Loupedeck Lightroom Console Review | Federico Pannacci Photography

Photography

Loupedeck Lightroom Console Review by Federico Pannacci Photography

L1220377

Hi Everyone,My name is Federico and I’m a Wedding Photographer in Tuscany, Italy (more about my work here);
Weddings are very important events where very special moments take place all throughout the day and for this reason the post production of your photographs does not only require a lot of attention but also takes time. It can take a while due to the large amount of images that need to be delivered to clients.

My goal is to improve constantly and for this reason I am always looking for new solutions and techniques on the Internet that allow me to not keep my clients waiting too much without sacrificing the quality of my work but, indeed,trying to enrich it as much as possible.

At the moment, the software I use for post production is Adobe Lightroom cc while the software I use for selecting the photos is Photo Machanic 5.

At the beginning of August I came across this Loupedeck console which is specially designed for the post production of photos on the Lightroom software.

The customer service and delivery of the product was excellent. I bought the console on the 8th of August and it arrived at my studio on the 11th of August, a really short time considering that I work and live in Italy (Tuscany) and my keyboard was sent from England. All shipping costs are currently included in the cost of the product.

As soon as I opened up the box I realised that the packaging was very nice and completely intact.
The materials used for the packaging are pleasing to see and pleasant to touch, even the prints on the outside are shiny and embossed.
The graphics are beautiful and well done. Inside the outer box you can find the console which is well packed and well supported in its rigid rubber supports that undoubtedly guarantee safety during transport.

There is no CD or Software inside the package. You must go to the manufacturer’s website https://loupedeck.com/setup/ and download the Windows or Mac software according to the platform you use.

Be careful not to connect the keyboard before downloading and installing the software.

Installation is simple and fast. In addition to the operating system driver, the loupedeck package also installs a plug-in for Lightroom. If you decide to remove the software or no longer use the console, remember to also remove the plug-in from Lightroom.

After installing the loupe deck package, I connected the keyboard and opened Lightroom. The loupedeck software also allows you to configure all the controls on the console at your own pace but I preferred to avoid this because the default configuration is speculative to lightroom panels and this makes it intuitive and convenient to use.

You can immediately appreciate the precision of each single command, the dials, buttons and sliders are extremely precise and provide the right endurance.
It it is really easy to modify your photos with both minor adjustments and more important ones.
Each time you use a command, Lightroom opens the corresponding panel on the right hand bar so that the time elapsed between editing and the monitor’s response is almost instantaneous and there is no delay.

Exposure, Shadows and Lighting are commonly used commands and those for which minor adjustments are perhaps less useful, but with this console it’s nice to make this kind of correction because you can increase or decrease the values perfectly and I personally found that it’s really useful to use it to manage individual color channels.

Having all the channels at your fingertips allowed me to experiment faster and try to simultaneously change multiple colours at the same time; It is really comfortable especially if you are editing or working on your presets!
Another very useful command is the very large center wheel (dial) that allows you to straighten the photos.
These small adjustments help to be precise and fast. The keypad also has symbols for choosing photos. Another command that I found very useful was the copy and paste all Lightroom settings, for which you must use the mouse. These two buttons are great.
They enable you to apply the adjustments and changes applied to a photo to all the other selected ones. These sections can be made from the keyboard itself. I’ve tried to do the post production of a whole Wedding using this keyboard and considering the amount of about 600 post-processed and worked photos, I can only be satisfied.

I would be lying if I said that this keyboard could have a massive impact on the future of post production. It is obviously not a tool that will change your life but it’s definitely a handy tool that helps save you some time making post production more enjoyable and of course easier.

On a less positive note, as I am destination wedding photographer I do not work from a fixed location meaning that I travel a lot across Italy.
In this case I usually prefer to bring my macbook with me and I use it for post production too. The pictures are obviously saved in various disks. I noticed that using the keyboard with a laptop is not as comfortable as using the keyboard with the computer as you can’t put the console and the keyboard together.
When using the laptop you can reach the console by moving away from your own laptop. I may start to get used to this with time, however, I still highly recommended using a fixed workstation with this console.

Here is a brief summary of the pros and cons of this tool.

Pro:
1. All controls are precise and easy to use;

2. Yes, it will make your editing faster, but I think it will help you to be 5%-8% faster;

3. It’s magic when you have to play with colours to adjust your preset, the opportunity to work with all sliders at the same time is a wonderful experience;

4. The best short cut ever is the button to copy and paste pictures settings, one of my favourite functions of Lightroom is now available with just a click!

Cons:

1. It’s very expensive, 369,00€

2. It’s very good to use with an i-Mac or a Desktop PC, if you work only with your notebook or MacBook it’s not so comfortable to use because you have to consider that this console, for me, does not substitute all Lightroom commands  and you will have to use the Mouse sometimes;

 

If you are curious, I will write a brief summary of how I carry out the post production of my photos below.
In order to select the photos I use Photomechanich as mentioned above while for the post production I use Lightroom 99% of the time. Occasionally when specific post production is required such as skin retouching or facial contour modification I  use photoshop.

hI use a very convenient plugin, jpeg mini in order to export photos from Lightroom and to post photos on my blog
If you would like more information please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

L1220379 L1220381 L1220392 L1220394 L1220398 L1220401 L1220404 L1220409 L1220461