Tether issues with SL {merged}

[caissa]

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On 11/27/2016 at 8:06 PM, ski542002 said:

Frustrating but anticipated responses from everyone   So on Thursday of this week, I return the Macbook 12" and either go "back in time" to buy the 2015 MBPro, or maybe get a surface book or an even more powerful Win laptop.  Apple's sticking it to the pro user where the sun don't shine!  Very very irritating.

I use macbooks since 7 or 8 years. And I would never dream about going back to windows (what a nightmare). But I do not use the latest hardware (my MBpro was the high end model in 2012 and works still nicely) and also not the latest software (still MacOS 10.12). For bigger tasks I use a iMac 5K and/or MacPro. It is amazing how long lasting macs are (compared to windows PCs). Adding a SSD will improve performance much more than a newer processor.
Tethering was always fine with the Canon 5Ds, but very often a pain with the SL (always unreliable, even worse since firmware 3.3, hardly ever works longer than 30 minutes in a piece). So only thing I would suggest is go back to an earlier MBpro. (and maybe an earlier OS ?).

Tethering could be a reason for me to buy a S1R (but I'd like not to spend that money now, rather in a few years.)

Edited April 19, 2019 by caissa

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[Jenningsmca]

I have the newest MBP 2018 model and use a belkin usb-3 to usb-c cable to connect Leica SL with no issues. The Leica shuttle is V3.6

Here is the camera attached with LS open looking at my monitor stand but it's working.

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Edited April 20, 2019 by Jenningsmca

[douglas fry]

I would like to use tethering more often, but a simple thing like a battery swap requires a long wait while the SD card is presumably indexed or something (the activity light on the SL flickers for about 5 mins) then Leica Image Shuttle springs back into life.

On today's shoot the software has locked up twice needing a power recycle on camera, then secondly on the laptop, very disruptive in a shoot with a client next to you

(2018 laptop i9, 32G ram, OS10.14.4, 3.5 on SL)

I installed the plugin for LR and it doesnt detect the camera at all

Image Shuttle 3.6

 

 

[sdplamen]

Hello all,
Does anybody know how to download this tethered plugin for Leica M ?
Thanks for the help

[albireo_double]

The tether plugin is available to download through the Leica owners' area: https://owners.leica-camera.com/en/login

But it doesn't work well with the SL.

Tried it today; the camera got stuck every time it took 4-5 pictures and then stopped tethering - the pictures were recorded on the card but did not show in LR; also the red light on the back of the camera was blinking constantly - had to take out the battery, restart LR etc. And Leica have the audacity to market the SL as a "fashion shooters' camera" - sorry, can't be one without stable tethering. Luckily, my S007 tethered fine in LR but there was another unconnected problem with the secondary monitor in LR...in the end, we combined the Image Shuttle 3 with a hot folder in Capture One, and we got the shoot completed more or less without further drama. I strongly discourage any fashion or studio shooter from buying any Leica camera until Wetzlar provide a stable tethering solution for all their cameras that they market to "fashion shooters". And Leica should stop making excuses that they "can't find programmers in Wetzlar" - just go and find them somewhere else, before you try to sell me another EUR5k+ camera body!

Edited May 3, 2019 by albireo_double

[hirohhhh]

I'm using Lightroom to tether with my SL, but the camera freezes after couple shots every time. Sometimes it's after every shot, sometimes it's after 5 or 20 - doesn't matter how fast I shoot. I tried couple cables, all brand new ones, doesn't matter. My Mac works perfectly with other devices, so there's no problem with the computer or the connector of the computer. Basically it's useless because I spend 70% of my shooting time restarting the camera and Lr and 30% actually shooting. Not to mention how it affects the overall atmosphere at the shooting.

I'm wondering - is this just me, or you all have these kind of problems? Or any ides how to solve it? I was thinking it's the lack of compatibility and support between Leica and Lightroom, but I just decided to ask other SL owners.

Edited June 1, 2019 by hirohhhh

[Ingo]

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To cut a long story short: It doesn't work.

[hirohhhh]

Thanks Ingo.

Some users on those links refering that it should work on old laptops with normal USB input. I just installed Lightroom Classic CC on my wife's old Macbook Air (Mid 2012) and have the same problem. Camera freezes after couple shots in tethering mode. So, it's probably not up to USB, at least in my scenario, it's all the same with both laptops, various cables etc... it just does not work.

On the other hand - Leica Image Shuttle is useless piece of software IMO, so I won't bother with it. Like all the software Leica does, including their mobile apps.

As someone already said on the links above - thanks but :(

[hirohhhh]

This is a nightmare I have every other day while shooting in studio. I love the camera, but enough is enough. I cannot tether normally since 2016. and nobody knows if we're gonna ever have a solution, so the only way to make this work is to replace the camera. I cannot count how many embarrassing moments I had because of this issue while shooting models and working with clients. Have to take out the battery 50 times during every shooting and it affects the mood of almost everyone in the room. So I either continue shooting untethered or I'm throwing jokes just to keep everyone cool and calm (even if I'm burning inside and want to smash the camera). Not to mention that this make my work looks worse on a tiny camera screen and me looking unprofessional having a buggy equipment. I love the camera a lot, but it just doesn't work for me and I'll have a hard time finding the right replacement. So sad about that.

[hirohhhh]

Another update - installed Yosemite on old Macbook Air (mid 2012) + Lightroom 5 (I was only able to found cracked version on torrent site) and the results are the same. Five shots and then camera freezes.

Edited June 15, 2019 by hirohhhh

[Ingo]

Am 15.6.2019 um 07:49 schrieb hirohhhh:

 Not to mention that this make my work looks worse on a tiny camera screen and me looking unprofessional having a buggy equipment. I love the camera a lot, but it just doesn't work for me and I'll have a hard time finding the right replacement. So sad about that.

Same here. 
Go for the S1 / S1R, use your lenses and enjoy a stable workflow.
That's what I did. 

[Guest]

I used the SL tethered via USB-C on a Windows 10 Notebook April last year (Lightroom - it also worked on Capture One). Now I am just about to proceed and was wondering that it doesn;t work any more at all. Regardless USB, USB-C, Leica cable, Tether Tools cable. I read some post here in the forum that tethering was skipped in some of the recent firmware updates of the SL (Ingo, I guess this was a post from you?)
So the current status seems to be: SL - no tethering at all; Panasonic S1R (=SL2) - tethering somehow possible with workaround. I am wondering about the lack of support of e.g. Panasonic and Leica products on the side of Capture One (which is my software, kept LR only for some backup purposes installed).

@all: how could we set up a joint initiative to reach out to Capture One and Leica / Panasonic to get this fixed? This is just a software issue which requires some solid testing, this should not be a showstopper. And I bet there are enough photographers out here that use SL / S1R / SL2 in the studio. Any ideas and discussion welcome how to proceed. Support request only to one of the companies don't seem to be very successful. Whom to caontact exactly? Identical support requests? The management? The L-Mount-Alliance managers?
I would take over some testing for Capture One with the SL and upcoming SL2 on Windows 10 .

For now I use the tether cable just to import a package of shots every 5-10 minutes during studio shoots. Having breaks during sessions is ok, but not always that frequent and sometimes a bit annoying.

[hirohhhh]

I have contacted Leica and they replied within two days, basically telling me that they are aware of the issue and they cannot provide a time frame when it's gonna be fixed. They also offered me to try Leica Image Shuttle, which is a joke piece of software to me and works even worse than Lightroom tethering plugin.

I simply can't believe they think LIS actually works. It should be deprecated long time ago, as an outdated and not maintained for years. Such as their newest PHOTOS iPhone app which is total crap, as well as any previous mobile app Leica released. They rock at making hardware, but any software they made sucks big time.

I don't know if any public initiative would be helpful, because they are just bad at making software. They are hardware oriented company and they don't have experts and know how who understands nor value the good software. And the result is what we have today, and ever since.

Edited June 18, 2019 by hirohhhh

[jaapv]

Well, they are going to hire 60 IT types now.

[jaapv]

Please don't start multiple  threads on the same subject.

[hirohhhh]

I found a solution that worked for me so far.

I bought TetherBoost Pro that adds up more power to the camera through tethering cable. I tested it twice in the last two days and I had only few interruptions when I was heavily moving around with my camera, but that's significantly better than what I had before.

This is not the most elegant solution because it requires additional cables and power source (either wall plug or external battery), but it works.