Getting Pictures from Camera to Laptop

monkeyleader

monkeyleader

Suspended / Banned
Messages
500
Name
Nigel
Edit My Images
No
Howdy ... for those who are shooting pitch side (Football, Rugby etc) how are you getting your pictures from camera to laptop. Is it via standard card reader or are you doing through wireless transfer? Right now I'm on the card reader approach which works well in less crowded environments where you have a bit of space to pop out a card and ingest ....

Just wondering on the folks using wireless to transfer ...

- keeping the laptop running for the whole game .. any worries on battery life (or what do you do to compensate)
- having never done this before can you setup the camera to only transfer locked / selected files
- any particular situations you decide against using wireless transfer (certain grounds, weather conditions etc)
- which camera (long lens, 2nd body, behind the goal .. or perhaps more than 1)

Oh and for Canon is there an alternative to the crazy expensive Canon one... which is worth a look?

EDIT: For Canon 1DX or MK IV ..

cheers,

Nige
 
Last edited:
monkeyleader said:
Oh and for Canon is there an alternative to the crazy expensive Canon one... which is worth a look?

cheers,

Nige
Click to expand...

You don't mention what body the WFT is for?, you can get a WFT E2 for under £200 now
 
What cameras have you got at the moment and are you PC or MAC?

I was using a 1D4 and a 1Dx last season but will be on 2 x 1D4s this year and a 70D.

The 1Dx is the best in this situation as

1) The network connection is built in
2) The connector is better than USB as it clicks in both camera and laptop (assuming your laptop has a NIC (network port)).
2) No need for expensive add-on that adds bulk
3) Can choose to only ingest chosen images or all
4) Don't need to go through EOSUtility

I need two batteries to last me a full game as the original doesn't hold a full charge. 10 minutes before half time I shut down and swap them out.

I used the 70-200 on the 1Dx and the 400 on the 1D4, as I think you tend to get more publications from goals celes near you.

Wireless - I have tested this in my garden on both the 1D4 and the 70D. I can't remember with the 1D4 and I haven't got it with me to test, but on the 70D, when you are transferring images you can't carry on shooting. Also the camera needs to be close to the laptop or the signal degrades very quickly, making it very slow to get the images. If it was a case of goal and cele and all you want is 4 or 5 images then it could work. The advantage of course is there are no wires which is far far better.

I think the 70D over wireless, if it was behind the goal and I was maximum of half way along the goal line could work but I would need to test it to be sure.

If it is peeing down you need to consider what protection you have for your laptop. I have the Think Tank Pixel SunScreen 2 which quite a few on here have http://www.amazon.co.uk/Think-Tank-Pixel-SunScreen-Laptop/dp/B0016XIQ24

It is a good cover but it has disadvantages. Once at Millwall my laptop started flying down the goal line as the wind caught it and once went flying backwards off the Peli case. It is quite bullky as well. However in light rain it does the job.

At QPR vs Leicester last season, it was belting down, and I was the ONLY photographer that was wiring live as I used the Pixel to protected the laptop. I did have a cloth to wipe the trackpad as some water did get in. Remember the squirrel? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...layed-squirrel-invades-Loftus-Road-pitch.html

I had those 2 pics and a third one of Kaspar Schmeichel in the Championship Live Update (which they have stopped now) as well.

Going back to the 1D4. As I said I haven't got it with me to check, and it was only right at the end of the season when I got the WFT-E2B, BUT I was going EOSUtility which is a pain. As you shoot thumbnails appear in the EOSUtility window. You then choose which to download and click okay. They then download to a folder of your choice. I had Lightroom importing from that folder (the same as with the 1Dx), but you can have PhotoMechanic do that just as well if you prefer.

In about 10 days I will be re-united with the 1D4. I will be looking to see if, as with the 1Dx I can choose pics in camera and just those transfer over.

Hope that helps.
 
Ok you should be able to get the 1D4 to by-pass EOSUtility as well. The test then is whether you can get it to only send chosen images.

On the laptop front, if you don't only send images at half-time and full time, you could leave the laptop screen closed but still have it working, so that images are there ready and waiting for you at 1/2 and full-time.

This can also work well if it is raining and you want to go to the media room (or stands at 1/2 an full-time).
 
Last edited:
Just checked your info page and you have both the 1Dx and 1D4.

I presume that you have a 70-200 as well. I would def stick the 70-200 on the 1Dx and the 400 on the 1D4.

Set the 1Dx up to transfer direct and then either lock in camera and use the card reader for the 1D4 OR as was mentioned get a WFT-E2 and use it wireless.
 
Just a thought but have you considered Eye-Fi Card.
Its not supersonic so probably no good for Pros but I use it to upload images automatically to my Tablet (Android). It uses peer to peer network so no data costs as long as you are in range. Photomate is a good Android app that give near LR controls. It works with Apple stuff to but transfers in tiff not raw. Camera battery life is slightly compromised but the tablets will easily let you view and edit all through a game and more.

Other things it can do is load to your smart phone, auto upload to the cloud, geotag jpegs (not raw), offers relay transfer over the internet, limitless memory (delets old uploaded images once a card limit is reached.

They're not perfect but they do the job.

For reference of other readers, do not bother with a D800 as the files are too big and will take too long.
 
Peter with the few experiments I have done, WiFi should be avoided where possible for 'during the game' images.
 
bigrob said:
Peter with the few experiments I have done, WiFi should be avoided where possible for 'during the game' images.
Click to expand...


Why?
 
It seems too slow and I stress 'seems' as I have not timed it (which I can do next week).

Over USB or a NIC I thought it was quicker.

Admirable - have you tested it and if so how do the speeds compare?

I can test a 70D over WiFi and over USB. As above I haven't got my 1D4 with me to test at the moment.
 
If it was very slow no one would ever use it, perhaps the file size was too large? Lets face it you can transfer small files and if the pic editor decides they want a larger file for back page for example they can email you and ask for it.


WFT E2's are wildly used in the event industry where the main shooter takes the image and it is wirelessly transferred to the print guy for printing on site.
 
EVENT industry do produce smaller file sizes straight from the camera.. footbal pitchside tend to be bigger then edit.. personally i find USB to be pretty fast..

has anyone tried 2 usb leads from two cameras into one system ?
 
Tony I have not tried 2 x USB cables but I have ordered an ExpressCard 3/4 from China !!! so that I can try 2 x 1D4s connected by network cables.

I should hopefully be able to test that in a few weeks.

I don't like USB but I will try it.
 
So what file size are we sending to the pic editor of the footy mag, larger than 7x5 @ 300 dpi?
 
@bigrob ... actually 2 x 1DX (MK 4 would be behind the goal) ....I assume by direct connected you mean over wired ... and yup I'm still using the older style Mac Book pitch side which has a built in network port (the new Retinas do not) .... With direct ethernet transfer (and apologies for asking without simply trying first, I assume you can lock in and only transfer those ... or does it just transfer as you shoot ....?)

Are you ingesting (assume to PM) on the go with the laptop lid shut/open so the locked images are there when you go to it ? Oh and yes .. I actually remember you with your pixel during that rain storm ... I don't think I've had been brave enough with my Mac even then as at Norwich earlier in the season mine had blown up (the track pad not the whole computer) when even a few drops of water hit it ... it actually made up swipes go down and down swipes go up .... the guy in the apple store had never seen anything like it ....
 
Nigel

Hmm a dilemma. You have 1 x NIC on your laptop and few USB ports.

I would do it like so.

1) 1Dx & 70-200 via NIC. You choose set on the camera rather than the lock button to send the pics, one by one, or choose to send all. This is via FTP. You then import those in to your prog of choice (PM, LR etc etc).

2) 1Dx with 300/400, connected via USB - not tried this via FTP which is what you want ideally, so you will need to experiment. You may have to use EOSUtility.

3) 1D4 behind the goal - 2 Options apart from getting the card at 1/2 or full time.

Option 1) Via USB and an active USB cable extender, you can join a couple of these together. I tested this over a year ago and it worked well.

http://www.lindy.co.uk/cables-adapt...-usb-2-0-slimline-active-extension-cable-p493

http://www.lindy.co.uk/cables-adapt...5/12m-usb-2-0-active-extension-cable-pro-p508

Option 2) Buy a Canon WFT-E2 or E2B and use WiFi either via EOSUtility or FTP. I will be seeing if I can get it working over FTP, as it makes it easier than going via EOSUtility.

In a week or so I will also be testing the 70D via the USB/Active extender combo.

Alternatively make life easy, just lock in camera and ingest via PM.
 
Last edited:
admirable said:
So what file size are we sending to the pic editor of the footy mag, larger than 7x5 @ 300 dpi?
Click to expand...

The edited photos sent are about 1.5Mb, but they are full res coming in to the laptop from the camera - so 6Mb to 13Mb depending on the cameras and other factors.

bigrob said:
Peter with the few experiments I have done, WiFi should be avoided where possible for 'during the game' images.
Click to expand...

admirable said:
Why?
Click to expand...

Ingesting 14 photos of 124Mb over WiFi = 12 seconds each

Same photos via USB = 1 second each

If there is a goal and cele I don't want to be waiting for 12 seconds per photo - as I will have already used up time choosing which ones to ingest.

I am only on a quest for efficiency.
 
Hmm funny how Nigel the OP comes and asks for help and doesn't even have the courtesy to reply or even say thanks?
 
It is different Nigel - we thank each other when help is asked and given.

You will see how much time and effort I spent trying answer your questions and not a scooby doo sniff of appreciation.

I have been given a lot of help on this forum and I also try to give back as well.

I spent many hours trying to figure out the most efficient way of getting images from the camera to laptop and I am happy to pass that info on - even though some on here will be competitors.

The info given also means people can configure there cameras and laptops in a fraction of the time.

It may be that I am just getting too old a bit grumpy.
 
KIPAX said:
EVENT industry do produce smaller file sizes straight from the camera.. footbal pitchside tend to be bigger then edit.. personally i find USB to be pretty fast..

has anyone tried 2 usb leads from two cameras into one system ?
Click to expand...

Tony I tried his today and I cannot as yet find a decent way to do it.

Canon cameras don't have Mass Storage Mode (or if there a way to turn it on I can't find it) !! So when you plug them in, you will see them in Windows Explorer but they won't show as a drive letter. If they did then PhotoMechanic could ingest the photos automatically.

Here is one way to:-

1) Have 2 copies of Windows Explorer open and sitting side by side - one for each camera.
2) Set the View to Extra Large Icons.
3) Have PM open and ready to ingest (applying IPTC & renaming if you like at the same time) from a watched folder.
4) Shoot and wait for photos to show in Explorer
5) Drag the photos required (e.g. action, goal, cele) to the PM watched folder which will now do the ingest.
6) Double check which photos you want in PM and send to PS, LR etc for editing and FTPing.

p353660628-3.jpg


I know that you prefer USB but the way the cameras are at the moment, going via the inbuilt Network port on your 1Dxs is a much better way.

I have 2 x 1D4s both with WFT-E2s and I set them up this week to work like so:-

1) Shoot
2) Choose an image on either camera and press SET
3) Images FTPs to Laptop
4) PM ingests and applies IPTC
5) LR auto imports
6) Crop and edit in LR
7) Export
8) Apply caption in PM and FTP from PM.

I do it a*rse about t*t as a more efficient way would be to ingest via PM, caption in PM and name, copy to a folder, import in to LR, crop & edit and FTP direct from LR.

As I mentioned earlier, this only worth it, if you are sending live and time is of the essence.

If so, then for you, as I think you use PS I would do it like so.

1) Shoot
2) Choose an image on either camera and press SET
3) Images FTPs to Laptop
4) PM ingests and applies IPTC
5) You do a final choice of which photos to edit and send.
6) Apply captions and rename these.
7) Send to PS for final editing.
8) FTP to papers.
 
No idea what happened to my previous reply ... so this one will be a bit shorter... pretty much all sorted .. a combination of some of the tips on here (which was already my thinking) along with some of my own workflow built int .... A few hours last night tweaking allowed me to get from camera to remote FTP Server (per image) in 3 minutes .. clearly additions needed for environment and of course working live but I was happy with the flow .. at present wired (ethernet) and only one camera .. but through time may look at the wireless option ... get a chance to practice in the field tonight .. CUFC vs. Spurs (or most likely a Spurs XI ... )
 
Glad that you have got this working.
 
Shame the nets at CUFC were tight weave and black so no point in shooting through ... I still kept the setup as I describe above and shot a few ... the one thing I realised quickly was the Pocket wizard on the 70-200 camera kept getting in the way as I went to shoot ... need to work on a better stance as it will only get worse when I'm in a pit full of other photographers ... convinced one day I'm going to have to be untangled from a heap of cables, neck straps and cameras :)
 
shapeshifter said:
:nailbiting: Bring back film.Phew!
Click to expand...

Oh the joy of deving a film in a hotel bath with the curtains thrown over you as a blackout!!.... then finding somewhere to print a neg if you didn't have a runner!!.:arghh:
Give me Digi everytime:clap:,ya don't know you're born ya lucky beggers ;).
 
But you had time for a cuppa as you agitated the film in the dev tank.These boys now a days are all bunched together wrapped in a taffled of usb wires and what not, all racing to download and edit the pics after the balls been kicked but before the balls hit the back of the net. When I read the above it sound very stressful. All probably done in the rain.:eek:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top