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Tethering with Aperture, Fun and Easy
I wanted to demonstrate some different flash effects in the class I teach, bounce, direct, off-camera, side light, scary light from below, etc., and I planned to photograph a student and import the images into Aperture to talk about the results.
But of course, there’s a much better way to do this demo if you remember that Aperture supports “tethering”, which means it instantly imports the picture just after it is shot, in full screen glory - all in real time with the camera connected to the computers’ USB port.
I know that studio/commercial/advertising photographers are tethering on a regular basis, but this was my first time and for some reason I expected it to be complicated, but it was simple.
You just connect a supported camera (click here to see if your camera is supported) via a USB cable and your camera will pop up above your local drive in the import window.
Go to File>Tether > Start Session and the Tether Settings HUD will pop up. You can then add metadata much like regular importing, to each image you shoot and bring in to Aperture. That’s it.
As you shoot there’s a slight delay and the image you just shot is in your library and up on the screen.
When your camera is tethered you’ll see a little camera icon appear next to the project or album you choose to place the live images. You can even fire the camera from the computer, clicking on the “Capture” button in the Tether HUD.
Aside from the obvious uses for working with clients, it’s great for teachers who want to show specific effects of lighting for example or how different focal lengths or lens to subject distances will effect your end results.
Comments (7)
Tethering is great. Too bad Apple doesn't support more recent (and not so recent) cameras. I'm really missing support for the EOS 400d.
Too bad Canon don't support Picture Transfer Protocol properly in their newer cameras... ;-)
Ian
I was really disappointed to find out Aperture 2 does not support the Canon 40D for tethering. I spoke with Canon, and they do not think this is their problem. Tethering does work with their EOS Utility. Apple has stated that it is not their problem, but rather Canon using a non-standard protocol. I think Canon has the strongest argument at this point.
In the meantime, it is still possible to use Aperture for tethering in conjunction with the EOS Utility and Digital Photo Professional (DPP) by setting up a hot folder. This longstanding workaround will transfer the image to Aperture after it is transferred to Canon's DPP which means there is a bit of a delay. Not perfect, but it works.
Richard,
You can use the Aperture Hot Folder script to enable tethered shooting with unsupported cameras.
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/automator/aperturehotfolder.html
This lets me shoot my E-3 tethered when combined with Olympus Studio.
Cheers,
Andreas
You know what sucks about the blame game. ... No matter what the exact facts are, people blame one company or another for whatever reason seems justifiable to them. Someone to hit back at. ... That kind of unsubstantiated name calling mars the names of either company and fixes nothing.
I waited to buy my camera until I saw that it was supported in my work flow. ... I would not have bought it if I could not find out about its compatibility first.
We all get hyped by the newest, and the greatest toys, but sometimes we get carried away with desire, and forget that we can also make rational decisions based on knowledge.
The way I see it, it is very simple. There are two options. Either Camera vendors conform to a common standard or each makes their own protocol. Either way camara manufacturers only have to support one standard, either a standard one or their won proprietary one. From the software vendor perspective, the decision the camera manufacturer takes makes a huge difference. If each manufacturer makes their own, then the software vendor has to support multiple protocols one for each camera manufaturer they support (Assuming the protocol supports all cameras of that brand). That is a lot of work for the software developer. By software develooper I don't mean Apple only, Adobe has to jump through the same hoops and so do any other small third parties that could be inovating but instead are bogged down by supporting multiple protocols.
I'm sorry, But in this case, I vote for a common standard, I don't care what justification Canon has for their protocol. Proprietary protocols hold everyone back.
I love Aperture and use it every day, but...
It is the WRONG TOOL for tethered shooting!
With Live-View in the newer Canon Cameras the tool of choice is Canon's own software DPP... It's kinda made for tethered shooting in the first place, and it allows for focusing from the computer as well... And it comes with the camera for free!
Once you have captured your images, open aperture and do a regular import... Works every time...
Still not happy? Try CaptureOne... Same idea, different RAW processor...
Bottom line, use the right tool for the job at hand...
Again don't get me wrong, I still love Aperture and use it as my primary workflow tool everyday...