What do Lightroom users think of Loupedeck control thingy?

[alsoknownas]

Not of much use to me, but what do you think of this dedicated Lightroom control surface?

From concept to reality: Loupedeck prepares for launch

So what is Loupedeck? Simply, it is a custom built hardware console with real-world scrolling wheels, knobs and switches and it’s dedicated to Adobe Lightroom.

I'm a bit of a sucker for stuff like this , although they are generally more useful for video production.

 

[alsoknownas]

 

[editor]

Not sure what to make of it. How much is it going to cost?

 

[RoyReed]

Looks like it will be about $350/€350. You'd have to be doing an awful lot of editing to even think of getting one - and what type of photography would need that much editing? I really can't see the point.

 

[alsoknownas]

Well I guess if you take pictures everyday then you'd have to edit them most days, no?

This type of surface is massively on my lust list for colour grading video, but it does actually serve a practical use, not just look pretty on your desk:

 

[alsoknownas]

Thing with colour grading is there's a very sensitive push-pull effect with many adjustments. So if you're raising the gamma you then often have to lower the shadows to compensate, but then, ooops, you've lowered the gamma too much so you have to raise it again, etc...
The surface controller lets you make two complimentary changes simultaneously. It's a big time-saver and also gives you a 'feel' and flow in the creative process.
No idea if similar things apply for picture editing.

 

[RoyReed]

Well I guess if you take pictures everyday then you'd have to edit them most days, no?

Yes, but you tend to shoot a batch of photos in the same lighting, so you adjust one and then sync the rest of the batch to that one.