Manfrotto has announced the Digital Director, a new advanced tethering solution and real-time live view monitor for Canon and Nikon DSLR cameras. The Digital Director comprises an Apple-certified iPad holder and a downloadable software app that runs on a user-supplied iPad Air or Air 2. The entire system was built and designed in partnership with Apple, helping to ensure that it runs seamlessly with the iPad and the Digital Director app.
The Digital Director is more than just an iPad mount—it features a built-in ARM Cortex A8 600MHz microprocessor to provide a low-latency live view feed and fast transfer times when sending images from your camera’s memory card to the iPad.
Once mounted on the Digital Director’s Lighting connector, the iPad is connected to a Nikon or Canon DSLR camera with a USB cable, which further enhances speed and also provides stability in connectivity as compared to a wireless connection.
The Digital Director app has a host of features that allow you to control your camera’s settings from the iPad. It turns your tablet into a real-time stills and video monitor, with displays showing your exposure controls, histograms, white balance, focus controls, and audio levels when shooting video. You can also change the camera settings and see how the image or video is affected on the iPad.
Interactive Focus allows you to tap anywhere on the iPad's screen and the camera will focus on that spot. Digital zoom magnifies the selected focus point to ensure that your intended focus spot is accurate.
When taking photos or videos, the files are stored on your camera’s memory card. Images can then be transferred easily to your iPad as full-size JPEG files for sorting, rating, and editing. The app’s editing feature allows you to adjust the image's exposure, contrast, and light. You can also crop and rotate the image, check the histogram and EXIF data. Once edited, the images can be shared from the app by FTP transfer, email, or to social media sites right from the iPad’s camera roll.
The back of the Digital Director has a 3/8"-16 threaded mount for attaching it to a variety of supports, and two notches to accept Manfrotto’s anti-twist mounts. There are also four cold-shoe mounts on the back for attaching various accessories.
The Digital Director is powered by four user-supplied AA batteries or by the included AC adapter, which when plugged in will charge the iPad, as well as power the Digital Director, thereby only limiting your shooting time to your camera’s battery life.
The Digital Director is available for both the iPad Air and Air 2.
