Tethered remote control

[Grierson]

As the blue tits are begining to take an interest in the nest boxes in the garden I want a chance to try some remote snapping. But as the WFT for the 5d2 comes in at c. £600 (plus battery as stated in another thread!!) I wonder if any one has any pointers to software for tethered shooting. In response to a similar question Ian Farrell, in AP this week, suggested DIYPhotoBits but this turns out to be Nikon only. Does anyone have any experience of any other software possibilities that might allow tethered shooting (and apart from longer lenses) Thanks - John

[Meredith]

The bundled Canon software, specifically EOS Utility.

[Grierson]

Yes, thanks for the (obvious) pointer Meredith. Oddly when I first loaded the Solutions Disk on to the computer only DPP, Picture Style Editor and Zoom Browser were copied over. It may be a W7 hiccup. I didn't think much about it at the time or bother to read the PDF files on the other disk but, as they say, when all else fails read the bl***y manual. - John

[John_Baker]

Saw this recently which may have potential - Photix - no experience or other knowledge of the product.
I also saw a review of a wireless version they did here - it looked potentially useful but expensive...

[Grierson]

Thanks John, I'll have a look. - John

[zx9]

Hi Grierson,
IIRC It is EOS Utility that allows remote capture and live view down the supplied USB cable. Before Christmas I played with a USB to cat5 extender (about £20 from CPC) to shoot over a 20M cable, though live view was a bit slow on my 40D. If you can see the subject and do not need live view you should be OK.

[Grierson]

Thanks. Have tried it and it works a treat. Just need to get together the mental strength to walk through PC World's doors and buy a 20m extension cable, (or come back and order one if theirs is a ridiculous cost ) - John