Protecting Your Cable and Ports When Shooting Tethered

You selected the correct TetherPro USB cable using our Search By Camera tool at TetherTools.com. Now it’s time to consider how you’ll protect your cable and camera data port to extend their life and maintain top performance.  Whenever I shoot I use some form of cable management system.  When I first started shooting tethered I used gaffer tape to secure my cables, sometimes to the camera to protect the USB port, sometimes on the floor to prevent people from tripping, and sometimes to the tripod leg to keep the cable neat and out of the way. Today, I use various Tether Tools cable management options depending on the shooting environment and my particular needs at the time.  On a recent shoot in the lovely town of Sedona, Arizona I chose the JerkStopper Camera Support.  The reason I chose it was because I was using two different cameras and I needed to quickly move between them while I shot.  The JerkStopper Camera Support has a quick release that made this very easy.

But hands down my favorite cable management solution is the TetherBlock.  It provides a very stable and solid cable connection into the camera port.  If your camera has a USB 3.0 Micro-B port, you know the cable connector is very narrow and has the tendency to move a bit more than other connectors. This movement can damage the cable as well as your camera port. No matter which port your camera has, you should protect it along with your cable. There is one tiny drawback with the TetherBlock. Because the cable is secured to the bottom of the camera via the TetherBlock, you have to unscrew the plate if you want to disconnect the cable and be free from the camera.  I use the TetherBlock when I don’t need to disconnect from the camera too often during a shoot.  It also comes in an Arca Swiss version which is appropriately named the TetherBlock Arca. Protecting your computer port is just as important.  We have a full line of JerkStoppers that are dedicated to protecting your computer port. We are happy to help you find the correct solution for you so if you have any questions, please contact us.