XH-A1 and the Firestore FS-C DTE
 

I am finding the combination of the A1 and the FS-C hard drive recorder is quite good. However, last night while shooting with the FS-C hanging off my belt and the firewire cable plugged into the A1, the firewire fell off the A1. For a few moments I didn't notice it. Fortunately the footage was not important but it did get me thinking...what if? What if the cable popped out during a shoot?
The problem is the little 4 pin connector that plugs into the camera is not secure! I am sure others have discovered this and I was wondering if anyone has come up with a fix. Hopefully the fix doesn't interfer with being able to disconnect the cable quickly and easily.

I can't find the post, but I remember reading about at least one person who had made up a combined headphone minijack and FW cable connector. The idea was that the minijack helped keep the FW plug from coming out so easily. I'm sure there was a photo as well.

I run the FW cable back through the microphone holder and loop it round. (I don't use the holder for an on-camera mic because it transmits motor noise to the mic).

Darned 4 pin firewires are the bane of these cameras! I was so glad they finally got smart and put the big solid plugs on the new Canons.

I always roll tape at the same time I'm using the Firestore. No problems then.

Possible solution
 

This is my fix.... I hope. I haven't field tested it yet but I know it will be a massive improvement. It is probably kind of hard to see in the picture but this is what I did. I used a velcro strap...the kind you buy for using to tie up wires. You can see the type of strap just below the A1. The strap wraps around the firewire... as you can see one installed on the firewire. I cut up a small self adhesive velcro receiver pad and stuck it just under the A1's handle (it's really hard to see that in the picture). Now the strap holds the firewire more securely to the camera yet it is easy to pull it off when you want to disconnect the firewire from the camera.

Same Problem
 

I had that happen to me, and while panning. If you "bump" the cable it will drop frames or put a "glitch" in the film.

Just plugging in the cable in to down load tape or hook up the FSC time after time starts to take its toll on the firewire port, not to mention don't bend the cable to much. I always feel like Im defusing a bomb when Im plugging into the firewire port. It that goes ...Off to the repair shop!

The firestore is the only way to film, its fast and saves time starting the work flow, I love it! But having the tape back up is nice.

At this time I just keep everyone away from the firewire cable and try not to bump it. :(

a possible improvement would be to carefully remove the outer pvc cover of the cable. This would leave the individual wires and presumably the shield, all of which should be more flexible and therefore put less strain on the camera's socket.

I haven't tried this, so use a spare cable if you do, just in case!

Ian
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