I haven’t tried this myself but apparently it is easy to set up. See instructions here.
Update: But see comment below if you are a LR user as a plugin is avaiable to make it even easier.
The Self Portrait script
Update: This is now obsolete, use instead the
DIYPhotobits.com Camera Control 1.0 application.
Also called the “Tethered Remote Bridge” script this addition to my scripting library lets me remotely release the shutter on my D300 or D40, while tethered via USB to my Windows PC. Then the image is downloaded and displayed in Adobe Bridge within 3-4 seconds.
DOWNLOAD (New version) – Gives you RAW or JPG choice
DOWNLOAD (Old version) – JPG only
It’s a combination of the prior scripts I’ve written so nothing very new to explain.
I am going to be using it while working on my “strobist” portrait skills. As I don’t have a model I’m stuck with doing self-portraits and I want to sit in my chair and trigger the camera and see the results all without getting up.
Yes I know I still have to work to adjust lights and such but it is still sure to be less back-and-forth between camera and seat now!
Tethered shooting with Bridge viewing
Update: This is now obsolete, use instead the DIYPhotobits.com Camera Control 2.1 – Greens
application.
Here’s an update to the Tethered shooting script
— this one customized to work with Bridge for viewing.
Instructions and usage are the same as the original except that if you have Bridge open on the tethered shooting folder — “c:\tethered” by default — then after each new image is added Bridge will advance to that image by pressing [END] to go to the last image in the folder. You need to have sorting set appropriately so the most recent image is the last in the folder.
It doesn’t work with Slideshow unfortunately but you can collapse the side panels (use the tab key) and maximize the size of the thumbnails to get an almost-full-screen view of the images as you shoot them.
D300 Remote Control Script
Update: This is now obsolete for two reasons, firstly remote is built into windows, and secondly for advance use you have the DIYPhotobits.com Camera Control 1.0 application.
I wrote yesterday about why I need this script to be a remote shutter release for my Nikon D300 so today here are the details of what you need, and how to use it. Oh, and why not use one of the cheap 3rd party remotes
(e.g. Phottix N1
or Cleon N8), a real remote like a ML-3 or a MC-DC1 Remote cord? Well if I can DIY I’d always like to try that first!
Hardware (this is what I used, you can substitute some pieces of course):
- Long USB cable — doesn’t have to be that long but longer is more convenient
- One Thinkpad X31 — or any laptop with a USB port and a Wifi connection
- One Fujitsu Lifebook — or any other laptop with a Wifi connection
- Wireless access point — so you can connect from one PC to another
- Windows XP SP2 on both PCs
- Microsoft Windows WIA Automation
- The software Linked below
DOWNLOAD (2.0)remote2
– RAW or JPG, you choose
– JPG only
Installation:
Copy the files into any folder on your PC, I suggest c:program filesremote but it’s up to you.
Usage:
- Make sure your camera is in USB PTP mode
- Plug the USB cable into the first laptop and into the camera, turn the camera on and cancel any pop-ups that occur for downloading etc
- Install the Windows WIA Automation DLL by running install.cmd (you only need to do this once)
- Run the script c:program filesremoteremote.wsf by double clicking it.
… and here’s the key thing that makes it wireless
- Now use your second laptop and use the built in Windows Remote Desktop function to connect to the first laptop over your wireless connection.
- To release the shutter on your D300 just click or use the enter key to press the “OK” button
Works with:
Cost:
- Long USB cable $2
- Thankpad X31 $1,099
- Fujitsu Lifebook $1,507
- Linksys Wifi Access point $47
- Windows WIA Automation $0
- My script $0
- Total: $2,655
Or, if you already have all that hardware then :
- Total: $0
Variation, remote but not wireless:
A very long mouse cable or keyboard cable could get you a similar effect with one laptop/computer – but that wouldn’t be so much fun now would it? Or how about a wireless keyboard or mouse?
And next:
And then this could be combined with the tethered shooting script – plus a “advanced to next image” script to get some good results, that’s the next thing to do on the scripting side.
Please let me know if you try this out and it works for you! I know this isn’t particularly easy to understand from reading the above, but you’ll find it easy if you try – and I’ll try to do a video some time to show how it works.
Update: The combined script that has the remote shutter release functionality here plus the tethered downloading I called the “Self Portrait Script” and you can download it
here .
Free Tethered Shooting Script for Nikon
Update: This version is now obsolete,
Update: The With Bridge version provides almost instant image viewing in Adobe Bridge without any keypresses. If you use Bridge instead of Adobe Lightroom then download that version. I’ve also made a video to show how to use this script.
If you’ve been keeping up with the blogs of various big photography bloggers out there you’ll certainly have been seeing quite a bit about tethered shooting recently. Not that it is a revolution or anything, but it certainly is a help to be able to see your images immediately on a big screen — and that doesn’t just go for those with failing eye-sight but basically the images you see on the LCD at the back of your camera are only the jpg preview, not the RAW (should you be shooting raw).
Even if you are shooting jpg just having to view them on such a tiny screen really makes it hard to tell if they are sharp or perhaps shaded as you are hoping. Sucking them right into your PC seems just so logical.
If you are a Canon shooter then no issue – the software comes with the camera (so I’m told).
If you are a Nikon shooter then it gets a little more difficult. If you are a Mac user you could use Aperture, but for Windows you seem to be stuck with Nikon Camera Control Pro. That’s a $160 or so software which does a lot more than just tethered shooting, but is probably overkill if like me you are a hobbiest just messing around.
So in true geeky DIY mode I thought it can’t be that hard to write a script that sucks pictures out of a USB connected camera and saves them onto the PC. And after a little poking around I find that actually it’s true, it isn’t that hard.
The thing that makes it practical is that most of what you need is built into Windows, another chunk comes as a standard optional microsoft download, such that the glue you need to pull it all together is just a few lines of code.
Part 1 is Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) – that’s built in
Part 2 is WIA Automation Layer
– a free download from Microsoft for Windows XP SP2 or higher
Part 3 is a script to tie it all together – which I present here
This is now obsolete, use instead the free DIYPhotobits.com Camera Control 4.0
application.
Requirements:
- Windows XP SP2 or higher
- A Nikon DSLR (D40, D60, D200 and D300 tested ok)
- USB cable
Installation:
Well nothing really, just unzip it and put it in a folder anywhere — I suggest c:\program files\tethered but anywhere would do.
Usage:
- Empty your camera card — that’s optional but a good start for reasons that will be apparent later
- Plug your camera in via USB — you should make sure USB in your menus is set to PTP
- If your PC pops up one of those windows wanting to download stuff, just cancle it
- Run “tethered.cmd” by double clicking on it
- Open your image viewer of choice – I use Bridge – and set it to look in the c:\tethered folder. If you are using Lightroom then you’d want to set that to be a watched folder.
- You are now ready to start shooting. Anything you shoot will turn into a file in a folder called c:\tethered within a second of you completing the exposure
- When you are done just close the Tethered window.
Notes:
- All your images are also stored on your memory card so you have a backup without using a D3 and two cards
- If you shoot more than 1000 images in one session it is liable to give an error as the filenames wrap around. That’s why it is good to empty your memory card first so that you are starting at file number 000.
- I’ve tested this with a Nikon D40 and it works fine, in theory it should work with any WIA compatible camera but the other Point and Shoot ones I have refuse to take pictures while the USB cable is connected so I can’t test them. I’d be very pleased to hear from those of you who have tried it on other cameras and if it worked or not.
- If you want the images stored somewhere other than c:\tethered then edit the .wsf file to change the location