On-the-go tethering options for Nikon DSLRs?
I have two weddings coming up in October, and I would love to be able to use my Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 lens, which produces a beautiful asthetic at 1.4, but lacks the autofocus of Nikon's (much) more expensive version. Both my bodies (D300, D700) support live view. I'm hoping to make a bracket for a monitor or tablet that I can quickly affix to my tripod while shooting to get crisp focus- this is difficult for my eyes when peeping through the viewfinder, and focus at 1.4 or 1.8 isn't but a few centimeters deep.
Has anyone done tethered shooting on location like this? I would prefer using a very compact set up, instead of a laptop, table, etc. My guess is that all I'll need is a monitor of some sort with a video input? I've seen at least one person use video input on a portable dvd player successfully with a D7000, but I'm not certain if that would work with my cameras.
You are hobbling your workflow with that idea.
Your two cameras have an electronic rangefinder you can use efficiently to accurately focus your lens. Use it just like we did in the days of film and manually focus the lens using the viewfinder.
Unless you take the time to magnify each shot in the LCD to assure shape focus, there's no way to assure sharp focus using the cameras SLR.
My guess is that you want to add a field monitor to your camera. Sadly what you want to do requires a program that will tether the cameras to a computer, one for each camera
Your two cameras, while still very viable digital SLR cameras do NOT have a simple way for you to attach a field monitor to each camera, because field monitors attach to cameras HDMI connection which are enabled to stream video. Your two cameras do have HDMI ports, but they can only be used for playback, not for focusing and framing a shot
I know it looks sexy to be using a field monitor while walking around with a camera mounted on a shoulder rig, but really, you are there to cover the wedding ceremony and reception.
Either raise your fees for shooting weddings so you can afford an auto focus 85 mm f/1.4 or learn how to use the electronic rangefinder on your cameras. I use the rangefinder all the time when I'm using some of my old, manual focus lenses and it works just fine.
When shooting people, you do NOT want to shoot at lens apertures that have such shallow depth of field.
Your term "peeping through the viewfinder" makes it sound like you shoot everything using live view, holding the camera at arms length. If you want consistently sharp images showing NO blur due to camera movement, start holding your camera like working pros have for decades, up to your eye holding it with both hands to assure the least possible camera movement when pressing the shutter release.
Page 90 of your D700 manual explains how you can use Live View to fine tune your focus.