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Fastest Cable for Shooting Tethered?

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22 comments

  • Edward Caruso
    a usb repeater from Iogear would help alittle.
    I am wary of those fusion drive setups from apple - I hope you are backing up often to an external drive while shooting.
    I would never shoot sRAW - dont you lose image quality?

    Shooting over USB2 is very limited.
    But (aside from shooting with a phase back over firewire which is super fast) a Mac Pro with 6, 12 cores would really make a difference.
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  • Paul Steunebrink
    I don't think about cables as being faster or slower. Yes, a bad connection can slow down the transfer, but more likely there will be no transfer at all in that case.

    What you like to have is fast and foremost reliable. You will acquire that goal through a cable repeater or better a powered hub when you exceed the 2 meters. Any good quality cable will do (at least that is what I think).

    As Edward pointed out a fast machine can make the difference (in other words, you cable is not the slowest link).
    Tip: set the preview cache size in preferences to your monitor resolution
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  • Christian Gruner
    The cable isn't the bottleneck. USB2-protocol and computer speed is.

    With the 5d3 nothing can be done about the usb2 interface, so that leaves us looking at the machine. When shooting tethered especially a fast hard-disk (SSD) and fast CPU (number of cores doesn't matter, as preview-generation is singe-core. Fast per-core performance is what one should be looking for) are key.
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  • Edward Caruso
    [quote="Christian Gr" wrote:
    When shooting tethered especially a fast hard-disk (SSD) and fast CPU (number of cores doesn't matter, as preview-generation is singe-core. Fast per-core performance is what one should be looking for) are key.


    I feel like I've asked this question in the past and was told more cores is important, I really wish Phase One would provide a proper guide to hardware recommendations for these tasks. So my 2009 2.93 quad core Mac Pro will tether faster than a new 2013 Macbook Pro thats 2.3 quad core?
    Or how about a previous generation 2011 2.6 quad MBP will be faster than that new 2013 2.3 quad MBP?

    These are the kind of questions I get asked very often from clients. Unfortunately I cannot buy and test these machines myself. Adobe puts out a spec guide giving users very good recommendations on how to get best results from Photoshop.
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  • Edward Moss
    I've just put a SSD in my mid 2010 Macbook pro, pics appear almost instantly, before it was shoot and wait, best upgrade I've ever done.
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  • Edward Caruso
    yes SSD's are essential - even better is to RAID 0 them in a Mac Pro, but I really want to know tethered speed of different speed processors. If an older 2.93 quad MP is faster than a new 2.3 quad MBP for example. Or if the upcoming new MP processor will be dramatically faster than the fastest current iMac processor. I have clients asking me what to buy and I would love some help from PO.
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  • Christian Gruner
    [quote="Edward51" wrote:
    [quote="Christian Gr" wrote:
    When shooting tethered especially a fast hard-disk (SSD) and fast CPU (number of cores doesn't matter, as preview-generation is singe-core. Fast per-core performance is what one should be looking for) are key.


    I feel like I've asked this question in the past and was told more cores is important, I really wish Phase One would provide a proper guide to hardware recommendations for these tasks. So my 2009 2.93 quad core Mac Pro will tether faster than a new 2013 Macbook Pro thats 2.3 quad core?
    Or how about a previous generation 2011 2.6 quad MBP will be faster than that new 2013 2.3 quad MBP?

    These are the kind of questions I get asked very often from clients. Unfortunately I cannot buy and test these machines myself. Adobe puts out a spec guide giving users very good recommendations on how to get best results from Photoshop.


    Please note that is for preview-generation only, when I mentioned the single core. For processing/adjusting all available cores are used.
    With regards to the specific CPU questions you are better of consulting a benchmark site.
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  • Edward Caruso
    [quote="Christian Gr" wrote:

    Please note that is for preview-generation only, when I mentioned the single core. For processing/adjusting all available cores are used.
    With regards to the specific CPU questions you are better of consulting a benchmark site.


    Hi Christian,

    Preview generation is the #1 priority on advertising & fashion shoots - adjustments 2nd - the rest is not a big deal.
    I do look at those benchmark sites but no one tests tethering Capture One. Basically we need to see the images on screen and rendered as soon as they are shot. So they fastest CPU (but what about across different generations?) and how about video cards? Assume machines have at least 16GB RAM.
    Are there common bechmarks that might estimate how C1P would work?
    It would be great if PO could test a variety of machines and give us a report on preview generation. (but not sure how you quantify it) You must test on a variety of setups?
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  • Christian Gruner
    This benchmark is probably the closest you get: https://compubench.com/result.jsp?test=CLB40100
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  • dale11833
    Tethered, C1 6 will render images faster than C1 7. Cables don't seem to make a difference for me.
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  • NNN634450377160685091
    I have the similar problem, I shoot beauty with 1500-3000 shoots a day and shooting fast.

    the 5DmkIII is faster and it has a bigger buffer. I found that the USB3 is not supported on this camera, BUT, it still transfers faster then the USB cable set up. There are USB3 cables not supported for this camera.

    this one work
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DMF ... UTF8&psc=1

    plus this :

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007KL ... UTF8&psc=1
    this cable does not plug into the 5D MK II.


    I agree that still pictures come up with delay if you shoot fast , but if you set you camera to all the correct settings in color, exposer, profile ( faithful ) i get a very fast camera preview even if it is pixels until it renders the full res preview.

    don't forget the program to show immediately the preview , under camera..

    C1P is still the only program in my test that can keep up..
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  • LSdigi.com
    What is your Preview size set on Settings? Makes a huge difference. Use Shift + CMD + 4 to draw screenshot around the size of the preview of the image and see what the longest measurement is. In my experience it has never been higher than 1440 or 1680 using external monitors hooked up to MBP.

    All usb2 cables will be same speed, just make sure not to extend it beyond 5 meters. As someone else has said, making most of the work in-camera would make rendering faster (cropping and loads of adjustments makes it render slower), also what setting have you set on "Select Capture", is it immediately or when ready? I find that using my machine with 5D MK II renders very quickly even when shooting fast, so your machine should handle it nicely. Sadly Canon has not released a USB3 model yet (stupid), and although 1DX could technically transfer 2x faster through Gigabit Ethernet port than USB2 it does not work tethered via C1 (again, stupid).
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  • NN634871031878647794UL
    Thanks for the input everyone.

    [quote="Edward51" wrote:
    a usb repeater from Iogear would help alittle.
    I am wary of those fusion drive setups from apple - I hope you are backing up often to an external drive while shooting.
    I would never shoot sRAW - dont you lose image quality?

    Shooting over USB2 is very limited.
    But (aside from shooting with a phase back over firewire which is super fast) a Mac Pro with 6, 12 cores would really make a difference.


    After every model outfit, I select and process the images, then transfer onto a server for the retoucher to work on immediately. The whole shoot is also backed up at the end of the day.

    We're currently looking at a Mac Pro, but not sure the base model would provide much speed advantage over our current iMac.


    [quote="NNN634450377160685091" wrote:
    I have the similar problem, I shoot beauty with 1500-3000 shoots a day and shooting fast.

    the 5DmkIII is faster and it has a bigger buffer. I found that the USB3 is not supported on this camera, BUT, it still transfers faster then the USB cable set up. There are USB3 cables not supported for this camera.

    this one work
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DMF ... UTF8&psc=1

    plus this :

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007KL ... UTF8&psc=1
    this cable does not plug into the 5D MK II.


    I agree that still pictures come up with delay if you shoot fast , but if you set you camera to all the correct settings in color, exposer, profile ( faithful ) i get a very fast camera preview even if it is pixels until it renders the full res preview.

    don't forget the program to show immediately the preview , under camera..

    C1P is still the only program in my test that can keep up..


    We are shooting ecom fashion - the final images that go online are pretty small.
    We couldn't tell the difference with the final images between RAW & mRAW (We use that not sRAW, sorry)

    So using a USB 3 cable might speed up the transfer?

    [quote="Paul_Steunebrink" wrote:

    What you like to have is fast and foremost reliable. You will acquire that goal through a cable repeater or better a powered hub when you exceed the 2 meters. Any good quality cable will do (at least that is what I think).

    As Edward pointed out a fast machine can make the difference (in other words, you cable is not the slowest link).
    Tip: set the preview cache size in preferences to your monitor resolution



    I'll try running the 5M USB2 cabe trough our powered hub.
    Thanks for the 'preview cache size r monitor resolution' tip.

    [quote="LSdigi.com" wrote:
    What is your Preview size set on Settings? Makes a huge difference. Use Shift + CMD + 4 to draw screenshot around the size of the preview of the image and see what the longest measurement is. In my experience it has never been higher than 1440 or 1680 using external monitors hooked up to MBP.

    All usb2 cables will be same speed, just make sure not to extend it beyond 5 meters. As someone else has said, making most of the work in-camera would make rendering faster (cropping and loads of adjustments makes it render slower), also what setting have you set on "Select Capture", is it immediately or when ready? I find that using my machine with 5D MK II renders very quickly even when shooting fast, so your machine should handle it nicely. Sadly Canon has not released a USB3 model yet (stupid), and although 1DX could technically transfer 2x faster through Gigabit Ethernet port than USB2 it does not work tethered via C1 (again, stupid).


    Looks like the preview size is about 928 × 1323.

    Sorry - not sure where I'm looking for the "Select Capture" thing.


    Thanks again
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  • danielschweinert
    To speed up Capture One "disable default lens correction". This feature is now implemented under the little triangle in the Lens Correction tab. If you don't need lens correction disable it and your mac will run a lot faster!

    http://www.schweinert.com/upload/ddlc.jpg
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  • NN634871031878647794UL
    [quote="danielschweinert" wrote:
    To speed up Capture One "disable default lens correction". This feature is now implemented under the little triangle in the Lens Correction tab. If you don't need lens correction disable it and your mac will run a lot faster!


    Great stuff, have now done this. Thank you.
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  • Doug Peterson
    Sounds like what you really need is an IQ140 with USB3 or FW800 or a P40+ with FW400 shooting in sensor+ mode with IIQ-S format. Either would be significantly faster in shooting speed and [shot to preview-on-screen] time in continuous fast paced fashion shooting than your prosumer 5D3. Both would also be nearly buffer-free even in extended rapid shooting.

    😎
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  • Steven48
    [quote="Digital Transitions, Doug" wrote:
    Sounds like what you really need is an IQ140 with USB3 or FW800 or a P40+ with FW400 shooting in sensor+ mode with IIQ-S format. Either would be significantly faster in shooting speed and [shot to preview-on-screen] time in continuous fast paced fashion shooting than your prosumer 5D3. Both would also be nearly buffer-free even in extended rapid shooting.

    😎

    Yeah, we'll not everybody can afford a $20K+ for those camera systems (just based upon a quick google search). I think given a chance any of us would love to operate one of those systems. Sometimes you have to do the best you can with what you've got.
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  • NN87501
    I gave up years ago shooting tethered as it is PAINFULLY slow. I too shoot fashion,catalogue,beauty and find the computer,C-1 cannot keep up at all and a complete embarrassment when on a shoot. Yesterday I decided to try it again after years and agian was totally disappointed and finally after the first shot ripped the cord out and shot to the card. If your shooting stills or very slow shoots it is ok, other wise completely useless. I love C-1 for converting RAWS but shooting tethered is just not good ever. I have the latest Macbook Pro with 16 gigs of ram and C-1 just cannot keep up. No cable or anything is going to help you if you doing a normal volume of shooting. Tethered shooting is,IMHO, for Landscape guys and Product photography. Another problem is my clients want the jpegs right after a days shoot so I have to shoot RAW+sjpeg because making contact sheets at the end of the day is not going to work at all and means extra time.Again I am talking about semi long day shoots. I have a P30 that sometimes works pretty good but only use it 2-3 times a year because clients want things fast, therefore Canons to the CF card is the only good solution. On location? Forget it, way to cumbersome unless your shooting advertising and very LOW volume shooting. 😁 Hopefully canon will put out it's next camera with USB3. Not sure that will even help!! I am not sure if I had the lens fixing thingy turned off, but this is my experience with all C-1 programs and I have had all of them since 8 years now.Have not tried Lightroom lately but even a couple of years ago it was way faster than C-1, I use C-1 religiously for my conversion though...
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  • LSdigi.com
    I'm sorry but I have to disagree with almost everything you have said...

    I gave up years ago shooting tethered as it is PAINFULLY slow. I too shoot fashion,catalogue,beauty and find the computer,C-1 cannot keep up at all and a complete embarrassment when on a shoot


    I have been a Digital Operator for about 4 years, and you are correct - years ago C1 was painfully slow, loads of bugs, constant connection problems, compatibility issues. Since 6.4 I found capture to be very fast, with relatively few problems. Now running 7.1.6 on my shoot computer is lightning fast, even with IQ260 files - quick rendering (providing you have set up the preview size correctly) and very few tethering problems. I usually have it set to shot new capture Immediately, and use loupe tool to check for focus as images are coming in (if you click on e.g eyes on one shot, even if the image changes to next capture by the time it renders, it still shows the previous image you clicked on).

    Almost a 100% of my shoots that I operate on we use tethered shooting, and my shoots / clients range from still life, fashion lookbooks, advertising, sports etc etc. The only time cards are used is for lifestyle shoots when the Photographer needs to move around a lot.

    In terms of the volume we tend to do between 900-2000+ shots a day, sometimes its on 60mp so almost fill up my SSD, and it still keeps up.

    Another problem is my clients want the jpegs right after a days shoot so I have to shoot RAW+sjpeg because making contact sheets at the end of the day is not going to work at all and means extra time


    I have never found the need to use RAW + JPEG. And when I operate I can deliver all JPEG's (could be up to 2000) in approx 5 minutes after the Photographer stops shooting. The trick is in QuickProof JPEG's on your process recipe. This is directly linked to the Preview size in Options menu. Mine is usually set between 1440 and 1680 depending if we use an external monitor.

    Quickproof JPEG's are simply the previews generated while shooting - and as you click "process" it just copies them into the folder that you want, it's super fast! I process QuickProof's after every single shot, and ChronoSync backups onto (usually 2-5 external drives) as well, so once the whole shoot is finished you only need 5 minutes to finish the last shot.

    On location? Forget it, way to cumbersome unless your shooting advertising and very LOW volume shooting.


    Again, it sounds like you just need to get the gear right. Apart from lifestyle shoots we always tether, it's no different than from studio and the volume can be as high as you want. I have made a location Peli case with Hyperjuice slot and EXT drive, its tripod mounted so very easy to carry around, collapse when not needed etc. If you need a longer cable than 5m you can always use Active Extensions such as the TetherTools (bit pricey).

    http://i1.wp.com/www.LSdigi.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/PeliCase01.jpg?resize=399%2C600

    Hopefully canon will put out it's next camera with USB3. Not sure that will even help!!


    Me too. Canon 1DX has an Ethernet port, which would be an AMAZING way to tether - cheap and good cables + connection end, and (theoretically) twice the speed of USB2 (480 vs 1000). Now that I bought one I found that it can only tether via USB2 because of CaptureOne + Canon SDK not offering support for Ethernet. Have to say its a completely missed opportunity by Canon - ethernet port would be completely sufficient in terms of transfer speed and so much more reliable.

    USB3 will make a big difference. I find D800 tethered to my laptop faster than 5D MK II files, and they are almost twice the size.
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  • NN634871031878647794UL
    Can use the HDMI port on my Canon 5D Mkiii to shoot tethered?
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  • LSdigi.com
    No, the HDMI Port is for connecting to an external display. USB (mini B) Port can only be used for tethering.
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  • NN634871031878647794UL
    [quote="LSdigi.com" wrote:
    No, the HDMI Port is for connecting to an external display. USB (mini B) Port can only be used for tethering.


    Sound thanks. Shame!

    Excellent post above too btw.
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