Review SmartShooter tethering software

juggler

juggler

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Simon
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A very quick review.. it's taken me a while to get tethering working nicely with my shiny new Nikon D750.
  • Nikon's Camera Control software is very expensive
  • qDSLRDashboard works both wired and wirelessly but is flaky and hard to configure
  • Lightroom works but only saves files to the PC or memory card, not both - and I really like having the security of both. And it doesn't really control the camera, it just receives them
  • I haven't tried Capture One
  • Wireless tethering to the Nikon iPad app isn't really a solution
  • My experience of EyeFi cards was terrible.
  • SmartShooter just works and allows full control of the camera, live view and to save files to both SD card and the PC. I set it up with Lightroom to autoimport from the folder SmartShooter uses and everything happens by magic. Sometimes if I turn my camera off and back on again SmartShooter doesn't reconnect automatically but that's the only niggle.
No connection, just a happy customer.
 
For some reason I read the title as terrible software... Nice to hear I got it wrong.
 
Thanks for that Simon, I am about to try tethering my D800 to a laptop so it's great when someone provides the answer and saves me the work (and expense).
 
Interesting, Simon. I might look into that. I love shooting tethered when I'm inside and haven't really tried other options apart from LR. To be fair, that works fine for my needs (i.e. as a hobbyist photographer) but I can see why you'd want the card+PC backup.

I spent a bit of time trying to get qdslrdashboard to work with the D750 and Windows 7 and just gave up - it was too difficult and I consider myself a bit of a tech geek! Wifi transfer would probably have been too slow anyway...
 
If you're still evaluating I've always used digicamcontrol with my Nikons. It's free and works well may give this a look to see how it compares. Just wish they'd put a normal mini USB jack on the 750.
 
CraigDHD said:
If you're still evaluating I've always used digicamcontrol with my Nikons. It's free and works well may give this a look to see how it compares. Just wish they'd put a normal mini USB jack on the 750.
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Agreed re: that last point :mad: Although I've got around it by buying a 5m male-to-female USB cable. It means I can actually make use of the stupidly short cable you get!
 
juggler said:
Ditto, though I splashed out for an active one from tethertools. A pair of reusable cable ties works well as a jerk stopper, though.
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I always use two cables and I don't secure them together...
I'd much rather they come apart rather than pulling something over (or worse).
 
Thanks for this, looks interesting, I just use LR at the moment but its not perfect, this looks like it is well thought out.
 
This is exactly the kind of thing that really peeves me about Lightroom. A much better solution, yet Adobe, don't seem to want to fix the issues. The tethering, compared to the speed, is probably not as important but it is just something that is really making me more annoyed with LR. Anyway, thanks for the review and rant over :eek::D
 
sk66 said:
I always use two cables and I don't secure them together...
I'd much rather they come apart rather than pulling something over (or worse).
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Ditto - I use the cable ties to ensure that the short cable at the camera end is secured to the camera. Then when I trip over the cable - like last night - the break happens at the cable join and not the camera.
 
I just use a piece of string and a paperclip.

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sk66 said:
I just use a piece of string and a paperclip.

_DSC3472.jpg
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genius! and probably actually better protection than the jerkstoppers!

if you're buying 5m cable extensions, make sure you buy Active ones (ie ones where the socket end is a big lump and has a circuit in it)
 
itsdavedotnet said:
genius! and probably actually better protection than the jerkstoppers!
Click to expand...
Thanks.
Initially I used just the string... but I got annoyed with it always being on the camera when not in the studio. If you want to get fancy you can use a fishing snap hook swivel instead of a paperclip, but that will push the cost up a bit ;).
 
Thanks for the infoSimon. It has always bothered me not being able to save to card when tethered to Lightroom.
 
paulcamcas said:
Thanks for the infoSimon. It has always bothered me not being able to save to card when tethered to Lightroom.
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re: writing to the card

I use eos cameras/laptop/vista/lightroom 4.3

When I start tethered capture in Lightroom 9 times out of 10 it does not write to card in camera.

I check this each time I start captured by taking a shot. If the image does not come up on the

rear screen of camera then writing to card is not working. I then turn camera off and back on.

After I hear the laptop reconnect to camera I take a second shot and check rear screen.

As long as the image comes up ok on rear screen then it has written to card and laptop.
 
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juggler said:
Ditto, though I splashed out for an active one from tethertools. A pair of reusable cable ties works well as a jerk stopper, though.
Click to expand...

Simon, Did you find you had to use the power supply with the active USB lead as well. I'm having a nightmare trying to tether my D800. Tried two different PC's and a laptop over the last couple of years and never been able to get it to work. I have just bought an active USB lead but it still doesn't work. It says camera not detected even thought I know the camera is being picked up. Wondering if buying the psu for the active lead will make a difference?
 
juggler said:
Ditto, though I splashed out for an active one from tethertools. A pair of reusable cable ties works well as a jerk stopper, though.
Click to expand...
Not tried them with cameras and tethering, but companies such as Monoprice do active USB extension cables at a fraction of the cost from Tethertools, and they work perfect with other computer situations.
 
@ChrisWXM My tethering problems with LR mostly went away when I swapped to a fatter cable from Tethertools. I'd tried powered repeaters before that and none of them worked with Lightroom. It was an Adobe issue though, as those same cables worked fine with Control My Nikon, a £30 remote control app that I use for product shots as it allows full control of the camera from the laptop and provides focus peaking on live view too. It also automates focus stacking which is really cool. Just increasing the cross section on the wires fixed it for Lightroom. However I still don't tether because of the not saving to the card issue - my workflow involves cards fed into my developing workstation - I don't want to have to get the laptop out, fire that up and copy stuff from it over WiFi so I can import into my main LR catalogue, so Smartshooter looks very interesting. I wonder how they've done that, as it's the camera firmware that decides whether to save to the card or not. Maybe the D750 is different to the older D800/D810s that I use.

My solution for previews in the Studio now though is an old X2 8GB EyeFi card. I know a lot of people say they can't get these to work: mine has worked like a charm for 4 years. It transmits basic small jpegs to the laptop in the studio. Lightroom monitors the import folder and displays them. This of course has the advantage that there are no wires for me to trip over. I don't use these jpegs after the shoot, however I do save the shoot out as a catalogue without the images and merge the data into the main catalogue after the import of the raw files off the cards is complete. I do this to get the stars, comments and other flags I've put on the images during the shoot. This does away with all of the contact sheet, back and forth with the client after the shoot - if they "oo", I mark it, and when the shoot is over, I already have the shot selections.

However you tether - you can also opt to have Lightroom sync the images to Lightroom web, so clients can rate the images themselves anywhere on the Intarweb. Anyone can view the live shoot as long as they have URL LR generates although they'll need a (free) Adobe account to apply ratings, flags and comments.
 
Many thanks for the reply. I have ordered a psu for the active repeater but will also look at the software you have mentioned tomorrow. Will let you know how I get on. It may just be the solution I need.
 
ChrisWXM said:
Many thanks for the reply. I have ordered a psu for the active repeater but will also look at the software you have mentioned tomorrow. Will let you know how I get on. It may just be the solution I need.
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Hi Chris - I only mentioned Control My Nikon as all the cables worked with it - Control My Nikon is more meant for tabletop/product type stuff - its great for that but you can't actually use the controls on the camera once its plugged in, so not much use for tethering in a regular studio setup where the camera is handheld. SmartShooter - the thing Simon started the thread with , sounds much more suited to regular studio use (ie not product type stuff where you are hardly ever near the camera). The thing that solved my tethering woes with Lightroom though was a big fat, unpowered orange cable from Tethertools. Hope you get it sorted!
 
Writing to card and computer with Lightroom I'm assuming is a Nikon issue (or a Nikon / Adobe communication problem). You can write to both with Canon cameras no problem.

Only issue I have with LR is if the laptop goes to sleep it will drop the connection and sometimes be a pain to reconnect.

Everyone I know who shoots tethered more often than me, uses Capture One, apparently much more stable. It's another subscription and another step in file management though, unless you switch everything in your workflow over to C1.
 
ChrisWXM said:
Simon, Did you find you had to use the power supply with the active USB lead as well. I'm having a nightmare trying to tether my D800. Tried two different PC's and a laptop over the last couple of years and never been able to get it to work. I have just bought an active USB lead but it still doesn't work. It says camera not detected even thought I know the camera is being picked up. Wondering if buying the psu for the active lead will make a difference?
Click to expand...

No, it just worked as it was. And since buying the active lead I've read that there's no point unless the camera & PC support USB3.

THIRTYFIVEMILL said:
I use Camranger together with my iPad. Do any of the above mentioned programs work to tether direct to the iPad. When I researched this not long ago the only wireless solution I could find was Camranger.
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Smartshooter needs a computer; I don't think Lightroom Mobile tethers. Not sure about qDSLRDashboard.

Scooter said:
@ChrisWXMHowever I still don't tether because of the not saving to the card issue - my workflow involves cards fed into my developing workstation - I don't want to have to get the laptop out, fire that up and copy stuff from it over WiFi so I can import into my main LR catalogue, so Smartshooter looks very interesting. I wonder how they've done that, as it's the camera firmware that decides whether to save to the card or not. Maybe the D750 is different to the older D800/D810s that I use.
Click to expand...

No idea how it works, it just saves to both card & laptop when I enable the relevant option in SmartShooter. Tethering just to LR the D750 behaves the same as your cameras, i.e. can only save in one place.

After extended use I find only 2 downsides to SmartShooter - after disconnecting the camera it very occasionally needs a PC reboot before it'll connect again, and the rendering of the previews is a bit flat & dark. I tend to use it in conjunction with auto-importing into Lightroom, though that is obviously a little slower.
 
juggler said:
No, it just worked as it was. And since buying the active lead I've read that there's no point unless the camera & PC support USB3.



Smartshooter needs a computer; I don't think Lightroom Mobile tethers. Not sure about qDSLRDashboard.



No idea how it works, it just saves to both card & laptop when I enable the relevant option in SmartShooter. Tethering just to LR the D750 behaves the same as your cameras, i.e. can only save in one place.

After extended use I find only 2 downsides to SmartShooter - after disconnecting the camera it very occasionally needs a PC reboot before it'll connect again, and the rendering of the previews is a bit flat & dark. I tend to use it in conjunction with auto-importing into Lightroom, though that is obviously a little slower.
Click to expand...

Thanks Simon. Didn't think so. Camranger works fine most of the time, so no worries.
 
Scooter said:
Hi Chris - I only mentioned Control My Nikon as all the cables worked with it - Control My Nikon is more meant for tabletop/product type stuff - its great for that but you can't actually use the controls on the camera once its plugged in, so not much use for tethering in a regular studio setup where the camera is handheld. SmartShooter - the thing Simon started the thread with , sounds much more suited to regular studio use (ie not product type stuff where you are hardly ever near the camera). The thing that solved my tethering woes with Lightroom though was a big fat, unpowered orange cable from Tethertools. Hope you get it sorted!
Click to expand...

It's tabletop/product type that I want to tether for so this will be ideal.

juggler said:
After extended use I find only 2 downsides to SmartShooter - after disconnecting the camera it very occasionally needs a PC reboot before it'll connect again, and the rendering of the previews is a bit flat & dark. I tend to use it in conjunction with auto-importing into Lightroom, though that is obviously a little slower.
Click to expand...

This is the problem I am finding, I am having to reboot before the camera can be picked up again.

juggler said:
And since buying the active lead I've read that there's no point unless the camera & PC support USB3.
Click to expand...

The D800 and my PC both support USB 3.0 so I am hoping the PSU with the active lead does the trick. The active lead alone is not working.
 
ChrisWXM said:
This is the problem I am finding, I am having to reboot before the camera can be picked up again.
Click to expand...

I think I only run in to issues if I exit the SmartShooter software while the camera is still connected; it seems fine if I disconnect then exit. Probably. It's only an issue once in a blue moon for me so I've never done any exhaustive investigation.
 
The issue I am having is I can take a few shots tethered in Lightroom or Capture One then the camera just suddenly disappears and I have to restart the machine. Makes it impossible to do a tethered shoot and I have to keep taking the card out. Lots of people are complaining of the same issue with the D800 and makes me sorry I ever bought it now.
 
ChrisWXM said:
The issue I am having is I can take a few shots tethered in Lightroom or Capture One then the camera just suddenly disappears and I have to restart the machine. Makes it impossible to do a tethered shoot and I have to keep taking the card out. Lots of people are complaining of the same issue with the D800 and makes me sorry I ever bought it now.
Click to expand...

It's not your camera Chris - my D800E and D810 both work flawlessly with Control My Nikon, but used to disconnect all the time from Lightroom - it's much better with the Tethertools cable, but it still disconnects every now and then. Just checked and http://www.controlmynikon.com/ is $30. It automates time lapse, stop motion, focus stacking and triggers via the network, sound, speech recognition (useful for when you have your hands full holding an accent light and reflector card). Scrolling around the zoomed in live view and using the cursor keys to nudge the focus is really nice. 5.3 is the latest.
 
I did try the trial of control my Nikon before and had the same problem. Saying that I've had a new pc since then and have also bought the active cable so will try it tomorrow before the psu for the cable arrives and report back.
 
Just a quick update. The power supply for the active lead came and it seems to have solved the problem. I am now able to shoot tethered straight into Lightroom.
 
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