WT-4, any experience?

[billsstills]

Does anyone have experience with this gadget and does it work well?

I'm gonna buy one for my D300 to experiment with it for a new business venture with another photographer.

My laptop has built in network/wireless ability so I would love feedback on the process of installing all software and how reliable it all is.

Bill.

[jonpaul]

Hi I run a WT-4 with my D300 to be honest i do not find it any better than the WT-3 on my D200 two reasons for buying it.

1. We do a lot of Event Work and need the Facility to shoot wireless for speed.

2. I need to sell all my D200 stuff inc the WT-3 before it drops in value anymore, so that i can put the money towards buying the D700 or D3 both of which accepts the WT-4.

The software in easy to install and setup complete the install attach your D300 to your PC via USB and set up profiles that consist of your network setting (type,keys ect) the profile are auto saved to the D300 plug in the WT-4 and your ready to go.

The Range is not as good as Nikon says it is but works well within 100 feet and is very reliable.

If anything i find having the WT-4 attached to my belt or in my pocket with the attached USB cable running to the D300 is very frustrating the lead is always getting in the way and seem to restrict my shooting style.

The WT-3 on the D200 attaches to the Camera and is a lot less restricting, however the WT-3 only accepts one battery to run both the Unit and the Camera where the WT-4 uses its own battery and lasts a lot longer.

All in all if i had the choice i would rather not of had to part with £525.00 for the WT-4 it’s a lot of money for what it does, but if what it does makes your workflow faster and better whilst at the same time future proves me (until Nikon decided to change things all over again) then i guess it is worth it.

Bottom line if you really need it buy it if you can get away with shooting tethered via USB or RJ45 then leave your money in the bank.

[Luke_Miller]

You should consider using a router so you can operate at the higher speeds Infrastructure mode offers. Going straight to the laptop (no router) is Ad Hoc mode and is much slower.

I like the way my Wt-2A mounts on my D2X so I mount my WT-4A on my D3. I have the RRS Portrait Perfect package and I slip the belt slot of the WT-4A case on the RRS rail. Works very nicely.

[LarryLetzer]

We do a heavy amount of event work where the camera is just a couple of feet from the computer. For these, we have the camera tethered to the computer. Many times faster than wireless. For us, wireless is just too slow. I am talking 150 - 250 images per night where each couple looks at their image immediately after exposure. Cameras we use tethered are the D3, D2x, D200. It makes no difference what Nikon digital camera we use, we get the same results for this type of work. However, the D200 batteries are too puny to get many exposures so we use the E6H power supply with the D200 cameras. The D2X and the D3 have the same battery and it will give us 300 exposures with no recharge. Remember, it takes more battery power to send the images to the computer tethered.

Even, in our camera rooms (2) we have the antiquated DCS 760's tethered through a computer going directly to our server.

[Luke_Miller]

In my small studio I use the WT-2A and WT-4A to display the shots on my laptop. Transmitting the NEFs (even in Infrastructure mode) is too slow, so I shoot RAW + JPEG Basic and just transmit the JPEG. That works well and even if I can't impress the client with the photography I can with the technology.