H3Dll-39ms - Firewire connection via USB? Possible?

[DenisM]

The days of Firewire are numbered it would seem. (I wonder what connectivity the H5 will have?) The likes of DELL are no longer ever offering a card slot (which I use) never mind a dedicated FW socket in their laptops.

Which brings me to my question.........

Can I connect my H3Dll-39ms using a Firewire/USB2 (or USB3?) male/female cable?

If not, would a firmware upgrade make this possible?

If I can't, am I stuck with my three year old DELL laptop, it's card slot and one of these.... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16839158010 , or do I have other options? I'd really like to upgrade this laptop and I only want PC.

Thanks.

D.

Edited: ps. I shoot almost entirely multi-shot. Thanks.

[Dustbak]

Not sure if the USB/Firewire adapter will work. I think the main issue will be reliably powering the back which might be solved by using a power injector at the firewire side.

Another solution is to buy an Apple laptop and run Windows in Bootcamp. You can boot Windows and totally ignore the MacOS system. I have worked like this the first year I went over to Apple. It was the best, fastest and most stable windows laptop I ever owned Now, the catch is the new Mac laptops do not have FW anymore but use a TB (thunderbolt) to FW adapter which works very well under MacOS but I am not sure whether the drivers for Windows are there.

I think these are basically your options. No option at this moment is ideal IMO, even the Apple laptops are not. I do not like the idea of having the TF/FW adapter in my Laptop as it only adds another possible point of failure to the chain. For the time being every new laptop and our equipment is somehow a compromise.

[Douglas Fairbank @ Classic V]

Can I connect my H3Dll-39ms using a Firewire/USB2 (or USB3?) male/female cable?

If not, would a firmware upgrade make this possible?

No! Dont waste your money on any converters you might see advertised.

What we know today is that Thunderbolt to firewire converters do work with Macs, they may also work with the few PC laptops that have Thunderbolt. Maybe somebody reading this forum has tried this?

[DenisM]

Thanks guys.

If someone can confirm whether or not a PC laptop running Thunderbolt will work with my H3D using multi-shot, I'd be very grateful. Of course someone working for Hasselblad could clear this up in an instant.

Would I be right in thinking that a firmware upgrade would permit any combination? E.g. FW to USB3?

Thanks again.

D.

Ps. Checked out the MacBook Pro. Gorgeous piece of kit and it has FW, as stated, but bonkers money.

[meshuggener]

Read on french forum, from Hasselblad France, regarding the FW800/TB adapter, with a MAC BOOK PRO, the guy from Hasselblad tells that the connection is very good even with a 5m cable, it takes about 30s to be recognized by LightRoom, image transfer seems to be quicker.

[Domip]

@ Meshuggener

Read on french forum, from Hasselblad France, regarding the FW800/TB adapter, with a MAC BOOK PRO, the guy from Hasselblad tells that the connection is very good even with a 5m cable, it takes about 30s to be recognized by LightRoom, image transfer seems to be quicker.


Where is this French forum ?

[Douglas Fairbank @ Classic V]

Since my last posting in this thread I have found that my faithful but aging Acer laptop with firewire port will not run Phocus 2.7.
So I need to look for a new laptop, I don't know of any PC laptops that offer firewire and the number of PC laptops offering Thunderbolt is limited and I still cant find out if the Apple Thunderbolt to Firewire adapter will work just as well on a PC.
If you want see a salesman in a computer store eye's glaze over ask him what PCs they have with Thunderbolt, most of the sad creatures think that Apple invented it and are the only makers that have it.   

[Richard Naismith]

Douglas, Dell Precision 4700 has firewire 4 pin built in, plus an Express card slot which can take a firewire adapter, which is what I use. It works fine. A number of the Dell Latitude line have Express Card.

[Mats E]

I doubt very much if there is any way of using USB 2.0 or 3.0 to connect between PC and any of the H-cameras. After scanning the PC market, I just got a Lenovo S430 with Thunderbolt and have tested it with 2 x 5 m FW cable - and it works excellent. This is in spite of several converters... TB to FW 800, FW 800 cable to FW400 (5 meters), FW400 cable to FW400 (another 5 meters) and finally a small converter on the camera from the FW400 to FW800.

The Lenovo S430 is a hot machine with i7 (currently 8GB - possible to upgrade to 16GB), one internal graphic card on the motherboard (to save battery) and one external 2 GB as needed. Without optical drive, possible to install two SSD. So far seems to be a very good PC option.

/Mats

[DenisM]

If you're looking for a PC laptop built to order with Firewire, check out... http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/laptop-computers/

Some Vortex models and the Omega come with FW.

D.

[SteveK]

Any news on this?

I have the same problem: My new notebook only has USB 2.0 + 3.0 but no card slot and no FW.
My H3D has no TB.