Canon tethered shooting
Discussion
I don't know how others do it, but if I'm doing star trails I try to get a bearing from a compass and compose a test shot, usually on a much longer shutter to bring out all available light so I can get an idea of what stars are visible and to get some idea of shutter speed for the trail shots. This usually entails squinting at the camera screen to check the test shot, which can be a pain.
Also there are some times when its not easy to see the screen accurately if the camera is tripod mounted and low to the ground.
In these circumstances a friend uses an eye-fi card and an ipad. This does work but the eye-fi card is often problematic.
I'm not exactly a fan of apple stuff and can't really justify the cash on an ipad anyway.
The nexus 7 however is cheap enough add in a £3 USB OTG cable and an app from the play store called "DSLR Controller" (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.chainfire.dslrcontroller&hl=en) for just under £6 I can now tether the camera to the tablet and I've got full control over the camera from the tablet - we're not just talking click the shutter but I can pretty much change any setting. I can also review the content of the memory card.
The nexus can also download pictures from the camera, but JPEG only, i.e. it doesn't understand RAW files (no surprise really). But if you root it and use an app called stickmount you'd be able to get the RAW files off and then put them through an editor app (there are some out there already)... processing on the move!
Being 7" the nexus is small enough to fit in my small camera bag but the screen is obviously much larger than the camera screen.
Yes ... and?
Its a great idea, I plan to do something similar, mostly for using the tse but for night shooting etc it would be handy too. Have to find a nice bracket for whatever tablet I go for too so I can mount on the tripod along with the camera.
I have a transformer which can do it I just need to get the cable..
Its a great idea, I plan to do something similar, mostly for using the tse but for night shooting etc it would be handy too. Have to find a nice bracket for whatever tablet I go for too so I can mount on the tripod along with the camera.
I have a transformer which can do it I just need to get the cable..
I've tried DSLR Controller on an Android tablet and it was buggy at best. I only ever managed to get a couple of shots off before it crashed or fell over itself. There are a couple of apps out there for reviewing RAW files but they're very slow. You wouldn't want to go through more than 30 pictures I would say. For JPEGs on the move it's pretty good though so if that's something you definitely want to do I'd shoot RAW+JPEG.
Never tried tethering, but I use some android apps on an Asus tablet for viewing raw files (from a USB card reader). Although it seems to just show an embedded jpg (which is fine as it means I can just shoot RAW and save some space), it's good enough res & quality to check focus/sharpness, so I can delete the duffs and rate the keepers when I stop for lunch or whatever. You can also do some basic tweaks (i.e. exposure, contrast etc.) but I'm not sure of the point if it's a jpg preview and not a genuine raw file...
tim-b said:
Never tried tethering, but I use some android apps on an Asus tablet for viewing raw files (from a USB card reader). Although it seems to just show an embedded jpg (which is fine as it means I can just shoot RAW and save some space), it's good enough res & quality to check focus/sharpness, so I can delete the duffs and rate the keepers when I stop for lunch or whatever. You can also do some basic tweaks (i.e. exposure, contrast etc.) but I'm not sure of the point if it's a jpg preview and not a genuine raw file...
When doing astrophotography you generally can't see anything through the viewfinder because it's dark and the viewfinder info display overwhelms whatever's visible. It's very useful to have a separate display so you can see things more easily after taking some test shots; check star focus if you can't do it in live view, re-compose, remotely lock up the mirror and take the shot, etc.rxtx said:
tim-b said:
Never tried tethering, but I use some android apps on an Asus tablet for viewing raw files (from a USB card reader). Although it seems to just show an embedded jpg (which is fine as it means I can just shoot RAW and save some space), it's good enough res & quality to check focus/sharpness, so I can delete the duffs and rate the keepers when I stop for lunch or whatever. You can also do some basic tweaks (i.e. exposure, contrast etc.) but I'm not sure of the point if it's a jpg preview and not a genuine raw file...
When doing astrophotography you generally can't see anything through the viewfinder because it's dark and the viewfinder info display overwhelms whatever's visible. It's very useful to have a separate display so you can see things more easily after taking some test shots; check star focus if you can't do it in live view, re-compose, remotely lock up the mirror and take the shot, etc.
Crafty_ said:
Colin RedGriff said:
The Canon cameras come with free software for tethered shooting all you need is a laptop/PC/Mac and a USB cable.
Yep, but I don't want to be lumping a 15" laptop around, I have enough junk in my camera bag as it is 
I have not used the netbook beyond testing. I have an older Breeze app for Canon Powershot devices (when Canon offered remote control on them) which works very well.
Attaching an external device as a USB device works up to a point, depending on the camera and attachments, but may not want to allow display while still in USB Device mode.
If the body has a Wireless File Transfer device accessory that might be anothor option although you then start to get into device power usage assessment if trying long shoots.
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