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Nikon tethered shooting software [Mac]


michael_matsil

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<p>You might try Smart Shooter, which has a free demo for a month (limited # of captures) and is $50 for a license. It seems MUCH better than Capture Control 2 with my D800E. Capture Control 2 has the bad habits of crashing or losing connection to my camera or saving images with the wrong name or to the wrong place on my MacBook Pro. See: http://kuvacode.com</p>
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<blockquote>

<p>What about ViewNX2 which includes Nikon Transfer 2? A simple app to take care of image transfer, browsing, sorting, etc. I do not necessarily need remote camera operation.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>You did ask about tethered shooting. View and Transfer are NOT tethered shooting apps. One transfers data from camera to PC, the other is an organizer and basic post processor. Nikon NXD is the latest incarnation.</p>

<p>I use both View and transfer and appreciate what they can do.</p>

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<p>Questions….<br /> Can LightRoom do 'live view' on the laptop screen when tethered? [i have LR 3.6.. would I have to do the cloud subscription to get LR5?]<br /> Does SmartShooter have a 'browser' for reviewing thumbnails of a whole shoot? It appears to only have a list of file names to choose from, which is rather visually inconvenient.<br /> Thanks...</p>
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<p>You can preview images captured by Smart Shooter in the program by double clicking on the file name, but only during the active shooting session, so Lightroom or another photo RAW editor/organizer is necessary to supplement it. Smart shooter previews of my D800E files don’t zoom to 100% either, so it’s not perfect. Hope their D810 implementation gets improved.<br>

I’ll have to try its focus stacking shooting feature some time. Smart Shooter can at least control an AF macro lens and then I’ll have to use ZereneStacker to process the files.</p>

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<p>Thanks Steven...<br>

So LR 5 provides basic tethered remote control, plus shot review and thumbnail browser viewing of a photography take? <br>

I have LR 3 and need to update… is it only by cloud subscription now? I know that not too long ago you could still buy software from Adobe the traditional way, but from a rather hidden place on their website.</p>

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<p>I’ll check tomorrow morning (I’m in Boston) on exactly how the tethering works in LR5. I haven’t played with it since LR4.<br /><br />I think you can get LR5 stand alone still, and get a discount if you own a previous version. You can also get it as a package with Photoshop CC, and they were running a $9.95/month special in the spring on that for photographers who had a previous PS license, or education affiliates (students, staff & faculty).</p>
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<p>OK, LR5 can shoot tethered but doesn’t support remote control or live view. You must change the settings and focus the camera on the camera itself. Images are brought into LR bucan’t be saved to the camera card. You can set file naming etc. in the Tethered Capture Settings window under File>Tethered Capture>Start Tethered Capture.<br /><br />Smart Shooter previews are too low fidelity, and the live view display of my D800E in the application doesn’t change with changing camera settings, which is very annoying especially in low light. The live view seems stuck on daylight settings and stops the lens down partially. This could be a bug or miscommunication issue, and a lens with an aperture ring might be best for use, at least with the state of the program now. Live view image in SS often does not match the captured image. So the best solution seems to be using SS to control capture, having it write to card and the computer disc in a particular folder, and having LR watch the folder and automatically import files saved there (controllable by a settings window and an on/off command available under File>Auto Import. This gives you the full quality of the RAW file to evaluate, and thumbnails. Metadata and keywording can be updated automatically during LR import if you set it up right. This 2 application cooperation, despite flaws, still works better than Capture Control 2 and View NX2 with my camera.</p>
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<p>Steven… thanks for this very complete run down on LR and SS. Especially for making me aware of the limitations of Smart Shooter. Some of those things are not made clear in their website description of the product. But it appears you've found a way to make the 2 work pretty well together. I'm not sure I want to get involved yet with the Adobe creative cloud… though I can see that they are determined to make it the standard way of delivering and selling software going forward. I am a PS CS5 user and currently have LR 3.6. Do you know of the specific location on the Adobe site where one can buy a standalone upgrade to LR 5? I cannot find such a place at the website. It seems that all links lead to a subscription to the cloud. Perhaps it's a matter of buying it on optical disc from Amazon….</p>
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<p>You can still buy LR5 stand alone, and Adobe promised they will continue offering updates to it. Go to http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-lightroom.html and scroll down to the bottom of the page, go to the right, then follow the button link labeled "Lightroom 5 standalone, Perpetual license – mobile capabilities not included.” Upgrade price is $79 for LR 1-4. Not too bad a deal at all. <br /><br />The mobile feature isn’t that useful, but allows cloud sharing to an iPod Touch or iPhone or iPad for showing and has basic editing functions, but not a full RAW developer (plus you can’t calibrate the screens of iOS devices ,so critical color correction is impossible on mobile). I’ve never edited anything on my Touch, but I did share some photos to it in case I want to show someone pictures whenI’m out and about, though I’ve never actually remembered to do that. It’s a feature many people could live without.</p>
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<p>I have been using Sofortbild for a number of years. Works great! Works perfect with my D90 and D7100. The list of supported cameras include:</p>

<ul>

<li>Nikon D4, D3s, D3x, D3, D2xs*, D2hs*, D2x*, D2h*, D1x*, D1h*, D1*, D800, D800E, D700, D600, D300s, D300, D200, D100*, D7100, D7000, D90, D80, D70s*, D70*, D60, D50*, D40x, D40, D5200, D5100 or D5000 (* legacy support)</li>

</ul>

<p>Best part is it's free.<br>

http://www.sofortbildapp.com/</p>

<p> </p>

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