Plain-English definitions of the terms behind tethered shooting and real-time cloud delivery — what they mean and why they matter.
Camera tethering connects a camera to a phone, tablet or computer so each photo transfers the moment it's taken, not copied off the card later.
Tethered shooting means shooting with the camera connected to another device, so photos appear there to review, back up or deliver as they're captured.
PTP (Picture Transfer Protocol) is the standard way cameras transfer images and accept commands over USB, without vendor-specific drivers.
PTP/IP is PTP carried over a network connection instead of a USB cable, letting a camera transfer photos and accept commands wirelessly over Wi-Fi.
Wireless tethering connects a camera to another device over Wi-Fi rather than a cable, so photos transfer in real time without a physical connection.
Camera to cloud is a workflow where each photo or clip uploads from the camera to cloud storage, a client gallery or a server as it's captured, rather than after the shoot.
RAW is the camera's unprocessed sensor data: big files, maximum editing latitude. JPEG is compressed and processed: smaller, ready to use, less flexible.
FTP photo delivery sends images from a camera or device to a server over FTP/SFTP: the standard pipeline newsrooms and wire services use to file fast.
A client gallery is an online gallery where photographers share, proof and sell photos to clients, often branded, with downloads, favourites and ordering.
A hot folder (or watched folder) is a folder that software monitors, so any file dropped in is automatically processed, uploaded or sent onward.
SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol) uploads and manages files on a server over an encrypted SSH connection, usually on port 22. It isn't FTP with encryption.
A chroot locks a server account into one directory, so that folder looks like the root (/) to that user and nothing outside it can be seen or reached.
A star rating (one to five) given to a photo and stored in its metadata (XMP Rating), so the camera, Lightroom and other software read the same value.
PTP is the standard protocol cameras use to transfer and control photos over USB; MTP is Microsoft's extension of it for phones and media players.
USB Power Delivery is the USB-C charging standard that lets a charger and a device negotiate higher voltages, so cameras, phones and laptops charge faster.
USB 3.2 Gen 1 transfers data at up to 5 Gbps and Gen 2 at up to 10 Gbps; the names replaced USB 3.0 and USB 3.1, and both can use a USB-C connector.
FTPS is ordinary FTP with TLS encryption added, so logins and files travel encrypted; it's different from SFTP, which runs over SSH.
Passive FTP is the mode where the client opens the data connection to a port the server names, which works through firewalls and mobile networks.
IPTC metadata is the standard set of descriptive fields — creator, copyright, caption, keywords, location — embedded in a photo so it travels with the file.
An XMP sidecar is a small .xmp file saved next to a RAW photo that holds its edits, rating, keywords and other metadata without changing the RAW itself.
EXIF is the metadata a camera writes into each photo automatically: camera and lens, exposure settings, date and time, orientation and, if available, GPS location.
DateTimeOriginal is the EXIF field that records the exact date and time the shutter was pressed — the capture time software uses to sort and match photos.
HEIF is an image format that stores photos at roughly JPEG quality in smaller files, with 10-bit colour; HEIC is the common HEVC-compressed variant.
CR3 is Canon's current RAW file format, used by EOS R mirrorless and recent EOS DSLR bodies, with an optional smaller compressed version called C-RAW.
NEF is Nikon's RAW file format, holding unprocessed sensor data with a JPEG preview, in lossless compressed, compressed or high-efficiency variants depending on the body.
ARW is Sony's RAW file format for Alpha and ZV cameras, available as uncompressed, compressed or, on newer bodies, lossless compressed RAW.
RAF is Fujifilm's RAW file format for X-series and GFX cameras, saved uncompressed, lossless compressed or compressed depending on the body.
DNG is an openly documented RAW file format from Adobe, used natively by some cameras and phones and as a conversion target for proprietary RAW files.
Dual card slots let a camera write to two memory cards, either as an instant backup, as overflow when one fills, or with RAW on one card and JPEG on the other.
Backup recording writes every photo to both memory cards at once; overflow fills one card, then continues on the other, giving more space but no second copy.
2.4 GHz Wi-Fi reaches further and through walls better but is slower and more crowded; 5 GHz is faster with less interference but shorter range. Cameras may support only one.
In access point mode the camera creates its own Wi-Fi network for a phone to join; in station mode the camera joins an existing network, alongside the phone.
A personal hotspot turns a phone into a Wi-Fi router that shares its mobile data — and gives cameras a private network to join for wireless tethering.
USB On-The-Go lets a phone or tablet act as the USB host, so it can control and receive files from a camera, drive or keyboard plugged into it.
File naming is how a camera or workflow names each photo — a prefix and counter such as IMG_0042 — and the rules that keep names unique and traceable across copies.
sRGB is the standard colour space for screens and the web; a colour profile embedded in a photo tells software how to display its colours correctly.
JPEG quality is the compression level of a JPEG: higher quality keeps more detail in a bigger file, lower quality makes a smaller file with visible artefacts.
Lossless compressed RAW shrinks RAW files without discarding any data, so the decoded image is identical to uncompressed RAW but takes less space and time to move.
A sneak peek is a small set of photos shared with a client soon after — or during — a shoot, before the full edited gallery is delivered.
Culling is choosing which photos to keep from a shoot — rejecting blurry, blinking and duplicate frames and picking the best — before editing or delivery.
Photo metadata is information stored inside an image file about the image — camera settings, date, location, rating, caption, copyright — rather than the pixels themselves.
White balance is the camera setting that corrects colour for the light, so white looks white under daylight, tungsten or LED — baked into JPEGs, adjustable in RAW.
A tether table is a portable platform that holds a laptop next to the camera on set, usually on a tripod or light stand, so tethered shots can be reviewed on a big screen.
Auto power off is the camera setting that puts the camera to sleep after a set idle time to save battery — and drops any USB or Wi-Fi tether when it does.
Geotagging adds location — latitude and longitude — to a photo's metadata, so software can show where it was taken and photos can be searched and mapped by place.
A travel router is a pocket Wi-Fi router that creates a private network wherever you are, so cameras, phones and laptops can connect to each other reliably.
A watermark is a visible mark — a name, logo or text — placed on a photo to show who made it and discourage unpaid use, usually on proofs and previews.
Resizing by the long edge sets the length of an image's longer side in pixels — such as 2,048 px — and scales the shorter side to keep the proportions.
A Live Activity is an iPhone feature that shows an app's live progress on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, without opening the app.