"Locking" HDMI Cables

bkmvincent

bkmvincent

Active member
Has anyone tried them yet?

My concerns:

1) The way that they "clamp" down on the pins. This almost seems detrimental over time to me?
2) Cost. These things are 5-10x more expensive than regular off-brand HDMI cables.
3) Do they even work?

Clearly the fact that the HDMI connection is not professional has been discussed to no end, but what I'd like to do is think of a solution for this. I was hoping that someone may have some experience with this type of cable, as it does seem like an interesting concept.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, here's a link to a particular brand's website:
http://www.perfectpath.com/products/ProductCatalog/tabid/869/c/HDMI/CategoryID/2692/Default.aspx

And a link to a video of the cable's mechanism:
https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1876329467469&oid=126631867952&comments

Personally, any business using facebook to show a video of their product kind of irks me, so hopefully if this is a successful idea, more companies will hop on board and drive the price down.
 
First, any smart business or company would put their product or services on Facebook or other social media networks.

I too was looking into locking HDMI cables but I've decided that swivel cables would be far more important. Plus, it's really difficult to find a short length cable for EVF.
 
jetswing said:
First, any smart business or company would put their product or services on Facebook or other social media networks.
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That's all fine and good, but don't you think it should be on their website, too? On top of that, facebook video is horrible. The company in general just looks cheap to me. Just my opinion, though.

Anyways, does anyone have experience with them?
 
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Check out the hdmi cable made by apple. It's not locking, it's just extremely thin and flimsy. I think this would be good for the camera as a big thick cable, when bumped, could jar the connector.
 
They don't "clamp" down on the pins. It replaces the USB type retention (two metal leaves in the HDMI port that rest in two square cutouts in the HDMI connector) with a metal plate with on the connector with two pins that "engages" when you push the connector shell forward. In other words, the port is not supplying the retention, the connector is. It works great.

Not sure if you know Jem Schofield (www.theC47.com) but he's used the cables - check out his video:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video...php?v=2074893271440&oid=126631867952&comments
 
I bought the 2ft and a 4 ft and that test Jem did by holding the cable letting the weight hang I did that with my Fs100 with sony 16mm lens without battery before I saw his video and the camera did not fall. Thats not saying that with some aggressive prodding or big lens it wouldn't slip out but its miles from just sitting in there like a regular HDMI. They are expensive but when it comes to cables or lens adapters I pay for the peace of mind. I also bought both end swivel connectors from mcmelectronics which were very cheap.
 
IMO these cables do not offer any strain relief on the connector either. If you yank on them they may not come out but will damage the port/pins just the same.
VGA/DVI type cables attach the plug- not the connector to the panel so the connector is free of any strain.
 
optitek said:
IMO these cables do not offer any strain relief on the connector either. If you yank on them they may not come out but will damage the port/pins just the same.
VGA/DVI type cables attach the plug- not the connector to the panel so the connector is free of any strain.
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I'm willing to try the locking cable. I think the pluses are still better than the minuses and given how the FS100 HDMI port is recessed in, I think the strain might be minimal compared to other ports/cable designs. The potential for breaking something still exists, yes, and people will need to be careful, but comparing it to other HDMI ports, it really is nice. What I am hoping for is that given the connector will be always further in, I don't want a situation where the cable starts to come out a little during being yanked or what have you and then just a small portion of it acts as a level and distorts the metal at the end of the port making it looser. I've seen this happen on these types of ports. Given with the connector all the way in, the moment arm will be at least smaller, I hope that the risk is reduced somewhat.

What I'd love to see is an HDMI cable with a breakaway portion of it. I see that CablesToGo *might* have a workable (albiet expensive) solution to break away with some of their RapidRun stuff:

http://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?cat_id=4107&sku=42409

They also have HDMI connectors that can swivel in multiple planes:

http://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?cat_id=3603&sku=40566

One thing I would DEFINITELY consider doing is just use one of the mounts on the FS100 and install a cable holder of some sort (you could fabricate) and then run the HDMI cable through it. That way, at least from a cable pulling standpoint, it only pulls where the cable is locked down. The more I think about this, the better I like.
 
Rick Burnett said:
One thing I would DEFINITELY consider doing is just use one of the mounts on the FS100 and install a cable holder of some sort (you could fabricate) and then run the HDMI cable through it. That way, at least from a cable pulling standpoint, it only pulls where the cable is locked down. The more I think about this, the better I like.
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I am using the Fs-100's shoulder strap slot with a RELEASABLE zip tie to strain relief the HDMI cable. I found a good use for that slot and theres one on each side.
 
Are you guys really having that much trouble with keeping your HDMI cable plugged in? I've been running around with a cable/monitor and haven't had it fall out. I guess this makes sense if your camera is hanging out of a helicopter or something like that, but otherwise it seems simple enough to take a second and plug the cable back in if it gets yanked out.
 
Neex said:
Are you guys really having that much trouble with keeping your HDMI cable plugged in? I've been running around with a cable/monitor and haven't had it fall out. I guess this makes sense if your camera is hanging out of a helicopter or something like that, but otherwise it seems simple enough to take a second and plug the cable back in if it gets yanked out.
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Its not that we're having problems , its that we don't want to have any problems especially if you're using an external recorder with a non locking connector. I'm using a locking HDMI cable and strain relieving the cable to cut down on any accidental pull outs on an external recorder during a take.
 
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Ah, makes sense for an external recorder. Seemed like overkill for when you're just monitoring though.
 
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