Good gift for Mac photography buff?

[neilw]

I'm trying to come up with gift ideas in the $50-$100US range for my Mac photo buff father-in-law. He shoots with a Canon G9, and uses Photoshop and iPhoto on his Mac mini. He has a spider for calibrating his monitor (an old Apple 17" LCD). He's not a pro, just an enthusiast.

Right now I'm leaning towards one of the small Wacom Bamboo tablets (maybe the Pen and Touch). He's never used a tablet, and only has an original 1-button Apple mouse, so I figure it'd be a huge improvement for Photoshop work.

Are there any other good possible gift ideas in that range I'm overlooking?

 

[GoCubsGo]

The tablet is a great idea. My next suggestion would be to go to Lensmate and buy some accessories for his G9. I have the grip, the lens adapter so I can use filters and such, the hot shoe cover, and this thing my thumb rests on.

 

[neilw]

Thanks, good info. Even if I go with the tablet this time, I'll probably hit up Lensmate in the future....

 

[ChrisA]

Thanks, good info. Even if I go with the tablet this time, I'll probably hit up Lensmate in the future....

The Wacom "bambo" is good enough for photography. The more expensive tablets have pen angle and rotation sensors that is required for many kinds of free hand drawing but the pressure sensor in the Bamboo is good enough for the things photographers do.

 

[NStocks]

The Wacom "bambo" is good enough for photography. The more expensive tablets have pen angle and rotation sensors that is required for many kinds of free hand drawing but the pressure sensor in the Bamboo is good enough for the things photographers do.

Would you say the Wacom Bamboo is good enough for Architecture and design ? I have a budget i.e don't intent to spend hundreds of £'s on one, but then again not sure what to expect from this model. There will be some free hand sketches also...

Thank You

P.S I don't mean to take over your thread neilw

 

[jampat]

Would you say the Wacom Bamboo is good enough for Architecture and design ? I have a budget i.e don't intent to spend hundreds of £'s on one, but then again not sure what to expect from this model. There will be some free hand sketches also...

Thank You

P.S I don't mean to take over your thread neilw

An "artist" that is used to drawing with things like charcoal would likely be disappointed with a bamboo. Things like pen tilt a lot of artists care about. For someone that is sketching, the bamboo works well and is dirt cheap. I wouldn't hesitate to buy one if I were you. Just keep in mind that on monitors 22" or bigger (or multiple monitor setups), people start recommending larger tablets.

PS OP that is a great gift idea

 

[RHVC59]

An "artist" that is used to drawing with things like charcoal would likely be disappointed with a bamboo. Things like pen tilt a lot of artists care about. For someone that is sketching, the bamboo works well and is dirt cheap. I wouldn't hesitate to buy one if I were you. Just keep in mind that on monitors 22" or bigger (or multiple monitor setups), people start recommending larger tablets.

PS OP that is a great gift idea

The bamboo is a great idea for a first shot, and beats the heck out of editing with a trackpad or mouse. At I have 4 wacoms, 1 old 6 in wacom, a larger Intuos 3, and last year I replaced my ArtzPad II with a Intuos3 6 x 8"... I love working with all.

Another suggestion would be one of the Eye-Fi cards for his camera if it uses an SD card....

 

[Designer Dale]

Find out how he likes his card reader and maybe get him a better one. I hated my old one and am happy with a $20 RAW (trade name) SD reader.

Dale