Tether Cables for my D800

BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
I am going to be using my D800 in a tethered setup with my Macbook to do some studio shots for a friend. Last week I went to the Nikon site and saw that they are selling this overpriced cable for $40...

http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Nikon-Products/Product/Cables-Computer/27044/UC-E14-USB-Cable.html

It looks like a normal USB 3 cable, so I took a 2 foot cable I got with one of my external drives and hooked up my D800 using that. Bingo!! Works like a champ. So, I order a 6 foot and 9 foot "Amazon Basic" cable from Amazon.com, but I get no connectivity with either of them when I tested them this morning. If I plug the 2 foot cable in it works fine, and I've rebooted and started fresh, all those sorts of things. The cables work fine with the hard drive, but not with the camera.

So, my question to you all is, do you know of a specific reason why the Amazon cables I have won't work? What cables are you folks using that do work?

BTW, it seems that almost every USB 2.0 cable I have works fine with my D600, so I can always go that way, but it would be nice to have the 36 MP's for these shots.
 
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Geoffc

Senior Member
Jake,

I had the same requirement and bought one of these which works. I don't know why yours wouldn't, however tethering from Lightroom does not work for me as the camera does not appear. My D300 does but not the 300s or 800. Occasionally it does appear but not reliably. I tether to Digicam Control and get it to save to a watched folder in Lightroom which creates the same end result. The pictures appear real time in Lightroom as it watches the folder.
 
BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Hmmm. What version of LR are you using? I'm on 5.2 and it works fine. I know there was an issue with the D600 and LR 4, at least at one time. For me, it's not just an LR issue because if I have photos on my card and plug the camera in my Mac will recognize it and want to import the photos as well, so it's something with these cables. Alas, the cables you have linked aren't available in the US. I may just drag the camera and laptop down to Staples and see what they have that works, if anything. I like the idea of a right angle cable, which I found on Amazon from TetherPro, as it reduces the torque on the jack - but at $56 I'm not biting.
 
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gqtuazon

Gear Head
BackdoorHippie said:
I am going to be using my D800 in a tethered setup with my Macbook to do some studio shots for a friend. Last week I went to the Nikon site and saw that they are selling this overpriced cable for $40...

UC-E14 USB Cable from Nikon

It looks like a normal USB 3 cable, so I took a 2 foot cable I got with one of my external drives and hooked up my D800 using that. Bingo!! Works like a champ. So, I order a 6 foot and 9 foot "Amazon Basic" cable from Amazon.com, but I get no connectivity with either of them when I tested them this morning. If I plug the 2 foot cable in it works fine, and I've rebooted and started fresh, all those sorts of things. The cables work fine with the hard drive, but not with the camera.

So, my question to you all is, do you know of a specific reason why the Amazon cables I have won't work? What cables are you folks using that do work?

BTW, it seems that almost every USB 2.0 cable I have works fine with my D600, so I can always go that way, but it would be nice to have the 36 MP's for these shots.
Click to expand...

I have not tried that cable yet but what I have tried in a studio is I took my computer monitor and connected the HDMI cable and connected it from the camera to the monitor so that the clients can view their images instantly on a larger monitor.
 
BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
HDMI works fine, but given that this is my first "studio shoot" I want to be able to immediately see the photos as they come through and make sure my friend is happy with the lighting. Again, I'll shoot with the D600 with no qualms about it, and can even rig a stand for the laptop so it sits right next to the tripod if I want to use my 2' cable, but there has to be a decent, and economical solution.
 
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PapaST

Senior Member
Maybe it has to do with the tested specs on the cables. I can't imagine manufacturers deviating too far from the hardware standard but perhaps it's a possibility. USB 3 decreased the amount of volts that it pulls but increased the amount of mA output. Maybe the Amazon cables meet the USB 3 standard but vary enough in output to cause the failure. Perhaps your external HD is capable of dealing with manufacturer variations whereas the D800 is not.

Cable length might also be a problem. I know that USB 2.0 has a maximum length of 16'. After that you can run into "timing issues". Maybe the D800 is finicky in that respect. Sorry I wasn't much help.
 
BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Very well could be the case. The better quality cables may be the only ones that can carry those distances? Good point. The TetherPro stuff is 15', which seems to be the max that I'm hearing about. Good cable costs money. Thankfully Amazon will take these back with no questions.
 
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mr2_serious

Senior Member
I think there is probably a difference in the number of contacts in the head of the cable. Not 100% sure. But the same thing has happen to me with an external hard drive.


- William via Tapatalk
 
BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
mr2_serious said:
I think there is probably a difference in the number of contacts in the head of the cable. Not 100% sure. But the same thing has happen to me with an external hard drive.


- William via Tapatalk
Click to expand...

One would think that "USB 3.0" means the same thing everywhere. I looked high and wide for a cable that mentioned anything about Nikon specs, or something on the Nikon site that mentioned something specific about their cable, but nothing.
 
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Geoffc

Senior Member
BackdoorHippie said:
Hmmm. What version of LR are you using? I'm on 5.2 and it works fine. I know there was an issue with the D600 and LR 4, at least at one time. For me, it's not just an LR issue because if I have photos on my card and plug the camera in my Mac will recognize it and want to import the photos as well, so it's something with these cables. Alas, the cables you have linked aren't available in the US. I may just drag the camera and laptop down to Staples and see what they have that works, if anything. I like the idea of a right angle cable, which I found on Amazon from TetherPro, as it reduces the torque on the jack - but at $56 I'm not biting.
Click to expand...

I've not upgraded to 5.2 on my laptop yet and as I have a workaround I won't invest too much time trying to fix it.

My setup is a 3m USB extension to the 2m lead I gave the link to. The two leads cost a total of about £6 from Amazon and work.

They work fine in USB 2 and 3 sockets to transfer data and tether the camera except for my lightroom issue which is not D800 specific. I might try 5.2 tomorrow and see if it's any better but I don't think it's mentioned in the release notes.

I'm using my setup for exactly the same purpose and have a studio shoot myself on Saturday.

On that subject, do you calibrate your monitor because the difference is so big it makes the preview a waste of time in my experience. My previously uncalibrated monitor made highlights look blown which is frustrating when everything is metered. And on that subject I find TTL very disappointing as the results vary too much. When I meter I can setup up and wander around if the subject stays in the same place as their light is constant. I don't know which method you plan to use.
 
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PapaST

Senior Member
BackdoorHippie said:
One would think that "USB 3.0" means the same thing everywhere. I looked high and wide for a cable that mentioned anything about Nikon specs, or something on the Nikon site that mentioned something specific about their cable, but nothing.
Click to expand...

I remember a little hub-bub when the iPhone 5 came out and the switch to lightning adapters. Some iPhone users were left in the cold because the pin-outs on their secondary manufacturer's cords/adapters weren't exactly produced the same way and the iPhone 5 change exposed the flaws that were not evident with the iPhone 4.
 
BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
I'm off to Staples and Best Buy today with camera and laptop in hand to see what they have and make sure it works before I leave. I just need one 9-10 foot cable and I'll be happy, though for my current purposes a 6' cable will do just fine. If retail prices are similar to the Amazon's Nikon and TetherPro stuff then I may just bite the bullet and order there as I'll have it for the weekend.
 
D

Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
I remember when I first got my iPhone the cable for the phone that came with it would do data and charge but the off brand cables would only charge although they looked the same and had the same connectors. If a cable fits it should work.
​Getting off my soapbox now.
 
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aroy

Senior Member
I had the same problem with my monitor VGA cable. I wanted a 6' cable. I tried all the after market cables - 5', 10', 15' but the monitor would work for couple of seconds and then it would be all over the place. The signal was getting corrupted and it was loading the graphics card. Ultimately I just joined two normal VGA cables (over 8 years old) and it was all fine.

At times for longer distance a signal booster is required.

With high speed data the cable, specifications are extremely important. Any deviation and there will be drop in signal at the best and loss of communications at the worst. As USB 3 is a high frequency standard the cables have to be perfect. I suggest that you try all alternative cables available, and if longer cables do not work you may try the following
. Check the connection with two or more short cables keep them if OK.
. Join the shorter cables with a USB 3 compliant hub. If it works fine, else
. Get a USB 3 compliant booster.
 
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