Tethering

[KristieK]

I have been asked to take photos of santa and little kids. I've never done this before and from what I understand I need to tether my camera to my laptop. Would someone please help me figure out how to do this?

[OsmosisStudios]

Depends on how youre selling the photos.

At the local mall, the photographer shoots to a card and once an hour swaps it for another. While he shoots the next set, his assistant does the processing. Prints are made at a shop in the mall.

[KristieK]

Im actually not selling them, Im doing it for a law enforcement agency the program is called Holiday and Heros. Its for underprevlidged kids.

[zona5101]

do you need to tether to make the workflow work or like Os suggests, will swapping cards work??

To tether you need: the proper cable from cam to computer, usually a firewire ( i think1394?)
You need software. Lightroom3 has it built in, camera manufacturers sell their own versions and there are a coupe of freeware versions you can download.

Usually it's USB, not Firewire.

There are a few different ways, but it depends on your camera. Some come with software that allow direct control of the camera via USB. I've used the Canon version, and it works quite well.

Another option is DSLRremote from BreezeSys. But it's expensive and doesn't do much more than the software that comes with the camera. They also sell PSRemote, which can control some Canon P&S cameras.

The third option is a wireless SD card like the EyeFi. This will work in every camera that has an SD card slot, and I'ver heard the new ones can download directly to your PC (unlike the old ones that required an internet connection). Not ultra-reliable, but another option none-the-less.

[Jim Poor]

If you can do it without tethering, I recommend it. Tethering is just one extra lair of PITA that can (and will) go wrong.

[KristieK]

I have a Nikon D40x camera. Is it beter to keep changing out the SD cards or try to tether to my laptop?

[scootermcq]

You can do it with Capture NX from Nikon or Lightroom 3, but like Jim says it is a pain. The one time I tried to do it in a similar setting was the one time they did not want to talk together. If you have a card reader on the notebook, I would go with swapping unless you need instant gratification.

[StillFocus]

I have to tether for work, and I can count on it messing up at least once a day. Given the option I would... well, honestly I wouldn't even consider tethering as an option.

[wulf]

Vital questions are "what camera?" and "what operating system?". Give us those bits of information and people can probably suggest software you can use to try out the idea.

Also, what was the source that suggested tethering was vital?

Wulf