Longer USB cord for tethering

Deacon

I like to work tethered in the studio and use a D3. The supplied usb cable UC-E6 is relatively short and limits movement. Can someone point me to a longer 10-12' cord? I have searched Nikon's site as well as Googling but no apparent results.

Thanks,

Deacon

darkdragon

check http://www.monoprice.com

They have up to 15' USB cables. You can probably find just a USB extention cable that will work with yours if your cable has a proprietary tip.

ziggy53

Do be aware that long USB cables are vulnerable to considerable signal loss and don't always work. Unless you need tethered remote control of the camera you might be better off with an EyeFi card if you just want to get the images back to the computer.

I knew some product photographers using Bronica equipment and digital backs and they also tried using long USB cables and it did not work.

For distance control of the camera there is the Nikon ML-3 Compact Modulite Remote Control Set.

Nikon would prefer that you use the WT-4A Wireless Transmitter, which also allows remote control of the camera.

Another method is to use a fairly powerful laptop on a shorter USB cable and attach the laptop to the camera tripod/stand/pedestal (using a tripod shelf or stand/pedestal shelf).

Scott_Quier

I actually took a very long "printer" USB cable, cut off the "printer" end, soldered on the female connector from another cable and ended up with a quite long USB extension cord. I knew when I started that it might fail but thought I would give it a try anyway. Anyway, plugged that cable into my computer (laptop) and then connected to it the cable that came with the camera and finally connected the camera. Found that it didn't work on one of the ports on my computer but did work on a different. Could be because one port is/was "stronger" than the other.

ziggy53

Scott_Quier wrote:

I actually took a very long "printer" USB cable, cut off the "printer" end, soldered on the female connector from another cable and ended up with a quite long USB extension cord. I knew when I started that it might fail but thought I would give it a try anyway. Anyway, plugged that cable into my computer (laptop) and then connected to it the cable that came with the camera and finally connected the camera. Found that it didn't work on one of the ports on my computer but did work on a different. Could be because one port is/was "stronger" than the other.

It is sometimes a signal to noise problem. With long cables the signal to noise ratio can become problematic and one port might have either a better signal to start with or reduced electrical noise, often due to internal cord routing and internal components that act as electrical noise generators.

Using a powered (or self-powered) USB hub can sometimes help extend USB cables, but then you have another appliance and cable to consider.

If you want crazy long distances, 100 feet or more, consider a USB/Cat5 extender. These devices allow the conversion of USB to signals which transport well over longer distances using network cable, and then translate back to USB on the other end. The lesser expensive extenders do impact USB speed however.

If you want crazy/stupid long distances, up tp 10 kilometers in some cases, you can even get fiber-optic based extenders (and prices nearly as large as the cables are long).

BradfordBenn

My company manufactures USB controlled audio equipment, and the most common question is how can I make the USB go farther. USB in general needs to be less than 5 Meters to allow for proper handshaking and signaling. This is not to say that you can't go farther just that not everything will go farther depends on lots of things ranging from cable quality to the amount of data being transmitted.

The idea of going USB to Ethernet works fairly well and solves the distance limitation and even allows for wireless communication. I would look at that as the next option if a wireless option is not available natively for the camera.

cmason

I bought a USB extension cable. Add it to an existing USB cable. Works great on my Canon for tethered shooting.

http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-F3U134-10-Extension-Cable-10-Feet/dp/B00001ZWXA

jkellerman

What about using card readers?

Robinivich

Any typical electronics store will have USB extension cable male -> female connectors of the typical size used for computers (USB type A?). You can stack these together, I've used the USB A to mini cord that came with the camera and two ~8ft lengths of extensions to do tethered shooting with a canon rebel xt, and I've used 1 extension with a 40d for live view shooting (with the live view showing as video on my computer).

Haven't done any real testing besides those two instances (ie 40d with 16 ft of cable?), but what I've read mirrors what Bradford Ben said, wrt signal degradation and timing of handshakes, etc.

codrus

My understanding is that the passive extension cables are not allowed by the USB spec. If you have lots of excess capacity in terms of noise handling/etc in your devices, then it may work, but it also may not. The cables are pretty cheap, so you don't lose much by trying one, but don't be surprised if it doesn't work.

The "proper" way to do this by the spec is to use an "active extension cable". Essentially this is a cable with a built-in 1-port hub, powered by USB power. They're a bit more expensive, but should be more likely to work. Here's one, for example: http://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-U026-016-Certified-Extension/dp/B0002D6QJO (no personal experience with this cable)

--Ian

Scott_Quier

codrus wrote:

The "proper" way to do this by the spec is to use an "active extension cable". Essentially this is a cable with a built-in 1-port hub, powered by USB power. They're a bit more expensive, but should be more likely to work. Here's one, for example: http://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-U026-016-Certified-Extension/dp/B0002D6QJO (no personal experience with this cable)

--Ian

Ordered - we'll see how good it is. If I can decrease the chances of having a problem when I want/need to shoot tethered, then I'm all over that like white on rice! I shot my hi-key series with the laptop tethered where the model could see it. It had a hugely significant impact on how well things went with her! Thanks for the link!

S-So

I'm using this that I bought from Amazon.com for less than $5, and it works great:

Belkin F3U138-10 Pro Series 10-Foot USB 2.0 5-Pin Mini-B Cable

http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-F3U138-10-10-Foot-5-Pin-Mini-B/dp/B000067RMT/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1233199214&sr=1-1