What's the best way to shoot tethered with the D800E?

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

I use lightroom 4 which has built in tethered shooting. I am happy with it.

----

frame4zoom for Nikonians

I've also captured tethered to my D800E using LR4. Two observations, both dissappointing ... 1) No Live View with OCF. 2) files were not written to in-camera memory chips, only to computer. Other than these two dissappointments, it was very convenient for click and view. Supplied cable was usa ble but I have just purchased the 15ft Tether products cable.

I also have tried using LR4 to tether my D800. It is a no-no as the image is not also written to the card in the camera.
Do other types of software allow writing to the computer and camera?
Thanks.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

I use Capture One Pro 7 to tether my 800E. Works well.

Cheers

http://www.pastoralsystems.co.nz/photography/

Define best.

LR is what many photographers already have. If you appreciate the ability to have your photos quickly usable in LR, that's your choice then.

In some discussions it has been reported that LR loses connection to the camera if the user changes lenses during the session, and LR needs to be closed and restarted to detect the new lens. Some say that Nikon's software (Camera Control Pro?) copes with lens changes during session.

If you want to control every aspect of your camera than can be controlled remotely, and then some, I recommend ControlMyNikon. My only nit is that the current version needs Admin privileges (Win only) to run; I'd like to use software as a non-admin user. The author says it will be fixed in the next version.

Regards, Antero

There are a several major functions that can be handled tethered, so could you explain what you are trying to accomplish?

The easiest problem is simply viewing images immediately after capture. For viewing, something like the Eye-Fi card works well to trasfer images from the camera's SD card slot to a wifi enabled device. For wireless transfer, small files are faster so I normally shoot RAW + basic JPEG with the NEF to the CF card and JPEG going to the Eye-Fi SD card.

If you are trying to upload NEF files or large JPEGs, the Eye-Fi card works but can be slow. Other more powerful solutions are going to be required. Some photographers use other wireless devices to upload files on the fly. Nikon makes the WT-4A/B/C/D/E Wireless Transmitter for this function. This is also a place where shooting connected to a computer works and the LR4 solution and many others should work. The D800E has an ethernet connection so you can simply cable connect from the camera to your computer.

The most advanced situation is controlling the camera remotely. Nikon Camera Control Pro 2 allows you to control most camera settings from a computer - as well as supporting Live View. You can change shutter speed, aperture, exposure mode, hue and WB. In this situation you have the benefit of a large monitor for precise focus, examining exposure, etc. The monitor also can be calibrated so you get more precise color than on the LCD which is not color managed or calibrated. With this solution you still need to transmit images to the computer via wireless or whatever approach is desired.

Eric Bowles
Nikonians Team
My Gallery
Workshops

Nikonians membership — my most important photographic investment, after the camera

Thanks for the help. I don't use LR...just ACR. I'll try CCP2

Rick

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

> I'll try CCP2


That's what I use - works great!
Tried LR but without Live View it is of no use to me.

Regards,

Wim

>There are a several major functions that can be handled
>tethered, so could you explain what you are trying to
>accomplish?
>
>The easiest problem is simply viewing images immediately after
>capture. For viewing, something like the Eye-Fi card works
>well to trasfer images from the camera's SD card slot to a
>wifi enabled device. For wireless transfer, small files are
>faster so I normally shoot RAW + basic JPEG with the NEF to
>the CF card and JPEG going to the Eye-Fi SD card.
>
>If you are trying to upload NEF files or large JPEGs, the
>Eye-Fi card works but can be slow. Other more powerful
>solutions are going to be required. Some photographers use
>other wireless devices to upload files on the fly. Nikon
>makes the WT-4A/B/C/D/E Wireless Transmitter for this
>function. This is also a place where shooting connected to a
>computer works and the LR4 solution and many others should
>work. The D800E has an ethernet connection so you can simply
>cable connect from the camera to your computer.
>
>The most advanced situation is controlling the camera
>remotely. Nikon Camera Control Pro 2 allows you to control
>most camera settings from a computer - as well as supporting
>Live View. You can change shutter speed, aperture, exposure
>mode, hue and WB. In this situation you have the benefit of a
>large monitor for precise focus, examining exposure, etc. The
>monitor also can be calibrated so you get more precise color
>than on the LCD which is not color managed or calibrated.
>With this solution you still need to transmit images to the
>computer via wireless or whatever approach is desired.
>
>Eric Bowles
>Nikonians Team
>My Gallery
>Workshops
>
>Nikonians membership — my most important photographic
>investment, after the camera


D800/e does not come with an ethernet connection port - D4 does, maybe you have confused that? D800 has a USB3 port

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Take a look at this website http://www.camranger.com. This device is attached to your camera and creates its own wireless network which communicates with your iOS device or laptop (OS 10.8.2 in the case of Apple). All camera functions (WB, SS, Ap etc) are usable including HDR, Focus Stacking and Intervalometer. Per the mfr., the camera can be up to 150 feet away from your device an still communicate with it. About the only thing it can't do is move your camera to a better position.

Edit: all operations are performed in Live View. Images are saved to the card and may or may not be saved to the viewing device by choice.

>Take a look at this website http://www.camranger.com. This
>device is attached to your camera and creates its own wireless
>network which communicates with your iOS device or laptop (OS
>10.8.2 in the case of Apple). All camera functions (WB, SS, Ap
>etc) are usable including HDR, Focus Stacking and
>Intervalometer. Per the mfr., the camera can be up to 150 feet
>away from your device an still communicate with it. About the
>only thing it can't do is move your camera to a better
>position.
>
>Edit: all operations are performed in Live View. Images are
>saved to the card and may or may not be saved to the viewing
>device by choice.

Are you using this device with d800? does it work well and speed is ok?

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

yes, i've used it with both the D800 and D4. It works exceedingly well and fast on both cameras.

FWIW - I've got Kelby's book on LR4, and he states that the issue of whether or not images are written to both the camera and the hard drive is also a function of the camera, not just LR4. He said Canons write to both, but Nikons only write to the hard drive.

------

Dave Badger
Blacksburg, VA

"You don't quit playing because you grow old; you grow old because you quit playing." (And now a grandson to share my toys!)

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

>FWIW - I've got Kelby's book on LR4, and he states that the
>issue of whether or not images are written to both the camera
>and the hard drive is also a function of the camera, not just
>LR4. He said Canons write to both, but Nikons only write to
>the hard drive.


It would be great if Nikon would write to the memory card and to the hard drive. My notebook crashed while tethered and lost several frames during a client shoot.

http://kenlamstudios.com

As mentioned previously ControlMyNikon is an excellent product. Free trial and only $30 for purchase of a license for three computers.
Compare it to the Nikon product.
Link is posted.

Attachment #1, (controlmynikon file)

I have had a go with controlmynikon and with the D800 I can get it to write to the memory card and the computer - success!

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

I have tried (basically installed and used once) Nikon Camera Control application. This is an open source project. Now the product name has been changed to digiCamControl.

The only small issue I noticed was that it took a very long time to show the final photo on my PC. But I was able to change many settings from the PC. It puts the camera in LiveView.

Unfortunately I do not have a personal laptop, hence it is not practical to 'carry' my desktop to my subject. Hence I never really explored all the settings of this software.

Try it yourself and see if meets your requirements.

Hi, I am using Helicon Control with my D800, part of Helicon Focus. It has plenty of adjustments and will also step the images for image stacking on macro photography. It is simple and seems to work fine. Currently I take around 70 stepped images then they export straight to Helicon Focus.

RickJ

Visit my Nikonians gallery.