diff --git a/poppy/instrument.py b/poppy/instrument.py
index 33e57df3..aacb7b1c 100644
--- a/poppy/instrument.py
+++ b/poppy/instrument.py
@@ -298,7 +298,7 @@ def calc_psf(self, outfile=None, source=None, nlambda=None, monochromatic=None,
         else:
             return result
 
-    def calc_datacube(self, wavelengths, *args, **kwargs):
+    def calc_datacube(self, wavelengths, progressbar=False, *args, **kwargs):
         """Calculate a spectral datacube of PSFs
 
         Parameters
@@ -306,6 +306,12 @@ def calc_datacube(self, wavelengths, *args, **kwargs):
         wavelengths : iterable of floats
             List or ndarray or tuple of floating point wavelengths in meters, such as
             you would supply in a call to calc_psf via the "monochromatic" option
+        progressbar : bool
+            Optionally display a progress bar indicator for status
+            while iterating over wavelengths. Note, this requires the
+            optional dependency package 'tqdm', which is not included as
+            a requirement.
+
         """
 
         # Allow up to 10,000 wavelength slices. The number matters because FITS
@@ -329,8 +335,9 @@ def calc_datacube(self, wavelengths, *args, **kwargs):
             cube[ext].data[0] = psf[ext].data
             cube[ext].header[label_wl(0)] = wavelengths[0]
 
+        iterate_wrapper = utils.get_progressbar_wrapper(progressbar, nwaves=nwavelengths)
         # iterate rest of wavelengths
-        for i in range(1, nwavelengths):
+        for i in iterate_wrapper(range(1, nwavelengths)):
             wl = wavelengths[i]
             psf = self.calc_psf(*args, monochromatic=wl, **kwargs)
             for ext in range(len(psf)):
diff --git a/poppy/poppy_core.py b/poppy/poppy_core.py
index 41a59a56..847ba72d 100644
--- a/poppy/poppy_core.py
+++ b/poppy/poppy_core.py
@@ -1579,6 +1579,7 @@ def calc_psf(self, wavelength=1e-6,
                  source=None,
                  normalize='first',
                  display_intermediates=False,
+                 progressbar=False,
                  inwave=None):
         """Calculate a PSF, either multi-wavelength or monochromatic.
 
@@ -1612,6 +1613,11 @@ def calc_psf(self, wavelength=1e-6,
         display_intermediates: bool, optional
             Display intermediate optical planes? Default is False. This option is incompatible with
             parallel calculations using `multiprocessing`. (If calculating in parallel, it will have no effect.)
+        progressbar : bool
+            Optionally display a progress bar indicator for status
+            while iterating over wavelengths. Note, this requires the
+            optional dependency package 'tqdm', which is not included as
+            a requirement.
 
         Returns
         -------
@@ -1725,7 +1731,8 @@ def calc_psf(self, wavelength=1e-6,
         else:  # ######### single-threaded computations (may still use multi cores if FFTW enabled ######
             if display:
                 plt.clf()
-            for wlen, wave_weight in zip(wavelength, normwts):
+            iterate_wrapper = utils.get_progressbar_wrapper(progressbar, nwaves=len(wavelength))
+            for wlen, wave_weight in iterate_wrapper(zip(wavelength, normwts)):
                 mono_psf, mono_intermediate_wfs = self.propagate_mono(
                     wlen,
                     retain_intermediates=retain_intermediates,
diff --git a/poppy/tests/test_core.py b/poppy/tests/test_core.py
index b9218598..be0c0a01 100644
--- a/poppy/tests/test_core.py
+++ b/poppy/tests/test_core.py
@@ -178,6 +178,9 @@ def test_multiwavelength_opticalsystem():
     assert np.allclose(psf[0].data, output), \
         "Multi-wavelength PSF does not match weighted sum of individual wavelength PSFs"
 
+    # test that it's also possible to display a progress bar for multi wave calculations
+    psf = osys.calc_psf(wavelength=wavelengths, weight=weights, progressbar=True)
+
     return psf
 
 
diff --git a/poppy/tests/test_instrument.py b/poppy/tests/test_instrument.py
index 1086087e..931f0c12 100644
--- a/poppy/tests/test_instrument.py
+++ b/poppy/tests/test_instrument.py
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ def test_instrument_calc_datacube():
 
     inst = instrument.Instrument()
     psf = inst.calc_datacube(WAVELENGTHS_ARRAY, fov_pixels=FOV_PIXELS,
-                       detector_oversample=2, fft_oversample=2)
+                       detector_oversample=2, fft_oversample=2, progressbar=True)
     assert psf[0].header['NWAVES'] == len(WAVELENGTHS_ARRAY), \
         "Number of wavelengths in PSF header does not match number requested"
     assert len(psf[0].data.shape) == 3, "Incorrect dimensions for output cube"
diff --git a/poppy/utils.py b/poppy/utils.py
index 157de9b8..70cfabd3 100644
--- a/poppy/utils.py
+++ b/poppy/utils.py
@@ -1855,3 +1855,29 @@ def fftw_load_wisdom(filename=None):
             "optimization measurements (automatically). ")
 
     _loaded_fftw_wisdom = True
+
+# ##################################################################
+#   Progress bar (optional convenience)
+#
+
+def get_progressbar_wrapper(progressbar=True, nwaves=None):
+    """ Utility function to return an iterator that MAY display a progress bar,
+    or may not, depending
+    """
+    if progressbar:
+        # this relies on an optional dependency, tqdm
+        # if it's not present, just don't try to display a progressbar
+        try:
+            from tqdm import tqdm
+        except ImportError:
+            progressbar = False
+
+    if progressbar:
+        import functools
+        # set up an optional progressbar wrapper
+        iterate_wrapper = functools.partial(tqdm, ncols=80, total=nwaves)
+    else:
+        # null wrapper that does nothing, for no progress bar
+        iterate_wrapper = lambda x: x
+
+    return iterate_wrapper