a monitor intended for photography up the pike awhile yet. Everything I've read so far, besides perhaps what I've just read from burkphoto, indicates that a laptop monitor can be calibrated pretty well, though as I've researched, I've been aware there are monitors built to that purpose and most laptops are not. I've learned, for example, that my laptop is probably useless for HDR. Thanks again for all your help and any more you might share. I move forward with trepidation, because technology gives me the heebie jeebies. But I have to say, once I begin to master an aspect of it, it feels very friendly.

Thanks for everybody's help. I'm starting to get somewhere with this.