How to Become a Digi Tech in the UK

The most technical seat on set

Of all the roles on a commercial shoot, the digital tech — the digi tech — is the one photographers worry about most when it goes wrong. You're the person keeping the capture pipeline running: files landing cleanly, colour looking right, the client seeing sharp previews on a calibrated screen, and nothing, anywhere, getting lost. When a digi tech is good, nobody on set thinks about the tech at all. That's the job.

It's also one of the better-paid seats on set, and one of the hardest to fill well. If you're comfortable with computers, careful by nature, and calm when a shoot is running behind, it's a genuinely good living. Here's how to get into it.

What a digi tech actually does

The core of the job is tethered capture — the camera is connected to a computer (usually by cable, sometimes wirelessly), and every frame lands straight onto a drive as it's shot. Around that sit the things that make a shoot day run:

• Setting up and running the capture software (Capture One is the industry standard; some studios use Lightroom)
• Building a sensible folder structure and naming convention so nothing gets muddled across looks, sets, or clients
• Applying a live preview look — often a client's supplied LUT or a quick grade — so what everyone sees on the monitor is close to the final feel
• Managing colour and calibration so the screen the client is judging is telling the truth
• Keeping backups running as you go — the cardinal rule is that every file exists in at least two places before anyone breaks for lunch
• Handing over a clean, backed-up, correctly-labelled set of files at wrap

On bigger jobs you might also do selects with the client, rough retouching for layout approval, and a first pass at the edit. On smaller ones you might be first assistant and digi tech in one.

The kit

You don't need all of this to start, but this is roughly the shape of a working digi setup:

• A fast laptop with plenty of RAM and a large, quick SSD. Capture One and large raw files are demanding; a slow machine costs the whole set time.
• A calibrated monitor — this is the one thing you can't fake. A colour-accurate external screen with a calibration device (a Datacolor Spyder or X-Rite/Calibrite unit) is what separates a digi tech from someone with a laptop.
• Tethering cables — good long ones, and spares. Cables are the single most common point of failure on a tethered shoot. Tether Tools gear is the usual choice.
• Fast external drives for working files and backups — at least two, so every job is in two places.
• A capture cart or a solid folding table setup for studio work, plus a way to work on location.
• Capture One — a subscription or licence. Learn it properly.

Plenty of digi techs start with a laptop, a calibration device, and borrowed or hired cables, and build up from there.

The skills that get you rebooked

Kit gets you in the door; temperament gets you rebooked. The digi techs who work constantly tend to share the same handful of traits:

• Meticulous about files. You never lose a frame. Ever. This is the whole reputation.
• Calm. When the tether drops mid-look and the client is watching, you fix it without drama.
• Fast and quiet. You solve problems before they become the room's problem.
• Good with people. You're often sitting next to the client all day. Being easy company matters more than you'd think.
• Genuinely fluent in Capture One. Not "I've used it" — properly fluent, including sessions vs catalogues, live adjustments, and troubleshooting.

How to break in

There isn't a single route, but the reliable ones look like this:

Assist first. Most digi techs come up through general assisting. Time on set teaches you how shoots actually run, and photographers who trust you as a first will start handing you the tethering.

Learn Capture One cold. Phase One publish good tutorials, and there are strong courses online. Practise tethering at home until building a session and applying a live look is second nature.

Second for a working digi tech. Shadowing someone established for a few jobs is the fastest way to learn the real workflow — the naming conventions, the backup discipline, the client etiquette.

Get your calibration right and build a small kit. Once you can turn up with a calibrated screen and reliable cables, you can say yes to your first solo digi day.

Be findable. Photographers book digi techs on short notice, often through word of mouth and directories. Make sure the people hiring can actually find you.

What you can earn

Digi tech rates sit at the upper end of on-set day rates because of the skill and the kit involved. As a rough 2026 picture, experienced digi techs in London command meaningfully more than a first assistant, with rates varying by client, job type, and whether you're supplying your own cart and software. For a fuller breakdown, see our guide to photo assistant and digi tech day rates in the UK.

If you're still weighing up the role itself rather than how to get into it, start with what a digi tech is.

Getting found for digi work

Digi techs are in genuinely short supply — good ones get booked and rebooked, and photographers regularly struggle to find one on short notice. If you can do the job well, the demand is there.

The practical step is making sure photographers can find you when they need someone. List yourself as a digi tech on PhotoAssist — it's free, it takes a few minutes, and it puts you in front of the photographers who are looking for exactly your skills, in your area, when a job comes up.