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pk tether

rodcy
Posted 05/09/2016 - 22:15 Link
Apologies if I've posted this twice! I'm trying to hook up my K5ii to pk tether. I've tried it on 2 windows 10 PCs and it just freezes the camera. I'm using acable from USB to PC/AV. Any advice would be very gratefully received.
Also is the Eye Fi card worth the money? I want to check composition. lighting and exposure on a laptop. I've read it is a bit slow with RAW which is what I shoot. Also I have Android an not an apple tablet.

Many thanks
Great photography is always on the edge of failure. - Garry Winogrand
Must stop myself falling over that edge all the time!

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Mag07
Posted 05/09/2016 - 22:50 Link
Don't know about EyeFi but The Pentax Flu one, is unusable for what you want imo. Way to slow to be of any benefit other than copying files off your camera. Think a good old field monitor would work better.
'Photography...it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten....' (Aaron Siskind)
JohnX
Posted 06/09/2016 - 08:20 Link
OP - under what circumstances do you want to tether?
rodcy
Posted 06/09/2016 - 15:45 Link
My main reasons for tethering is for a check on my still life and portrait work. Not being able to tether is a serious disadvantage. I see that Nikon and Canon systems are available and to be honest if I had known that my photography was heading into this direction I would have given Pentax a miss when I upgraded my system a few years ago. I hear of pk tether working fine but I just can't get it working with my K5ii
Great photography is always on the edge of failure. - Garry Winogrand
Must stop myself falling over that edge all the time!

My Flickr
RobL
Posted 06/09/2016 - 17:12 Link
rodcy wrote:
My main reasons for tethering is for a check on my still life and portrait work. Not being able to tether is a serious disadvantage. I see that Nikon and Canon systems are available and to be honest if I had known that my photography was heading into this direction I would have given Pentax a miss when I upgraded my system a few years ago. I hear of pk tether working fine but I just can't get it working with my K5ii

I know it doesn't help your current setup but tethering with ImageSync on an iPad works a treat with models using wifi, and in one review I read it performs much better than the Nikon and Canon versions.
JohnX
Posted 06/09/2016 - 19:54 Link
I'd explore Mag07's suggestion of an external monitor, such as this one> https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lilliput-Panasonic-1920%C3%971080-Component-Composite/d...

Or, maybe there's an app?
Edited by JohnX: 06/09/2016 - 20:07
LennyBloke
Posted 06/09/2016 - 20:07 Link
JohnX wrote:
I'd explore Mag07's suggestion of an external monitor, such as this one> https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lilliput-Panasonic-1920%C3%971080-Component-Composite/d...

Interesting product John - I'd be interested to know if anyone's used it for Astrophotography, I assume it can be used with LiveView (so you can check focus, composition, etc.) rather just as a review display for photos taken?
LennyBloke
JohnX
Posted 06/09/2016 - 20:33 Link
It is for use with Live view as far as I know.
LennyBloke
Posted 06/09/2016 - 20:54 Link
JohnX wrote:
It is for use with Live view as far as I know.

Thanks John - I just need to do a bit of digging to see if any Astro-photographers use it and how effective they find it
LennyBloke
smudge
Posted 07/09/2016 - 08:48 Link
I have a Calumet 7 inch field monitor, which looks very similar (though was more expensive). I rarely use it. Probably more useful for video than stills and I don't take much video. The problem is that the screen is much poorer quality than the camera screen and when the monitor is attached it becomes the sole display - the camera screen goes blank. If working indoors with access to mains power a better solution is to use any TV with an HDMI input as an external monitor. Just connect to your camera by a long lead and you have a large, good quality image showing whatever would have been on the camera screen but much bigger, the only expense being the cost of the cable. No good for astro out in a field but a possibility for indoor work at minimal cost.
Regards, Philip
rodcy
Posted 07/09/2016 - 12:06 Link
Thanks for all the suggestions. To be honest I didn't want to spend much as I have to get a new PC monitor - and we all know how much photo editing monitors cost. I've ordered a new data cable as I think the one I was using might have been faulty. Hope that's the isssue. On the pk tether site some guy has stated that the software works with his K5 so I might post there. Seems tethering support is a weak area for Pentax cameras. It could seriously make me look elsewhere when I next upgrade.
Great photography is always on the edge of failure. - Garry Winogrand
Must stop myself falling over that edge all the time!

My Flickr
davidwozhere
Posted 07/09/2016 - 23:38 Link
Use the TV - brilliant idea! I bought a very long HDMI cable to view the results from my armchair but it never occurred to me that you could use it to preview the shot beforehand.
Both the *istDS and the K5 are incurably addicted to old glass

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RobL
Posted 08/09/2016 - 18:06 Link
rodcy wrote:
Thanks for all the suggestions. To be honest I didn't want to spend much as I have to get a new PC monitor - and we all know how much photo editing monitors cost. I've ordered a new data cable as I think the one I was using might have been faulty. Hope that's the isssue. On the pk tether site some guy has stated that the software works with his K5 so I might post there. Seems tethering support is a weak area for Pentax cameras. It could seriously make me look elsewhere when I next upgrade.

To repeat my earlier comment the tethering for the K-1 works a treat with a mini iPad giving a measure of remote control of focus and exposure settings as well as live view, and allegedly better than the opposition. Probably the same with the K-70. And if you have an iPad you don't need to buy a special piece of kit so put the saving towards your upgrade instead. I mention the iPad because it is handy and portable, but the Image Sync app could be downloaded to any suitable computer.
Edited by RobL: 08/09/2016 - 18:12
rodcy
Posted 08/09/2016 - 19:14 Link
Thanks to all. The range of different ideas was very interesting. I now have pk-tether working - it was simply a faulty data cable causing the problem. The software will certainly help me with my current work. I hadn't posted on the forum for some time and was obviously missing out on the expertise so unselfishly given. Thanks again.
Rod
Great photography is always on the edge of failure. - Garry Winogrand
Must stop myself falling over that edge all the time!

My Flickr
Chrism8
Posted 08/09/2016 - 20:03 Link
bookmarked for reference
Chris

www.chrismillsphotography.co.uk

" A Hangover is something that occupies the Head you neglected to use the night before".

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K1 - Sigma 85mm F1.4, Pentax DFA 150 -450 F4.5 / 5.6, Pentax DFA* 24 - 70 F2.8

Samyang 14mm F2.8, Pentax DFA* 70-200 F2.8, Pentax A 50mm F1.2

K3iii + K3ii + K5iis converted to IR, Sigma 17 - 70 F2.8, Pentax 55 - 300 F4.5 / F5.6 PLM

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