Shooting tethered - the easy way

[nick_w.]

Hello All,

 

This may have been covered before, but if not, I thought I'd share how I figured

out how to shoot tethered with my Nikon D2H.

 

What I used:

 

1)Nikon D2H

2)Photoshop CS2

3)Mac running OS 10.5.1 (Leopard)

 

The first thing to do is to change a setting on your camera (this probably

applies to many Nikon DSLRs). Hit the menu button, go to the "set up" menu on

the screen (the wrench icon) and find the submenu called USB. Change that

setting from M to P. Easy.

 

Now plug your camera into the computer with the mini-USB to USB cable that came

with your camera.

 

Turn the camera on.

 

In your applications, there's a little program called Image Capture. Open that up.

 

The small window that pops up should immediately check to see if there's a

camera attached. If everything is working right, the program will locate your

camera (make sure your camera battery isn't about to die). Click the button

called Download Some.

 

The menu bar on top has two important features. First, select the Download

Folder pull down menu. Choose Other. You can now create a new folder anywhere

you please. This folder will be home to your tethered photos so make sure it's

easy to find.

 

The other important feature is the Take Picture button. Click on that button and

your camera will snap a picture, which will appear in the white space below the

menu bar. Click on the photo and then click the Download button. The photo is

now located in the folder you just created. Easy!

 

Now open Adobe Bridge. Find the folder you created and double click on it. The

photo will appear in the film strip below the main window. Click on it and

you'll see it in the main window. Yay! That was easy.

 

*****************************

 

I've also used Camera Control Pro 2 and Apple Aperture to shoot tethered, but if

you don't want to spend $$$ for those applications, the method I described will

do well enough.

 

I'd like to integrate Automator into the process somehow to make the whole

workflow more seamless. It would be great to just press the Take Picture button

in Image Capture and then the photo would pop up in Bridge. The few steps in

between that are needed don't require significant time, but are slightly annoying.

 

I have no idea if this method works with anything but the tools I used. If you

figure out an even better method, I'd love to know about it.

[photo5]

Sounds like a good setup, but you still need CS3 if you're shooting RAW with a D300 or D3. I agree that there would be a use for more automation, but in a studio environment under a deadline, this is a good fast workflow.

[jim mucklin]

Thanks Nick.