Tethering would be nice

[JeffreyTotaro]

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I was shooting a job today of some portraits for one of my architect clients. I typically shoot architecture, not people, but that doesn't matter really. I chose my 5D to do the job since it tethers easily to the laptop through C1 Pro and my client can view the images as they come in. Well I'm glad I had the M8 with me since the 5D broke. The mirror popped off during the shoot - nice. I finished the shoot with the M8 but I had to take time to download the images from the card a few times to give the client an idea of how we were doing. I would strongly favor tethering for the M9 just for this reason. I would have started the shoot with the M8 if it tethered. I'll mention it to Phase One as well since that would be ideal if they supported it. It can't be that hard to do.

[Guest BigSplash]

I was shooting a job today of some portraits for one of my architect clients. I typically shoot architecture, not people, but that doesn't matter really. I chose my 5D to do the job since it tethers easily to the laptop through C1 Pro and my client can view the images as they come in. Well I'm glad I had the M8 with me since the 5D broke. The mirror popped off during the shoot - nice. I finished the shoot with the M8 but I had to take time to download the images from the card a few times to give the client an idea of how we were doing. I would strongly favor tethering for the M9 just for this reason. I would have started the shoot with the M8 if it tethered. I'll mention it to Phase One as well since that would be ideal if they supported it. It can't be that hard to do.

 

I full agree and I cannot believe that this is anything more than firmware for M9 and M8 ....I would as an amateur appreciate this as it would give as I understand it immediate view of each shot as I take it. Great obviosuly for usage when taking multi shots of kids and family but (dare I say this?) using my Viso and taking commercial shots I need for my sideline business of peddling marine comuters. If I can get modern approaches such as tehthering with an item such as the Viso becuase I have a M8 (or M9) that is good news in my book and extends significantly the usefulness of a RF camera.

I accept that a DSLR would be better for that type of application. Howver most (80%) of my shots are in the wide angle to 90mm range and the rest are macro or telephoto so what you suggest is only good news and does not cost much (anything) for Leica to provide.

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[Bo_Lorentzen]

Second that,

 

Jeffery, tethering is a great thing... if the M could do that, I would be very happy, and as you said, this is a direct business application.! portraits, garments/fashion for sure, don't think I would do much product with a M.

 

.

[Steve Fines]

I haven't tried the M9 with an Eye-Fi card.

 

Certainly not tethering, pre se, but a work around.

[Bo_Lorentzen]

Steve, the eye-fi don't work so well with the solid metal case. better in plastic cameras. it would be a nice work-around though. even if they had a wire dongle antenna which could be jammed outside the lid for a inch or so.

 

.

[adan]

I dunno - when I hear "M9" and "tethered" in the same sentence, this is what comes to mind: Welcome to the Cart-Horse Protection Association website

 

I just don't get paying a premium for the "world's smallest full-frame camera" and then multiplying the weight and bulk by 20x with a computer and tripod.

 

That being said, Leica obviously tethers the M8/9 during the testing phase in the factory (via the USB connection) - so it should be possible.

[35mmSummicron]

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There is a long history of well known photographers who use film Leica M cameras for formal (often commerical) photography. In the modern age it now often means shooting tethered directly to a computer.

 

On a mac the only tethered solution is an outdated, unstable, unreliable program that came with the M8 (Leica Digital Capture v1.0) that does not work with OS X 10.5 +. As far as I can tell the M9 does not come with any such program.

 

The only alternatives for the M8 at least are:

 

Apple Aperture 2

 

Studio Tether

Mountainstorm | Overview

 

Sofortbild

Sofortbild - Mac Tethered Shooting

 

The problem is these programs don't offer TRUE tethered shooting, rather what it does is read images off the SD card as they are written which makes things slow and somewhat unreliable if you shoot fast. I've also recently upgraded to OS 10.6.1 and it seems to break the connection.......

 

Since there is a severe shortage of M9's I cannot attest to whether any of these solutions work on the new camera.

 

I've been vocal on numerous threads on this forum talking about tethered support. Hopefully Leica will listen.

 

.a

 

 

I dunno - when I hear "M9" and "tethered" in the same sentence, this is what comes to mind: Welcome to the Cart-Horse Protection Association website

 

I just don't get paying a premium for the "world's smallest full-frame camera" and then multiplying the weight and bulk by 20x with a computer and tripod.

 

That being said, Leica obviously tethers the M8/9 during the testing phase in the factory (via the USB connection) - so it should be possible.

[ethranet]

Think how useful it would be for people who do their own range-finder alignment adjustment, or for repair technicians doing the same.

[ModernMan]

Has anyone tried the old "LeicaDigital Capture" with the M9?

[JeffreyTotaro]

I just don't get paying a premium for the "world's smallest full-frame camera" and then multiplying the weight and bulk by 20x with a computer and tripod.

.

 

Certainly the size and weight thing is an advantage, but in the case where you are working with a client who would like to see what you are doing in a more controlled environment then tethered would be great. We've got these great tools, so why limit the versatility of them to be used in more situations.

[Bo_Lorentzen]

Tethering would be great for a lot of studio work, garment shoot where a client is present would be a fine time for hooking up to the plasma screen for a stream of shots, there is nothing quite like hearing the art-director go "oh yeah that works" and have a little idea what makes her heart go "pitter patter" (well about pictures of her products anyway).

 

.

[35mmSummicron]

I just shot a 10-page men's fashion editorial where my client the creative director of the magazine flew in for the day just to be at the shoot.

 

I shot it with an M8.

 

I made the mistake of upgrading my mac to OS X 10.6 which broke any kind of tethering support and was forced to download from SD card. This process was slow, not to mention embarrassing when Capture One Pro 5 kept crashing trying to download.

 

I am anxiously waiting for my ordered M9, which I know right now has NO tethered support......I want the camera cuz of the extra resolution and fullframe, but man, do I ever wish I can get proper tethered shooting......................

[JeffreyTotaro]

I had the same crashing problem with C1 Pro 4.8.3 when importing from the card. Thats a new problem but it sounds like they have not fixed it in v5.0 either. I asked Phase One if they have plans to add support. Hopefully I'll hear back soon about it.

[adan]

"...there is nothing quite like hearing the art-director go "oh yeah that works" and have a little idea what makes her heart go "pitter patter" (well about pictures of her products anyway)."

__________________

Bo

 

"I just shot a 10-page men's fashion editorial where my client the creative director of the magazine flew in for the day just to be at the shoot.

 

I shot it with an M8."

----------------

 

...and yet I keep hearing there are no pros using the M Leicas

 

OK - I'll buy that there is a market for tethered operation with the M9 etc.

 

As I said, if you view the Leica factory tour video at Luminous-landscape, the techs are obviously using tethers to, for example, read out M9 images to a laptop to check for sensor dust in the final stages of inspection. So the basic hardware capability must be there...Maybe someone on the German forum can pirate a copy of the factory software...

[Gilles L.]

Hello everyone,

 

This is older thread, but I thought I would revive it to see if there are any updates in the tethering of the digital M.

 

I've own a M8 since they were introduced and I would shoot it regularly for my work, until I did the mistake of upgrading to 10.6. I called Leica every 3 or 4 months for a year to see if they were planning on upgrading to 10.6, but always got the same answer: Phase One made the software, so they've go to fix it. Anyway, after a while I gave up studio work with the M8. True, rangefinder cameras were not design for this purpose, but the M8 and M9 both have beautiful CCD sensors to rival with MF cameras, so there is no reason why the cameras would not be suited for studio work. I've given up hope for the M8, but hoped that Leica would fix this for the M9. Ideally, I wish C1 Pro would allow remote shooting with the M8/9. I use this great software daily.

 

I also tried Mountain Studio and Sofortbild but they only support Nikon cameras. I don't have Aperture... Does it support M8/9 tethering?

 

My interest still remains in tethering the M8, but I am also quite curious about the M9... if the camera was tether-able... I might get a GAS attack...

 

Best, Gilles

[AlanG]

For quite along time C1's tethering only worked on Phase One backs and Canon cameras. Then they added tethering support for Nikons and for some Mamiya and Leaf backs.)

 

I think it is up to C1 to support tethering with the M9 or other cameras...as long as those cameras have the capability to send the files via a USB port as you shoot. The camera manufacturers probably also have to supply a software development kit that supports tethering for Phase One to use.

 

I shoot a lot of my advertising work tethered to C1 whether it is architecture or people. And I use it hand held a lot. This gives very rapid adjustment of exposure and lighting and helps me confirm everything about the image very rapidly. Clients are very impressed with working this way and it is extremely efficient as you can stop shooting when everyone is happy with the image. Now that cameras have such high resolution and focus is more critical, it is very common to have an assistant check focus while I'm shooting lifestyle images.

 

C1 has the huge advantage of letting one superimpose a layout so that you can compose an image to fit within it. This really impressed my clients and guaranteed that everything would work out correctly. I wouldn't want to work without it now.

Edited March 2, 2010 by AlanG

[35mmSummicron]

I am still waiting patiently for a **GOOD** tether solution for my M8 and M9.

 

I eagerly waiting for the release of Eye-Fi's new X2 Pro 8gig SDHC Wireless-N card to come out.

 

Up until recently Eye-Fi officially did not support the M8 or M9, however they have updated their camera compatibility list now approving them.

 

http://support.eye.fi/product-info/camera-compatability/compatibility/is-the-eye-fi-card-compatible-with-my-camera/leica/

 

They state wireless range is severely limited because of the metal housing, however I have been talking to some users who say they are getting 30+ ft and through walls, using the older 4gig card right now. The only issue for me right now is how much faster the X2 Pro card will be. at 36.4mg per uncompressed RAW, the M9 is producing A LOT of data...

[likalar]

Can I add my 2 cents?

I hate tethered shooting. I stopped shooting commercially 2 years ago, partly because of the tether. My entire career (on-figure ready-to-wear fashion ROP and catalog shots, studio and location) was 34 years of bliss until tethering came along and the clients/ADs found out about it. Before tethering, there was a "trust" that the photographer knew his craft, knew how to communicate, knew when to push the button, knew when to stop. I worked my best all those years, knowing every booking depended on the previous booking's success. Set up the shot, talk to the talent, show a Poloroid or 2 and get on with it. The good ADs payed attention while the photographer and models worked hard. The client stayed in the background with a bagel, trying for a free haircut.

 

Then tethering happened. The ADs, clients, even the stylists were chomping at the bit, ready to bark commands, if given a chance, because now they could see the image, half screen, 1 second after the capture. "Looks great with her spinning like that, but can you do it exactly the same again with her left foot a bit more pointed?" or, this from an assistant AD, when finally I thought the model, lighting, etc. was perfect and a great shot was just a frame or two away: "OK, I see one I like, Let's break for lunch!" The ruthless use of the delete feature (as I shoot) really annoyed, too. Good shots were vaporized without even a short discussion, so there was no chance to go back for a second look.

 

Bad habits ensued, and it got worse. One client rep wanted 12 frames of each outfit; no more or less. That's what her boss in the dress buying office requested. (Huh???) The rep counted to 12 and shouted "Got it!" She wouldn't hear otherwise. Tethering became the norm, and was even demanded on a beach action shoot of a family in jog shoots. I like to move with the talent, jog backwards, do whatever it takes to get a great shot. The tether ruined the shoot, IMO. Every shot was over scrutinized, and stifled. My time was up in that world. Thanks for letting me rant, sorry for the length; it's time to stand up and CUT THE CORD!!! ;-)

 

To all those that shoot tethered (especially good for stills, IMO) and love it: Carry on; I hope Leica hooks you up one day, as I'm sure there are still some great clients that still respect the photographer, and let you do your best work, tethered or not. (Yes, I know I'm now too old-fashioned for this business!) ;-)

 

Larry

Edited March 2, 2010 by likalar

[Gilles L.]

Thanks for the replies; it is indeed unfortunately Leica does not support tethering for the M9. I agree with Alan, I wish Phase One would support tethering for the M9; this is the software I use with my 1ds3 for tethering shooting, and it is ideal. In the past couple of years I've shot owned a Leaf Aptus back and and Hasselblad H3DII-31, which both come with their own software, and I really prefer Phase One above all.

 

Thanks for mentioning the Eye-Fi cards, I've always wondered about it. How long does it take roughly to transfer one image from the M9?

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[AlanG]

Can I add my 2 cents?

I hate tethered shooting. I stopped shooting commercially 2 years ago, partly because of the tether. My entire career (on-figure ready-to-wear fashion ROP and catalog shots, studio and location) was 34 years of bliss until tethering came along and the clients/ADs found out about it. Before tethering, there was a "trust" that the photographer knew his craft, knew how to communicate, knew when to push the button, knew when to stop. I worked my best all those years, knowing every booking depended on the previous booking's success. Set up the shot, talk to the talent, show a Poloroid or 2 and get on with it. The good ADs payed attention while the photographer and models worked hard. The client stayed in the background with a bagel, trying for a free haircut.

 

Then tethering happened. The ADs, clients, even the stylists were chomping at the bit, ready to bark commands, if given a chance, because now they could see the image, half screen, 1 second after the capture. "Looks great with her spinning like that, but can you do it exactly the same again with her left foot a bit more pointed?" or, this from an assistant AD, when finally I thought the model, lighting, etc. was perfect and a great shot was just a frame or two away: "OK, I see one I like, Let's break for lunch!" The ruthless use of the delete feature (as I shoot) really annoyed, too. Good shots were vaporized without even a short discussion, so there was no chance to go back for a second look.

 

Bad habits ensued, and it got worse. One client rep wanted 12 frames of each outfit; no more or less. That's what her boss in the dress buying office requested. (Huh???) The rep counted to 12 and shouted "Got it!" She wouldn't hear otherwise. Tethering became the norm, and was even demanded on a beach action shoot of a family in jog shoots. I like to move with the talent, jog backwards, do whatever it takes to get a great shot. The tether ruined the shoot, IMO. Every shot was over scrutinized, and stifled. My time was up in that world. Thanks for letting me rant, sorry for the length; it's time to stand up and CUT THE CORD!!! ;-)

 

To all those that shoot tethered (especially good for stills, IMO) and love it: Carry on, I hope Leica hooks you up one day. Yes, I'm now too old-fashioned!

 

Larry

 

These are very valid concerns and it sometimes is difficult to reconcile a personal approach with one's clients. I too have found that the commercial world has changed dramatically since I started out about 30 years ago. For static shots the collaboration is no problem. And for moving subjects, one has to find a reasonable balance. (I can also recall the old days where some of my clients would try to look though my view camera and we would really waste time moving it around. Or we'd shoot endless Polaroids and then try to get the same expression or pose on film.) I recognize that my role is to satisfy my clients' needs. Sometimes one can satisfy the client's tight requirements and then go off in another direction.

 

There is a flip side to tethering. Adding to the collaborative process can be beneficial. A few years ago, I was setting up to shoot a an interior of a really boring bedroom for a builder. The home owner's young daughter started jumping on the bed and I started shooting her. After each jump, she'd look at the image and then she and I would find a way to have her jump differently. She was very imaginative and I think the tethering added to the collaboration and the result. When I finished these, I got back to the assignment.

 

Here is is the shoot:

 

YouTube - Kanal von Goldsteinphoto

Edited March 2, 2010 by AlanG