I believe Ive heard it called "tethering"? but I constantly see people take photos and then it magically shows on straight on their computer screen? What program does this because I want it! hahaah thanks!

Canon comes with the EOS utility program that allows you to use live view, adjust your fstop, shutter speed etc, just plug your camera in.

probably came with your camera (it does with canons). Yes it's called tethered. You shoot with a USB cable hooked up and it goes straight to the computer.

I shoot Nikon... Ive been doing research and I guess its called Nikon Control pro? anyone know anything of it?

Can this software be used to make your dslr a webcam?

As far as answering the Q above? I dunno? My Sony doesnt have live view or video so it wont.

But I just used tethering the other night when I did some stuff for a friend. Its awesome! Instant feedback is great. I had it running from to the laptop and then to the 50" so the girl could see instantly what she looked like. It made it so much easier for her to adjust her pose to get exactly what she wanted!

I bought two 10' USB extensions so that I can have some freedom to move around. I really enjoyed how it all worked out.

Here's a good step-by-step way to do it with Lightroom 2:

http://www.scottkelby.com/blog/2008/archives/1207

Unfortunately, as a Nikon shooter, it looks like you'll need to shell out ~$160 for the Nikon Control software.


-A

Google Sofortbild for mac. I haven't messed around with it yet but it says it will work.

Originally Posted by kayone

I think some of that tethering software allows you to have near full control over manual settings by laptop so you dont have to touch the camera when shooting.

I can do everything with the Sony software. ISO even. Just no love view. Its a great tool, and I can totally see why the pros use it. That instant feedback is priceless.

Originally Posted by WRXJIM

I can do everything with the Sony software. Just no love view.

Love View requires the camera to be on the romantic setting.

Originally Posted by thomps6s

Love View requires the camera to be on the romantic setting.

hahahahaha

Originally Posted by Angelo

Here's a good step-by-step way to do it with Lightroom 2:

http://www.scottkelby.com/blog/2008/archives/1207

Unfortunately, as a Nikon shooter, it looks like you'll need to shell out ~$160 for the Nikon Control software.


-A

Originally Posted by a.hoglen

Google Sofortbild for mac. I haven't messed around with it yet but it says it will work.

When I get the mac this weekend im soooooo doing both of these!

Originally Posted by WRXJIM

I can do everything with the Sony software. ISO even. Just no love view. Its a great tool, and I can totally see why the pros use it. That instant feedback is priceless.

Originally Posted by thomps6s

Love View requires the camera to be on the romantic setting.

whoops

So, I tried this last night with the EOS Utility app. Works like a charm! Get a 10' USB extension cable, though, so that you can stray more than three feet from the computer.


-A

Oh, and one thing I really liked about Canon's EOS Utility: I can set it to save the photo to both the computer and the CF card simultaneously. It's an instant backup.

I'm doing a couple of indoor shoots next week, I think I'll bring my laptop and see how I like it as part of my workflow.


-A

I use CaptureOne Pro to shoot tethered while in a studio. It's fantastic, and it's really changed the way I shoot in a studio for the better. There's a 30-day free trial, which I'm currently taking advantage of. After that, I'll probably fork over the cash to upgrade from the standard version of CaptureOne 5.

You'll probably want to pick up one of these if you do go the tethered route:

16' (5M) USB2.0 Active Extension Cable
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

33' (10M) USB2.0 Active Extension Cable
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

I briefly used Nikon Capture (or ControlNX or whatever it was called) a few years ago, but it's not quite as nice IMO. Canon offers a utility, and Aperture supports tethering as well. Lightroom 3 also supports tethering, but to a much more limited extent.

All I could find was a 10' extension.

Only thing I found kind of annoying is that my laptop has a 12" display. I guess that's fine, though, for just quick proofing on-location.


-A

Does the whole idea that usb is only good up to 15ft apply here?

Originally Posted by a.hoglen

Does the whole idea that usb is only good up to 15ft apply here?

The cables I linked to are active repeater cables, which gets around the 5m limit.

Yeah, I just ordered two 33' cables. Apparently you can daisy-chain them too, which should give me ~70' (including the Canon USB cable) of freedom. Handy!


-A

I think that Canon uses a proprietary --or at least non-standard-- mini-/micro-USB connector. Dunno about Nikon. Or those other brands that apparently exist.


-A

Originally Posted by VicRSTi

Wouldn't a wireless USB adapter fix the cable issue? Assuming the adapter fits the usb port on the camera.

That might drain your batteries pretty quickly, assuming the camera even supplies any power through its port.

Quick google search got me this document

http://www.cablesunlimited.com/Speci...pecI4098-7.pdf

But good point on the battery issue. The wireless USB adapters probably get power from camera, but depending on how long the shoot is and how many batteries you have. But It would be awesome to have a lot more freedom of movement if you can sacrifice a bit of power.

Originally Posted by VicRSTi

Quick google search got me this document

http://www.cablesunlimited.com/Speci...pecI4098-7.pdf

But good point on the battery issue. The wireless USB adapters probably get power from camera, but depending on how long the shoot is and how many batteries you have. But It would be awesome to have a lot more freedom of movement if you can sacrifice a bit of power.

You would still need an adapter to convert the full-size USB plug into something that will actually plug into your camera. If you could find a cable that was 4-6" long, you could probably even tape the USB transmitter flush against the camera.

I bought a couple of 10' cables of ebay for $4 each, and they work fine linked together giving me 20' plus the 3 feet for the Sony cable. It all works great. I did find that just one 10' gave me plenty of range though. (13" inc the sony cable)

i'd like to see how LR does with tethering.

unfortunately it doesn't support 20d.

Originally Posted by ride5000

i'd like to see how LR does with tethering.

unfortunately it doesn't support 20d.

It does well. You set up a watched folder and enable auto-import for it. Then, you set up EOS Utility to dump photos taken while tethered into that watched folder. Have LR running and the photo shows up within 5 seconds of shooting, tops.


-A

Originally Posted by Angelo

It does well. You set up a watched folder and enable auto-import for it. Then, you set up EOS Utility to dump photos taken while tethered into that watched folder. Have LR running and the photo shows up within 5 seconds of shooting, tops.


-A

yeah, i've played around with watched folders before ( i have it watch my scanning folder ) but supposedly there's tether support built into lr3... ie no EOS utility necessary.

just not for my old horse.

Originally Posted by ride5000

yeah, i've played around with watched folders before ( i have it watch my scanning folder ) but supposedly there's tether support built into lr3... ie no EOS utility necessary.

just not for my old horse.

I only have LR2 installed on the laptop I'm using for tethering, but I'll try out LR3 and let you know -- have the trial installed on my desktop and Mac.


-A

Originally Posted by a.hoglen

Google Sofortbild for mac. I haven't messed around with it yet but it says it will work.

so I recently downloaded Sofortbild but when i plug my usb into my camera and comp, nothing happens?... any suggestions?

edit: it says to make sure my camera (nikon d300s) is set to PTP mode... anyone know how to do that?

Originally Posted by NickSchietromo

so I recently downloaded Sofortbild but when i plug my usb into my camera and comp, nothing happens?... any suggestions?

edit: it says to make sure my camera (nikon d300s) is set to PTP mode... anyone know how to do that?

It's the USB mode setting in the menu options. RTFM.

I can't find anything that says USB...

Originally Posted by NickSchietromo

I can't find anything that says USB...

It's in the same menu section as the Battery Info, LCD Brightness, Mirror Lockup, etc.

You could have googled it...
http://www.diyphotobits.com/set-came...-not-usb-mode/

I did! And I found that page too, but if you look at te bottom posts, other people with d300s's are also having this problem...

Originally Posted by NickSchietromo

I did! And I found that page too, but if you look at te bottom posts, other people with d300s's are also having this problem...

Wow, that's jacked up. It's in the D300 manual and menus, but not in the D300s. WTF? Maybe it's PTP by default?

Edit: Yep, Nikon made the D300s PTP only. I'd say your software is broken.

hmmm.... thats weird? time to do some investigating...

Download the LR3 demo and try that out.

Im going to have to!

edit: well that's easy! I still dont know why Sofortbild didn't recognize my camera but oh well. LR3's tethering is sweet!

http://cgi.ebay.com/NSI-USB-2-0-Male...#ht_2126wt_842

that would work as an extension to shoot tethered correct?

nick I could have got you 2 10ft cables for less then 2$

Originally Posted by Tylersladen

nick I could have got you 2 10ft cables for less then 2$

Coulda woulda shoulda, but you didnt. I didnt even think of gettin it when I was with you haha. How much would it cost you to ship it to me?

Originally Posted by NickSchietromo

Coulda woulda shoulda, but you didnt. I didnt even think of gettin it when I was with you haha. How much would it cost you to ship it to me?

I no longer have a car to get to the post office =[

Originally Posted by Tylersladen

I no longer have a car to get to the post office =[

oof.