Lightroom 3.2 now available with direct tether support for S2

[dfarkas]

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Well, this was a pleasant surprise. I launched Lightroom a little while ago and was greeted with an update available message. Upon checking out Adobe's Lightroom Journal, I see that the final 3.2 version now has direct tethering support for the Leica S2. This is pretty big news and I plan to put tethering to the test in the morning.

 

LR 3.2RC already added a custom color profile for the S2 (Adobe Standard) as well as making some pretty decent reductions in noise at higher ISO settings. Now, with the addition of direct tethering, Lightroom becomes even more of a go-to software for S2 users than ever. The only thing lacking right now is lens profiles, but I'm sure given the close relationship of Adobe and Leica, these too will come in future LR updates.

 

For now, fire up LR and let the updating commence.

 

David

[c6gowin]

Thanks for the heads up David. Downloading now. Direct tethering support for the S2 in LR is a big deal. Although I don't shoot tethered very often, the fact that Adobe incorporated this feature for the S2 shows they are serious about supporting Leica products and serious about making LR an even more desirable piece of software for professionals.

[paulmoore]

have you tried it yet? give us an idea of how much faster if any to go from capture to showing up on screen vs the old way of shooting to a folder.. shooting speed seemed to be an issue before.

[dfarkas]

have you tried it yet? give us an idea of how much faster if any to go from capture to showing up on screen vs the old way of shooting to a folder.. shooting speed seemed to be an issue before.

 

Paul,

 

I played a bit today with direct tethering today on both Mac and PC to get a feel for the speed. From shot to full display is about 6 sec. I'm trying to determine what factors effect speed (desktop CPU vs. laptop CPU, HDD vs. SSD, etc.) to see how much this can be sped up. Still, the current average of 6 sec is a vast improvement from the 10-12 sec speed using the previous method.

 

David

[Guest guy_mancuso]

6-7 seconds is still too long. Phocus and C1 with there prospective systems is 2 seconds for Phase I know and I think Hassy is about the same. Hopefully they can get that faster in the future. But certainly faster than Leica's own program so some good news there. From memory though I think any hot folder in LR from any cam is about that long. Still think Leica would serve themselves better by compressing the DNG from 70 mg files to half that. Must be a way to do that. Certainly less data to push through the process and help with tethering as less data is going through the cables.

 

But better improvement for sure and hopefully expand that further . Thanks David for the report

[dfarkas]

6-7 seconds is still too long. Phocus and C1 with there prospective systems is 2 seconds for Phase I know and I think Hassy is about the same. Hopefully they can get that faster in the future. But certainly faster than Leica's own program so some good news there. From memory though I think any hot folder in LR from any cam is about that long. Still think Leica would serve themselves better by compressing the DNG from 70 mg files to half that. Must be a way to do that. Certainly less data to push through the process and help with tethering as less data is going through the cables.

 

But better improvement for sure and hopefully expand that further . Thanks David for the report

 

I actually tried to shoot Basic JPG only with no DNG to see the effect of smaller files. The time from shot to preview was the same. So, it appears that the speed-up needs to happen in LR, as the transfer speed is not the issue.

 

Please time your P40+ into C1 for me. Hit the stopwatch when you press the shutter and stop it when you see a non-pixelated, rendered preview display on screen. I didn't run a time trial yesterday, but we have tested out Phase backs in the past and they are longer than 2 sec. We have a P45+ laying around that I'll try today. And, if my memory serves me, 6 sec is about the time it takes for Phocus when tethering an H3DII39.

 

Ideally, I'd like to see the time drop from 6 sec to 4 sec for the S2.

 

David

[paulmoore]

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I am assuming you can bang off 10 in about the same seconds then go and look on the monitor.. how long would it take to load them all? the same.. 6-7 per image?

for me and my style, that is plenty fast what I do.. can take me that to get to monitor.. I have to say I sometimes miss that "polaroid gestation period", I think the creative process requires some quiet inward time in the cycle..

[dfarkas]

I am assuming you can bang off 10 in about the same seconds then go and look on the monitor.. how long would it take to load them all? the same.. 6-7 per image?

for me and my style, that is plenty fast what I do.. can take me that to get to monitor.. I have to say I sometimes miss that "polaroid gestation period", I think the creative process requires some quiet inward time in the cycle..

 

I'll run a timed test on this, but did try firing off a burst yesterday. The first shot takes about 6 sec, then the subsequent shots come in a little quicker.

 

David

[Guest guy_mancuso]

I actually tried to shoot Basic JPG only with no DNG to see the effect of smaller files. The time from shot to preview was the same. So, it appears that the speed-up needs to happen in LR, as the transfer speed is not the issue.

 

Please time your P40+ into C1 for me. Hit the stopwatch when you press the shutter and stop it when you see a non-pixelated, rendered preview display on screen. I didn't run a time trial yesterday, but we have tested out Phase backs in the past and they are longer than 2 sec. We have a P45+ laying around that I'll try today. And, if my memory serves me, 6 sec is about the time it takes for Phocus when tethering an H3DII39.

 

Ideally, I'd like to see the time drop from 6 sec to 4 sec for the S2.

 

David

 

Yea sounds like LR is more the issue as from memory there hot folder was running the same times. The P40+ is 2.5 seconds full res. Done it a thousand times

The P45+ is a older back. The P40+ times have been increased since than. In sensor plus mode I can shoot and look over and it is there on screen.

[Guest guy_mancuso]

David I will post this on LUF as well and i know you get excited about using your trade in backs against the S2 and that is great but we have to use backs that are more time technology comparative. The P45, H39 and H31 are older backs that don't really come close to the S2 as in speed as there newer brother and sister backs so it is kind of unfair to compare like that. The backs that are more time technology comparative to the S2 from Phase is the P40+ but in Dalsa flavor of course and on the Hassy side really the HD 50 is the most comparative sensor wise but the HD 40 time technology wise and mpx. So in essence in this case we should be looking at the P40+ and HD 40 as the time technology comparative. The H and P are much faster backs and more in line with the S2 than the older backs. I think if you went more this route you would be helping the readers more with getting on the same time frame with regards to the newer backs and obviously the newer S2 cam. We really have to be careful because there obviously is nothing directly comparative as the S2 which is a cam and not a back so we need to careful as not to confuse people. Sure the S2 will smoke the older backs with regards to speed but it is a unfair comparison as there technology is dead and gone and not being made anymore. The new P40+ and HD40 are H and P latest offerings and much more comparable. The older backs tells us nothing.

 

Thanks Guy

[dfarkas]

David I will post this on LUF as well and i know you get excited about using your trade in backs against the S2 and that is great but we have to use backs that are more time technology comparative. The P45, H39 and H31 are older backs that don't really come close to the S2 as in speed as there newer brother and sister backs so it is kind of unfair to compare like that. The backs that are more time technology comparative to the S2 from Phase is the P40+ but in Dalsa flavor of course and on the Hassy side really the HD 50 is the most comparative sensor wise but the HD 40 time technology wise and mpx. So in essence in this case we should be looking at the P40+ and HD 40 as the time technology comparative. The H and P are much faster backs and more in line with the S2 than the older backs. I think if you went more this route you would be helping the readers more with getting on the same time frame with regards to the newer backs and obviously the newer S2 cam. We really have to be careful because there obviously is nothing directly comparative as the S2 which is a cam and not a back so we need to careful as not to confuse people. Sure the S2 will smoke the older backs with regards to speed but it is a unfair comparison as there technology is dead and gone and not being made anymore. The new P40+ and HD40 are H and P latest offerings and much more comparable. The older backs tells us nothing.

 

Thanks Guy

 

This is of course something I considered. If you'd like to come to FL for some comparative testing with your P40+, I'd be open to it. As you know there have been some major improvements in firmware and software support for the S2 from when you did your testing before the camera was released to market. And, if Marc Williams came down with his H4D40, we could have a party. In all seriousness, I would love to do a full shootout between all of the top systems, not just in terms of tethering and image quality, but also factors like battery life, time to zoom in on LCD, view through viewfinder, mirror blackout, etc.

 

I do think the P45+ is a fair comparison at this time as almost all major rental studios in NY, LA and Miami use the P45+ as their standard rental back (also P25+ and P30+). There are very, very few P40+ backs to be found at top studios. I'm attaching screen grabs from four of the largest rental players in NYC (Splashlight, MetroTech, Milk, and Trec). Maybe they haven't updated their rental lists yet, but there are no P40+ backs listed (as of today).

 

Also noteworthy is the lack of any Mamiya mount backs or P1 645DF systems listed - seems like everyone is still renting older H2 bodies. And because the HCD lenses like the 28HCD cannot be used on the H2, shooters are more inclined to rent a larger sensor P45+ rather than a smaller sensor P40+ when wanting the widest angle of coverage from a 35HC (the widest possible on H2). This may change with time, but if the studios don't see a compelling reason to upgrade from their P45+ backs to P40+ backs, it may take a while until the P40+ is a major player for fashion/commercial work, at least at rental. I can't speak to individual shooters. Perhaps a Phase One dealer wants to chime in on the adoption rate of ownership of the P40+ for fashion/commercial pros (the ones who tether most) as I'm sure they would know better than I.

 

David

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[Guest guy_mancuso]

David I posted a reply to this on GetDPI if anyone has any interest in reading it. No time for all this posting today

 

A few S2 things - Page 3 - The GetDPI Photography Forums

[AlanG]

C1 has the ability to overlay a comp for tethered and non-tethered shooting. I've used this feature several times. I don't believe any other tethering software can do this.

[mwilliamsphotography]

C1 has the ability to overlay a comp for tethered and non-tethered shooting. I've used this feature several times. I don't believe any other tethering software can do this.

 

Phocus can.

 

-Marc

[zlatkob]

C1 has the ability to overlay a comp for tethered and non-tethered shooting. I've used this feature several times. I don't believe any other tethering software can do this.

 

This would be a great feature for an upcoming project. Can you overlay a previously captured image with a liveview image on the tethered laptop? Does it work with Canon cameras too (like the 5D2) or only with Phase One backs? Thanks in advance!

[Guest guy_mancuso]

C1 can see any jpeg file for sure. So you could always load it that way. I don't shoot the 5D so not sure but I believe you can. The 5D you can shoot tethered so i don't think there is any limitation on that part of C1 just lens corrections for Phase, Hassy and Zeiss lenses

[AlanG]

This would be a great feature for an upcoming project. Can you overlay a previously captured image with a liveview image on the tethered laptop? Does it work with Canon cameras too (like the 5D2) or only with Phase One backs? Thanks in advance!

 

Didn't know about Phocus and overlay. It seems like a required feature for ad work and can't be that hard to include.

 

For C-1 you could shoot a jpeg, save it somewhere on your computer and then have C1 use that as the overlay image. You can make it partially transparent, scale it, and position it easily too. But I usually bring up the overlay image in Photoshop and make the part where the image will be fully transparent and save it as a PNG so that I don't have to make the rest of the layout partially transparent. For instance if the comp has a place for a person in it, I simply cut out the person and make that area transparent. Then I overlay this in C1 and shoot precisely to fit the comp. I'd post an example but I can't from this machine at home.

 

This works with any camera that can shoot tethered with C1. It only works for regular tethered shooting as you take a photo and it is transferred to the computer. You can't bring up a live view image from a Canon 5DII into C-1 in any way. I tried to have a separate Canon live view window open at the same time as C-1 and it won't work, as the tethering from the two programs conflict somehow. A C-1 expert sent me a sort of work-around but it is too awkward. From what I've heard C-1 would love to support Canon live view but Canon doesn't supply the means to do so in the software development kits. Maybe this will be in C1 version 6.

 

C1 also has an interesting feature called "focus mask." The focus mask can show a bright green (or other color) overlay on an area that has maximum contrast - which typically is the focused area. So while shooting tethered, you or an assistant can see if an area such as the subject's eyes is drifting out of focus. (I don't know if other software can do this either.)

 

From the Phase One site --

 

 

For which cameras does Capture One 5 PRO and DB provide tethered capture?

 

Capture One 5.1 PRO/DB has tethered capture support for the following digital backs/cameras:

 

Phase One: P 65+, P 40+, P 45+, P 30+, P 21+, P 25+, P 20+, P 45, P 30, P 25, P 21, P 20, H 25, H 20, H 101, H 10, H 5, LightPhase

 

Mamiya: DM56, DM40, DM33, DM28, DM22, M31, M22, M18

 

Leaf: Aptus II 10, Aptus II 8, Aptus II 7, Aptus II 6, Aptus II 5, Afi II 10, Afi II 7, Afi II 6

 

Additionally Capture One 5.0 PRO has tethered capture support for the following DSLR cameras:

 

Leaf: Aptus 75S, Aptus 65S, Aptus 54S, Afi 7, Afi 6, Afi5, Aptus 75, Aptus 65, Aptus 22, Aptus 17

 

Canon: 1D Mark IV, 1Ds Mark III, 1D Mark III, 1D Mark II N, 1Ds Mark II, 1D Mark II, 5D Mark II, 5D, 7D, 50D, 40D, 30D, 20D, 550D/Rebel T2i, 500D/Rebel T1i, 450D/Rebel XSi, 400D/Rebel XTi, 350D/Rebel XT, 1000D/Rebel XS

 

Nikon: D3s, D3X, D3, D700, D300, D300s, D200, D90, D80, D60, D5000, D40x, D40

 

The extent of tethered capture support will vary depending on the back/camera connected. In particular, Live View/Preview is only supported on selected Phase One and Mamiya backs.