Looking for an editing pad/pen for general photo editing and touch-up, and wondering if the Bamboo would meet my needs vs the intuos (which is $40 or so more).
I'm a hobbyist mostly. I do a lot of sports photos for the HS I work at... so some touch-up, batch processing, and a few poster projects.
I've never used the Intuos, but the Bamboo does everything I need to do. I bought a Pen& Touch, but the Touch part was just a waste of time and money. Go for the basic Pen version with no bells and whistles - it's a great product.
I use the bamboo. I, like yourself, do sports for the HS and make posters. I have had it for about a year and it has worked flawlessly. Hope that helps.
If photo editing is your main use for a tablet, then the Bamboo is more than good enough. If you're actually going to use a tablet for drawing, you may want to consider the Intuous. As I understand it, the resolution (pressure) is greater on those models, so drawing is more precise.
I use the small Intuos 5; I liked the pen better as it just felt more comfortable. I figured for the small price difference, I'd just get the Intuos. Not sure if the Bamboo has all the same button functionality built in? I do use that a lot.
drbob wrote:
Looking for an editing pad/pen for general photo editing and touch-up, and wondering if the Bamboo would meet my needs vs the intuos (which is $40 or so more).
I'm a hobbyist mostly. I do a lot of sports photos for the HS I work at... so some touch-up, batch processing, and a few poster projects.
I appreciate any feedback.
thanks,
bb
For what you've state, the Bamboo is more than satisfactory. I've been using one for several years.
If you were doing drawing and painting, you'd want the Intuous. The Intous does have some nicer button features, but those aren't valuable enough for the money, IMO.
From everything I have read, the Bamboo would be fine. I happen to have the Intuos5 Touch medium, because my better half is getting in to graphics. It seems to work too.
I have been looking at the Wacom tablets myself and was trying to decide if I wanted the Bamboo Capture ($87) or the Intuos5 small ($210). They have roughly the same sized writing area but the Bamboo, as some have said already, has fewer programable buttons.
I read an article (HERE) about how to select the proper size tablet and they were talking about matching the tablet size with your monitor size. Its an interesting read and their point about the Bamboo tablets having less resolution makes sense. Since I have a 24" UltraSharp I might be going with the Intuos5 small. The extra programmable buttons for CS6 would be nice to have.
buckeyeguy1 wrote:
I have been looking at the Wacom tablets myself and was trying to decide if I wanted the Bamboo Capture ($87) or the Intuos5 small ($210). They have roughly the same sized writing area but the Bamboo, as some have said already, has fewer programable buttons.
I read an article (HERE) about how to select the proper size tablet and they were talking about matching the tablet size with your monitor size. Its an interesting read and their point about the Bamboo tablets having less resolution makes sense. Since I have a 24" UltraSharp I might be going with the Intuos5 small. The extra programmable buttons for CS6 would be nice to have....Show more →
That article said:
Having a tablet too small for your screen leads to a jumpy cursor and makes fine selections too difficult.
I don't think so. For editing purposes, when you need fine selections, you usually enlarge the image on the monitor to see it clearly. That solves the problem.
What I find is that I don't want to have to move my hand much to cross from one side of the screen to the other.
What he says about drawing is more appropo. Large tablets are for large drawing movements--stroking from the elbow or shoulder. Smaller tablets are for writing-like movements from the fingers or wrist.
RDKirk wrote:
Large tablets are for large drawing movements--stroking from the elbow or shoulder. Smaller tablets are for writing-like movements from the fingers or wrist.
I'm using only the touchpad on my laptop which is only 1-1/2" x 2-1/4" and my "wear" area is only about 1" ... i.e. finger movement only. My Gear Acquisition Syndrome makes me want to get a large tablet ... but the thought of using drawing movements (which I suck at and thus use a camera) keeps me from chunking down the $$$ for a large tablet.
I've always been of the physiological opinion that smaller muscles yield greater refined control, whereas larger ones make for more power/speed. Of course, the human body is highly adaptable and while I'd have never thought I'd be content with such a small area (GAS, etc.), I seem to have adapted to it very well ... in concert with RDKirk's position that press being received that larger is better, might be somewhat application biased.
I wouldn't suggest that someone aspire to use a 1" touchpad as I do, but I do think that RDKirk's point at which movement (fingertip, hand, wrist, arm, shoulder) you prefer is something for ergonomic consideration relative to your size choice. Like RDKirk ... I just zoom the screen, while my movements remain very consistent and only utilize small muscles.
I've never been comfortable using a pen or pencil except in very short strokes, i.e. I print or type vs. write, etc. I'd think that if a person has elegant penmanship (i.e. well developed movement control over larger areas) or drawing proficiency ... they may readily adapt to the larger tablet. For those of us that are "movement challenged" above the wrist, adapting to a large tablet might be a bit more arduous of a task.
Of course, all hand-eye coordination / muscle memory is a product of repetition and reinforcement ... as we are incredibly adaptable.
I have several Intous pen tablets. I find the smalest size the best for a 5 monitor set up and I do some drawing in PS. Why not get a refurb Intous 4 or even Intous 3. Wacom and others sell them.
I took a look at the 8x6 in the link you provided and it looks comparable in specs to the Bamboo line except for the shortcut buttons. Looks like it is worth trying for the price. My Intuos 5 small should be arriving today.
buckeyeguy1 wrote:
I took a look at the 8x6 in the link you provided and it looks comparable in specs to the Bamboo line except for the shortcut buttons. Looks like it is worth trying for the price. My Intuos 5 small should be arriving today.
The shortcut buttons are nice as you're not always switching between tablet/keyboard. You can use the ring to zoom/change brush size which is a great feature.
Just got it an hour ago. I really like it. I can see this completely replacing my mouse permanently. The shortcut keys are great. I think I could do everything with the tablet in LR but I will definitely need the keyboard for PS.
