Tethered Shooting

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nikonuser

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Dave
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Anyone doing tethered shooting with a D700 or similar??
Where is the best place to buy a long USB cable from and is it correct that the max. length you can use is about 5m.
Also please which software are you using for this.
thanks
Dave
 
Hi Dave,

I've used a few freebie programs for Nikon tethering.

Sofortbild

Mountain Storm

Both had some pretty nasty bugs resulting in frequent crashes.

The largest issue with Nikon tethering is that you can't save a copy to CF and to hard drive simultaneously, so crashes result in the loss of files.

Nikon Camera Control Pro is very expensive and despite it being the proprietary software, can crash when under strain from heavily queued up transfers, transfers that one might induce when shooting sports tethered for example.

Lightroom 3 has been very reliable. I haven't shot any sports yet with LR3 tethering yet but I've done a few studio shoots and all was well. The most reliable solution I've found to date. :thumbs:

A good quality USB cable is a must, mine is crap.

I have an extension cord and a regular USB which will be replaced for a 7mtr one when all my deadlines are done and I can get a chance to go shopping.

5 to 7 metres will be just fine.
 
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Just yesterday I finished two days shooting tethered in the studio for a cosmetic surgery company. Like Tomas I used Lightroom and it was excellent. A quick lesson for the clients and the ad agency at the start on how to use compare view, rating etc and they loved it, rating and colour coding as we went along. We've now got 1500 shots already sorted and rated ready for the next step.

I used a 5m extension cable with a short cable at the camera end and it performed flawlessly. Can't hurt to have a backup cable handy though.

Like Tomas said, you can't write to card at the same time with Nikon so (thanks to a suggestion from JasonRS in another thread) I set up an Automator Instruction (on Mac) to backup images in real time to a second HD for security.
 
Flashman said:
Like Tomas said, you can't write to card at the same time with Nikon so (thanks to a suggestion from JasonRS in another thread) I set up an Automator Instruction (on Mac) to backup images in real time to a second HD for security.
Click to expand...

Hiya mate,

Isn't this back up still dependant on the transfer from camera, via USB to laptop? I.E if you experience a crash or the connection is broken, there will still be a loss of files?
 
Tyke Tiler said:
Hiya mate,

Isn't this back up still dependant on the transfer from camera, via USB to laptop? I.E if you experience a crash or the connection is broken, there will still be a loss of files?
Click to expand...

Yes, that's true... it's a solution to a different problem I guess!

If you have a crash or the connection is broken though, won't the camera start writing to the internal card while the connection is down... so you still have the images saved in camera?:thinking:
 
Flashman said:
Yes, that's true... it's a solution to a different problem I guess!

If you have a crash or the connection is broken though, won't the camera start writing to the internal card while the connection is down... so you still have the images saved in camera?:thinking:
Click to expand...

Unfortunately not. When the camera has a USB plugged into the socket, no files go to card. :(

The worst instances involve experiencing a crash or connection breakage during a file transfer. Thus, your files in mid transfer = vanish into the ether, forever lost. :'(

Nikon really ought to sort it out and have the files go to CF too.
 
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Tyke Tiler said:
The worst instances involve experiencing a crash or connection breakage during a file transfer. Thus, your files in mid transfer = vanish into the ether, forever lost. :'(
Click to expand...

I had this very problem on my second time shooting tethered. I now just use tethering for showing client how the image will look, lighting changes etc, and then shoot to card.

I do use it on product/still life shots, where I can shoot again if it goes wrong.

Another :thumbs: for LR3
 
The problem with Nikon's writing to the card is that the SDK Nikon provide to write these apps doesn't support it. No idea why it's not in the SDK as there's no reason technically why they couldn't do it.

I've got a 10M USB cable (boosted) that works like a dream with both Sofortbild and Lightroom 3 but I've not shot tethered anywhere near as much as those above.

LR3 has really made everthing so much easier and more reliable.
 
where is the best place to buy a 5/7m USB cable from for a D700 please
Dave
 
No doubt someone will probably say I'm wrong, but isn't the maximum length of USB cable 5m, although this can be increased with active usb cable extenders.
 
pauljs said:
No doubt someone will probably say I'm wrong, but isn't the maximum length of USB cable 5m, although this can be increased with active usb cable extenders.
Click to expand...

Correct! The signal degrades the longer the cable over usb. You will need inline powered boosters to have best performance.
 
5m USB cables from........anyone!!
Dave
 
I'm using a three metre cable that is fine with my D2x. I'm using Camera Control Pro (trial version) with LR2 and images take roughly five seconds from shutter press to appear on screen... don't know if this is down to the camera, the software or just how it is when shooting tehered.

Results so far are pleasing though, especially as i have a load of studio stuff to do at a show next weekend. It's a fast enough set-up for me,d shooting static stuff, but I suppose for portraiture it may not be speedy enough. Wonder if newer cameras like the D700 work faster tethered?

Think Apple Aperture supports tethered shooting without any additional software requirement

Found this link useful for setting up Lightroom: http://www.scottkelby.com/blog/2008/archives/1207
 
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I'm doing tethered with a D700 and D300. Bought a 5M USB lead off ebay costing about £4 ish

I AM going to try a 5M extension lead (normal USB to female USB) and a normal 1.8M USB lead with the 5M extension lead going from the computer to the shooting area in the studio and hanging from the ceiling. Then hook up the shorter lead. This would be safer as the lead would just disconnect if tripped over.
 
Thanks Guys, appreciate all your help, advice and links.....must try it with my D700
Dave
 
That laptop/camera connection on the video looks interesting Jason
 
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