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Shooting to a laptop

TheCoolerKingTheCoolerKing Registered Users Posts: 3 Beginner grinner
edited February 17, 2008 in Technique
Hi this is my first post here.

I'm was wondering how to shoot from a digital camera (I have a Nikon D80) to a laptop (PC). Since a lot of my shoots lately look sharp but when I open them in Photoshop I find they're really not.

Whats the cord that I need called? Is it a USB?
I tired downloading the Nikon NX or whatever.
The software in order to do it. And I wasnt too happy with it.

Thanks for the help.

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    IcebearIcebear Registered Users Posts: 4,015 Major grins
    edited February 6, 2008
    You do have to have the Nikon software in order to do this. I use Capture 4. I have the download instructions set to put the shots into a folder that Lightroom watches. Lightroom then moves the shot, as soon as it shows up, into whatever folder I tell Lightroom to use for the project I'm working on.

    The net effect is that within 5 seconds of pressing the shutter release (whether on-camera, a cable release, or using the laptop, I have a full screen image to look at.

    I love it.
    John :
    Natural selection is responsible for every living thing that exists.
    D3s, D500, D5300, and way more glass than the wife knows about.
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    TheCoolerKingTheCoolerKing Registered Users Posts: 3 Beginner grinner
    edited February 7, 2008
    Do you have to pay for capture 4?
    It really should be if you buy their cameras you should get some kind of software.

    Oh and I dont have lightroom...yet.
    Is it better than Bridge?
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    SloYerRollSloYerRoll Registered Users Posts: 2,788 Major grins
    edited February 8, 2008
    Let's stick to one question at a time thumb.gif We've got all day and night to answer all your questions. But let's keep the questions in individual threads so others can benefit from your questions as well.

    Here's all the info on Nikon software that you'll ever need. You can figure it out from there:D
    http://support.nikontech.com/cgi-bin/nikonusa.cfg/php/enduser/std_alp.php?p_prods=42%2C47&p_pv=2.47&p_cats=185&p_cv=1.185

    Google is your friend.

    BTW Lr abnd Br are two seperate beasts. You can't even compare them. But that stuff has been hashed out in these forums. Jsut do a search. If you don't get good results.. Google is your friend again. just type the following into a google search:
    "site:www.dgrin.com __________" (enter your search keywords in place of the underscore...

    Cheers,
    -Jon
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    IcebearIcebear Registered Users Posts: 4,015 Major grins
    edited February 8, 2008
    TheCoolerKing wrote:
    Do you have to pay for capture 4?
    It really should be if you buy their cameras you should get some kind of software.

    Oh and I dont have lightroom...yet.
    Is it better than Bridge?

    Yeah, you have buy Capture. You do get "some kind of software" or at least you used to get "Picture Project" or something. Capture is a whole different animal though. It's a RAW processor, etc. I used to use it to preview the downloaded shots, but it was way too clunky, so I now only use Capture to control the camera and send the image to Lightroom.

    I have CS3, but to tell you the truth, I've NEVER even opened Bridge, so can't comment intelligently, but I sure do like Lightroom.
    John :
    Natural selection is responsible for every living thing that exists.
    D3s, D500, D5300, and way more glass than the wife knows about.
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    dmmattixdmmattix Registered Users Posts: 341 Major grins
    edited February 8, 2008
    You can also use Nikon Camera Control Pro. I have not used it being a Canon shooter but Scott Kelby mentioned it in his Lightroom book (I am getting through the thing). Kelby showed setting it up, you basically tell it to put the files in a Folder that Lightroom is monitoring and tell to not do anything else. I Googled Nikon Camera Control Pro and it appears to be $50-60, a bit cheaper than Capture One I believe but I have not priced C1 recently.

    Hope this helps
    _________________________________________________________

    Mike Mattix
    Tulsa, OK

    "There are always three sides to every story. Yours, mine, and the truth" - Unknown
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    neastguyneastguy Registered Users Posts: 199 Major grins
    edited February 8, 2008
    Icebear wrote:
    Yeah, you have buy Capture. You do get "some kind of software" or at least you used to get "Picture Project" or something. Capture is a whole different animal though. It's a RAW processor, etc. I used to use it to preview the downloaded shots, but it was way too clunky, so I now only use Capture to control the camera and send the image to Lightroom.

    I have CS3, but to tell you the truth, I've NEVER even opened Bridge, so can't comment intelligently, but I sure do like Lightroom.

    is lightroom included in cs3? I'm all confused....lolwings.gif
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    IcebearIcebear Registered Users Posts: 4,015 Major grins
    edited February 8, 2008
    No, sorry, guess my wording was ambiguous. I was using PSE when I bought Lightroom, then bought CS3 when Adobe made me an offer I couldn't refuse.
    John :
    Natural selection is responsible for every living thing that exists.
    D3s, D500, D5300, and way more glass than the wife knows about.
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    exploderpilotexploderpilot Banned Posts: 60 Big grins
    edited February 9, 2008
    I have a DSLR control program on my laptop that works great. it shows a full screen pic seconds afer shutter release, without having to send the image to lightroom, which i also use, but in batch format later. It's called dslr remote pro. It costs about 100 bucks, but you get complete camera control. Whatever setting you are using on your camera, those are the controls that are available on-screen. If you set the camera's dial to manual, you control all the variables right there on screen.
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    IcebearIcebear Registered Users Posts: 4,015 Major grins
    edited February 9, 2008
    Yeah, Nikon Capture Control (part of Capture) does the same thing. The Lightroom enhancement is just that - an enhancement. It's so nice to be able to have the ability to play with the RAW image right away, in a non-destructive manner in Lightroom. My clients love it, and it saves me tons of time later.
    John :
    Natural selection is responsible for every living thing that exists.
    D3s, D500, D5300, and way more glass than the wife knows about.
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    pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,698 moderator
    edited February 14, 2008
    TheCoolerKing wrote:
    Hi this is my first post here.

    I'm was wondering how to shoot from a digital camera (I have a Nikon D80) to a laptop (PC). Since a lot of my shoots lately look sharp but when I open them in Photoshop I find they're really not.

    Whats the cord that I need called? Is it a USB?
    I tired downloading the Nikon NX or whatever.
    The software in order to do it. And I wasnt too happy with it.

    Thanks for the help.


    Welcome to dgrin.

    Is this question "how to see the image real time on a laptop", or how to shoot critically sharp images with your camera and KNOW that they are sharp without needing to see them large on a laptop screen?

    If you routinely need a laptop image to be certain your images are sharp, you may have problems with your shooting technique that need to be addressed first.

    Tethered shooting can be a great asset shooting portraits in a studio, but is not practical in lots of real day to day shooting challenges.
    Pathfinder - www.pathfinder.smugmug.com

    Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
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    Shane422Shane422 Registered Users Posts: 460 Major grins
    edited February 15, 2008
    eye fi card
    I have been using an eye fi card (www.eye.fi) to do something similar to tethered shooting. This is a wireless SD memory card that sends the pics to your PC while you shoot. Make no mistake, its not in real time. But its only a few minutes slower. So while I shoot pics of babies, I have the laptop open with Picasa running, and the pics just appear in the folder for the parents to see. Each image takes about 5 seconds to upload, and the transfer occurs during the cameras idle moments. So its not as fast a tethered because the transfer has to wait for the idle moments, but its not bad and its wireless. You do have to be in range of a router.
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    exploderpilotexploderpilot Banned Posts: 60 Big grins
    edited February 16, 2008
    That sounds like a sweet studio setup. I only have CF on my camera though, I wonder if that thing would work in a CF to SD adapter?
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    Shane422Shane422 Registered Users Posts: 460 Major grins
    edited February 17, 2008
    exploderpilot wrote:
    That sounds like a sweet studio setup. I only have CF on my camera though, I wonder if that thing would work in a CF to SD adapter?

    It does work with a CF adaptor. I know Photojojo sells it as a combo. But you might also ask Andy (Smugmug Admin) which one he uses. He uses a eye.fi card with a high end Canon.
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    SloYerRollSloYerRoll Registered Users Posts: 2,788 Major grins
    edited February 17, 2008
    Shane422 wrote:
    It does work with a CF adaptor. I know Photojojo sells it as a combo. But you might also ask Andy (Smugmug Admin) which one he uses. He uses a eye.fi card with a high end Canon.
    Subscribed.
    It's definately something I don't need. But it sounds really cool and I'd love to know what the CF version is for eye.fi.
    ear.gif
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