Question for Jan: Firewire connection

[Flintstone]

Jan,

I realize that it’s most likely too late, but is there a possibility of having a more rugged 6-pin firewire connector on the HVX200 instead of the crappy 4-pin connector? When shooting on location, devices such as laptops (with DVRack), DV video switchers (Datavideo SE-800), and DTEs (Firestore), tend to be ineffective if the connection breaks of just a moment (it takes way too much time to restore a DV stream, and in live shoots, this is unacceptable). Unfortunately, the 4-pin connector is not up to the task of maintaining a proper connection (with a moving camera) like a BNC connector would. However, a 6-pin connector would have a better chance.

I think that would be very appealing to the professional community in general.

[Neil Rowe]

ive been told its already set as a 4 pin. that was decided partially because people would assume they could power devices off the 1394 port if it was 6 pin but the camera cannot sustain that sort of drain.

[filmstox]

I just purchased a Toshiba Tablet PC to use as a field DV Rack device and was similarly worried about the Firewire Connection on the laptop and the camera. I found these cables from the Kodak site designed for their pro level Digital SLR cameras.

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/service/professional/tib/tib7087.jhtml?id=0.1.14.34.5.186&lc=en#SEC2

A similar low profile right angle firewire cable would be an excellent tidbit to throw it the box with the HVX. (hint...hint...) For the laptop, I picked up a PCMCIA fiewire card, figuring I'd rather powder the connector on a $30 card than the connector on my shiney new tablet!!! Now I just need to fabricate the mount to let me hang the tablet off of a baby stand. Looks like it's back to the machine shop!

-David Smith
LA/OC D.P.

[contentlab]

or you could get this right angle firewire cable:

http://www.usbfirewire.com/Parts/rr-44r016.html

[stabwound]

I wish someone would build a firewire cable lock in the camera.

When I use a firewire tether with my dslr Sigma sd9 the cable keeps popping off. After a while the cable won't even stay in, because of wear.

Maybe it's only the SD9, but I can picture a shoot being ruined because the cable getting accidently yanked off.

Are there any firestore users here that can address my fears?

[Flintstone]

I’ve been told its already set as a 4 pin. that was decided partially because people would assume they could power devices off the 1394 port if it was 6 pin but the camera cannot sustain that sort of drain.Panasonic could just leave the power pins unconnected, and write a warning to that effect in the manual that the 6-pin connector is unpowered.


or you could get this right angle firewire cable:

http://www.usbfirewire.com/Parts/rr-44r016.htmlAs long as you can get the appropriate right angle direction so that it can be secured adequately!


I wish someone would build a firewire cable lock in the camera.

When I use a firewire tether with my dslr Sigma sd9 the cable keeps popping off. After a while the cable won't even stay in, because of wear.

Maybe it's only the SD9, but I can picture a shoot being ruined because the cable getting accidentally yanked off.This is why I curse the industry (or should I just curse IEEE) for not implementing a solid connection scheme for Firewire for professional usage. Granted that Firewire was initially created for consumers, but pro manufacturers are also using it widely now (Sony's DVCAM, JVC's ProDV/ProHD, and Panasonic's DVCPro lineup). Not counting the prosumer level where countless products are using DV in a professional manner.

[stokestack]

The right-angle connector with some sort of retaining clip would be a nice solution. Or, in case of people using a regular straight connector, some kind of strain relief secured to the wire and the body of the camera.

The mistakes made in this connector department may well prove fatal for Firewire. Not only do we have two different connectors for just Firewire 400, but then we inexplicably have a totally different design for the 800 connectors. How dense does a vendor have to be to make this mistake after the SCSI-connector fiasco, which (in combination with the endless termination woes) turned what should have been an elegant solution into a mess.

Unreal.

[Jan_Crittenden]

Hi,

Neil is correct, it will have a 4 pin. So some anchoring strategy would be in order.

Best,

Jan

[stokestack]

Thanks for the info, Jan.

[filmstox]

or you could get this right angle firewire cable:

http://www.usbfirewire.com/Parts/rr-44r016.html

Contentlab,

I found those cables as well and you can get them in both left and right handed orientation but I don't like how the cable is still attached a distance away from the actual interface with the gear. The Kodak cable comes out right at the base of the connector so you are pulling sideways on the connection, the other 90 degree cables still seem like they will torq the connection when pulled. Not as bad as a straight cable but still not the best. I couldn't agree more with the complaints about the firewire connector design, but then again, who would have guessed when firewire was introduced that we would be talking about using it on a <$10,000 camera that can do all that the HVX is capable of.

This is one area where I hate to admit the Canon has the HVX beat with its BNC HD-SDI ouputs.

Maybe I'll void my warranty and come up with a new connector on my HVX when it comes (or maybe not ;)

-David C. Smith
LA / OC D.P.

[Flintstone]

Neil is correct, it will have a 4 pin. So some anchoring strategy would be in order.Any chance that Pany can come up with a nifty anchoring solution for the HVX as an in-the-box included item?


This is one area where I hate to admit the Canon has the HVX beat with it's BNC HD-SDI ouputs.

Maybe I'll void my warranty and come up with a new connector on my HVX when it comes (or maybe not ;) I jokingly made a coment to Juan over at the Reel-Stream forum, asking to replace the crappy 4-pin firewire connection for a 6-pin at the time of the conversion for the Andromeda for the DVX100. The warranty gets voided anyway, right? :evil: Maybe I should have been more serious! :beer: