Tether Tools Case Air

A New Toy

Er, a new essential piece of photography equipment, that is. I posted a recent blog about not needing anything for my photography addiction, but I guess I was wrong. I was watching Scott Kelby's "The Grid" Holiday Gear Guide (Episode 260) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh_39bWAack&t=198s, about 27:50) while having dinner and he mentioned 1 or 2 things I think I must have. So, I got one of them...

Tether Tools Case Air - What it Is

Tether Tools Case Air

The Tether Tools Case Air is a wireless tethering device that attaches to your camera via the USB connection (not the "accessory connection" that my GPS connects to) and can mount on the hot shoe or external flash mount, as shown in their advertising photograph at right. They also provide a lanyard that allows you to hang it from the camera strap connection.

The Case Air transmits and receives data via its own WiFi, connecting to your devices that you likely already own such as a smart phone or tablet or desktop computer. They have free software called "Case Remote" for both iOS and Android smart phones, as well as for PC and Apple computers.

Tethering allows you to use software on your device of choice to view the live view image that the camera sees, adjust many of the camera settings including and especially the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, focus, and you can press the shutter release and the image is uploaded to your device! That is too cool! It does not provide control over zooming, panning or tilting.

I know there are other solutions out there, but this device is only $159.99. There is the CamFi for about $100 and the CamRanger for about $300 and I haven't used either one. Scott Kelby got me interested in this unit and when I found out they're here in Phoenix, that made up my mind to try their unit.

Why I had to have it

Tethering is a very nice thing to have in a studio for a few reasons. You can control your device while it's on a somewhat fixed tripod. Because of the file upload, you can rapidly show your client the images or you can quickly import them into Lightroom. With wireless tethering you avoid having cables on the floor to trip over or that may come loose from the camera or remote device.

I don't do studio shooting though, I do mainly outdoor shooting.

One of my problems is when I want to have the camera down low, perhaps only a few inches off of the ground. I often have a hard time laying down and looking through the view finder or even the live view monitor. Part of it is because of age and the shape I'm in but another part is because of the rocks and prickly things there are on the ground in the desert areas that I tend to shoot photographs.

I've seen other options, such as the Nikon DR-5 Screw-In Right Angle Viewfinder for $200, or external monitors. But for a lower price, the Case Air also allows me to adjust focus and take the picture remotely. I can't wait to get out and try it!

Purchasing My Unit

My Case Air Wireless after unpacking

I went to the Tether Tools company headquarters at 2202 E. McDowell Rd, Ste 5, Phoenix, AZ 85006 to shop for my copy. Josh brought one out that was hooked up and ready to go. Everyone there was very nice and helpful. This is not a paid ad for them, I just thought it was cool to meet their staff and get the unit from its birthplace.

When I got home, I first plugged the unit in to charge the battery, only to find out there was already sufficient charge to start using the device.

I plugged it in to my Nikon D610 and fired everything up per the instructions (I'd actually installed the software on my iPhone 5 the day before). When you start the system up it checks to see if a firmware update is required for the Case Air and it checks to see if an update is required for the remote device. In my case it let me know a firmware update was required so I installed it per the instructions.

Afterwards I needed to shut everything down and restart and then I was controlling my camera from my iPhone! Everything seems to work as advertised and I'm pretty happy so far. I'll wait until I get it out in the "wild" before saying much more about the performance.

It's nice to get a piece of gear that actually does what it advertises (most of my photo gear has been great that way). This actually surprised me a bit...

Surprise!

I had read a lot of the downloadable manual but had glossed over the details about the bracketing, HDR, and focus stacking shooting.

Case Remote Software
HDR Control Panel
from Tether Tools Manual

I don't get the difference between the bracketing and HDR modes, except that with the HDR mode it will cause your camera to shoot up to 9 images where it changes aperture, shutter speed, or ISO between exposures. You get to choose which exposure aspect you want to change and by how much. The bracketing mode is similar but with only 3 shots. It seems redundant to me - I think the HDR feature should be called bracketing and the existing bracketing function is unnecessary.

But, my Nikon D610 only offers 3 shots and I've often wished I had more shots like the 5 on the D810. Now, with my Case Air, I've got up to 9! And, since I can control it remotely, I don't have to touch the camera in order to change things, for example if I wanted to shoot a burst of "HDR" shots by changing the shutter speed and then wanted to try another burst where the ISO changes. Surprise!

I don't have any functionality built in to my D610 to do focus stacking and I'm not aware of any camera that does. This is really cool and is another surprise! Again, you can select to shoot up to 9 images where the Case Remote software changes the focus between each shot. I've recently been discussing focus stacking with a fellow photographer (actually he's mainly a videographer) and this just seems really amazing.

Additional Notes

Another couple of things I noticed about the system are:

1. The software doesn't work well when the D610 is in a "user" mode (U1 or U2). I couldn't control the camera until I switched to the "manual" mode (M), which is basically the same as a user mode.
2. That's okay because you can store a lot of camera settings in the Case Remote software including auto focus settings, and you can name and load settings in Case Remote. That means you could save some settings for wildlife vs. landscape.
3. The software does not upload RAW files to iOS devices (Josh informed me of that). That means you can't zoom in on an actual image UNLESS you shoot it as JPEG (or in my case RAW + JPEG at a minimum). That sounded like a drawback until I noticed you can flip between shooting RAW and JPEG format quickly on the Case Remote software - you can change to JPEG, shoot an image, upload and inspect, adjust and repeat as necessary, then switch to RAW to take your "real" file. And, if desired, you can delete all of those JPEG files from the Case Remote software! That is convenient!

One final note - I also installed the Android software on my Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 tablet that I use with my DJI Phantom 3 Advanced. The software installed and worked fine on it too but there are differences. The iOS version has more controls available and the layout is a bit different. However, the Tab 4 has a much bigger screen than the iPhone 5 and it allows you to upload RAW files (not that you can do anything with them once they're on the Tab 4). I just wanted to mention that the software works well on those 2 devices. I haven't tried it on my PC yet.

I Got Everything

I recently got the new B & H catalog. I recently perused through the YouTube suggestions (based on my viewing history). I recently cleaned all of my gear before going to Bryce Canyon National Park. In all cases it made me think about my gear, and even more importantly, that there's nothing I can think of that I need to add! That must mean that I've arrived!

I wrote and recorded a song 5 years ago called "I Got Everything" that comes to mind although that song is more depressing than this issue about photography gear (if you go to the page, http://www.poppavein.com/RRhythmia.aspx#IGotEverything, you can  click on the ">" image left of the song title to stream the song.

My D610 with an old Nikkor 70-210mm F4-5.6D
and my Opteka GPS unit

I can look through the B & H catalog with only mild interest because there's just nothing that I want to get. Oh, if funds were unlimited I might buy a big format printer, perhaps a Nikon D5, or even some faster Nikon lenses. But frankly, at my age of a certain age (or at least approaching a certain age), I am trying to get rid of possessions (such as my music gear!).

This last summer I toyed with the idea of getting a Nikon D810 when I found them online (at B & H or Adorama or somewhere) for about $2,000. I believe they were re-furbished but I'm okay with that - my Nikon D610 is refurbished. I've had it for 2-1/2 years and the only problem I've had with it is due to letting a co-worker handle it and he twisted the mode switch without pushing in the lock and wore it down.

Nikkor 20mm f/1.8G ED Lens

After thinking about it and reading more reviews, the D610 is considered to have better low-light image quality and since I prefer shooting low light images over other images, it just didn't make sense to pick it up. Instead I added the Nikkor 20mm f/1.8G ED lens. That saved me about $1,200 and gave me a wide angle f/1.8 lens!

On the one hand, my lack of desire for additional gear means I don't have to spend money. On the other hand, I kind of miss the excitement I had when I first started this hobby - finding new pieces of equipment I thought I had to have, researching which equipment to buy, ordering it, unpacking it, and finally, using it!

If you're just starting to get involved in photography, I'm jealous! Enjoy and savor your adventure.

Considering the Nikkor AF-S Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens

I have had my eyes on the new (relatively new, it was announced in August 2015) AF-S Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens. It looks like an amazing lens. I just haven’t been able to pull the trigger yet and I don’t know why.

This lens has great reviews from just about everyone on the major sites such as Adorama, B&H Photo, and DP Review. Even Ken Rockwell had good things to say about it. I’m waiting for Thom Hogan’s review but he hasn’t posted much – but he has hinted that he likes it.

Nikkor AF-S Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR

I’m not going to go over the specs of the lens; you can read details about the lens at many other and more informed web sites. But I will mention why I want it and why I’m hesitant to get it.

I have shot enough to know that at times I wish I had a longer lens. In particular, this last summer on my trip along the Oregon coast, I shot some sea lions from distances that I would like to have had more reach available. By the time I shot and cropped what I could shoot with my 200mm lens, there wasn’t a lot of image left.

For my Nikon D610 I have the Nikkor 70-200mm f/4G (with the lovely gold band) and like it a lot. I had a plan to get the Tamron 150-600mm but a friend convinced me that the 70-200mm was a better lens, that I’d like the image quality (IQ) better on it. So I went that route and haven’t been disappointed at all with my choice other than the lack of reach.

When the Sigma 150-600 came out and had reports or reviews that it had better IQ than the Tamron, plus it had the docking station available to get firmware updates, and the lower priced version was right even with the Tamron, I started thinking that I’d pick one of those up. I was more interested in the less expensive version, not feeling that basically doubling the price was worth what the “sport” version offered for how I shoot.

Then, this last August, Nikon announced their 200-500mm lens. This is a tough call. It’s a little narrower focal range than the 150-600mm. That means that on the short end I might be able to use the Tamron or Sigma for a particular shot but I may have to swap out the Nikkor to my 70-200mm if I really wanted to be shorter than 200mm. If you’re backed up against a wall or cliff and want to include more of a scene than 200mm will allow, the choice is to swap lenses or compromise on the composition. Or, have the Tamron or Sigma.

On the long end, 100mm extra on the Tamron or Sigma probably wouldn’t be noticed quite as much. I might have to crop the Nikkor shot a bit if I needed to remove something from the shot that I couldn’t get rid of through extending the lens that extra 100mm but it wouldn’t be nearly as bad as the difference between the 200mm maximum I have now compared to the 600mm of the Tamron or Sigma. That’s 3 times the distance or 200% increase! Between the 500mm to 600mm there is only a 20% increase.

Nikon has a cool angle (or field) of view simulator that you can also use to see the dramatic difference (or lack of difference) between focal lengths. It is online at:

http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/lens/simulator/

For a full frame camera, the diagonal angle of view for 150mm is 16.4 degrees and for 200mm it is 12.3 degrees which is fairly significant. The diagonal angle of view at 500mm is 5.0 degrees and at 600mm it is 4.1 degrees. That end is not very significant as can be seen on the Nikon simulator.

The Nikkor is somewhat more limiting at both ends when compared to the Tamron or Sigma. The difference is that Nikon can fine tune the optics easier since they are providing only a 3x zoom, compared to the others that are a 4x zoom. This is born out in the reviews where actual users state pretty convincingly and in sufficient numbers that the Nikkor has improved IQ.

In addition to the focal length, the Nikkor also offers a larger and constant aperture of f/5.6. By comparison, the Tamron and Sigma aperture is f/5 to f/6.3.  The Nikkor will support using a teleconverter, if desired and your camera supports it, at all focal lengths while providing auto focus.

All three lenses have image stabilization by the Nikkor claims that their new version offers 4 stops worth of stabilization. All of the lenses expand and contract according to the focal length so they’ll all have breathing to do.

My biggest factor in my photography is striving for IQ. Because of this, I believe that the Nikkor is the best choice for me. I’d rather swap a lens at the short end and gain any edge in IQ. I’m still a Nikkor only guy with my lenses and have been pretty satisfied with all of them. And, if I mount the 500mm focal length on my D3200 I end up with a 750mm equivalent!

Okay, I’ve convinced myself regarding WHICH lens to get, I just need to convince myself that I truly need a longer lens. I think I need one more photo shoot where I come across a situation that I could ACTUALLY benefit from a longer lens. Once I do, I think I’ll order a copy!

P.S.(es)

1.  Purchasing this lens at roughly $1,400 US will be my third lens of $1,000 or more. In fact, all told I think it would mean I will have spent about $3,600 on lenses ($1,000 for the 16-35mm f/4, $1,200 for the 70-200mm f/4, and the $1,400 for the 200-500mm). This is after having been into photography for less than 3 years. Also note that I have my eye on the Nikon D810 which is also about $3,000. Sheesh. I may need to sell a guitar or two!

2.  I don’t use my D3200 crop camera enough. Next time I want more focal length I should really get out the D3200. I actually have the 55-300mm DX lens, which provides an equivalent of 450mm at the long end. I’ll admit that I did NOT get that rig out when shooting the sea lions and now I wish I’d taken the time to do it. I did think about it at the time but didn’t do it (it was cold and windy, I was parked a bit away from where I was shooting and the D3200 was in my Explorer, I would have had to put the quick release plate on the D3200, and I could probably come up with more excuses – such as I never seem to be as happy with the D3200 IQ in anything other than bright light).

In addition, one other thing that’s been on my mind lately, is that I’ve never tried my more expensive lenses on the D3200. I should see if the IQ is better on the D3200 if I use a better lens.