Connect AF100 to my MacBookPro

Chris Messineo

Chris Messineo

Veteran
When I wanted to copy footage from my HVX to my MacBookPro, I would use a firewire cable, but I don't see any firewire connection on my AF100. What kind of cable should I be using?

Or is better to get an usb SDHC card reader that I can attach to my MacBookPro?
 
I'm the same as you in that I connect my HVX to my tower/macbook via firewire.I suppose you could use the AF100's USB port but I've been using a SDHC card reader, it's worked fine.
 
I have an SD slot on the side of my MacBook Pro. Slide it in and copy away, or did I miss something?
 
I have a Pannie SDT750 which is AVCHD and I connect this to my Macs with USB. I've downloaded 1080/60i and 60p video from this via USB and transcoded it to Prores and it works just fine.

The AF100/101 will connect to a Mac with USB the same way. Or put the SD card directly in an external reader or in the Mac's SD card slot if you have a model which has one (there is one in the iMac I just bought which also works fine).
 
Geno, My MacBookPro has an expresscard slot, so I can't just slide in the SD cards.

I think I either need to get a usb style SD card reader - there almost too many to choose from.

Or I need to get some sort of USB cable that would go from the USB 2.0 slot on the camera to the usb connector on my MacBookPro.

If anyone is doing either of these and can recommend a brand or two, I would appreciate it.
 
The AF100 has a USB port for connecting to the computer. But, be aware that it really doesn't do anything that a $10 USB SDHC reader doesn't do... (well, it does read SDXC cards, I guess). So the cheapest way is to just use a USB to mini-USB cable, and use the AF100 as a reader. You can get an ExpressCard SDHC/SDXC reader or a USB SDHC/SDXC reader as well, it all ends up being about the same.
 
Chris,
I've been using this:

http://www.amazon.com/Digipower-DP-FCR41-1-Card-Reader-Writer/dp/B002IPHJWC

So far I've only used it to update scene files for my HVX. Never used it for SD cards with pictures or video. I've only used it a couple times, but its worked out just fine.

I've been considering getting something new for the AF-100 though...The digipower was so cheap, I'm worried about its reliability using heavy duty cards with HD video on them. Hopefully I'll be able to run a few tests on it when I get my camera.
 
So is there any way to use the AF100 with a computer doing a live write-to-disk capture or displaying a software waveform monitor etc. like with other cameras ? Or is it just usable as a SDHC card reader?
 
Barry_Green said:
The AF100 has a USB port for connecting to the computer. But, be aware that it really doesn't do anything that a $10 USB SDHC reader doesn't do... (well, it does read SDXC cards, I guess). So the cheapest way is to just use a USB to mini-USB cable, and use the AF100 as a reader. You can get an ExpressCard SDHC/SDXC reader or a USB SDHC/SDXC reader as well, it all ends up being about the same.
Click to expand...

Do you have experience with any particular card readers that worked well? I guess I'm just concerned about the reliability of any $10 piece of hardware....
 
Barry_Green said:
The AF100 has a USB port for connecting to the computer. But, be aware that it really doesn't do anything that a $10 USB SDHC reader doesn't do... (well, it does read SDXC cards, I guess). So the cheapest way is to just use a USB to mini-USB cable, and use the AF100 as a reader. You can get an ExpressCard SDHC/SDXC reader or a USB SDHC/SDXC reader as well, it all ends up being about the same.
Click to expand...

Barry, Thanks, that's just what I needed to know and I ordered the usb to usb mini cable from Amazon.
 
Nityananda_SCSMath said:
So is there any way to use the AF100 with a computer doing a live write-to-disk capture or displaying a software waveform monitor etc. like with other cameras ? Or is it just usable as a SDHC card reader?
Click to expand...
The only way to go from a camera straight into a computer for live write-to-disk capture or software waveform etc., was Adobe OnLocation (and its competitors). And that only works with Firewire. And none of the newer modern codec cameras have firewire anymore. Firewire only works for DVCPRO-HD and HDV. No XDCAM-EX, XDCAM-HD, XDCAM-MPEG422, AVCCAM, NXCAM, or AVC-Intra camera has firewire.

You might find some software that works with a USB3 capture card like the Intensity Shuttle; I don't know of any that do.
 
jaypass said:
Do you have experience with any particular card readers that worked well? I guess I'm just concerned about the reliability of any $10 piece of hardware....
Click to expand...

Yeah, I pretty much agree, but I don't have any experience with any industrial-strength ones. I like Lexar Professional readers, but I don't think they have an SDXC one yet; of course, that only really matters if you're using SDXC cards. They have a dual-slot reader (SDXC and CF) that I think has gotten some pretty good reviews.

My laptop has an SD slot on it, so I've been using that.
 
If you have a 17" MacBook Pro with an Express 34 slot, Sonnet makes a great little card reader. Mounts flush, I leave it in all the time.
 
Nice! And cheaper. Might just have to pick that up for the heck of it and actually use the express port for something for the first time ever! Just use the lexar on my desktop.

And it is $21 if you order from B&H. Ordered! :)
 
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