Color management is a system. If any part of the system is not managed, you will get unpredictable results.

The camera has an sRGB and an Adobe RGB (1998) profile setting. Unless you are using a very high end printing system, you will get more predictable results with sRGB. Note that in RAW mode, this is just a reference tag in the metadata (like many other camera parameters, it just controls the look of the reference image when you open the RAW image in a RAW image editor). But when recording images In JPEG mode, this profile setting becomes the actual ICC color space of the image!


RAW images do not really have profiles. They do have camera characteristics recorded in Apple's Mac OS X and in Adobe's ACR module (used by Photoshop and Lightroom).

A properly calibrated and then profiled monitor will have an ICC profile stored in the operating system. Your system has color management settings in it. So does your software. Spend time learning how to set these!

You will also need an output color space setting when saving images. You can default to something like sRGB, or (if you're converting from RAW, or used Adobe RGB at the camera) Adobe RGB, or a lab profile if your lab gave you one...

The system begins with custom white balance — IF you are using the JPEGs you capture. It can start there in RAW mode as well, if you don't adjust color temperature in post-processing.

Yes, you need a WhiBal, or ExpoDisc, or One Shot Digital Calibration Target, or a Delta 1 Gray Card, or similar tool as a reference for both exposure and white balance! If you are going to adjust color in RAW mode for accuracy, that's where you need the ColorChecker Passport.

But really, why would you not calibrate your monitor? You should not attempt to adjust color without a properly calibrated and profiled monitor, and should not print without using the proper profile for your particular printer, ink, and paper combination.