Why and How to Shoot Tethered

Have you tried tethered yet?

An important part of photographing products is to have an effective workflow — one that allows you to work quickly as well as accurately. One of the best ways to do this is to shoot tethered.

In this class, Karl explains the basics of tethered shooting, including what tethered shooting is, what is needed to shoot tethered, as well as the numerous advantages of shooting tethered.

You’ll also learn exactly how to shoot tethered as he demonstrates how to use some of the most popular tethering software, including Lightroom, Capture One, and Phocus.

Comments

    1. Hi, it was made by Tether Tools but they discontinued it because of it not being reliable. Hopefully someone else will create a solution that works in the future. I think Capture One have something for Sony and Nikon cameras.

  2. Hi Karl. I have a technical issue with tethering and I was wondering if you might have an idea how to solve this? I bought a brandnew ThetherPro USB-C cable from „Tether Tools“ to connect my Canon 5D MarkIV to the MacBookPro. I then used the tethering function in Lightroom Classic and it works well. However, after about max 4-5 shots with a lot of time between the single shots, my camera „freezes“ during the transfer => it does not stop saving, red light keeps on and LrC is jus showing a gray placeholder for the taken pic. I can only proceed if I take out the battery. After restarting, the picture will be correctly saved on the SD, but will not be available on the Mac. I have already updated my camera SW and the LRC to the latest version. I am using the latest generation of batteries available for my camera and I use a 256GB SanDisk Extreme Pro (160MB/s) UDMA7. Have you ever heard of such an issue and may I ask you to give me any tips in case you have more ideas how to get this to work?

    1. Hi Moni, I’m afraid I’m not familiar with that problem. My recommendation would be to use a dedicated tethering software such as Capture One.

    1. Hi, sorry we haven’t deliberately avoided Pentax or Mamiya or Sinar etc it’s just that we don’t have a Pentax camera to show.

      1. I understand, I’m sorry about that, I just say generally, not about your course. Everywhere I try to get information there is talking about Canon, Nikkon, Sony, and very rare about Pentax. It looks like this brand is not popular but it is one of the biggest brands making cameras and there are also a lot of users of these cameras.

  4. Hi Karl, I found this video I asked for in a different video. Duh! should have looked for a search engine provided. However, I LOVE that tripod. Can you please tell which model it is? It looks magnetic. Camera goes on so fast.

    Thank You

  5. I have tried everything to connect a tethering software to my Panasonic FZ 10002, Phocus, CapturOne , I failed.
    The official Panasonic software does not support this camera.
    All I have is the little Android app on my phone. This works. But it is basically a remote control with a small live picture, that’s it.

    Does this mean the end for my journey in product photography for now, or can I continue like this?
    At the moment I can not afford a new camera.

    1. Hi Bambule, Phocus certainly won’t work as that is for Hasselblad. Capture ONE should have been your best bet but you will need to check their list of compatible cameras. After that then it would be using Lightroom or the Panasonic software.

  6. When using tethering using my Canon and LR, the camera frequently shows “Busy” and freezes on me.
    Unplugging the lead allows me to continue shooting. How do I overcome this issue?

    1. Hi Colin, it’s difficult to ascertain your individual problem as much of it can be to do with the computer speed and version of LR etc etc. Generally speaking though it may be that you are shooting too quickly for your computer. Try a test shooting slower just one photo every few seconds to begin with and then take note on when it clogs up.

  7. When tethering and adjusting the image in the tethering software does this adjust the raw files captured on the memory card?

    1. Hi Colin, no not on the memory card but it would adjust them on the computer hard drive if you had copied them to the computer. When making adjustments RAW software creates a reference file that links to the RAW file so the settings are saved but the RAW file always remains the same and can be reset back to its default status.

  8. thanks for the tutorial…Find it difficult to to find out infos about using Nikon D800 tethered with latest Hasselblad Phocus software….so far not detected …wonder if it needs a plug in and if it exist ….sny tip? appreciated…Best, Antonio

    1. Hi Antonio, unfortunately Phocus software only offers tethered operation to Hasselblad cameras. However your best choice would be the very similar Capture One software. Another alternative is to use Nikon’s own camera software of Lightroom.

  9. Hi Karl! Nice video, very explicative.
    For example I work in Ecommerce photography for clothing always on models, I shoot 80-100 items per day , so very fast enviroment and the team is at the screen selecting the images on Capture One with different colors depending on the need. like purple means check again, red is maximum priority(online in 24hours), yellow is less priority and so on, so when the export is done the retouching team already knows what to do. I find this system so basic and easy but so practical and time saving.

  10. Hi karl,

    Thank you for this video again…As Im starting , do I need to have both Lightroom and Capture one ?

    Louna

    1. Hi Louna, no I think you will be fine just testing with LR first and then later you can move up to capture one.

  11. Capture One certainly got a lot pricier since I last looked at it!

    I shoot with Micro Four Thirds (both Olympus and Panasonic) and their software is a bit clunky too, although Olympus less so than Panasonic. Unfortunately those cameras aren’t supported to tether with Lightroom, so what I do to get around that is use the Lr Auto Import feature.

    I specify a global landing folder for all shoots I do on my desktop, then I tell Lr to look in that folder and automatically add the images to a new folder for the current shoot.

    1. I love Fuji, but I don’t have one. I don’t generally talk about any particular brand on our classes as they are all just tools to get a job done. It’s how you get the job done that I talk about.

  13. Hi Karl.
    Thank you for this information.
    I tried to tether with my Sony 7Rii camera, but it doesn’t work.
    I tried the Sony software and Lightroom, but for some reason, it’s just not possible to make a connection even I follow the steps.
    I didn’t buy the capture one yet, because I’m afraid it will not work as well.
    Can you give me advice, what I should do?
    Thank you in advance for your answer.

    1. Hi, If the software says that the A7rii is compatible then I can’t understand why it wouldn’t work. Also Sony Image Edge should definitely work, maybe you have faulty cable?

  14. I was glad to see you included Capture One as an option (it is what I am using with my Canon 5D Mk IV). I still use Lightroom for final image cataloging as it seems more intuitive for that function. I still have trouble getting my head around C1 cataloging implementation.

    Since I work alone, I have the camera tethered to my MacBook Pro running Capture One. I also have a 27″ calibrated NEC monitor connected to the laptop to get better feedback on “color” and detail. Recently, I also added a wall-mounted 65″ Samsung QLED TV which when I am in Live View really helps me set lights and composition to check shadows, etc. wirelessly via Apple AirPlay. The 65″ is not color accurate, but really helps when setting up a scene until I can rent an Ashleigh!

    1. Thanks for the info John, I also can’t get my head around the C1 cataloguing I wish there was an option to switch it off. Great idea with the TV and live view!

  15. Hi Karl, Thanks muchly for this lesson.
    Tethering for me fell into the ‘know about tethering’ category rather than the ‘Know tethering’.
    It is now much clearer. I will ‘Know tethering’ when I practice it..
    I was slightly taken aback by your mild denigration of the workable alternative free software and the perfectly logical ‘promotion’ of Capture One without mentioning that though the first two were free, Capture One would cost, at today’s prices, either £180 annual subscription or £300 to own outright.
    Free Clunky v Costly Smooth.
    As ever your tutorials are of the highest standard available on the internet. Keep it up.

    1. Thanks Ted, I’ve just got to grips with C1 – unfortunately as a competitor to Phocus they don’t allow you to shoot Hasselblad RAW files into C1, but I use it for the Sony or Canon now. I went for the outright purchase as it seemed like better value after a couple of years.

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