How long can firewire cable be before signal loss

waycooljr

waycooljr

Well-known member
Whats the longest firewire cable anyone has used from their camera to their computer? I'm wondering if a 6-10 foot cable would cause me any trouble before I make the purchase.

Ray
 
Re: How long can firewire cable be before signal l

Re: How long can firewire cable be before signal l

If the cable is shielded from electrical power cable/audio etc , it can run upto 20meter without problem. I've seen people offering 50m DV cable.

Alternatively, you can buy 2x Firewire connector + RG59 cable to make a 4wire DV cable.
 
Re: How long can firewire cable be before signal l

Re: How long can firewire cable be before signal l

The original DV spec limited firewire cables to, I think, 4.5 meters? Something like that. I don't know why the limit was imposed. I know there are people selling longer cables, but I don't know how -- maybe they incorporate repeaters or something?
 
Re: How long can firewire cable be before signal l

Re: How long can firewire cable be before signal l

Yeah standard firewire is 4.5meters (about 15 feet). That's with 28 gauge wiring. Not sure if Firewire 800 ups that limitation or not...
 
Re: How long can firewire cable be before signal l

Re: How long can firewire cable be before signal l

Maybe manufacturers worry about the signal loss during a long run, but I have experimented with shielded cables ( used to feed a video mixer with s-video signals with paired RG59 cables ) and I have succesfully run a VGA ( yes VGA ) for more than 50m with just a shielded cable, so I think it should not be a problem for firewire
Okay, it does not always aplly to any condition, runnig those cables on a football field will have better signal quality than runnibg them inside a TV/power station control room where interfernce is big

Shielded cable is cheap ( look for Belden, good quality ) and it's worth experimenting with it. Have fun :)
 
Re: How long can firewire cable be before signal l

Re: How long can firewire cable be before signal l

I have a 15' cable that I use sometimes during camera test to offload video to the NLE as I shoot sometimes. I once tried to add a 6' cable extension to that and started to have problems. the 15' cable was huge shielded cable, the fat stuff. If you want to go long you may need to use a powered repeater, a powered firewire hub at each 15' connetion may work.
 
Re: How long can firewire cable be before signal l

Re: How long can firewire cable be before signal l

Yes, that's true Jarred. The cables start to have problem if they are re-connected at the end with other cables.
It's not a problem if the cable a straight piece from end to end.
 
Re: How long can firewire cable be before signal l

Re: How long can firewire cable be before signal l

And this is basically the same with most cables (not only firewire connections) - as you have the most signal "quality loss" at the connecting points...
 
Re: How long can firewire cable be before signal l

Re: How long can firewire cable be before signal l

I buy it :)
 
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