I shoot tethered very often when I have the possibility (indoors/studio). I don't look at every shot, that would be stupid and time consuming. But with tethered shooting I have much easier to decide if I have a good enough shot. That saves time especially when I have a long shot list.

It's also easier to see the composition and focus on laptop screen, especially when my old camera (5D) had smaller screen and soft raw previews.

I have also set up my system so that the files are saved both on the CF card and on the laptop hardrive, an easy way to make a temporary backup when I'm on the road.

The biggest problem shooting tethered with models is that it can affect the shoot dynamics in a bad way. Too much staring on the screen. With an assistant using the laptop this could be avoided.

I shoot a lot of food and I sometimes find that a harsh reflection or shadow, not noticeable at LCD screen size, only becomes apparent when I view the images on my PC. I think shooting tethered would probably produce better images with fewer messed-up shoots.

Oh, food is propably my number 1 thing to shoot tethered. I get much better lights and composition with tethered.

Why do you need wireless? Just get yourself a long USB cord and use a laptop.

400 Portraits of family's for a church directory is the first time I tried tethered and it worked great. Very few rejects, eyes closed, etc. I composed on a 24 inch LCD monitor and had a second one connected up for the customers to view as the shots were being taken.

Conclusion: Everone loved it, including me.

Try it.

-Larry

I actually had tethering in mind after I switched from my old and used up Olympus E300 to Pentax K20D . I got a few email exchanges with some people here who gave me some hints on tethering. With live view and "snapshot preview" ( i don't know what they call this, but it's what you do on the K20D, you push the slide instead of pressing the shutter and it takes a snapshot of the image. you preview it and then you decide whether you want to save it or not)., i found it fantastic to not have to shoot everytime, and i review and adjust the lighting and setup,etc.. before saving the final shot.
i only have one complaint about this feature, and that is i want to be able to look at it via a monitor so i can check depth of field, and other subtle areas , which is impossible to see with your camera LCD.  i haven't bought a screen yet. i am told i could use even a simple TV for that.
if there is anyone here already having used tethering with the K20D it would be wonderful to get a PM from you to have your experience and advice .

I have never tried it, but love to some day when I got a studio.

I got  an idea:
Why don�t clone the laptop screen to a 42" lcd on the wall as well, so both you and the model can see every shot straight away.
 
Those are really cheap today and supereasy to connect to a pc with hdmi and a programmed hotkey for switching over. If you get tired shooting you can watch tv instead;)

Sorry, by "shoot tethered" do you mean hooked up to a computer, or using a sync cord to trigger strobes, or what? 

I googled the term and I am still not sure what you are talking about...

the way i understand it, tethering = using your camera's live view AV out into a monitor to use the screen as a large LCD to check your exp, comp, DOF,etc..  i also like the idea.
can anyone explain how you get to tether into a laptop?  the AV cord is only a yellow R.C.A to a flat PC jack similar to your digital out . i suppose you need a junction that go between the RCA to rout into the monitor out of the laptop, right?

I like the idea for shooting productshot, PixelBytes. But for fashionshoot, people,etc.. dynamic subject, I too dislike even slipping on the bracket to a tripod. The vantage points and dynamic opportunities are too brief , and you have no time to lose when you're shooting outside of stationary objects.
With tethering , I can shoot one shot after observing every point I see, and having final satisfaction of the lighting, accent light,etc..  This will ease up on my hard disk and I don't have to soldier through 50 -60 different images to select the best one to print. When you're shooting JPG it's not a problem, but with a high res DSLR on RAW, it can be a great tax on time and storage space for my computer.
If you have a faster computer and your photoshop runs quickly, I think it's not that bad, but my computer is a pain opening those 17MP RAW images.

I had a friend ask me how I set up the Church directory shots tethered with the camera/computer. Well, I forgot! I am 73 and have a right to forget.

But I did look up some sites that will help others and possibly you. If you have never shot tethered before, try it as you just may like it.

http://blog.tetheredcamera.com/2009/01/30/whats-a-tethered-camera.aspx

http://www.systeminsight.co.uk/Digital_Camera_Tethering_Overview.htm

http://photoshopnews.com/2006/12/06/tethered-shooting-in-lightroom/

Google search for tethered camera or tethered photography and you will find many resources.

-Larry

No. You connect the camera with an USB to your computer and the shots are directly downloaded to the computers hard drive. You can check the results almost immediately. You don't have to shoot many gigabytes of images just to find out that the third one was okay and the rest just extra work. You can also easily correct some details in the image instead of cursing afterwards.

I use a few years old MacBook and Canon DPP, it takes just a few seconds to preview a 5D mk II RAW file.

Canon has an utility that act as a remote for your EOS.  With it, not only can you preview your shots on your pc screen, but you also can get full access to your camera settings; you can even fine tune the focus directly with your keyboard (or mouse).

I use this kind of set up when I shoot static objects.

Claude

you can do it with pentax assistant. I got real excited when they finally brought it out a while back. Tried it about 3 or 4 times and found it painfully slow and frustrating with a little window to look through and gave up on it.  That was when it first come out so it may have improved since (I dont shoot pentax anymore so I dont know).

I did a workshop a while back and the guy running mixed between tethered and not, often using it at first making sure everything was alright for the first half a dozen shots and then disconnecting and being free

He had the canon software just grabbing straight from camera and putting the images in a folder, which he had lightroom set up to know this was the folder and keep checking.  He could check everything on a full screen and zoom in etc as well as it being very valuable for those of us in the workshop and the models liked it a lot

that setup seems like the functionality of the pentax software you have (the one I used gave control over camera settings etc nice idea but implementation of software was bad) and so if you have lightroom (I'm sure other software could do it too) you could do the same.

Awesome, cheers phil for taking the time to response.
I was under the impression that perchance the delay was due to the memory of the computer being used to run Assistant. Maybe not.
I read somewhere else that there is also a Pentax K20D forum and posters are pushing for some firmware to improve with tethering speed using Assistant. Not sure if that was an old post.

Cheers once again.
Anyone else with K20D success , let me know. PM me.

Great if you have time to stop between each shot, but I think it would just slow me down. 

Why would someone need to look on the screen after every shot? I only look at the screen when I think I have a "keeper", but I'm not completely sure.

BTW tethered shooting allows me to sort and flag images on the run. You could also sort them in folders like "good ones" and "crap". Without laptop it's really annoying to flip trough a lot of images in the camera.

Quote from: Phil on July 07, 2009, 20:57

you can do it with pentax assistant. I got real excited when they finally brought it out a while back. Tried it about 3 or 4 times and found it painfully slow and frustrating with a little window to look through and gave up on it.  That was when it first come out so it may have improved since (I dont shoot pentax anymore so I dont know).

I did a workshop a while back and the guy running mixed between tethered and not, often using it at first making sure everything was alright for the first half a dozen shots and then disconnecting and being free

He had the canon software just grabbing straight from camera and putting the images in a folder, which he had lightroom set up to know this was the folder and keep checking.  He could check everything on a full screen and zoom in etc as well as it being very valuable for those of us in the workshop and the models liked it a lot

that setup seems like the functionality of the pentax software you have (the one I used gave control over camera settings etc nice idea but implementation of software was bad) and so if you have lightroom (I'm sure other software could do it too) you could do the same.

Awesome, cheers phil for taking the time to response.
I was under the impression that perchance the delay was due to the memory of the computer being used to run Assistant. Maybe not.
I read somewhere else that there is also a Pentax K20D forum and posters are pushing for some firmware to improve with tethering speed using Assistant. Not sure if that was an old post.

Cheers once again.
Anyone else with K20D success , let me know. PM me.

www.pentaxforums.com is pretty much the Pentax forum be worth having a look there

I sometimes tie a rope to the models ankle so he/she won't run off before the shoot is over.
Usually only needed when the models are sheep and goats.
Does that count as tethered shooting? 

i shoot all my studio stuff tethered. I dont check every photo was I take them but, just a few here and there to make sure lighting/focus/etc is all where I want it.

To tether for the pentax K10D and k20D you have to use pentax software and all it does is to allow you to see the image and the settings. The image is in a small window so it is nothing to write home about.

I'm not sure if that is correct to say that the K10D is the same as the K20D. The K20D has far more features that K10D does not. I saw a demo using Live View and tethering with the Sony and this is similar to what the K20D can do. I don't think the K10D has that screen capture preview either.

We shoot objects tethered - food, small stuff, etc.  No way we shoot people tethered but for food and white bkgd objects it's useful.  It makes editing later on much much easier!  Why not do that?

yes, that's the whole idea really. check dof, and saves not having to shoot until you're satisfied with the lighting and placement,etc... this , I find is a large savings in both time to edit via PS as well as not needing to look through your images to find the one you want. even more important, you don't clog up your hdd with too many RAW files which can be hefty at 23 MP +- each.

In my case, all I wanted was for DOP and subtle accent light checking. I found out a couple of days ago from my colleague at Henry's that all I really needed for my K20D is a TV, hook it up via the yellow RCA . the quality is not that hot, but it does the job for checking DOF within squinting at the LCD. he told me of a fella who shoots jewelry, and he used the K20D to do the job this way.

So, that's going to be what I will get. A cheap TV, or even a 2nd hand portable DVD player, which could make it easier than lugging a TV.
I will let you know if it works out.

Maybe it works differently with the K20D vs the Canon,etc..

The uploading to HDD via usb is not the problem, as it only takes a short time to do that with the SD memory adapter.
I only want to use the TV monitor or DVD player monitor as a large previewer instead of the tiny LCD on the camera.

As I mentioned before, the K20D has a feature that enables me to see a snapshot before deciding to save it as RAW and or RAW + jpg.
With a flip of the switch on the shutter release, I do that. With another , I decide either to trash it, or save it. Very simple, and not needing to go tethering via Assistant. I don't need the other procedures.

I am told it works . So I am going to try it this way. It cost almost nothing to get a TV , and since I don't have a TV, it 's not entirely wasted. I can connect it to my cable and get free cable tv shows too, as here , our internet already includes cable tv.

So if this method works, it 's a win win situation for me.

Now I remember: one thing that is easier to do tethered is to get straight lines straight, to get a straight "horizon". It's always better to shoot everything straight in camera instead of rotating the image in Photoshop.

Easier way: Use a tripod with a level.

-Larry

Quote from: Lcjtripod on July 13, 2009, 09:23

Easier way: Use a tripod with a level.

It's not as precise as shooting tethered and using a grid on the preview. And it's not always when the "horizon" is parallel to the natural horizon (that makes the level un-usable)

Whoops! What do I know? I did not know that we had two (count 'em) horizons. I have used levels on tripods for over fifty years with every kind of camera from 11x14 view cameras to pin hole. Never been a problem yet!

-Larry

Quote from: Lcjtripod on July 13, 2009, 10:02

Whoops! What do I know? I did not know that we had two (count 'em) horizons. I have used levels on tripods for over fifty years with every kind of camera from 11x14 view cameras to pin hole. Never been a problem yet!

What I meant was that it's not always the natural horizon that has to be straight. Let's say you have a still life on an old crooked table, and you want the table to look straight in the photo. Or let's say you are shooting a painting that is on the floor leaning against the wall.

OK .... Un natural horizons .... kill the levels. 

-Larry

if you are a canon user then you need capture one. tethered allows you to shoot and see the image right away, then you can make adjustments on the capture one program to fine tune and reshoot. such as checking focus, just change it in the software and reshoot with a keystroke. Use it for catalog shooting all the time, highly recommend it. I have also tethered pentax and it is not the same. it just allows you to see the image (not a very big view) and all the file info on your monitor. you can not make adjustments on the software side. that is why you do not hear much about it. just as quick to pull the card and upload to the pc/mac

EOS Utility does the trick, for me is enoug, since I use Lightroom and CS3 I dont use CaptureOne.  The beauty is the ability to see the pic full size and check that everything is OK, very useful on a studio setting, more if you shoot macro.

Shooting tethered can be a real time saver as it allows to check the end result  more precisely and with more accurate colors on a calibrated monitor.

When shooting fixed subjects with the camera on a tripod, a USB cable may be ok. But when shooting handheld with a lot of mobility needed, it's a no-no for me. I don't want any cable to trip over. Yet, a 700$ wifi grip is not something I'd like to spend my money on.

The EyeFi wifi SD cards seem like an elegant solution but are reported to have many issues (according to user reports on their forum), especially when using a SD to CF adapter. And even when they work, they are reported to transfer data quite slowly (about 4 sec. for a jpg and much more for raw files). Kind of a workflow breaker.

Knowing that wireless USB is on its way, and is spec'ed to allow the same bitrates as wired USB2, I searched for a replacement solution, but only a few manufacturers sell WUSB dongles. Cables Unlimited offers a 2-dongles set (~US$40 on Amazon) which basically "replaces" a usb cable by a wireless connection, but while the computer dongle gets its power from the usb port, the "remote" dongle needs to be connected to the included docking station and a power supply outlet, which kind of defeats the wireless purpose.

Fotunately, it seems possible and relatively simple to add a DIY battery-powered solution (see here and here). The end result is a tiny box that can be attached to the camera strap and then plugged into the camera usb port for less than 50$ total. Seems to work with any camera capable of usb tethered shooting, works also with liveview, and allows workable transfer rates (> 100Mb/s for distances < 3m, the greater the distance the slower the transfer rate). Much faster than Canon's own wifi grip, but with a much shorter maximum distance (rated at ~ 10m/30ft max).

A warning for mac/linux users : the dongles currently work on windows only, no drivers for other OS's yet.

A few related links :
Eye-Fi SD card review
Eye-Fi users forum
Canon Wireless File Transmitter review

[EDIT]
I've read that some laptops already feature Wireless-USB capabilities, and that Samsung offers a low consumption W-USB chip with embedded flash memory controller (see this article in english and this one in french).
If only camera manufacturers could embed such technology in their coming new cameras, that would be a nice addition. But wait, if they do, they won't be selling any more 700$ wi-fi grip...

Another benefit of shooting tethered, even if you don't look at the pictures on your computer during the session, is that you can have your prefered DAM software work while you're shooting, thus saving time on the transfer/import part of your workflow. You'll be able to browse through all images instantly at the end of the shooting session, or during a coffee break, without having to wait for your software to transfer, rename, import, apply default metadata and post settings, etc...

For example, Lightroom can take a while to download and import 100/200 images in its database and generate 1:1 previews. If you import all images in one go at the end of a shooting session, you won't be able to quickly browse through them, view them at 100% while LR is still working.

What I do is set Canon's EOS Utility to transfer the files in a given directory, then enable LR's automatic import from this directory. Each time I press the shutter, the picture is automatically transfered to my HD, renamed and imported in LR, its 1:1 preview is generated, and I can have LR add default keywords/metadata as well as apply a post-processing preset. All that being done while I keep shooting.

transmitting directly to the computer really shines when you are dealing with clients who you want to push same day sales on. You can transmit and while you are shooting the retoucher is weeding through the shots and processing the keepers. Then within moments of finishing up shooting the client can go directly into the sales presentation .. make their selections and write a big fat check. By eliminating wait time the excitement from the session flows directly over into the sales presentation which leads to bigger sales.
As far as using it for things like checking your photos, etc. etc. you shouldn't have to do that anyway. Discipline yourself to get the shot without needing to double check it to such extremes.