Friday 20 March 2009

THAT tethered set up


This is for all of you who have been asking for part numbers etc of the rather nifty tethered set up I use nearly all the time these days

It was all inspired by something Joe McNally conjured up, with perhaps more than a little help from our very good mutual friend Justin Stailey (formerly of Bogen, now of Leica USA)

I love shooting tethered for many reasons, it enables me to control EVERY minute element of the shoot from a my camera position, lighting and critically when I'm using my Phase One P45+ , focus...my goodness when it is sharp it is SHARP and when it is out it is OUT big time!

My assistants and I refer to it as the 'Helm' (as in the Nautical world)

It means it is off the floor and out of any mud and dust enabling me to keep eye contact with my subject, which is the very essence of a shoot.

It is a Gitzo/Manfrotto Hybrid

Now,I use a Gitzo GT5660SGT, I admit not the cheapest tripod in the world, but this set up works on any good sturdy tripod too

The cross bar is a Manfrotto 131DDB.

I have mounted a Manfrotto 468MGRC2 Hyrdrostatic ball head on each end, as you can see in the pic it enabled me to shoot tethered with my Canon 5d mk1 in Capture One Pro on my Lenovo W700, while I was using my Canon 5d MK2 for 'b' roll 1080P HD on the other end

If the set up is way critical I switch one of these tripod heads out for a Manfrotto 405 geared head....not cheap but wonderful.

And finally the Gitzo GO65 laptop platform, I recommend putting some self adhesive Velcro on the base plate of the Laptop and the platform just in case....

It really does work a treat!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cool set up =)

Kinda envious of that one.. :=)

Debbi_in_California said...

Wow!
I love it!
Thx
Debbi

Elaine Bittencourt said...

Can I ask you, where are the strobes located in your "set"?

Anonymous said...

Thanks Drew! :-)

Anonymous said...

It looks inconspicuous but surely it is practical. I thank, that you describe as you work. Thanks Drew! :-)

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Jason Ball said...

Impressive! But what I find MOST IMPRESSIVE is the fact that you are actually displaying the FUTURE on your laptop!

Jon Attree said...

Drew, So I just finished watching your DVD and like everyone love your tethered setup. Do you think that its struder enough for a H3D with a 120mm and a 17" Macbook Pro? I'm a tad nervous about putting anything of value that high up off the ground especially so much valuable equipment.

Thanks

Jon

Unknown said...

HeyJon

It is more than up to the job with your set up

Gear is there to be used and enjoyed.

Harder to break than you think

Thank you for following my blog

Cheers

Drew

Fashionista Group said...

Thanks Drew, I went ahead and purchased the helm and just used it for a shot this weekend. It certainly wasnt cheap but its rock solid and does its job perfectly.

ronyjerome said...

I like the idea of using the heads at the ends of the Manfrotto 131DDB and the laptop in the center. Most use the 2 attachments at the top (tabelz.com, Joe McNally, Scott Kelby and others).

Josh Simons Photography said...

Here is a similar set-up
( http://bit.ly/lPpj4h )from TetherTools.com that uses the 3/8" head on the ends. It allows more room to work and now the camera can move independently from the computer.

http://bit.ly/lPpj4h