canon 600d tethered shooting?

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Hi all,

I've just been made redundant and walked into a job photographing people in a christmas display.

They use a Canon 600D (i shoot nikon so i need to learn my way around this camera) and they currently use a swap mem card system. Shoot on one, swap it for the next for the next customer while another member of staff edits and prints.

They use Picassa to edit/print, my wife uses it but I always use Lightroom myself.

So, they've bought a 5m cable to connect the camera to the laptop but when they tried it flashed an error word of some type on the camera viewfinder display.

What do I need to do to be able to shoot tethered (a google says it's the correct cable) with a 600D and have the images automatically imported in to Picasa?

Also, any suggestions on a wifi card that could send files directly to the laptop from the camera? just as an alternative.

Thanks
 
Not used Picasa, but the best program bar none for shooting tethered is capture one. Nikon user myself and I've not had to change any camera settings to shoot tethered so can't really help there.

Wifi cards I'd not bother with, they are too slow. (Faster in JPEG, but still slow)
For a wireless solution look at Cam ranger.
 
USB tethering should be very straight forward.

At first when you connect the usb cable to the camera, you should get the camera appear as a new drive in windows/OSX no drivers should be required.

If this does not happen it is likely that the cable or port on the camera is damaged. It could be the 5m cable is too long or just pinickity with this setup. Cables cost around £2 so worth grabbing a couple from different brands. I cannot recall any settings within canon cameras that stop usb connection, however it may be worthwhile going through the settings menu as a last resort.

I do not believe Picassa supports tethering in the same way that capture one/lightroom does. Which allow you to fully control and shoot from the attached computer. The files are then immediately available to edit within the application.

That solution could do you out of a job :D

The Picassa method whilst tethered should allow the remote computer immediate access to the memory card as a new drive in the OS, allowing you to control the camera as normal, whilst the editor edits using his known application.

Unless the camera is tripod mounted I would not tether, the usb port on cameras are not strong, sustained stress could at best damage the port and at worst damage the whole circuit board. (you can get aftermarket clamps or gaffer tape works)

The cable should be secured and ensure it is not a trip hazzard as one false step by a client could wipe out both the laptop and camera.

Maybe best to go with the flow, don't rock the boat etc.. :D
 
Canon Eos Utility, on the CD that came with the camera or download from Canon's website. I don't use Picasa for anything other than a library for my archive but I'd have Eos Utility save pics to a specific folder that is watched by Picasa.
 
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