Tethering your 645D with PK Tether

[mhecker*]

A free program called PK Tether seems to work with my 645D.

See http://www.pktether.com/

I'm using it on Win & 64bit.
It is in Beta test and  little buggy, but it does work.
Best of all it's free !  

Miles Hecker
Wyofoto.com

[mhecker*]

The program seems to work, but a scan of it with my Webroot software has just flagged it with a suspicious behavior warning.
This does not mean it has a hidden virus, it just means its doing odd things.

I am contacting the author to get his response.   

[darr]

Are you not able to shoot tethered via Lightroom or Capture One on a macbook or pc ?
I ask because I like to shoot tethered in the studio and the Pentax 645D is something I am looking at.

[mhecker*]

No, Lightroom doesn't work tethered with the 645D.

[ndevlin]

You can tether with jpegs with an Eye-Fi card quite effectively and simultaneously record the raws in-camera to the 2nd card.  I have done that on a number of occasions and it is a passable solution.

- N.

[theguywitha645d]

I understand you can get an EyeFi card to handle RAW as well.

[darr]

This is disappointing since I am accustom to shooting tethered via Capture One. The ability to check focus is an important aspect of shooting MF digital, especially if you are using older designed film-base lenses. Any idea on why you cannot shoot tethered via C1 or LR? Is it the software manufacturers or is it the design of the Pentax 645D?

[theguywitha645d]

Is it the software manufacturers or is it the design of the Pentax 645D?

A bit of both. Pentax did not really bother with tethering the 645D. Obviously is is possible. I don't think the software folks are interested in investing the time and money to do it.

But if I am not mistaken, can't you automatically open a new image in LR? So transferring  an image using the new software or EyeFi card would have the image open in LR. You could try an EyeFi card or the new software with a camera you already have to see if it is possible.

If you want to tether to C1, then you need a Phase/Leaf camera. There are 22MP Mamiya/Phase cameras for about the same price as the 645D. The sensor is a little larger as well. That should work really well in the studio.

BTW, I use two manual focus film lenses with the 645D and I have no problem focusing them in the viewfinder--A 35mm and A 120mm macro. You can also check focus after the image is taken in the camera.

[mediumcool]

Camera tethering software that does not include OSX support is interesting—in the Chinese sense; it’s reasonable to suggest that the Mac is more heavily represented in *serious* photography than in the wider community.

Think of Vuescan.

[deejjjaaaa]

Camera tethering software that does not include OSX support is interesting—in the Chinese sense; it’s reasonable to suggest that the Mac is more heavily represented in *serious* photography than in the wider community.

Think of Vuescan.

the thing is that it is not an official software released by Pentax - it is a software written by enthusiast, he does not use Mac/OSX and he doesn't give a damn about its representation in "*serious* photography".

[mediumcool]

the thing is that it is not an official software released by Pentax - it is a software written by enthusiast, he does not use Mac/OSX and he doesn't give a damn about its representation in "*serious* photography".

Thanks for that pleasant and informative reply. Not.

[mediumcool]

Further to Vuescan, which is cross-platform software, originally written for Windows (from an email conversation conducted with Ed Hamrick in mid-2007):

Me:

Curious to know how you ported Vuescan from Win to Mac and how you
find the different environments for programming and updating? Do you
ever write any anecdotes about this sort of thing?

Ed:

I use wxWidgets (www.wxwidgets.org) to give me multi-platform
compatibility - I build all three versions from the same source code.

And there are other ways too.

[mhecker*]

The author responded and claims it's a fluke.
His software is clean.

Spysweeper just tagged the new printer driver I downloaded directly from Epson as having suspicious behavior also!
So, I think this tether program is most likely safe.

Just don't sue me if I'm wrong