Firewire Equipment Feedback

[Alex Maxim]

Just thought it would make sense to share our accumulated experience of using firewire cards and cables that work/don't work for you with Hasselblad/Phocus, accompanied by links to where they can be bought.

I've just retired my original Hasselblad 800-400 cable + Lindy 4.5m 400 extension cord with repeater: http://www.lindy.com/45m-firewire-active-extension-cable/32908.html
They worked well together for about two years but are not stable anymore.

10m 6 to 9 pin Lindy cable works well but requires some trimming on the plug:
http://www.lindy-usa.com/10m-premium-firewire-800-cable-6-pin-male-to-9-pin-bilingual-male/30770.html#
Update: after a few shoots the insulation and the shielding at the camera side of the plug got loose

10m FW800 9 to 9 pin Unibrain cable works well and sits very tightly in H socket but somewhat less stable than Lindy:
http://industrialcomponent.com/unibrain/1636.html
Update: with FW800 the connection is not as reliable as with FW400 in my case.

10m 6 to 9 pin Granite cable. So far is the most reliable for me:
http://www.granitedigital.com/firewire1394-b32ft6pinto9pinwithled.aspx


PC/PC laptop Firewire cards that worked for me:
Aaxeon 3-Port 1394B FireWire 800 PCI Express Card
http://industrialcomponent.com/aaxeon/fwb68300.html

Laptop Expresscard StarTech 2 Port 1394a EC
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4276671

PyroAV PVC-815 3 Port FireWire PCI-Express Card (retired now)
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4252465


Lindy 4.5m 400-800 cable works fine with the laptop expresscard but I had to cut off some insulation on the plug.
http://www.lindy.co.uk/45m-premium-firewire-800-cable-6-pin-male-to-9-pin-bilingual-male/30768.html


The attached picture shows my solution to accidental cable pulls. The elastic doesn't strain the cable and saves it from light and moderate pulls. The distance between the plug and the attachment of the elastic to the cable is a bit longer than the elastic's maximum stretched length. In case you pull too hard you'll brake the elastic first. Hope it can be useful for somebody

Alex

[NickT]

Just wanted to say thank you to Alex for a really useful post.
Cheers
Nick-T

[Alex Maxim]

Just wanted to say thank you to Alex for a really useful post.
Cheers
Nick-T

No problem Nick. Everyone is welcome to share their experience and hopefully soon we'll get a good database of FW components for Mac/PC at one place.

[grandguru]

Just wanted to add something to Alex's description of the Lindy cable. If you do go to the trouble of triming the insulation on the 800 plug it can be made to be a very good fit thereby relieving some of the strain on the pins.

[Cezär Motta]

Hi guys...

I use this on my H3D, under the body!

Check it out here: http://www.bluelounge.com/products/cabledrop/


Hope you like!

Big hug,
Cezär Motta.

[Alex Maxim]

I was playing with firewire cables and Phocus today and discovered a cause of many connection issues.

If a FW cable lies close to other power or data cables or devices the connection is not stable or there is no connection at all. In fact, I was able to find only a single way to run the cable from my computer which withstood all my connection/reconnection and capture tests. Moving it closer to ups, wi-fi router or even a keyboard would cause connection problems or firewire errors.

I tried it with two different cables, one 10m FW800 and another 4.5m FW400 with similar results.

I think I am going to hate firewire soon

[Eoin]

I'm with you on that one, Alex. Have had so many frustrating mid-shoot moments caused by Firewire errors between the H3D39II and Macbook Pro. We're using a Granite Digital cable which does the job, but its bulky design tends to weigh it down too much, causing it to come loose and break the connection.

I may look into swapping it for a Unibrain one.

[Alex Maxim]

Hi Eoin,

after working with a 10m FW800 cable for a while I noticed that I have more connection problem than with FW400 6 to 9 pin, even if FW400 has a repeater, it's somewhat more stable.
I also see absolutely no difference in capture speed with FW800.

Alex

[ette]

excuse my ignorance but isnt the only difference between the 400 and 800 cable transfer speeds?

if it (cable transfers) is like Gas then at a longer cable length the 800 cable would/should drop slightly in performance or write speed?

[Alex Maxim]

Maybe I am wrong, but I think devices negotiate transfer rate upon connection. If cable allows faster speed and the devices support it then the transfer rate will be higher.

In my previous post I was referring to reliability issues with FW800 which is IMO caused by lower electromagnetic noise tolerance of FW800 cables or/and cards.

I don't think that the cable length directly affects the transfer rate. But it may result in lower negotiated speeds and lower reliability leading to total unusability of the cable

Alex

[jimgolden]

Alex - I thought I read somewhere that you can't have any loops in the FW cable? any truth to this or am I nuts?

jim

[Alex Maxim]

Alex - I thought I read somewhere that you can't have any loops in the FW cable? any truth to this or am I nuts?

jim

Hi Jim,

I've read about this too, and with some less reliable cables I've noticed that I cannot even connect the camera while the cable is coiled. With good cables it seems not to be an issue, though.

Alex

[Jack E]

Hello Each.

I was going to start a new firewire cable 'issue' thread - but came across this one.

I've been using a beautiful lightweight firewire cable 9 pin to 9 pin for tethered shooting on my mbp.

However, this is dying fast. So I've bought the one from the procentre - but it has that annoying block near one of the ends, and is a very thick heavy cable.

I've actually found that an elastic band seems to hold this in place ok (I shoot beauty and fashion - so the camera is always vertical).

I am based in London (UK), but just can't find a supplier of the thinner/lighter firewire cable like I had.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Jack

[Alex Maxim]

Hi Jack,

so far my favourite and longer lasting option was 4.5m lindys cable 6to9 with 4.5m FW400 lindys extension: http://www.lindy.com/45m-firewire-active-extension-cable/32908.html
Btw, I tried to replace the 6to9 cable with this cheaper one ( http://www.cableshark.com/FireWire-800-to-FireWire-400-Cable-p/com-cab-fw-cfw9615.htm ), and it works well in this configuration, and it is quite slim.
The camera plug needs to be trimmed with either option, though.

If you want a single 10m cable, the granite was the best I think, but it's a little more expensive and it broke anyway.

In 100% of my cases cables broke a couple of inches away from the camera socket, so I'd rather have a compound cable which ends with a cheaper one. Nick has a solution to it as well, he uses a very short extension that connects to the camera.

Alex