Tethered shooting in the field

[Maximus3D]

I'll get this new group started by asking if any of the other photographers on here attempted to shoot tethered directly to your Surface when you are out in the field at events ?

I ran a test at home, tethering one of my cameras to my Surface, dropping the device in a smaller shoulderbag and wrapping the cable around my arm then snapping a couple of shots directly to Lightroom and then letting the Surface take care of all my shots. It should work for quicker delivery on location.

I'm going to test this myself this weekend and i'll be back with a report afterwards.

/ Magnus

 

[TunaSurface]

Hey Maximus, I'm not a photographer, I don't even have a camera, but I'm really interested what it takes to tether your camera directly to your surface. Nothing too in depth, just the basic steps.
What kind of cable do you need? what programs?
Thanks!

 

[Maximus3D]

It's actually quite simple, all you need is a pretty standard usb cable which you connect between your Surface and your camera and then you need one application which is set to tethering mode and it will automatically load any photo you shoot directly into Lightroom for example.

When you work with tethered shooting like this of a model or whatever it might be you could much quicker and easier get your shots delivered . I shoot a lot of sports, events, concerts and for newspapers and quick delivery is one of the keys to success.

My thinking was to keep one camera tethered to my Surface, shoot straight into Lightroom and then i can easily edit those and deliver directly to a client on location. It's like carrying a magic wand and being able to use it!

/ Magnus

 

[kodos]

That's a great idea, I never really thought about doing that - but it makes total sense to me.

 

[Moonsurface]

I have shot tethered with Lightroom on my old laptop however if you have a Nikon camera, be aware that when shooting tethered the camera does NOT save the images to the card. I lost a few shots on a location studio shoot once when I thought it was going to the laptop but something happened and nothing appeared in LR... and also nothing was saved on the card!!

 

[Grooves]

I have shot tethered before using USB with a Canon. But I stopped doing it because it made me look to much on the actual screen then looking at the model in front of me. Furthermore the models would know I was looking at a big version on the screen and after every shot wanted to see the result.
That is not good for productivity. I now only shoot tethered in the beginning to get the settings the way I want them.

 

[silkrooster]

You may want to get a tripod adapter that hold a table or tablet holder then no one would see what you are looking at. Besides does it really matter if you look through the view finder or a large screen? I don't think one make you look any more professional than the other. However, in low light situations, having a tethered laptop or tablet will make it easier to see if you are in focus and have the correct white balance. (especially if you are not use to looking at the histogram on the back of the camera)
If you would like to see that adapter in action Terry White uses one on his video blogs.

 

[bluegrass]

What application do you install on the Surface that duplicates what shows on the camera's display on the Surface?

 

[silkrooster]

For live view you may need to use the apps included with the camera. For after the fact, Lightroom will do.

 

[AndyWear]

Is there a way to do wireless tethering? i have a sony camera that uses NFC and wifi for tethering it. I wonder if its possible with the Surface?

 

[Moonsurface]

I had an application on my Surface which Allowed me to control my D750 by wifi. It worked fairly well allowing live view and control of the camera, however as I didn't use it I uninstalled it and I can't remember what it was called now!

Edit: I think it was this one: DslrDashboard | Controlling Nikon and Canon DSLR