I once tried to tether my DSLR camera to my laptop computer in my studio. It was successful, after I studied the camera manual, the camera maker's website, the internet forums, Ken Rockwell, and the entrails of a brace of white doves. I may have gone a little over the top with the pentagram and the candles, but at least I could eventually see the pictures on the Macbook Pro at the same time as they were on the live view screen of the camera. The only problem I encountered then was figuring out why I wanted to look...
If I had been teaching a class of students it would have been obvious - if there was an art director of other customer sitting in the studio trying to second guess me, I could have given them plenty of ammunition right as it appeared on the sensor. If I was unsure about what I was seeing, the larger screen of the laptop would have made it easier.
But it was just me and the toy cars and in the end I decided it was just one more complication. The fact that it also involved stringing a tripwire and deadfall system in the darkened studio was also a concern. I can clothesline myself on a spiderweb, never mind a computer cord...
But you may be different, and if you are, I suggest you repair to the Tether Tools display stand in the middle of the Stirling Street Shop and look at the products on offer. What you will chiefly see there is the distinctive Tether Tools connector cords and strain relief attachments for both camera and computer end of the rig. Bless them, Tether Tools make their cord in bright orange - the single most sensible thing that anyone could do for darkened studios.
But you may not realise that you can also get other Tether Tools good ideas upon special order. They make dedicated aluminium laptop and monitor trays that attach to light stands or tripods and bring safety to the dark. I liked their style so much that I shamelessly copied their idea and made my own accessory tray for a studio stand out of a metal baking dish...and plywood trays and holders for laptops and data projectors for use on Manfrotto lightstands. If you're not handy at DIY, ask the staff at Stirling Street to research the Tether Tools website and catalogue for you.
I did find one good little box - an accessory that lets you have external control of your camera from a mobile phone or tablet. These are common these days, and some makers have circuits built into newer cameras already that let you do just this, but the Tether Tools version is universal, long-range, and dead simple to initiate. Plus you cannot strangle yourself in the dark with wires.*
* Note: A photographic pullover is not a garment for shooters. It is what happens when you get entangled in the tethering, power, and sync cords of studio equipment. It can involve every light in the place plus the backdrop paper roll, the subject, the props table, and the coffee maker. It is a memorable experience.
