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Tethered Shooting

Tether Tools Smart Shooter 5 lets you control up to 10 cameras simultaneously

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Tether Tools has announced the newest version of its Smart Shooter tethered shooting software. Smart Shooter 5 comes with a bunch of new features, including the ability to shoot up to 10 cameras simultaneously and stream live view from four of them at once. It offers a new SmartSave camera to cloud feature and also lets you shoot into an existing Lightroom catalogue.

You get customisable interfaces through the My Workspaces feature. A built-in bulk QR/Barcode generator is available for those doing bulk shooting, such as product or school photography, letting you quickly and easily access any image from the session. You also get live view overlay modes to provide you with on-screen guides to line up your shots and it’s now compatible with Fujifilm cameras.

CamFi has launched the CamFi 3 and 3 Plus for wireless tethered shooting with improved speed and 4G LTE support

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CamFi has announced its newest devices, the CamFi 3 and CamFi 3 Plus. Both units look identical on the outside and a;sp appear to offer identical features, except for a couple. The CamFi 3 Plus offers a much wide range of compatibility, claiming to be compatible with over 500 different models of camera. It can also let you shoot tethered to a wide range of popular software including Lightroom and Capture One.

The non-plus version of the CamFi 3, on the other hand, offers support for a relatively short list of Nikon, Canon, Sony and Fuji cameras (109 models in total). So, there’s no support for Panasonic, Pentax, Olympus and a wide range of other popular models that you get with the CamFi 3 Plus. It also only lets you shoot tethered to native CamFi apps. Other than that, they’re basically the same unit.

Nikon launches two free apps for tethering and transferring photos from camera to smartphone

Nikon is introducing two new apps that should make your workflow faster and easier, and they’re both completely free. The first is NX MobileAir, a smartphone app that transfers photos straight from your camera to your phone and uploads them to an FTP server. The second is NX Tether, a program for tethered shooting with Nikon cameras.

Sony shooters rejoice, you can now tether directly into Lightroom

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Here is a screenshot I did not think I’ll see. Lightroom connected and tethered with a Sony A7III. I mean, Sony has been tethering with Capture One for ages, but Lightroom Classic? Uh uh! Mostly because Sony and Adobe never found a way to share the needed codebase.

But now comes Tether Tools, and fr a mere $69.95, give all Sony shooters the capability they always longed for.

The CamFi Pro Plus adds wireless features to just about any camera or USB device

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Cameras these days are simply amazing! Not just with the image quality we get, but also the vast array of features which are often packed into them. Features which include WiFi that enables us to have control from our phones or other devices. What if you wanted a stronger, faster connection or even the ability to add WiFi to a camera that doesn’t already have it?

This is where the CamFI Pro Plus comes in handy. The CamFi adds a 2.4ghz and 5ghz connection to your camera when connected via USB. The 5ghz signal offers speeds of up to 10 MB/s (80Mb/s) and while this is still slower than a direct connection it can be up to 5x faster than what comes built into many cameras.

The advantage of camera WiFi when shooting concerts

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As soon as I received my Canon 5D Mark IV, I turned off the Wifi. I thought that it would not be very useful to me and that it would only serve to drain the batteries quickly. As I divide my work between studio and concerts, the WiFi did not seem very useful to me.

In the studio, the USB cable was perfect for working with tethered to the computer; in concerts, the WiFi also did not seem to be of great utility. But even so, one day, I decided to install the Canon Camera Connect application to at least find out how it works. Quickly the WiFI has become a fundamental tool in my work, both in the studio and in the concerts.

The Sony A7RIII is the fastest camera out there for tethered shooting, moving photos in under a second

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Of all the features I’ve read about regarding the Sony A7RIII, this is the one that’s probably impressed me the most. I don’t often shoot tethered, but when I do, it’s often quickly. Usually, I’ve got animals in front of the camera, and they tend not to take direction very well. So, I’m shooting fast, then waiting for the computer to catch up.

According to this video from photographer Evan Guttman, that waiting all goes away with the new A7RIII. In burst mode, it manages to transfer shots from the camera to Capture One in under a second each over USB3. And yes, he’s shooting raw, not jpg.

Make your own DIY Jerk Stopper for tethered shooting with a humble rubber band

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[Editor’s note: obviously this is a DIY solution and it has some caveats, connecting a cable to a lens increases the chance of lens damage in case the cable is pulled too hard, so be aware of the risk if you opt to use it]

For many photographers, shooting tethered is a way of life. For others, it’s something we only do occasionally when the need arises. The big problem all tethered shooters face, though, is the cable not falling out. Sometimes, with a long cable, it can fall out under its own weight. Sometimes it gets tugged, yanking it right out of the socket. And if this happens often enough, it can even damage the socket itself.

There are commercial solutions out there to help prevent this from happening. Solutions such as the JerkStopper and Tetherblock work beautifully. But sometimes you find yourself tethering without these options to hand. So, in steps the humble rubber band, thanks to a tip posted by Redditor, lilgreenrosetta (photographer, David Cohen de Lara).

Tethering through Lightroom

Anyone who has ever taken self-portraits will know the exhausting little jig that goes from in front of the camera lens, and around to check the screen on the back.

I’m pretty sure they now have this merry little dance down as fitness routine in your local gym, they call it the selfie workout! I joke, but anyone who has been dressed in full costume, running back and forth in a warm room. Wiping the sweat from their brow, and jumping back again before the timer runs out, will know my pain. The image above was created through this very technique.

I recently decided to purchase a tether cable from Amazon, not only would it help with self-portraits. But it would also be very handy to have whilst shooting models, who don’t have to squint to see themselves on a small screen on the back of my camera. My program of choice for this………Lightroom! Now before I hear a harmonic cry of ‘you should be using Capture One’ bellowing over the hilltops. Let me fill you in on my experience of tethering through Adobe’s image processor and organizer. And you too will find taking self-portraits like this easier….

First look at Case Air App and hands on with Case Air

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Looking at the Tether Tools Case Air was an interesting experience. It promises the same Camranger experience at half the cost, and a significantly lighter package.  (we covered its kickoff here)

I have used the Camranger before on tradeshows and it was very smooth. The Case Air appears to be no different. It provides several nice functions: sending the files you shoot into a tablet/computer; A basic monitor; some focus peaking and so on.

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