how to properly attach the fire wire

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deckardScott1980

Well-known member
i was wondering when putting in the fire wire. is there a way to properly attach it. I mean should the camera be off. Then turn it on after i attach. or when im done should i turn the camera off first, then unplug. Basically is there any way i can damage the camera or fire wire port if i do it wrong?
 
I'm fairly certain that you can have the camera on or off and it will do the camera no harm. However I would suggest not using the DVX to upload your footage if you can avoid it. If you have an older miniDV camera, I would use that instead, just to minize the work done on the heads.
 
Not true at all. If you're attaching to a Mac, or a desktop PC, there's a chance you could blow up your camera's firewire port. Using a six-pin firewire port that supplies bus power (all Macs, and some PC desktops) can cause blown firewire ports. If using a 4-pin to 4-pin (such as to a PC laptop) you should be fine, but using 4-pin to 6-pin causes the problem, and it's not just with DVXs, we've seen blown firewire ports on Sonys and Canons and basically everything else.

Definitely have at least one of the devices turned off (preferably the computer) before attaching or unplugging the camera.
 
I always have my mac running but the camera itself is off and has the battery or power cable completely removed. My firewire cable is always plugged into the mac.
 
You can also blow out the firewire port on the PC side too. I killed the port on my DV Storm card, sent it back, and killed it again. Fortunately, my cams have been ok.
 
I wish they'd make fw cables with a small, light switch in the middle. There's an idea for any budding entrepeneurs.
 
Capt Quirk said:
You can also blow out the firewire port on the PC side too. I killed the port on my DV Storm card, sent it back, and killed it again. Fortunately, my cams have been ok.
Click to expand...
From a six-pin, yes. But PC laptops don't have six-pin connectors, they're always 4-pin, and 4-pin is completely safe.

The difference is Mac laptops are always six-pin. So that's why I said "beware desktop PCs with six-pin ports"...
 
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