Digital SLR Reviews Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Computer Programmer’

Nikon Camera Control Pro 2 Software Full Version for Nikon DSLR Cameras

Camera Control Pro software enables simplified remote control of many Nikon digital SLR functions from a personal computer, and includes advanced features such as Viewer that provide substantial improvements in operation. Includes Software CD-ROM User Guide.

User Ratings and Reviews

1 Star A major disappointment
I downloaded the trial version from Nikon, installed it, checked for and applied the latest updates for both the control software and my MacBook Pro running the latest version of OS X Leopard, and my experience is that it’s a total waste of time.

The software simply will not recognize either of the two (supposedly supported) Nikon D70s bodies I’ve connected via the USB port. After an hour of uninstalling, reinstalling, rebooting my MacBook to start with a clean slate — I get a message saying “no camera detected”. Next, I tried these same steps in conjunction with setting the port communication type (USB or PTP) via the menu system in the D70s bodies. The software responds with “no camera detected”.

Refusing to give up, I tried all of the previous steps in conjunction with a different USB cable to ensure there weren’t any cable-related communication problems. But the software responds with, you guessed it — “no camera detected”.

Looking for any menu item that would allow me to tell Camera Control Pro to rescan to discover attached cameras was an exercise in frustration. Throughout this one hour ordeal, my MacBook recognized the attached camera without any problems so the fault is definitely in Control Pro.

The straw that broke the camel’s back is the (so called) help system. I’ve been a computer programmer for 25+ years and have far more technical writing experience than I ever really wanted. I’ve seen some great documentation and some poor documentation — Camera Control Pro’s help and documentation are so inadequate that I’d be ashamed if it came from me. There is nothing more than a series of screen snapshots labeling the various parts of the user interface. I’m talking about the very same user interface the software refuses to show me because all of the menu items are disabled.

So Nikon wants me to pay between $150 and $200 for Camera Control Pro? Forgive my frustration-driven sarcasm, but I’m laughing so hard at the thought of paying for this software that I’m having a hard time clicking on the “uninstall Camera Control Pro” icon to wipe it from my disk.

5 Stars Camera Control Pro 2
It works fantastically well! Really nice to be able to see image on laptop as I shoot tethered. Also, I save the images onto a Rugged Lacie external hard drive, so it makes it easy afterwards to review images on my desktop computer.

5 Stars Outstanding!
Camera Control Pro 2 is a big step up from the previous version, it’s much faster and more robust.

I use this product every day in my studio, shooting product photos, and there is nothing like the immediate feedback of seeing the pic in high-res on my monitor. If you have never shot tethered, you are missing out.

The $150 I spent on this product was a great investment! It paid for itself with the first photo session after installing it. I could NEVER go back to swapping mem cards to see what I was getting.

Considering I use this product every day, I find the cost of it negligible. Sure, it would be nice if Nikon would just give this away with every camera body sold…it would be nice if they gave away Circular Polarizers with every lens too. Hell, it would be nice if they threw in the AC Power Adapter for my camera also, but that’s the way it goes.

All things considered, I’m a very satisfied Nikon owner.

2 Stars Expensive kludge
This software functions, but it is a challenge to make it do anything, and it looks horrible while doing it. I have returned my copy.

5 Stars Camera Control Pro
This is the only way to shoot in studio situations. Live view would be even better but i use a D200 right now. Still, to see what you are doing on a laptop instead of twiddling the camera is great. Also you can run longer on a set of batteries if you don’t use the screen. Third you dont mess up your camera setup by touching it between shots. This is great for product or still life.

The reason it’s not included with the camera is that not everybody wants it or needs it, so why would they want to pay for it.

Bulb exposure is possible by the way, but you need the remote control to do it.

it’s also useful for setting camera defaults and time etc. By all means, if you do studio or controlled shooting, it is a most useful tool.

By the way, it allows you to shoot direct to the computer without using cards in the camera.

Just shoot, and burn to disc while the customer is looking at the shots, perfect results and you are done. no post process etc. it’s great.

carl

Buy/More Info