Tethering on darktable 5.6 user manual

overview

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The tethering view allows you to capture images directly into darktable from a connected camera.

To use the tethering feature you first need to connect your camera to your PC using a USB cable. Your computer might ask to mount or view the connected camera. Do not mount or view the camera. If your camera is mounted or viewed automatically, you will need to “unmount/eject” the camera before darktable can access it. This unlocks the camera so that darktable can take control of it – darktable will then re-lock the camera so that it cannot be used by other applications.

tethering view layout

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

🔗left panel

image information: Display image information.

🔗right panel

From top to bottom:

scopes: A graphical depiction of the current image’s light levels and colors. This module can be moved to the left-hand panel if desired (see preferences > miscellaneous > position of the scopes module).
session: Session settings.
live view: Live view settings.
camera settings: Camera settings.
metadata editor: Edit metadata for selected images.
tagging: Tag selected images.

🔗bottom panel

From left to right:

examples

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The following sections show two typical use cases for the tethering view.

🔗studio setup with screening

This is a pretty common use case. You have your studio and subject set up, the camera is connected to your computer and tethering view is active in darktable. You work at the camera and take images. Whenever you like, you can review the images directly on your computer monitor instead of using the camera LCD.

troubleshooting

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

This troubleshooting guide can be used to verify whether or not your camera can be used with tethering. This is done using the same (gphoto2) tool that darktable uses to interface with your camera.

Before you start, you first need to find your camera port name. Usually the port “usb:” is sufficient and is therefore used in the following guide.

🔗is your camera detected?

The following command will verify that your camera is connected to the computer and detected by gphoto2.