ShutterSnitch

Due to an overwhelming number of requests, here is more detailed guide of using ShutterSnitch with Fujifilm X-Series Cameras.

This is probably my most information-laden post to date. There is a lot of information here as it details configuration of the camera and software taking the image from the camera to the client via ShutterSnitch.

I am going to ignore SD card import as when use the SD Card I tend to move the images though Lightroom Mobile before transmitting via ShutterSnitch (so joining this workflow at the point of adding the metadata and transmitting).

Previously ShutterSnitch was heavily based on Actions (a series of actions carried out on an image either upon receipt of the image or by user action). With the addition of the Image Adjustment and Metadata Editing add-ons (accessible from the options menu), my use of the software has shifted slightly.

‘Snitch can connect to the x-Series cameras to receive images exactly the same way as the Fuji app, with both Push from Camera and Browse and Download both being available via the Camera WiFi button. In addition the app can also serve as a tether server, receiving images directly from the camera as they are shot. As I have covered the standard WiFi functionality in the past here, I will step through the tether setup quickly.

In ShutterSnitch, ensure support for Fujifilm WiFi is enabled, accepting only jpgs.

Whilst in the settings, it may also be a good time to look at your jpg compression settings (for resizing & sending).

Next to set up the camera. Tethering is where the iPad really works. Enable the hotspot and connect the camera to this hotspot through the connection settings. It is not the simplest and will probably require a couple of attempts (apologies for the poor images – they were taken with the phone whilst on a train):

Note in the image above how the Resize for SmartPhone 3M is turned off. This setting has been responsible for a great many queries on “my images are small” (I’ll be honest, I have also sent smaller than planned images to Picture Desks also).

To connect to the iPad you will need to use the Manual Setup option, waiting for the Camara to find the Wireless HotSpot.

Once setup it is easy to flip between the normal mode of saving images to the card (PC Shoot Mode – Off) , or tethered to the iPad (PC Shoot Mode – Wireless Fixed). Remember, the app will only connect to a camera when in a Collection. The small LED on the camera will indicate the state of the tether:

With the app in a collection and PC Shoot Mode set, the LED should flash red, then amber as it looked for the app, finally flashing Green when ready.

Note: The camera will switch to a single shot mode when tethering – CL & CH modes are not supported.

All of the information I have seen suggest that in Tethered mode all images are sent to the host application and none remain on the card. My findings point to that being true on an X-T2 with no battery grip. However (and this is a key feature for me), with a battery grip and the camera sent to record both RAW & JPG with Save Data Setup set to RAW / JPEG (ie. RAW images to slot 1 and JPG to slot 2), the JPG images are sent to the iPAD whilst the RAW images remain on card 1. This enables me to do a quick edit and send from the JPG’s on location, with the safety of being to go back over the RAW images when I have time for a more considered edit at the office.

Finally the images are on their way to ShutterSnitch but what now?

This is where Actions may first be applied. Before you enter your collection, from the Options menu, Select Actions and decide what the app will do with every image as it receives it.

My workflow here assigns basic Metadata for the images I’m shooting. I create my basic metadata in PhotoMechanic on my Mac, saving it to a transfer folder on Dropbox. Moving to Dropbox on the iPad, select the relevant file and then the Export option picking Copy to ShutterSnitch (you may need to enable that in the sharing … More )

And create an Update Metadata Action (note can also save as a Metadata Editor Preset for later):

Title the Action, double check the Metadata and back to Tasks to save.

Moving the pointer to this task will ensure it is run on every image as recieved.

As stated above, switch to a collection and the camera (in tether mode) should find the app. If using the traditional WiFi connection, Start the WiFi on the camera and connect the iPad to the camera’s hotspot before moving to the collection – as you move you will be prompted wether to Browse and Download or Push from Camera.

Images will appear, with Jump to New Images enabled (button at the right end of the filmstrip), the latest image will show. The description may or may not be displayed depending on a setting in the main options.

Once loaded the image may be edited with the Image Adjustments add-in, accessed from the top title bar.

Most of the adjustments are obvious- one interesting aspect is the crop/zoom at the top. The usual iOS interface of using 2 fingers to zoom and pan the image work here – if in zoom mode, it is the standard zooming in and out to check the image, in crop mode, the image is being cropped as displayed. The aspect ratio may be selected from the lower right.

A useful shortcut when cropping is the 2-finger double-tap – this will rotate the image back straight (well as straight as you took it), i.e. zero rotation, leaving the zoom as it is.

The Metadata add-in is also selected from the Titlebar.

Again, this is mostly self evident. The buttons under the image enable moving from image to image as well as filtering the images and tagging the current.

The buttons under the data are:

• Apply Preset (either created earlier as discussed as above or from the current data)
• Choose which fields should be displayed and in which order (move the most import data to the top).
• Revert to original Metadata.
• Copy MetaData
• Paste Metadata

If I am working on a very urgent job, I send images individually as I edit them and I have a specific action for this. Otherwise I send in a batch, using Colour Tags and filters to display my selection for sending.

Pressing the standard iOS share button on the title bar enables the selection of images for the action.

One of my favorite features here is the select all following option, I select the 1st image of my set to send, then press the select all following to select the the rest.

Pressing the actions (cog) icon on the titlebar displays the available actions. The key here is just to press the action you need, DO NOT move the pointer as this will select the action to be run upon image import!

I have a number of export actions which work in different ways depending on the recipient.

They are all similar, renaming the file using the collection name and then sending to a particular outlet.

Note the Pre-Process option under the Export Location, this enables the resizing of images to suit the use (compression settings are in the main options as mentioned above).

As well as the image delivery action for clients, you will see I have archiveactions which copy the images to a folder in dropbox for me to add to my main Lightroom catalog back in the office.

While the editing and captioning tools are not as comprehensive as say the combination of PhotoMechanic and Lightroom/Photoshop , this workflow does provide a very workable and light-weight way to process and transmit images very quickly.

As ever, I hope it makes sense. Any question, please comment below 🙂

The next posts will feature my thoughts on the 27mm Pancake lens on both the X-T1 and X-T2 and long term thoughts on the 100-400 with the 1.4 converter.

J x