Tether Tools Tether Table. Everybody should have one!

Richard Charpentier Arizona, Gear Review, Photography, RLC Design Leave a Comment

Only a few short days ago I received a box from Tether Tools.  Oh, how long have I wanted a platform to mount my laptop on while I shoot?  Well, for a long time.  Watching videos like Joe McNally’s, Drew Gardner’s, and too many to count from Scott Kelby left me wanting my own laptop stand.  Ah to want…….

With the shoot we had scheduled for Thursday and Friday a laptop solution was necessary.  So, I popped online and went to TetherTools.com.  I needed a few items.  The arm for my Manfroto tripod, the Tether Table itself, and one USB extension (went for the 16 footer).  I figured that having the laptop on location would let the artistic director for the shoot see real time results and help us dial into the scenes he wanted.  And you know what?  That’s exactly what happened.

The new tripod mount worked well.  Extremely stable with only the laptop, or the laptop and camera mounted on the stand.  We had no issues, no near miss falls, and the Macbook Pro happily stayed on the Tether Table for hours on end.  What more could you ask for?

Oh, maybe an umbrella mount so the sun didn’t glare on the laptop.  We did rig one up fortunately.  I’ll have to work on a better solution down the road of course.

The active USB extension was also a winner.  Although looking back, I think I could have gone for a longer cable.  But most of my tethered work going forward will be in studio, so I’m satisfied with the 16 feet of cable.  My one mistake?  I didn’t get the cable management gear, and should have.  Several times the connection was broken when the camera was handled (operator error).  I think the connection manager for the camera would be a great addition and I’m sure I’ll order their whole cable management package in the next few weeks.

The coolest thing I discovered about TetherTools today is their location.  Right here in Arizona!  Wow!  No wonder why it reached me so quickly when I ordered it last minute!

If you’re looking to start doing tethered shooting, I can’t recommend TetherTools enough!  The Tether Tables rock!!!!

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