How to Shoot tethered with Sony and Adobe Lightroom Classic (2024)

After many years Adobe finally updated Tethered shooting support for Sony!
I've wanted this feature for years and have contemplated switching to Capture One a few times so I can tether shoot with my Sony, but Adobe have finally updated their software to facilitate this function.
leohoang_media

[@draughonc]

Thank you. It's about time for the tethering to work with Sony.

[@leo_hoang]

Definitely way overdue! So far I’ve only used just the once in a real shoot but enjoyed it going directly into LR

[@BeautyNFood]

This video was so helpful to me. Thank You.

[@leo_hoang]

Comments like these make my day! Thanks for watching and glad it helped!

[@TolarRay]

Glad they got it right! Thanks for the video

[@leo_hoang]

Glad it helped! Thanks for watching

[@Manikw]

Great succinct video. I just shot today on my sony a7iv tethered and it was a breeze I Made sure to add a like to the video.

[@leo_hoang]

Much appreciated! Thank you for the support!

Actually you don;t need special tether cable. Just a regular usb c data cable.

[@leo_hoang]

True - I misspoke and meant you need a cable to tether, but the brand I use is from Tether tools… I have used a generic 5m USB-C to USB-C cable from Amazon also which in some ways worked better… the cable wasn’t as stiff so was more manoeuvrable

[@tomarber6488]

Would love to know if anyone has worked out how to use auto focus with the AF button in Lightroom while using 'live view'? I feels more like a Sony setting than a Lightroom setting that needs changing

[@leo_hoang]

I actually don’t think you can change AF points through LR… you can just press AF so it’s like half pressing the shutter, but you can’t change AF points unfortunately… if you find out otherwise, please do let me know

[@tomarber6488]

@@leo_hoang I can't get it to focus at all... Not change any points, just using the 'a'f button on the Lightroom tether panel, nothing happens. Could it be a back button focus issue?

[@jessiepalanca1022]

Not all camera models are included my A7iiii is not supported that’s a bummer 😢

[@leo_hoang]

Bummer indeed! I just wrapped up my first shoot with the A7IV tethering directly into Lightroom. So much better than using Imaging Edge App.

[@Toblerone-xu8kn]

Hi Leo, thanks for the video! I did the tethering with my A7IV a few days ago and it worked fine. I wanted to do it again today but it's not working. The connection between camera and Lightroom Classic is there, live view is working but when I take the photo, it's not showing up or putting it in the folder on my Mac. Have you come across this?

[@kevenaso2]

Same issue here! Everything seems to work perfectly fine but when you take the picture it just doesn’t show in Lightroom :(

[@kevenaso2]

I think I found something. Go to settings > PC remote function > go down to PC Save image size > and hit Original

[@Toblerone-xu8kn]

@@kevenaso2 I figured it out. On the camera - Image Quality, the setting was changed to HEIF. I put it back to JPEG, et voilà.

[@colincoleman9670]

I can't get the images to transfer into LR. It sees my camera (a9) and I can control features but nothing else.

[@leo_hoang]

Is the A9 on the compatibility list?

[@davidbangean]

Thank you this was helpful!

[@leo_hoang]

Great to hear! I’m glad it helped.

[@jamesmcconnon2]

Now I really want to upgrade from the 6400 to the 6700 to get this. It would make macro photography so much easier.

[@leo_hoang]

In some ways, because the Imaging Edge App allows you to control focus, this might be better for you. Do you tether at all now?

[@jamesmcconnon2]

@@leo_hoang i use a manual focus lens and a rail for macro, so focus control isn’t important. In my case, having the images straight in lightroom would be a huge advantage because then it saves me having to transfer all the images. Strongly considering it tbh.

[@foxyvisionsvideographer]

Hi, you deserve ore subs. Awesome video, would love to know what an art director does and then what's your role. I just love to use tethering so I can instantly review the images with my presets

[@leo_hoang]

Cheers for watching and the kind words… At my full time job, I usually have the Brand Teams create the briefs and moodboards, they arrange styling and make-up artists and I just execute their ideas… I check out their moodboards and create lighting setups to match as closely as possible and capture their images… as it’s their creativity, I leave it with them for sign off which they can do instantly with tethering… They refer to themselves as Art Directors, Creative Directors or Creative Producers on set.

[@lucasbreton6591]

Hi! Do you know if you can save to a network drive? Also, do you know if you can entirely eliminate the need for SD cards in this scenario? Or, effectively eliminate the need to reformat SD cards over time? Great video

[@leo_hoang]

Good questions! I don’t have a NAS but I can try see if it will upload directly to OneDrive through Finder on my laptop. I would suspect it would just handle a NAS like it would any other drive destination, but I guess similarly OneDrive would be a similar setup. I also believe the camera requires an SD card to trigger, but as you’d be shooting into your tethered computer you could eliminate the need for the second SD Card slot… But I’m on set tomorrow for the lighting test shoot before the main shoot day so can run some tests. Thanks for the questions and thanks for watching!

[@leo_hoang]

I thought I followed up on this already as I’m sure I left a comment right after I tested, but I can’t see my reply… But I did do the test to OneDrive and it tethered to laptop and uploaded directly to OneDrive. So it should work with your NAS setup if the NAS just reads as a drive on your computer/laptop. The camera doesn’t fire without an SD Card also… it’s good to have a back up anyway… hope that helps!

[@AlePhoto-ug9ux]

My sony a 7 iii not working :(is it to old?

[@lasnoopette4606]

Yup ! It's not on Lightroom list :(

[@vichhaichork7778]

After u have rated in Lightroom, and if I take all the photo to photoshop, will those rate still available in photoshop?

[@leo_hoang]

My workflow doesn’t require me to use ratings within Photoshop, so I unfortunately can’t answer this for you… I usually edit within LR but only take a few images which require heavier editing to Photoshop… once I rate, open in PS, edit, save, and come back to LR, the rating remains on the new edited TIFF file. Hope that helps

[@lucasbreton6591]

If you could follow up regarding the disconnections you're experiencing that would be much appreciated!

[@leo_hoang]

Sure thing - I should have mentioned I did notice this happen even with Imaging Edge app (with Lightroom closed) also, but the key thing for me was that it reconnects automatically rather than having to close down and re-open… they’re very quick disconnects and reconnects… but will do an update video or follow up on your comments

[@leo_hoang]

So I got through my shoots with a bit of a mixed experience. Day 1, my tether tools cable kept disconnecting, granted there’s the bend in the cable so to remove that from being an issue, on Day 2 which was the main shoot day, I got the back-up cable I keep which has been used in the past and it wouldn’t connect at all! But! I had a generic 5m USB-C cable used to charge a dummy battery for live streaming which had zero issue being used as a tethering cable with zero drops in connection. I feel this deserves more testing overtime, but just wanted to follow up on your comment whilst this is fresh. But overall, it was a good shoot going directly into Lightroom!

[@sloop24]

What software version are you running on the a7iv? I'm on 2.0 and getting stuck on Detecting Camera

[@leo_hoang]

I’m on Ver. 2.00 also and had no issues during my shoot once I got a different cable. Ironically I was using 2x Tether Tools USB-C cables having issues, but I switched to a long USB-C generic cable from Amazon then had zero issue! No drop-outs with Sony A7IV on ver. 2.00 firmware in my M1 Max MBP. Might be worth changing your cable. Hope that helps!

[@sloop24]

@@leo_hoang thanks I tried different cable and computers but no difference, it was actually a driver issue and I got it fixed. Thanks!

[@ruben7697]

It works on my laptop but not on my PC. Any ideas?

[@leo_hoang]

There are too many variables to consider unfortunately. I assume you’re using Windows on both? My first instinct would be to assume the USB Port on your PC is faulty. I haven’t been a windows user for years, but it could be something to do with the USB settings in the system preferences. Are you sure you’re fully updated to latest Lightroom on both machines?

[@ruben7697]

@@leo_hoang yes, I checked the versions and tested all usb ports. Both are windows

[@jsrcy83]

So a cable is still required ?

[@leo_hoang]

To my knowledge, yes. I used a generic USB-C cable which worked fine, so you don’t necessarily need the Tethertools one. I would recommend a cable anyway as you can connect via Imagine Edge via WiFi, but it’s so slow and the battery drains much faster having to maintain a wireless connection

[@publicanimal59]

Talk faster please

[@leo_hoang]

I will try my best… 👍

[@Toblerone-xu8kn]

Hi Leo, thanks for the video! I did the tethering with my A7IV a few days ago and it worked fine. I wanted to do it again today but it's not working. The connection between camera and Lightroom Classic is there, the live view is working but when I take the photo, it's not showing up or putting it in the folder on my Mac. Have you come across this?

[@leo_hoang]

Outside of testing it at home, I’ve only used it on one real world shoot and had no issues. Well, I did have some connection issues but I believe it’s more to do with my cable rather than the software. I was going to do a follow up in a few weeks after having a few more shoots under my belt whilst using LR for tethering. The only thing I can suggest is if you start fresh with a brand new catalogue and destination folder to see if you’re still having this issue. Which cable are you using?

[@AlePhoto-ug9ux]

My sony a 7 iii not working :(is it to old?

[@leo_hoang]

Possibly - I didn’t read the full compatibility list, but I heard it’s not compatible across all Sony models after I made the video. So potentially you’d need the latest generation Sony’s from Sony A7IV onward… How do you currently tether?

[@jace2279]

I have a A7IV and it's not working.. I don't know why. It can't detect the camera in lightroom and will just load infinitely..

[@leo_hoang]

@@jace2279 check your Lightroom version is up to date along with you having latest firmware. When you connect via usb c it should prompt to “Remote Shoot” if not, search on Google how to turn on remote shooting - aside from those things to check, you might have a faulty camera