# Tether plugin - new beta, please test



## mountainstorm (Oct 29, 2009)

Hello,

Some of you may remember, and perhaps even use, my StudioTether app/plugin. 

A while ago I started rewriting all of the core app in Lua so that it would be easier to port (from OSX) to Windows. This effort ran into trouble with the cross platform GUI I was using. So I decided to simplify the project as I only needed the GUI for advanced features like liveview. 

What I've done is bundled everything up in a plugin which just does tethering. At the moment its OSX only and won't work with modern Canon SLRs but if it appears to work for other people I'll work on both of those - it should be pretty easy now its mostly in Lua.

What I need is for some of you good people to download this beta and give it a go, reporting back issues you have. If you fancy giving it a go you can download it from here: www.mountainstorm.co.uk/data/LightroomTether-v4.'.1.lrplugin.zip

I've tried it on OS X v1'.6 with Lightroom 2.5 and a Nikon D3'' & iPhone, so I'm particularly interested in any other combinations - it should work on 1'.5 upwards and any version of Lightroom 2.

If you do have any issues please have a look in Console.app and send me over the output from Lightroom (its quite noisy at the moment).

Good luck, all comments and issues gratefully received

Rich


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## theMusicMan (Oct 29, 2009)

Rich - might this work for Oly kit...?


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## mountainstorm (Oct 29, 2009)

I suspect not as it uses the same protocol messages as my other program; from what I've been told Olympus have the same issue as Canon - they need a custom PTP message (or USB reset) to unlock the camera buttons.

Most of my code is todo with getting around the fact that Lightroom doesn't let you load native code (which you need to talk to the camera). I run this code in a separate Lua server process and then have "jump through hoops" to get the communication between the plugin and server working and reliable.

My plans to get the OSX version reliable, then port it to Windows and once all thats sorted I'll borrow a few cameras from work friends to get Canons etc working.

Hopefully by then Adobe wont of made my efforts worthless by implementing tethering 

Rich


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## mountainstorm (Nov 8, 2009)

People!

I've just uploaded a new version (4.'.2), this should still work on OSX (I've not actually tested it yet though) but the interesting thing is that this version should work on Windows!

Yes thats right folks, good tether support for Lightroom on Windows (for Nikon cameras 

Please, please download and give it a go and report back here any problems. I've not heard anything from anyone about the OSX version so I'm assuming that it works ok 

To use it just download and install the plugin into Lightroom. Then select "Begin Camera Tether" from the File menu; you should get a progress bar labeled "Tether". Turn your camera on (if its off) and it will stick the camera name in the label as well. Take a photo and it should be downloaded and imported into Lightrooms main catalog (check you've got that selected). Once its imported the first photo, select it and subsequent imports should get selected automatically - although that can be a bit flaky as I'm using a hack.

you can download it from here: www.mountainstorm.co.uk/data/LightroomTether-v4.'.2.lrplugin.zip 

good luck

Rich


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## Grrman (Nov 19, 2009)

Hi rich:

I came across your post looking for this very solution to my problem of shooting tethered into Lr 2.5.

Unfortunately, I can't seem to get it to work. I'm running OSX 1'.6.2 and Lr 2.5 on a MacBook. Using a Nikon D7''. After following your instructions, I do see the tethered bar appear, but only for a brief instant. I set tup a folder directly in Lr where all my other photos are imported.

Not sure if I'm missing a step, so any direction you can give is greatly appreciated.

I really appreciate your effort in creating the plug-in for this app. :-\ 

Pete


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## mountainstorm (Nov 19, 2009)

Yay! a response.
Unfortunately I've no idea what its doing .... but we have the technology to find out. If the tether bar disappears its most likely that the "camera communication" process which is run in the background has crashed. This could be for a number of reasons but most likely a lack of error checking in my code.
So first things first: - Are you running 4.'.1 or 4.'.2; I've just tried 4.'.2 on OS X an it doesn't work (4.'.1 should) ... I'm off to fix and create 4.'.3  - Do you get any error dialog boxes popping up in Lightroom (I'm guessing not) - Next step is to open up Console.app. Post here everything which is from the sender com.adobe.Lightroom2. You should find tonnes of output if its working/or very little if its not 
I suspect your using 4.'.2, so console will say something like:19/11/2''9 18:31:44	['x'-'xce'ce].com.adobe.Lightroom2[1421]	/Users/drakeironman/Documents/Code/StudioTether/LightroomTether.lrplugin/OSX/lua5.1: ...tudioTether/LightroomTether.lrplugin/StTetherSvr.lua:33: module 'LightroomUtils-Win32' not found:
Good luck
Rich


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## mdrdsr (Dec 26, 2009)

Has anyone gotten this to work? I have tried 3.6 and 4.'1 but nada. Giving up after 2 hours of trying...Nikon D2'', OS 1'.6.2, LR2.6.....


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## sizzlingbadger (Dec 28, 2009)

I have had this working with a D3'' & D7'' but it was fiddly to set up the folders correctly and get the auto import to move on to the next photo. I also found the tool bar disappeared. I have started using http://www.sofortbildapp.com which is simply great and allows you to set camera settings remotely also. It only supports Nikons & Macs though. It's not a plug-in you have to set up a watched folder in LR but it works very well indeed.


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## LR_Linnet (Dec 31, 2009)

Hey, I'm hoping to try this out with D8' on Windows XP. Not sure how soon I'll be able to re-post, but here goes!


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