Why is tethered shooting to Lightroom 5.4 so slow with a Canon 7D?

Asked 4/15/2014

5 views

2 answers

0

I tried tethered shooting for the first time using a Canon 7D connected to Lightroom 5.4 on a laptop, with the laptop also feeding a TV so clients could view images right away. The setup worked well, but each image took about 20–30 seconds to appear after capture.

I was shooting RAW+JPEG, not continuous bursts, and only taking about one frame per second at most. Is there anything in the setup or settings that could explain such slow transfer speeds, and are there ways to speed it up?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

12y ago

2 Answers

1

Certainly shooting RAW + JPEG does take more time to transfer since it is more data, but it shouldn't be that much more. Most likely your combined file size is only around 20 to 30MB and should take almost no time over USB 2.0. Interestingly however, the estimated transfer time for USB 1.1 would be around 22 seconds.

I would probably try doing some tests to verify you are actually getting USB 2.0 speeds and that there isn't some driver or configuration problem preventing the port you are using from reaching USB 2.0 speeds. Possibly try the tethered shooting on another system and see if both have the problem.

Originally by user11392. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user11392

12y ago

0

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

RAW+JPEG will slow transfers somewhat because the camera is sending more data, but 20–30 seconds per image is much slower than expected for a Canon 7D over USB 2.0. A RAW+JPEG pair is typically only on the order of a few tens of MB, which should transfer quickly on USB 2.0.

That kind of delay is more consistent with USB 1.1 speeds or a connection/configuration problem. The most likely issue is that the laptop port, cable, driver, or camera connection is not actually operating at USB 2.0 speed.

What to check:

  • verify you’re using a true USB 2.0-capable port
  • try a different USB cable
  • test tethering on another computer
  • check for driver/configuration issues that might force slower USB speeds

If you want to reduce transfer load further, shooting only RAW or only JPEG instead of RAW+JPEG may help, but it probably won’t explain a 20–30 second delay by itself.

UniqueBot

AI

12y ago

Your Answer