laptop for thethered

[chauncey]

Want an inexpensive laptop for tethered shooting with my Ds3 and not much else.
Must be bright enough to use outdoors and as lightweight as possible. I'm thinking about a 10-14" screen...that reasonable?
Have no desire to do PP on this laptop as I do that on a Vista 64 bit desktop.

Suggestions anyone?

[stathunter]

Hey Chauncey-- long time no talk. I actually have a Dell Inspiron 1501 that I am going to put up for sale-- it is running Vista-- I have no clue about tethered shooting so I can't tell you how it works-- it is in like new condition -- but I do not use it - I moved to Mac a month after I purchased it. I was thinking of selling it for $300 --- it sits on my desk-- I can look up the specs on the machine and give you more info.
Thanks!

[chauncey]

Just had an enlightening conversation conversation with canon tech support.
They told me that shooting tethered from a battery powered laptop will rapidly drain the laptop battery, like down to 20 minutes from a 8 hour battery.
That true...?

[stathunter]

Good question. All of the tethered shoots that I have viewed-- have had the laptop powered to a electricity in one way or another---- I am sure someone with chime in that has done it proficiently.

[GoneTomorrow]

What about a netbook? They're small and inexpensive.

[chauncey]

Would suffer the same problems...I'm guessing. :confused:

[MaxxuM]

Just had an enlightening conversation conversation with canon tech support.
They told me that shooting tethered from a battery powered laptop will rapidly drain the laptop battery, like down to 20 minutes from a 8 hour battery.
That true...?

I just tested this with Aperture (not Canon's software) and there didn't seem to be any difference in battery life after 200 shots and keeping it hooked up for 30 min. I used a Canon XT since Aperture doesn't remote my 40D :(

[chauncey]

Appreciate your doing that test MaxxuM. Are you saying that you had it on Live View for 30 minutes?

[YP5 Toronto]

Just had an enlightening conversation conversation with canon tech support.
They told me that shooting tethered from a battery powered laptop will rapidly drain the laptop battery, like down to 20 minutes from a 8 hour battery.
That true...?


Totally wrong... how can a USB device that is not drawing any "real" power from the notebook take a notebook from X hours to minutes.

Got to love tech support.

[MaxxuM]

Appreciate your doing that test MaxxuM. Are you saying that you had it on Live View for 30 minutes?

No live view with the xt :(

[chauncey]

MaxxuM...I knew that...yeah right, I forgot. :lol:
YP5, Hell, I don't know. Been off my meds for too long. :cry:

[René Damkot]

Never noticed a significant shorter battery life on the Powerbook or MBP when shooting a Mk2 tethered (Firewire) (C1 pro / Eos Utility respectively).

Same cannot be said for battery life on the cameras however...

I still use my 12" PB when shooting my 1D2 tethered, but IMO it would be too slow to handle 1DsMk3 files at any usable speed :lol:

[chauncey]

I have no difficulty accepting what you guys are telling me, but it begs an additional question.
When can we trust tech support?

[Franko515]

I have heard of people shooting thethered to a 8.5 in DVD player.

I will try and find the link later today :)

[roman_t]

if you need previews only you can use any display with composite inputs.
to control camera settings remotely and shooting to hdd directly you need notebook
shooting tethered eats not much more power than browsing the web

[Franko515]

if you need previews only you can use any display with composite inputs.
to control camera settings remotely and shooting to hdd directly you need notebook
shooting tethered eats not much more power than browsing the web

Yep, what he said :cool:

[chauncey]

So, any laptop with a long battery life, bright screen for outdoor work, 10-14" screen, and lightweight, would work quite well.

[breal101]

chauncey, I would answer yes to your last question. It would still be a good idea to have some kind of shade for the screen. A black towel will work fine, screen brightness will only take you so far, glare is a big problem outdoors. Go with the cheapest laptop you can find and consider a new battery, as they get older they have less endurance just like us. :lol: The old battery can act as a backup.