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Tethered shooting with Mac Book Pro with Retina Display

Mark Viker
I've been shooting tethered with C1 Pro 3.7 for years with Phase One Backs and Canon cameras. I haven't updated my shooting gear in a while, but now a dying old Mac Book Pro is forcing me towards upgrading.

I've been looking through your very helpful posts and I'm having trouble discerning the most relevant info for my situation (thank you very much to all contributors).

Ideally, I'd like to buy a new Mac Book Pro with Retina Display, install C1 Pro 6, and shoot in the studio, tethered to a Canon camera. It would be amazing if I could use my old reliable Canon 1ds Mark II, but with the firewire to thunderbolt adapter cord needed I might be asking too much.

Can anyone help me make a good decision before I buy the new hardware and software?

Thanks!

Mark
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Comments

6 comments

Date Votes
  • Drew Altdo
    Mark,
    The best place to start is with the release notes for Capture One.
    Here are the main points to understand before making a decision;

    1. The Canon 1Ds Mark II has not been supported tethered in Capture One since Capture One 5.2.1. This is simply due to the Canon Software package we are provided to enable tethering, no longer supporting that "family" of cameras. Some users still say they have success tethering with this camera in later versions but it is technically not supported and it's functionality is no guarantee in Capture One 6.

    2. New Retina systems come with the Mountain Lion 10.8 Operating System installed. Canon does not yet have software that is supported on the 10.8 Operating System so it tethering with any Canon Camera in Mountain Lion will have significant challenges. We hope that Canon will release a new software package in October, which we can hopefully incorporate into Capture One shortly after.

    3. Tethering via firewire on the Thunderbolt port has been met with mixed reviews by many of our users. Some have noticed connection drops due to ill fitting thunderbolt ports. Although supported (for appropriate cameras) it is one more point of failure for connection and this could certainly cause stability issues.
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  • Mark Viker
    Thanks very much for the clear explanation Drew!
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  • NN217408UL8
    I have an issue with the new Mac Book Pro Thunderbolt connection. I am using an H20 on a Hasselblad 500C/M. I have a firewire 400 to 800 cable that works fine on my MacPro, but when that same cable is plugged into the Thunderbolt adapter the camera won't fire. The software says the camera is attached and the back lights up.

    Tips?

    Cheers,

    Gord
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  • Drew Altdo
    [quote="NN217408UL8" wrote:
    Tips?

    External powered hub?
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  • NN217408UL8
    Everything lights up and the software recognises and attaches the camera, why would I need to spend on an external power hub? Could it attach through USB3?
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  • Drew Altdo
    [quote="NN217408UL8" wrote:
    Everything lights up and the software recognises and attaches the camera, why would I need to spend on an external power hub? Could it attach through USB3?


    The H20 does not have a USB port so that is not possible.
    As you are using thunderbolt, which has a minimum power exchange it is absolutely necessary to use an externally powered hub to properly power the back. A powered Firewire hub is necessary even without the use of Thunderbolt on MacBook Pro systems as they do not provide enough power even through a firewire port. This is a well known and documented issue.
    The back lighting up is simply evidence that it has enough power to light two LED's and the software may connect to it as it can identify the hardware. Unfortunately it is not a positive indication that the back has enough power to properly function.
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