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Slow image transfer shooting tethered with Sony A7R2

tim fin
Coming from a Canon Mk3 background and trying out the Sony A7R2 in a studio situation, tethered to a new Macbook Pro running Yosemite. Very slow transferring images to C1.8.3.4, resulting in slow emptying of buffer. I'm going to be working all week in the studio, shooting people, with clients needing to see images displaying much faster than they are now. Is there anything I can do to improve the experience or is this just the way it is?
Thanks, Tim
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9 comments

Date Votes
  • tim fin
    Just a quick reply to myself... I have set the file quality back to compressed Raw in camera, which has made the file transfer and preview display a little faster. Obviously, I'd prefer not to have to do this, so would welcome any advice.
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  • TC
    As a new C1 user, I am learning as I go and use a 1Ds3 connected to an older MBP. I have gone from 8 second previews to under 5 by setting the C1 preview resolution down a couple settings. My issue occurred when Apple released OS10.11 and didn't play well with OpenCL but I believe it's been resolved with C1 8.3.4.
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  • SFA
    [quote="tim fin" wrote:
    Coming from a Canon Mk3 background and trying out the Sony A7R2 in a studio situation, tethered to a new Macbook Pro running Yosemite. Very slow transferring images to C1.8.3.4, resulting in slow emptying of buffer. I'm going to be working all week in the studio, shooting people, with clients needing to see images displaying much faster than they are now. Is there anything I can do to improve the experience or is this just the way it is?
    Thanks, Tim


    Tim,

    Have you opened a support case for official assistance?

    If not I would suggest you do - and do it quickly in the hope that you can get some useful response before the weekend to give you something to work with before Monday.

    Either that or revert to the Canon for such an important shoot. Not a good time to be experimenting with something new although perhaps you have no option?


    Grant
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  • Andriy.Okhrimets
    Did you check cable, or tried other USB cable, Looks like you are not utilizing USB 3.0 that is why your transfer is so slow. Try more expensive USB 3.0 cable.
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  • tim fin
    Thanks for the responses everyone. I did adjust the preview size as I've noticed before that it helped a little. And I agree that I should not be messing around with new equipment with important clients, I just feel I'm close to getting everything working right and am keen to get to know the new camera system. I'll check the USB cable too and see whether that is part of the problem. I'll report back, with or without a solution, after I've had another go tomorrow. Many thanks,
    -tim-
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  • SFA
    Tim,

    To echo Andrey's comment ....

    In my case not to do with tethering but connecting connecting external USB3 drives ... a 3mtr apparently Hi Speed (or Super Speed or whatever it is supposed to be called) cable I bought can be very erratic in its connectivity. A 2mtr cable that does not claim any fancy performance (as far as I recall) seems to work well consistently and possibly faster.

    The rather short cables supplied with the disks have always seemed fine when tested - just too short for my needs.

    I think you need to eliminate things like cables as a potential source of performance disappointments. I have heard stories about there being a number of cables around that may not be as good as might be desired even though they apparently come from reputable sources. Of course they may just be tales without foundation .... but one never knows.

    If you have not also restricted which camera manufacturer's tethering you are using (via preferences) it might be worth doing so - there could be some sort of conflicts if 2 or more are tagged.

    I have vague recollections of some other issues with Sony tethering and updates required but I seem to recall that was related to things just not working rather than slow performance.



    Grant
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  • tim fin
    Okay, this is where I've got to now...
    - after a visit to a large computer electronics store that also has a camera dept and buying a USB 3.0 micro cable, I noticed immediately that the connector was different than a USB 2.0 micro connector and that there was no chance it would fit in the camera port. I spoke to a couple of tech heads in different depts and they were both of the opinion that the port in the A7R2 must be USB 2, as there was no way (even if there were to be an adaptor) for a port of that design to handle USB 3 data flow. Is there something I have not understood re the comments recommending a USB3 cable as a possible solution?

    The steps I have taken so far to speed up the file transfer are:
    - reverted back to Raw compressed, in camera.
    - reduced the image preview size in Preferences/Image.
    - activated OpenCL to Auto for both Display and Processing, in Preferences/General.
    - selected 'Immediately' as the option to 'Auto select new capture', in C1/Camera.
    - accepted that the files are quite a bit larger than those on a 5DMk3.

    The transfer speed is now workable and I think I'm going to give it a go next week. C1 appears stable, the lights are all synching with Pocket Wizard on camera, the set-up is one I've done many times before, I reckon should be able to get focus right... What could possibly go wrong! To be honest, I've been a Canon shooter all my digital life, with the occasional medium format for specific jobs, so it does feel a little strange to have a new beast in hand. But I also believe that you should use the right tool for the job and there is no reason why the A7r2 shouldn't become the right tool. I'll let you know if I end up throwing in the towel and reverting back to a more tried and tested route.
    If anyone has any other suggestions to speed up the transfer speeds, much appreciated.
    -tim-
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  • SFA
    Tim,

    I have to say that after the first responses, and being recent camera with very large files, I had assumed that it would be USB3. But it seems not. The Sony web site site quietly mutters something about being compatible with a micro USB type device - which suggests USB2 to me, although there is a "micro" version of USB3 cables.

    What came with it?

    Sony make a big play about the HDMI connectivity to I guess they think tethering is really about video in the main.

    So if I understand things now, the Sony pumps out bigger files than the 5D3 over a significantly slower connection. And to partially get around that at you have to shoot with a partly compromised RAW format.

    Seems a shame. I had not realised that Sony were so reliant on the HDMI for speed and presumably assumed that most image exchange would be Wi-FI, but only for playback it seems.

    I still can't believe they went for USB2 on such a high end camera .... but DPReview confirms that is it.


    Hope all goes well for you on Monday.


    Grant
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  • Edward Caruso
    Yes the Sony mini connector is USB2 for some reason - terrible decision but ok for me since I don't photograph people.
    Not sure the a7r2 is the best for a fast paced people shoot, especially if you are not used to the system. It is very very quirky - but the sensor DR is amazing.
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