post-processing - tablet or mouse?

thanks to a few individuals on here, i downloaded a trial of LR3, and almost immediately fell in love with it. i am still catching my bearings, and alot of the things it can do, i can do in DPP, but there is so much more available in terms of fine adjustments. i think i will be purchasing the full version (hopefully the student discount applies to grad school students as well )

that being said, i do my PP on my 13" macbook. as much as i love the multitouch trackpad, it doesnt offer super-fine control. this got me thinking about getting some sort of precision input device. lookign on amazon, i can pick up a microsoft 5000 laser mouse for about $40, and my local craigslist has a wacom bamboo pen & touch in excellent condition for roughly the same amount.

in both cases the input device would be used mainly for PP, as i am quite happy to use the trackpad for general use. the mouse is wireless/bluetooth, whereas the tablet is not (i prefer to keep my table neat). which one would the public recommend to go with?

its pretty much the same $$$, so it really comes down to which is more versatile:

mouse: more applicable for general use, no cord
tablet: more precision, long cord, takes up alot of space


on a side note... can anyone who has the wacom bamboo pen (and/or pen+touch) comment on how well it works and how it fits into the workflow?

I owned the 12 " cintiq and traded it for a 70-200 f4 usm. It isn't really worth it IMO unless you are a serious sketch artist. The only time I used it would be for extensive dodge and burning. My deskspace didn't really allow for the necessary space needed for it and using it in my lap would hurt my neck and back like no other. Can't comment on the bamboo though..

I just use the Wacom for brushing in LR. Rest is done by either keyboard shortcuts or hovering over a slider and pressing up/down keys.
I don't like the Wacom for that.

So I guess it depends on how you work: If you drag sliders, that works okay with the Wacom.

In PS, I use the Wacom exclusively.
YMMV.

I use my tablet in LR for adjustment brushes and spot removal. Its not really very useful for moving sliders around. I disagree with Rene on 'if you drag sliders' since the release when using tablets is slightly inaccurate. You may nail the value, then begin to lift and it will move off just slightly. So unless you are really use to using a tablet that will happen alot.

In photoshop I use my wacom for everything.

René Damkot wrote in post #12610504
I just use the Wacom for brushing in LR. Rest is done by either keyboard shortcuts or hovering over a slider and pressing up/down keys.
I don't like the Wacom for that.

So I guess it depends on how you work: If you drag sliders, that works okay with the Wacom.

In PS, I use the Wacom exclusively.
YMMV.

I use a Wacom Intuos4 that has both the pen and mouse. The pen sure does make a lot of things much easier, once you get familiar and comfortable with it. Especially brushing and precise selections.

TheLostVertex wrote in post #12610690
So unless you are really use to using a tablet that will happen alot.

Good point.

could not do computing in any form without my wacom

LR = mouse
PS = tablet

Wacom Intuos 4 8x12 for me. Never used a mouse ever again other then for web browsing and general OS thing. But you will need to get around the little learning curve of the tablet before you will fall in love with it. It took me about 2 weeks of constant use to give up my mouse. But once you get the hang of things you will zip threw post processing.

Sevan

mouse it is. thanks all. wont be using PS, and after playing with LR a bit more, i can see that a tablet would only really come in handy in small set of PP

TheLostVertex wrote in post #12610690
I use my tablet in LR for adjustment brushes and spot removal. Its not really very useful for moving sliders around. I disagree with Rene on 'if you drag sliders' since the release when using tablets is slightly inaccurate. You may nail the value, then begin to lift and it will move off just slightly. So unless you are really use to using a tablet that will happen alot.

Set up one of the Express Keys for Precision Mode and set it to ultra-fine, And then when you move a slider hold down the Precision Mode Express Key before you lift the pen and that won't happen.