Controlling a nikon within C1 is limited to triggering the shutter and importing into a hot folder. If you would like to be able to access nearly every parameter from the computer then you'll definintely want to use Camera Control Pro. Leaving both running on my dual core 2.5 Ghz with 4GB RAM is a no-no, one or the other program will crash when viewing the same folder. I'd rather use C1 but for now that's not viable. I've successfully and routinely used a 10 and a 15 foot USB coupled together, I don't think it's as much of an issue as it's made out to be, signal loss wise. D700, btw.
note: different machines have slightly different power to the USB ports, that would be one thing to cause experience to vary.
I use a 10' usb cable and a 15' active usb extension cable from TrippLite (only one I found that works consistently).
I'm shooting product in the studio, open the camera card view up in a thumbnail view in winXP (you can get to the camera via My Computer) and double click images for a quick view to check light. I drag and drop the whole folder later into a location for editing later.
The quick viewer gives a slightly soft focus view, but good enough to check light / composition. You can also 'take a new shot' from the MyComputer window so you can fire the camera remotely.
I have Camera Control Pro, and unless the camera is in a really hard to get at position, I hardly ever use it.
I use the camera tethered when shooting in the studio on a regular basis, using CCP to control the camera. I've had no problems going as far as 25 ft. with a regular USB cord.
I love being able to change the camera setting directly from the computer, and if I can get away with only two groups of flashes (using the pop-up on my D300 as a commander), I can also change flash settings and ratios without touching the camera. More often, I use my SB900 on an iTTL remote cord as the commander, giving me control over 4 groups of flashes (counting the SB900 as one group).
Live View through Camera Control is great for micro-composing images, and it blows my clients away every time they see me using it--'though it does take some pretty strong composing light to get a good view, especially for focusing.
I use a 16' USB cord to connect my D3 to my Mac in the studio. I don't need to control the camera or post process the files immediately, so I just use it to show the models the shot on the screen. I use Sofortbild and it works great. The photos cone up in less than 2 seconds.
I would like to go wireless, but I can't justify spending $800 for a WT-4 and $200 for Camera Control. Plus, Nikon's software is crap on Snow Leopard.
