After working for 3 years on the same Windows based system i finally decided to upgrade my system and went for an "Apple".
My first idea was to go for a MacBook pro because i wanted a system i could move to the studio for tethered shooting, after doing some research i found that the MacBook screens are not IPS based technology (almost no laptop has an IPS screen), so if i wanted to get the most out of it i had to buy an additional screen like an Eizo or something = additional costs + more cumbersome setup but easy if i wanted to take the MacBook only..
My second idea was to go for an iMac 21'5 and this is what i finally bought, I ordered a big carrying case at
Bigsoso to take the system with me between my working place and the studio, maybe i'll add a MacBook pro next year or so, but for now i got a pretty good solution that went easy on my bank account. (Well easy...)
But (there's always a but) at the studio i used to work tethered on my Windows Machine, for this i bought 2 simple 3meter long USB cables that i connected together (one cable was male -female, second cable was male - male, usb B ).
A perfect 6 meter long connection between the Windows computer with Lightroom and my Nikon D700 :-)
So i tried the same, 2x3m USB cable between the iMAC and the D700 = no connection
hmmm... maybe i should add a powered USB hub?
So i tried = iMac -> powered USB hub -> 2x3m USB cable -> D700 = no connection
hmmm... €20,00 spend on a useless USB hub...
So i tried = iMac -> 1x3m USB cable -> original Nikon USB cable -> = Hallelujah! Connected, but only a working radius of 4 meter :-(
Then i tried connecting this to the USB connector in the Mac Keyboard to win 0,5m but this again resulted in a "no connection".
I'll try using an active USB cable in a future setup but thought i'll put this online, maybe it's useful for somebody or maybe somebody can explain me why the 6meter solution works on a Windows machine but not on the iMac machine ...
EDIT:
I received a 10 meter active USB cable, works like a charm on the Windows PC, but on the iMAC i can not make a connection, the camera is detected by the system as you can see here :
Edit 2. (18-April-2012)
I was in contact with TetherTools.com about this problem and according to their experiences one should never attempt to use passive USB cables longer than 5 meters on the iMAC.
I ordered pretty expensive USB 3.0 cables, 2 x 16 ft with 2 activators, these shoud do the trick for the D700 and the D800.
At this moment i'm pretty sure my next laptop will not be a Macbook but probably a simple Windows machine with USB 3.0 support, time will tell...
Edit 3 (06-June-2012)
Today I received 2 brand new USB3.0 gold plated active cables from Tethertools.com
1)
Imac <-> usb 2.0 port <-> nikon usb 2.0 cable <-> Nikon D700
Import Works
Tethering Works
2)
Imac <-> usb 2.0 port <-> Tethertools 5meter USB 3.0 cable <-> nikon usb 2.0 cable <-> Nikon D700
Import Works
Tethering Works
3)
Imac <-> usb 2.0 port <-> Tethertools 5meter USB 3.0 cable <->
Tethertools 5meter USB 3.0 cable <-> nikon usb 2.0 cable <-> Nikon
D700
No Camera detected
4)
Imac <-> usb 2.0 port <-> nikon usb 2.0 cable <-> Nikon D800e
Import Works
Tethering not yet supported bij Adobe Lightroom
5)
Imac <-> usb 2.0 port <-> Tethertools 5meter USB 3.0 cable <-> nikon usb 2.0 cable <-> Nikon D800e
Import = Camera appears for 1 or 2 seconds in the Lightroom interface and than it disappears =
No Camera detected (very weird)
Tethering not yet supported bij Adobe Lightroom
6)
Imac <-> usb 2.0 port <-> Tethertools 5meter USB 3.0cable <->
Tethertools 5meter USB 3.0 cable <-> nikon usb 2.0 cable <-> Nikon
D800e
No Camera detected
To be continued ...
