Which camera profile to use with SpyderCheckr in Lightroom/Adobe Camera Raw for most accurate colors?

If you are working with raw files I would expect the camera standard or camera neutral profile to be the most accurate. I suggest starting with those profiles and taking measurements/readings from the color checker to see what comes closest. If neither of those are close, then try some of the other profiles.

If none of the profiles are close enough, then edit the colors so that they are and save that as a new profile and apply it as the default.

This assumes that the lighting is standardized/consistent; because if it is not then no single profile will work equally well for all images. And this does not take into account monitor calibration which could cause the colors to appear incorrect even when they are not.

This post shows how to apply default profiles in the latest (2020) versions of Lightroom Classic. Lightroom CC automatically adds "Adobe Default" preset to imported RAW photos

For most uses, the standard color profile for your camera ("Adobe Standard") should be sufficient. However, you may prefer the look of one of the other profiles for specific images. According the the SpyderCheckr (Windows, Macintosh) help files:

It is recommended that the "Adobe Standard" option be selected in the camera profile popdown list in Lightroom and ACR. This is the default choice, and the only option available in most cases, unless canned or custom profiles have been imported by the user. It is possible to use any profile as the basis for SpyderCheckr calibration, but its important to remember what profile was in place when the calibration was created, and to use that same profile when processing images through the resulting camera calibration preset. So the simplest solution is to leave the DNG profile at its default.

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For "most accurate colors", you would need to create custom camera profiles by photographing a color calibration chart and processing it with appropriate software to create an ICC or DCP file. A different profile for each camera and lighting setup would be needed.

How often to reshoot the chart depends on your needs. At the beginning of each session and whenever the lights are changed (position, amount, type, etc) would be reasonable. You don't have to create new profiles if they aren't needed, but you won't be able to if you don't have photos of the chart.

Other software that may be of interest:

• X-Rite ColorChecker Camera Calibration v2.0
• Adobe DNG Profile Editor
• DCamProf – open source, command line utility.

See also:

• Rawpedia: How to Create DCP Color Profiles

Michael, There is a profile that matches the sRBA profile that Adobe has problems with. They say use Prophoto.icc and again that poses some problems. A guy took the profile and reworked it where it does not have the problem and renamed it MelissaRGB.icc or you might find MelissaRGBD65.icc. I have used it for several years with only one or two interfaces not accepting it. It is better than the Adobexxx.icc profiles. You might look here: https://photographylife.com/srgb-vs-adobe-rgb-vs-prophoto-rgb or this guy gets into more detail and describes some of the differences: https://x-equals.com/print-and-onscreen-color-spaces-and-icc-profiles-part-1-of-2/ Hope that helps.