Using the Thunderbolt - FireWire adapter with the H4D-40

[Drchevalier]

As I am close to receiving the HTS 1.5 and with much strong advice on tethering when using the device, I wondered if the Thunderbolt to Firewire adapter from Apple would work on the MBA with Phocus to the H4D-40.  I wondered because Apple has received a lot of flack about lack of enough bus power to drive a disk drive through the adapter.

Since my other choice is to hump the MBP17 around along with my photo kit, I dropped the $29 on the adapter. 

Here's what I learned. 

• All FireWire 800 cables are not created equal.  The heavier gauge the cable the better.
  Connect all the cables and launch Phocus before powering on the H4D.  If it's on before doing the connection, turn it off.
  Startup time for the connected camera is not speedy, patience is a virtue I need to work on.
  I'm not sure that this tethering method is as easy on the battery as a pure FW connection to the MBP17. I think that there is supplemental load on the battery to compensate for the weak output on the Thunderbolt port
  The adapter will get warm.  After twelve shots I could feel the temperature difference in the adapter itself.  The FireWire cable remained cool, but that adapter warmed up significantly.  I don't know if this is unique to me, but it is a concern

I am pleased to be able to use Phocus tethering and Phocus Mobile with the Air, an option I was afraid was lost with Apple abandoning FireWire at the side of the road.  I will be trying the Hassy supplied cable instead of the one I ended up using as it is heavier duty than my working test cable and see if the adapter still heats up.

Hope this helps anyone thinking or wondering about this.

Ross

[NickT]

Thanks Ross, very helpful info. I don't have any thunderbolt machines yet, I thought I'd let you guys iron out all the kinks first

FYI and as you suspected the grip batteries do indeed supply more power when they get less (or no) power from the firewire.

Cheers
Nick-T

[Drchevalier]

Hi Nick,

Glad to pay back the good people here a little bit.

Ross

[PeterDorr]

And one additional piece of personal learning....any FW cable longer then 5 meters is a guaranteed recipe for disaster.
So a good quality cable is key, but anything longer than 5 meters will cause random disconnects and MacBook freezing up.

[Mikael57]

Hi
I use the apple firewire to thunderbolt adapter with a Macbook. It works just fine.
Agree that 10 m cable is needed
Best regards
Mikael

[bdp]

If a thunderbolt adapter works then why have Hasselblad included the option to run off the battery when tethered in the H5 manual?

Read the bit about tethered power. I tried this mode and it really drains the battery quickly. Maybe only good with an A/C adapter.

Going by Nick's first reply in this thread I assumed the camera used the battery automatically when the firewire power wasn't enough. Can anyone get clarification direct from Hasselblad? Nick?

Maybe the H5 backs require more power than the H3/4?

Ben

[NickT]

Hi Ben
This does seem odd, I have been using my H4D40 with the Thunderbolt adapter and a new MacBookPro with no issues. I'm sure thunderbolt supplies plenty of power!

[NickT]

Ben it looks like pre 2012 Macbookpros were providing less power over thunderbolt, this from Capture integration:

On newer machines (Mid- 2012-current) you can tether your Hasselblad integrated system via Thunderbolt adapter without error.  It is also possible to use the Thunderbolt adapter on pre-2012 machines, but an AC adapter is required for consistent results. This is a non-issue, as most relevant older machines have a FireWire 800 port anyway.

Cheers
Nick-T

[bdp]

Hi Nick,

Very interesting, thanks for your research! I'm glad it looks like Apple have fixed that potential problem.

Regards,
Ben

[Dustbak]

My H5D does not work properly when I shoot tethered if I feed the camera from the laptop. I have been told this will be fixed via firmware later. For now, I suggest getting enough batteries for on location work. Another weird thing with the H5D is that the screen cannot be turned off when shooting tethered and it doesn't shut off by itself draining the batteries even faster.

[bdp]

Hi Dustbak,

That's strange, my H5D's screen turns off when tethered after about 10-15 seconds after each capture. But there are definitely firmware quirks that need to be ironed out. Can you get the spirit level on when tethered? I can't. Sorry to get off-topic.

Ben

[Dustbak]

Hi Ben,

Sorry, I haven't tried that. I find the spirit level has a life on its own generally. It tells me it is level but my eyes (and other measurement tools) say it is certainly not. After calibration it still did this so I stopped using it. I now use the levels on my cube, an external level and since I work tethered most of the time I also check on what is coming in.