# Tethering 5D-IV...EOS Utility-3 is awful: alternatives?



## pwp (Jan 31, 2017)

Tethering the 5D-III with EOS Utility-2 was kind of bearable, but the required, dumbed-down EOS Utility-3 with the 5D-IV leaves me irritated and wanting more. It's cabled up to the new 13" Touch Bar MBP with performance options. _Niiiice_...

Is there a decent LR plugin that gives camera control? 

I'm trialing Smart Shooter 3 but it's really no great gain over EU-3. 

There doesn't seem to be a great deal around in the way of tethering software. Are my previously useful search skills failing me?

-pw


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## privatebydesign (Jan 31, 2017)

Capture One is the defacto studio tethered program for studio shooters.

Corporate events with multiple shooters and centralized print stations seem to use Dark Room.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Jan 31, 2017)

I find EOS Utility 3 works great with my 5D MK III, its basically the same as ver 1 and ver 2. 

What is it that is different for the 5D MK IV? 

Almost every aspect can be manually controlled or can be put in auto if wished, but why anyone would not use manual??

LR tethering is not even close.


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## pwp (Jan 31, 2017)

privatebydesign said:


> Capture One is the defacto studio tethered program for studio shooters.
> 
> Corporate events with multiple shooters and centralized print stations seem to use Dark Room.



Agreed, CaptureOne is a great solution, but a dollar overkill just for it's tethering function. I'm pretty locked into the full Adobe CC Suite subscription, and have a very refined LR workflow. C1 is not really on the table for me.

Is Darkroom a LR plugin that gives camera functions? 

-pw


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## privatebydesign (Jan 31, 2017)

pwp said:


> privatebydesign said:
> 
> 
> > Capture One is the defacto studio tethered program for studio shooters.
> ...



No. It is a high volume tethered workstation. I worked with the pro version with 7 photographers at $1,300 per station license, so if C1 is off the table Darkroom is a non starter too.

For my own use I am rather enamoured with the CamRanger and it's control software. You can configure it to download to a folder 'watched' by LR, and you get total camera control including Live View and focus, along with a host of extras like time lapse, advanced bracketing (which includes when you have a flash mounted (bad Canon)) auto focus stacking etc etc. 

Depending on your specific requirements it might work, or be totally the wrong thing!


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## pwp (Jan 31, 2017)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> I find EOS Utility 3 works great with my 5D MK III, its basically the same as ver 1 and ver 2.
> What is it that is different for the 5D MK IV?


Something I found indispensable with earlier EOS Utility versions was the slightly buried function nested under "Other Functions" which offered a useful Test Shooting function. The process of refining say, a product shot might generate 20 or so test shots. These were just previews and not saved to the folder on the Mac, though did save on the memory card. The preview provided a useful RGB readout from wherever you floated the cursor. Typically, once the "look" was achieved, I'd shoot/save a bracket of four shots in RAW. This significantly simplified the selection and post production on extended multi-day tethered projects.

Annoyingly, Test Shooting has gone from EU-3.

One solution to this would be to shoot jpegs for the test shots, and switch to RAW for the final keepers. This could be dangerous as the possibility of forgetting to switch to RAW would be high, especially as a long day wears on with fatigue setting in. 

When I used a PC laptop, I tethered with the excellent BreezeBrowser tethering software. There is no Mac version.




Mt Spokane Photography said:


> LR tethering is not even close.


Agree, LR tethering without camera control is a non-starter. I thought there may be a well designed plugin that remedied this oversight. LR7 Adobe?

-pw


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## jeffa4444 (Jan 31, 2017)

Ive found tethered to either EOS utility 3 or to LR CC with my USB 3 Canon 5DS to be fine with my new MacBook Pro with touch bar. I did have a power issue so if your using Tether Tools your need the external power supply otherwise it doesn't function.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Feb 8, 2017)

pwp said:


> Mt Spokane Photography said:
> 
> 
> > I find EOS Utility 3 works great with my 5D MK III, its basically the same as ver 1 and ver 2.
> ...



You do not need test shots to check the histogram at different spots, just move the center white box over the object you want to check, and the live histogram will read that area, you can check depth of field, adjust all camera settings I've never needed 20 shots to refine a image, I usually take one or two shots. I put it on a large monitor and making the adjustments in live mode. I don't see anything different once the shot is taken, but bracketing the shots does let you compensate for not seeing some lighting issues, I'm good at missing things.


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