Longest 1394 cabled used for laptop recording.

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ChipG

Carbonite Member
I have read specs saying a 2.5 meter 1394 cable is ok to use for recording from an HVX onto a laptop. Has anyone made a successful recording with a 20-30 foot or longer 1394 cable?

I'm shooting a tornado chasing doc this spring and would like to be able to leave the laptop for recording in the chase vehicle while I'm standing outside then resort to the P2 card when or if I have to break away from the 1394 connection.

Thanks :)
 
hmmmmmmmmmmm... usualy the shortest distance is the best, and thats for pretty much anything. dont know if i seen a 1394 30foot cable lol
 
The 1394 spec calls for a maximum length of 4.5 meters (about 15 feet).

With the DVX I've used a 30-foot cable no problem, but when we tried to go 60 feet (with repeaters) we ran into all sorts of problems. I don't know if an HVX would work okay with 30 feet or not. But 14.5 feet should be fine.
 
Thanks Barry!

I guess I'll order a 20 foot and a 30 foot cable and see what happens. If anyone out there has tried it and failed please let me know.
 
why on earth would you want to shoot tethered to a laptop with a winkly little 4pin fw connection in the hubub of chasing a tornado? thats just asking for trouble IMO...
 
That's why I'm in the process of trouble shooting this.

I'm shooting this doc in 1080p30 with one 16 gig card for each of the two HVX cameras (on a tight budget) wich limits me to 16 min per camera then 20 min downtime offloading P2 footage per card.

I'd like to have the ability to put the camera on a tripod outside the vehicle for static, time lapse and tripod based shots then break away from the 1394 connection and use the 16 min of P2 card time for fast paced run and gun type action.

Dealing with unpredictable weather / tornados I don't want to use the P2 cards then miss the big shot while downloading footage to a laptop. I'm not going to use a teathered laptop for the entire project, just certain shots and in car interior pov driving shots.

When a tornado is half a mile in font of you things get a little hairy and there is no time to download full P2 cards.

BTW if any fellow dvxuser's would like to come out chasing this spring send me a PM, I'm based in Kansas City.
 
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electricpig said:
I'd rent some spare cards and a P2 Store
Click to expand...

I understand I can go buy more P2 cards a P2 store and a Firestore but I'm trying to accomplish this without spending the money.

Renting wouldn't be feasable because we will be out chasing for 60+ days, the economics of it would be cheaper for me to buy some P2 cards then sell them on eBay when I'm done with them.

Back on topic, has anyone made a successfull recording with a 1394 cable in the 20-30 foot length range?
 
Well, I'll tell ya -

I've often used a particular 15-foot cable succesfully with the HVX.

I've often used another particular 12-foot cable succesfully with the DVX, but unsuccesfully with the HVX.

I've used a lot of 6 foot cables, without ever having a problem, with the HVX.

Further, I don't have clear evidence, but it seems to me that the whole situation makes a difference. That is, even though I am fanatic about strain relief on all cables, it seems that I can use long cables more reliably on a non-moving camera than on a moving camera, and especially that a handheld camera had problems with cables that never had issues when tripod-mounted. If I imagine heavy winds, I think they may play a factor.

Keep in mind that the problems, when they do occur, are intermittent, and may show up 10, 20 minutes into filming, and if you're not looking at the laptop, you won't know. So... I'd say, find a way to stick to the more reliable, shorter setups whenever vaguely possible.


The lesson?
1. Don't push it if you can help it
2. Test whatever cables you do use well, and note which ones are reliable. It may not be a matter of length, but also of cable brand, or even the individual cable, or the situation.
 
If you use a firestore, don't go beyond 14feet. I made a 20 foot cable and had a regular dv cam hooked to my fs-100 and it looked as if it was recording fine, but when I checked the tape I had drop-outs about every 5 or 6 minutes. Of course the cable was homemade but it was done right and worked fine when using it with my mac pro. So a laptop might be ok at 20 feet.
 
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