Nikon D800E connection issue with OSx Maverick

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Nikon D800E connection issue with OSx Maverick

Hi All.

I'm experiencing a connection problem with the Nikon D800E camera and the OSx installation on my iMac.

I bought the iMac 27" late 2012 with maxed out specs.. this was to support photo editing of the NEF files fromt the Nikon D800E camera.

In the beggining I experienced an issue when I tried to import the photos from the camera to Lightroom, the issue was that the import worked for about 5 photos and then it got diconnected.. I had to restart the camera if I wanted to continue with the import.

After a while I got annoyed and started to look for others with the same problem online.. most solutions suggested to use a card reader instead...

Well said and done i got a card reader.. this worked excellent.. the photo editing works like a charm.. and everything is great..

Until yesterday.. i bought a program that helps you woth the finadjusting of the autofocus on the different lenses... this requierd to connect the camera with a tether USB3 cable so the program could control setting in the camera take pictures and analyze the photos and do adjustments... this is great.. except that I got reminded of the connection issue... the camera disconnects after a few minutes and the it requires a restart to bring up the connection again...

After several hours of testing I got fed up.. so this is what I did:

Without touching the tether cable and the camera I rebooted the iMac to a Windows 7 partition and installed the same software to adjust the autofocus.. and it worked like a charm... so the issue is clarely not on the Nikon side?? or... there is a incompability problem here...

This means that I cannot use the tehter functionality from the maverick partition as it cannot keep the connection alive with the camera.. so working tethered is currently out of the question??

So has anyone else experienced this same issue??

I really don't want to use windows for the photography tasks i do.. the ONLY reason I created the dual boot is to be able to play games... nothing else..

Hope someone can help..

///David

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9.1), Nikon D800E, connectivity problems

Posted on Jan 24, 2014 6:22 AM

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Answer 1

a brody

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Jan 24, 2014 7:39 AM in response to Diquito

I would ask in the Adobe Lightroom for Mac forums and find out if they have difficulty with that camera on Mac OS X 10.9 or not.

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Answer 2

Diquito Author

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Jan 24, 2014 8:03 AM in response to a brody

I have seen similar posts in the Adobe forume without any proper solution.. but it seems to be a Mac os issue more than a LR or Adobe problem.

Anyhow I did post a question there to see if anyone had anything!!

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Answer 3

daveweb

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Feb 2, 2014 6:55 AM in response to Diquito

I have the 'same' connection problem with my Nikon D800 and my Imac late 2012. I am also running lightroom 5 and OSX maverics. After importing a few NEF images the connection gets lost.

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Answer 4

a brody

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Feb 2, 2014 7:27 AM in response to daveweb

It could be a cable issue, or an Energy Saver issue, or a powered port issue.

Some of Apple's USB ports are lower powered than others. This can be determined by the System Profiler. Adding devices to them that don't have their own power can be a problem. And then Energy Saver tends to send all ports into a lower powered mode until you reboot. Using a wall powered USB hub can typically address the issues, but not always. Check Apple Support obviously for the RAW updaters and see if any address your camera.

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Answer 5

Diquito Author

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Feb 5, 2014 4:07 AM in response to a brody

In my case it's not a cable issue.. and surely not a port issue.. everything works perfect as soon as I reboot into Windows.. it's only with the OSX OS I experience these problems?

I have talked to the Apple support and they have not heard anything about this.. neihter has the Nikon support guys..

So i guess the only way forward is to reinstall the OSX from scratch and start testing with new software installations.. and check if this is caused ** some particular os update or software installation or something similiar??

The only issue here is that it will take forever to do this!!!

The energy saver commet could be something I will look into that before a reinstallation.. I really don't want to reinstallt everything! 🙂

I will try with a powered hub too.. that sound reasonable... so some tries before reinstalling.. 🙂

Thanks for the suggestions..

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Answer 6

Feb 15, 2014 11:45 AM in response to Diquito

I also have a D800e and am having problems with tethered connections. I have used Nikon Camera Control Pro 2 in combination with Lightroom 4, Lightroom 4's tethering, and Capture One Pro. All result in disconnections. Have multiple cables, and same problems on a mid 2012 Mac Pro and a brand new Macbook Pro both running 10.9.1.

I have an open support case with Nikon. Would like to know if the powered usb hub improved things.

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Answer 7

GRK12

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Mar 23, 2014 2:51 PM in response to Diquito

I too have experienced this same issue. Apple really needs to get on this, it's ridiculous they used to be a company that catered to professional creatives. I just bought an iMac 2013 model and had connections issue similar to described. Spoke with applecare and they determined it was the computer itself. Returned it, just got a new one and having the exact same issue!

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Answer 8

a brody

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Mar 23, 2014 5:21 PM in response to jgrande35

oops, let me direct this to GRK.

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Answer 9

a brody

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Mar 23, 2014 5:21 PM in response to GRK12

GRK12,

You dug up a month old thread. As far as I can tell either the solution was an external hub, or the person gave up trying. I suggest trying an external hub and tell us which one has the best results.

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Answer 10

Mar 23, 2014 5:29 PM in response to GRK12

GRK12, I feel your pain. The definitive answer to the problem is that Nikon and Apple are using different USB3 protocols. Until the problem is solved the solution is to use a powered USB 3.0 hub with a good USB 3 cable such as a Tether Pro. Don't use an extension. Connect the USB hub, then the USB 3 cable to the hub.

Or else use a USB 2 cable and that will make your connection USB 2 which will not disconnect.

I spent weeks trying to troubleshoot this. Had shoots ****** up with disconnects, sent my camera back to Nikon. USB 3 camera connections are new, the D800 is the 1st body to use it, Canon does not. Problems need to be fixed. I thank Shawn from Tether Pro for helping me. Nice people at Nikon and Apple tried, but the USB 3 protocol problem was unknown to them.

Best.

John

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Answer 11

a brody

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Mar 23, 2014 6:17 PM in response to jgrande35

Can you provide a link for the Tether Pro that worked for you?

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Answer 12

Diquito Author

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Mar 24, 2014 12:55 AM in response to a brody

Hi All

In my case and external USB3 hub with power supply did the trick.. Now I don't have any issues with the connection to the camera it keep connected as long as I need it to.

😁

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Answer 13

Mar 24, 2014 8:03 PM in response to a brody

http://www.shop.tethertools.com/TetherPro-USB-30-SuperSpeed-Micro-B-Right-Angle- Cable-C.htm

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Answer 14

a brody

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Mar 25, 2014 3:52 AM in response to jgrande35

Thank you. I've posted the tip here:

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6912

If you have any other contributions, I can add them as needed.

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