Tethering - Nikon D700 and pc

[Tonbi]

Hi Gang,

I'm looking at playing around with doing some tethered shooting with my D700 and my windows 7 laptop. So I was wondering if anyone on here has played with tethering a nikon and a windows pc, and if you have what programs you have used to for it (I believe that Lightroom 4 and a nikon program can do it, but not sure of others or how easy they are to set up)?

Thanks
Tonbi

[Epoc]

Hi Tonbi,

Control My Nikon. Awesome bit of gear and cheap as chips! Highly recommend it. Works well. Only downside, it only writes the file to your PC, not to the camera's card. Apart from that, it's a cracker.

http://www.controlmynikon.com/cmn.html

[junqbox]

I've used the Nikon software and had no problems. As for saving direct to the PC, saves having to transfer from the card. NB- when using this software, the images were saved with numbering not matching what outputs to the card.

[arthurking83]

I only trialled Nikon's Camera Control Pro, and it was some time before I tried(and purchased) ControlMyNikon, but as I remember it I instantly liked CMN, whereas Camera Control Pro was a hellava lot more expensive and had a few issues with configuring(that I remember, but can't remember what it was now).
I can't load Camera Control Pro again to do a comparison(because of the expired trial), but of the two ... at least for the low price, ControlMyNikon is definitely worth the purchase.

It is a bit of a pain in that you don't have the backup ability of having images on both the card and the PC, but so far this hasn't caused any issue.

If you want to get into particular genres of photography that requires automation and or multiple shots such as focus stacking or time lapse, CMN is a brilliant piece of software.

[Tonbi]

Thanks for the information. I'd never heard of the Control My Nikon before. Guess I'll give it a bit of a free trial

[arthurking83]

OH! and have a look at the videos on his site too.
In fact download them to your PC as this eventually saves bandwidth .. you'll probably want to watch some a few times.

If you're into geeky stuff ..... the scripting ability(ability to automate processes) and the input triggering stuff is probably a nice feature to have access too(one day).

I ran the scripting ability using the supplied scripts and very basic editing and allowed CMN to do a focus stack routine for me while I made and enjoyed a coffee in another room!

[JM Tran]

Hi Tonbi, just remember that if you are shooting for a client/job, it is imperative to have a program that can write to both card and computer simultaneously as back up for redundancy, especially for a long day of shooting. Otherwise if its just for fun and personal use, then Control My Nikon is fine.

[Tommo1965]

anyone shooting wireless Tethered ?..or is a 5-10 metre USB cable the best way...any ideas on the minimum specs a laptop would need for light-room 3, shooting Tethered ...im interested in playing around with this too...

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Hi Tonbi, just remember that if you are shooting for a client/job, it is imperative to have a program that can write to both card and computer simultaneously as back up for redundancy, especially for a long day of shooting. Otherwise if its just for fun and personal use, then Control My Nikon is fine.

what program would you suggest ?..as I dont think my lightroom 3 does it

[JM Tran]

anyone shooting wireless Tethered ?..or is a 5-10 metre USB cable the best way...any ideas on the minimum specs a laptop would need for light-room 3, shooting Tethered ...im interested in playing around with this too...

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what program would you suggest ?..as I dont think my lightroom 3 does it

LR3 does do saves to both memory card and laptop, I just did a commercial shoot for a real estate company staff profile and files were simultaneously saved to laptop and on memory card at same time for redundancy, and for hair and & make up to assess more accurately on a bigger screen

The industry standard for tethering is using Capture One Pro, or C1 Pro as it is called - excellent for a lot of high end fashion and commercial shoots where digital MF is connected, if you watch FTV you always tend to see C1 Pro on the monitor of an Eizo or NEC.

[Tommo1965]

thanks for that Info...

what connection do you use ..USB ?

if so does it become a pain if not using a tripod

[JM Tran]

thanks for that Info...

what connection do you use ..USB ?

if so does it become a pain if not using a tripod

here is a sample photo of tethering on location. I dont like using a tripod because it really restricts my movements and changing angles and compositions, I use a 3m USB cable, and if I need to move around an assistant will be able to carry the laptop, or it is wheeled around on a table, along with the external monitor connected too in places where there is power connections.

[Tommo1965]

well today I bought capture one pro 6 and media pro...phase one were having a 50% off sale with all their software until the 12th...and as I was up early I managed to get in before the cut off..I downloaded the trial first and was impressed with the tethering control you have over the camera...you can adjust everything ..Im not sure I could when I briefly had a go with lightroom 3..if it wsnt for the cut off with the sale I might have waited until I had them both sussed out ....also grabbed a 5 metre USB and a 17inch dell XPS laptop whole lot was around $1000

now I have to learn it all in two weeks !!

LMAO should be fun ..was great to shoot directly to the laptop

thanks for the advice JM and the image of the set