Tethered shooting

RoyGee

Senior Member
Hi all:)

After a great deal of trouble I eventually managed to get hold of a tethered shooting cable. Sadly, live view won't work when plugged in to the PC. It works fine unplugged. I really need it to work when doing macro work with the camera suspended upside down over the subject.

Does anyone have a solution for me, please?
 

BF Hammer

Senior Member
Hi all:)

After a great deal of trouble I eventually managed to get hold of a tethered shooting cable. Sadly, live view won't work when plugged in to the PC. It works fine unplugged. I really need it to work when doing macro work with the camera suspended upside down over the subject.

Does anyone have a solution for me, please?
DigiCamControl shows the D5300 as supported with LiveView displayed on PC screen. I use the software for astrophotography and it is free.

SUPPORTED CAMERAS | digiCamControl
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
What software were you using when tethered? It needs to be something that will support the camera body.
 

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
Cindy is correct. You can't just plug in a cable and think that's it. You need to run software on the device you want to control the camera with... and that software must support YOUR camera...
 

Bikerbrent

Senior Member
Welcome aboard, enjoy the ride. We look forward to seeing more posts and samples of your work.

You might also want to consider introducing yourself on New Member Introductions.
 

TwistedThrottle

Senior Member
Welcome to Nikonites!

I would also suggest the Camranger 2. You have the ability to view and control live view through the PC, laptop and/or tablet but also on the back of the camera if you prefer. Its expensive, but works exactly as you hope it would. I took @FredKingston suggestion and bought it last year or the year before. Its much more powerful that what I need it to do but works beautifully for what I use it for, meaning its a piece of kit that grows with me rather than having a single use.

The link Fred shared doesnt work for me but just google Camranger 2.
 

Marilynne

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Welcome!

Please feel free to introduce yourself here - https://nikonites.com/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=35

Guidelines to adding a photo to your post.

1. Resize photo to 1000px on the long side.
2. Resolution set to 72ppi (Pixels Per Inch)

These guidelines will be good for viewing on a computer but will not be good for printing. This will help safeguard your copyright.
 

RoyGee

Senior Member
Thank you all for your help:)

Firstly, the software I use is On1 Photo RAW - which is specifically compatible with Nikon and Canon. The capture works very well, only doesn't allow me to use live view. I found the same with DigiCamControl. In fact, I have since discovered that live view is disabled simply by plugging in to the PC without any software running!

I get the message "Cannot start live view at current settings or under current conditions". I imagine this may be an issue between the camera and Win 11?

My temporary work-around is to have the cord unplugged, get my framing and focus right using live view, then plug in, lose live view and make the shot. Not a great deal of fun, but gets the job done eventually!
[MENTION=48483]BF Hammer[/MENTION] - thanks for the suggestion to try DigiCamControl. Although this has not solved my issue, it does give me many more options than On1 and options are always a good thing, right?
@FredKingston - thanks for the suggestion, but that is way too pricy for my humble needs:)
 

cwgrizz

Senior Member
Challenge Team
Thank you all for your help:)

Firstly, the software I use is On1 Photo RAW - which is specifically compatible with Nikon and Canon. The capture works very well, only doesn't allow me to use live view.

Welcome to the forum. You have discovered one of the complaints about ON1 tethered capabilities. It has been something that has been requested for years with ON1. I don't know if it will ever happen or if they can even do it. I wanted to do what you are asking, but not bad enough to pursue a solution. Ha!!
 

RoyGee

Senior Member
OK - with getting to know the DCM software more I find it solves all my problems - in spades!

Just need to unravel the mysteries of the manual to find how to use focus stacking and I'll be a happy chappie.

On1 is great and the development is moving along at pace, so shouldn't be long before we get full functionality of live capture:)
 

RoyGee

Senior Member
Thanks to all who assisted I am successfully shooting tethered :)

Couple more questions if I may?
1. The cable I got is only 1.5m long, so a bit limiting - I attached a 5m extension cable, but now both DCM and On! don't pick up on the camera. The extension cable works correctly on other devices - anyone have any ideas on this?
2. When I minimize DCM, it doesn't show in the bottom tray and won't open again, until I restart the computer - any ideas?

Thanks for any assistance:)
 

BF Hammer

Senior Member
Thanks to all who assisted I am successfully shooting tethered :)

Couple more questions if I may?
1. The cable I got is only 1.5m long, so a bit limiting - I attached a 5m extension cable, but now both DCM and On! don't pick up on the camera. The extension cable works correctly on other devices - anyone have any ideas on this?
2. When I minimize DCM, it doesn't show in the bottom tray and won't open again, until I restart the computer - any ideas?

Thanks for any assistance:)

Sorry about not noticing this for a month. Specifications for USB are maximum length of 16 feet, which is about 5m. Making a longer cable may or may not work, it will be device dependent.

No idea what DCM software is. I assume not DigiCamControl which I am using. I have also discovered Nikon Tether NX since getting my Z5 body. Unfortunately it only works with Z system and the D780. But I noticed the LiveView on the camera screen works while connected, but you lose LiveView on the controlling PC screen. That actually is not as desirable to my astrophotography uses.
 

RoyGee

Senior Member
My apologies - I meant DCC - finger trouble:)

My 5m cable is very good quality - plays music on my TV from a flash drive without power. It is probably the camera which can't output over that distance.

Managed to get hold of a 2m extesion and this works correctly and is good enough for my needs.

Thanks for the interest:)
 
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