How to Shoot Tethered Tutorial. Should you be shooting tethered?

Shooting tethered in the studio is just the process of connecting your camera to a computer, generally with a usb cord and having your images bypass the cameras memory card and downloaded and saved directly to your computers hard drive - while you are shooting.

In this video tutorial I am going to show you how to shoot tethered and the best gear for shooting tethered in a studio and on location. I will discuss Tether Tools accessories as well as the new TetherBLOCK MC and the TetherBLOCK QR Plus invented by photographer David Blattel. I will also discuss shooting tethered with Adobe Lightroom and shooting tethered with Capture One Pro software by Phase One

I shoot tethered in the studio about 90% of the time. The main reason for not shooting tethered would be the few circumstances that I am either in a hurry or have a situation where I need to be able to move quickly around my model during the shoot. On location, I generally only shoot tethered if I am working on a client project and the client is willing to pay the cost of hiring a digital assistant and digital cart for the shoot.

Today's digital cameras are using so many megapixels and providing us with so much detail that it is tremendously helpful to be able to review your images on a larger computer screen instead of the small LCD on the back of your camera. Shooting tethered gives you the ability to fine-tune your image during the shoot using software like Adobes Lightroom, or Capture One Pro. This is not only a big time saver but it allows you greater control because your computers monitor can be calibrated to match the final use of your photos - much better than the cameras LCD can.

Shooting tethered is also a plus if you are working with clients and want them to be able to view the images as you shoot. Software like Capture One Pro even allows you to launch a web server from your laptop that will allow you to hand the client an iPad and let them view the images in real time - from a distance - so that they aren't hovering over your workstation.

Also, most software that allows tethering also allows you to control your camera from the computer. This can be extremely helpful if you are previewing and triggering the camera for product shots, macro, low-light and time lapse scenarios.

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FTC Disclosure - Tether Tools / TetherBLOCK® provided me with one TetherBLOCK QR Plus at no cost for review. All other equipment is my own. All opinions are my own.

#ishootpeople #joeedelman

[markcomputertech]

Tether Block should be $19.95 not $99.99!

[JuanLopez-ozkh]

Joe, your timing are always unbelievable, i was going to place an order for a 15' feet tethering cable, but had my doubts about the cable and the damages i hear that can caused to the camera. Thank you PRO.

[stevenmuncy]

Great find! I do find it amusing that at about the time we free ourselves from PC cords with reliable RC flash triggers, we all start tethering.

[SteinTriker]

Thanks for this... Stuck between HDMI to monitor and wifi SD card at this time. I never really understood how tethering works until now... All the other explanations were made for those who already understand and know it all. I like the way you simplify it for us who are only capable of understanding things explained as we're five year old... :) Eagerly awaiting the next episode...

[trevorbaldwin]

Another great video Joe.
One of the reasons I've not liked tethered is that I didn't want to wreck my port. Looks like I have solution.
Thanks.

[abe.m.essack]

Hi Joe, thanks for info on Tethered Block, definitely a must have product for shooting tethered, another awesome video, nice to see the last frame back on track! 😎 👍

[hunsperg]

Great video Joe. One FYI, shooting tethered on Canon writes to the Camera's card as well as the computer. Tether block is brilliant.

[loopi]

oh yeah you're totally right Joe that really is very simple and very useful gadget unfortunately for me a bit too expensive

[missernie]

I'm a little too late to this rodeo. Shooting tethered and people walking and jerking the cord out of the data port and me accidentally jerking the cord out has damaged by dataport. Ugh!!! Unfortunately, I haven't had the time to ship my camera to the manufacturer for repair. Also, thanks for all your great videos.

[JohnCBurzynski]

Thanks for the video Joe, looking forward to the follow up.

[MrDCPatterson]

A great solution, I can hardly wait for the next video.

[lenzyruffin]

My wish list for the software review is Capture One Pro on a Microsoft tablet. I currently use an EyeFi card to tether to my iPad, but for all the reasons you describe, this is not an optimal solution. It's outrageous that there is no wired tethering solution to an iPad, so I see myself having to buy a Surface tablet to basically use as a tethering appliance. I just saw an article on the Tether Tools T Setup yesterday and that, combined with a tablet "seems" like it would work great for what I have in mind for shooting on-location headshots.

[pchater]

Love this video Joe, I personally use digiCamControl and OBS for Tethering (I use Windows & Linux). It's handy if I want to use my Nikon D3300 as a Web Cam :) Those are both free alternatives to Lightroom. There is a version of OBS for Mac but not one for digiCamControl (You can bypass this by Virtual Machine though running Windows with Parallels or VirtualBox which Supports USB Host -> Guest)

[MichaelCarper]

Any thoughts on something like the CamRanger? I do agree that camera manufacturers took the easy way out, modern WiFi in theory should be faster than USB 2.0. Fast WiFi tethering seems like the ultimate on location way to shoot with a small crew.

[KShattara]

Can't wait for the software episode

[pierrev.]

Hello Joe,
Thank you for this very useful introduction of a great tool.

You claimed that wifi is much slower than cable. But I am using CamRanger on my Nikons by sending only the smallest jpegs wireless to an iPad to control my results. This is happening very fast, whilst the large rawfiles are kept on the card in the camera. I am doing this for years now in the studio and on location and I never had any problems.
Best regards, Pierre

[shiftingfocusphotography]

Looking forward to part 2. Anyone know if I can tether with Photoscape X? So far, that program seems to be working well enough to avoid paying for Capture 1 or Lightroom. Or, am I just kidding myself...I've not tried either of the pay to play editors???

[dunnymonster]

This video couldn't have been better timed. I've literally been shooting tethered for just the last 3 weeks. It really is a gamechanger for me. I use lightroom and it couldn't be simpler. I did buy the Tether Tools Orange cable for my Nikon, I was surprised to find no real alternative to this cable. The longest type B 8 pin mini USB alternative I could find was just 1.5M long, seems Tether tools have the monopoly on the Nikon version of this cable. If you are a Canon shooter then the 5 pin version they use is easier to find. So yes it's important to ensure you get the correct pin configuration before purchase. Now I didn't buy the jerk stopper so I still need an alternative and that Tether Block looks great. I am concerned that given I don't have an Arca Swiss tripod head that I can't connect my camera to my existing tripod whilst the Tether Block is fitted :-( I like to switch from handheld to tripod quite a lot during a shoot. I'll probably end up buying Tether Tools own jerk stopper ( I'll be at the UK's Photography Show next week where TT are exhibiting). By the way if you are new to tethering rather than pay big bucks for a tether table, purchase a tripod style laptop/projector table ( the type DJ's often use). They are cheap yet strong and sturdy, thats what I use and mine cost less than £20 ( $25 ish) :-P

[williaty]

Since you're not using TetherTools cables, what USB cables are you using? I already have a RRS L-plate on my camera so I need to evaluate if a TetherBlock could work screwed into the extra 1/4-20 hole on the L-plate but, if it does, it looks like a great way to stop the cable from working loose or a trip from breaking the port.

[indiequas]

This is new to me lol learned something new today