Tethered Shooting From a Distance - Canon 400D

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Hi there,
for a project I am doing I need various shots that I will take myself, with people I know close by.

Alas, one person lives too far to travel, so I thought I could perhaps direct them over skype, and control their camera through a tethered program.

The camera is a 400D. I use a mac.
Is this possible over such a distance? I need to be able to see what I am taking through the lens. I know its possible if I was connected to the camera there, but what about through the internet.

Thanks for any help in this.
Best wishes,
Adam
 
You can control the 400D through the EOS Utility. I assume you'd be able to use remote desktop (or the mac equivalent) to control it via the interwebs.

But can't you just tell him/her what to do?

Need more info, anyway. What are the two computers that are going to be connected? What OS? What version? Do you have the utility already working?
 
you wouldent be able to a have a 'live view' though!
 
The reason I dont want to just tell them what to do, is I feel it would not be my work, I want to control the whole image taking process.

I have a Mac with Leapard OSX
The opposite computer is a PC, with Vista I believe.
I have never used Canon software before.

Maybe this is just a pipedream?
My friend is not essential for my project (otherwise I would travel) but I thought it would be an interesting experiemnt if I could do this.
 
This site has many great links to video tutorials including a great tutorial on shooting tethered to a computer which may just answer your query.

They use a standard USB-2 male-female extension cord to lengthen the distance between camera and computer.

The tutorial about modifying a tripod as a notebook computer stand is also interesting as well as many of the other tutorials on prophotolife.

http://www.prophotolife.com/video-library/

Happy shooting.....
 
Adam Rowney said:
The reason I dont want to just tell them what to do, is I feel it would not be my work, I want to control the whole image taking process.

I have a Mac with Leapard OSX
The opposite computer is a PC, with Vista I believe.
I have never used Canon software before.

Maybe this is just a pipedream?
My friend is not essential for my project (otherwise I would travel) but I thought it would be an interesting experiemnt if I could do this.
Click to expand...

Very unlikely between the mac and vista computers. If you have xp/vista on your mac you'd be better off with remote desktop as Matt mentioned.

Tbh it sounds like alot of hassle, your mate is going to be the one composing the shot and setting up the subject so ulimately they will have a far greater influence over the shots than you.
 
You can control a PC over an internet connection pretty easilly using a VNC program like TightVNC. You'll have to install the server part on the "victim's" PC and the viewer (or client) on your MAC, then it's just a case of entering IP, password and opening ports in firewalls.

Here's a link to TightVNC
http://www.tightvnc.com/

And here's a link describing what to do step by step :)
http://lifehacker.com/software/feat...l-your-home-computer-from-anywhere-125607.php

You'll then have complete control over the PC. Just remember to remove the server and close the firewall ports back up when you're finished, as it is a bit of a security risk keeping it installed.
 
Adam Rowney said:
I have a Mac with Leopard OSX
.
Click to expand...

Great choice of computer. To fix your problem you can get Remote Desktop for Mac from Microsoft's website and then Remote Desktop onto the other persons computer.

You can also get VNC for both.

However the firewall at the other end will need to be setup to allow access. Plenty of guides on-line.

It will be a bit on the slow side.

Oh and high!
 
Thanks so much for all your advice, I may follow it up just to try out these programs. I dont think I will go as far as use the images for what I need, Ill have to go down a different route.

Interesting stuff, I wonder if this could become more common over time, would save a lot of time, alas, the quality of work would go down. Im sure ive read of a photographer doing something like this, not for an entire image, but for a part for a composite.
 
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