Shooting Tethered

[Shadowman]

I upgraded a trial version of Lightroom 5 to try out tethered shooting, glad I did it at home not realizing how quickly batteries are depleted.

[chauncey]

Tethered shooting, I think, always requires using live view on your camera, and that my friend, as you discovered, eats batteries like there is no tomorrow.
The downside of tethered Lightroom use is that it doesn't allow for your in-camera settings, ISO/SS/f-stop, to be changed from your laptop. Canon's free Utility Software allows that but requires a wire.
An alternative that I'm considering is wireless CamRanger...http://camranger.com/

[Andrew76]

I shoot tethered to Light Room quite frequently for studio shooting, macro, product shots, etc. I don't think I have ever once used live view.

[Shadowman]

Tethered shooting, I think, always requires using live view on your camera, and that my friend, as you discovered, eats batteries like there is no tomorrow.
The downside of tethered Lightroom use is that it doesn't allow for your in-camera settings, ISO/SS/f-stop, to be changed from your laptop. Canon's free Utility Software allows that but requires a wire.
An alternative that I'm considering is wireless CamRanger...http://camranger.com/

I didn't have to use Live View but I did have to setup everything in camera, LR basically acted as a shutter release and LCD for viewing.

Here are a few other programs on this one link, a few are free. Some of these on the list allowed for camera control through the laptop.

http://www.diyphotography.net/introd...hered-shooting

[Manfred M]

I do shoot tethered with Lightroom 5, and have never used LiveView. I haven't noticed any particular problems with battery use.

CameraRanger is a product I have looked at and seems to be more directed at remote control of the camera at some distance rather than traditional shooting.

[Shadowman]

I shoot tethered to Light Room quite frequently for studio shooting, macro, product shots, etc. I don't think I have ever once used live view.

I was thinking of using this for astrophotography, camera controls through the laptop would be ideal, however the quick battery really limits the resourcefulness of the application. I read somewhere that some cameras can be run on their own power source and that alleviates the battery drain.

[Shadowman]

I do shoot tethered with Lightroom 5, and have never used LiveView. I haven't noticed any particular problems with battery use.

CameraRanger is a product I have looked at and seems to be more directed at remote control of the camera at some distance rather than traditional shooting.

I went through two batteries within ah hour and I wasn't using the camera the entire time, most of my time was spent editing the images I had just shot.

[Andrew76]

I was thinking of using this for astrophotography, camera controls through the laptop would be ideal, however the quick battery really limits the resourcefulness of the application. I read somewhere that some cameras can be run on their own power source and that alleviates the battery drain.

Hi John,

I wonder if there was maybe some hidden application, or function running in the background when you were shooting? I wouldn't know anything about that, but I, like Manfred have never experienced any significant battery drainage when shooting tethered.

[Shadowman]

Hi John,

I wonder if there was maybe some hidden application, or function running in the background when you were shooting? I wouldn't know anything about that, but I, like Manfred have never experienced any significant battery drainage when shooting tethered.

Andrew,

It's the camera battery that was exhausted.

[Andrew76]

That's even odder. I've never had that either. There should be next to no power transfer from the USB to your computer.

Huh. You've got me stumped.

[Shadowman]

That's even odder. I've never had that either. There should be next to no power transfer from the USB to your computer.

Huh. You've got me stumped.

The computer was running on AC power, now I'm wondering how much draw on the computers battery would occur. However, I haven't read of any issues with the computer battery it would be a good idea to have it plugged in, but this could defeat the purpose for most astrophotography setups.

[dan marchant]

Shot tethered several times and never had a battery drain issue. Didn't use live view though.

[Shadowman]

Shot tethered several times and never had a battery drain issue. Didn't use live view though.

Dan,

I'll give it another go later this week. Also, batteries were freshly charged prior to the shoot.

To all:
How long of a session do you normally shoot tethered?

[Venser]

To all:
How long of a session do you normally shoot tethered?

I've never had a problem with batteries either.
I've gone four hours shooting tethered with my D700 attached to my MacBook. The laptop's battery was starting to hit rock bottom by that point, but that should be expected. The camera on the other hand was still going strong.

Most times I'm in the two hour range and I've never had a problem.

CS

[chauncey]

I must use tethered shooting for different reasons than do other folks...I want to see/compose/adjust the shot before I squeeze that shutter...not afterward.

[Shadowman]

I must use tethered shooting for different reasons than do other folks...I want to see/compose/adjust the shot before I squeeze that shutter...not afterward.

The Lightroom method requires you to do that see/compose/adjust directly in camera, the shutter release is available within the LR program. In one of the links I provided above, one of the software packages allows you to do all see/compose/adjust directly within the software. This would be my preferred method also. This was my first time trying the feature.

[Manfred M]

I don't think I ever shot for more than about 90 minutes tethered. The laptop batteries were fading a lot faster than the camera ones.

[Colin Southern]

I routinely shoot tethered for several hours; zero effect on battery life.

Don't use live view though.