Firewire, Computers, and Cameras at DVinfo.net

Curtis Rhoads · September 1st, 2006, 08:08 PM

Was talking to a friend of mine earlier this evening about firewire connections and Mac computers, and he mentioned that you should power up the camera before you power up the Mac. I've always done the opposite. Had the computer running, plug in the camera, then power the camera up.

If there any correct way for doing this? I've heard of problems when hot plugging Panasonic camera's, but I've never heard of anything happening to Canon based camera's.

John Richard · September 8th, 2006, 06:16 AM

The only thing I can say regarding this issue is the Canon Factory Service Center and Service Phone Support both stated that you should not "hot plug" the Canon H1.

They said the safe way is to only plug in the firewire into the H1 with the camera powered off.

When I asked how would plugging a 4-pin (no power) cause any harm, they reiterated that the factory still recommends having the power off when plugging in the firewire to the H1.

Christopher Glaeser · September 10th, 2006, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Richard

The only thing I can say regarding this issue is the Canon Factory Service Center and Service Phone Support both stated that you should not "hot plug" the Canon H1.

Firewire and USB were designed to hot plug, and I doubt the Canon recommendation is correct, but I'm not willing to test this using my $9,000 camera, so I turn the camera off before plugging or unplugging.

Best,
Christopher

Curtis Rhoads · September 10th, 2006, 07:35 PM

Thanks for the replies. I decided to stick with what I've always done, which is plugging/unplugging with the camera turned off. Just seemed the most sensible thing to do.

And like Christopher said, I too am not willing to try with my $9000 camera! :-)

Randy Donato · September 11th, 2006, 06:56 AM

The problem with hot pluging is the cameras use 4 pin FW and if you make contact with the pins incorrectly positioned (which can happen through partial insertion) it will fry the camera. It happened a lot with some of the early Sony's.

Brian Critchlow · September 11th, 2006, 09:06 PM

4 pin firewire is a non-powered connection, just data. I find it really had to believe that hot swapping a cable with no (significant) power would fry anything. I have hotswapped pretty much every firewire device I have ever owned, with no issues.

Richard Hunter · September 11th, 2006, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Critchlow

4 pin firewire is a non-powered connection, just data. I find it really had to believe that hot swapping a cable with no (significant) power would fry anything.

Hi Brian. What you say is correct. I think the issue that some people have seen is that the cable shield (ground), which is terminated to the connector shell, gets inadvertantly connected to the signal pin(s) when the plug is fitted without enough care. If the interface is designed properly, then this shouldn't matter as the driver chips would be able to withstand an external short to ground indefinitely without damage. However, it seems that some cameras have a flaky design in this respect, so even a momentary misconnection can lead to permanent damage.

Shouldn't happen, but as mentioned earlier, it's an expensive camera to take the risk with.

Richard

David Scattergood · September 13th, 2006, 05:37 AM

It's happened to me - blew both the PC 6 pin port and the camera's 4 pin port. I was hotplugging as I would with USB having never heard of issues with firewire at that stage. This on the day or two I was to deliver some footage for a client. I had to purchase the cheapest mini dv cam on the market purely for capturing purposes (the camera still records no problem and I had a spare firewire port on the PC).

Since upgrading my camera (to a much more expensive model than the previous) I'm now using a firewire isolator - cost about £50-60 - well worth it!

September 1st, 2006, 08:08 PM	#1
Curtis Rhoads Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Orem, UT Posts: 76	Firewire, Computers, and Cameras Was talking to a friend of mine earlier this evening about firewire connections and Mac computers, and he mentioned that you should power up the camera before you power up the Mac. I've always done the opposite. Had the computer running, plug in the camera, then power the camera up. If there any correct way for doing this? I've heard of problems when hot plugging Panasonic camera's, but I've never heard of anything happening to Canon based camera's.

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September 8th, 2006, 06:16 AM	#2
John Richard Major Player Join Date: May 2006 Location: Incline Village, Nevada Posts: 604	The only thing I can say regarding this issue is the Canon Factory Service Center and Service Phone Support both stated that you should not "hot plug" the Canon H1. They said the safe way is to only plug in the firewire into the H1 with the camera powered off. When I asked how would plugging a 4-pin (no power) cause any harm, they reiterated that the factory still recommends having the power off when plugging in the firewire to the H1.

September 10th, 2006, 07:35 PM	#4
Curtis Rhoads Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Orem, UT Posts: 76	Thanks for the replies. I decided to stick with what I've always done, which is plugging/unplugging with the camera turned off. Just seemed the most sensible thing to do. And like Christopher said, I too am not willing to try with my $9000 camera! :-)

September 11th, 2006, 06:56 AM	#5
Randy Donato Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 138	The problem with hot pluging is the cameras use 4 pin FW and if you make contact with the pins incorrectly positioned (which can happen through partial insertion) it will fry the camera. It happened a lot with some of the early Sony's.

September 11th, 2006, 09:06 PM	#6
Brian Critchlow Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Santa Cruz, CA Posts: 133	4 pin firewire is a non-powered connection, just data. I find it really had to believe that hot swapping a cable with no (significant) power would fry anything. I have hotswapped pretty much every firewire device I have ever owned, with no issues.

September 13th, 2006, 05:37 AM	#8
David Scattergood Major Player Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 755	It's happened to me - blew both the PC 6 pin port and the camera's 4 pin port. I was hotplugging as I would with USB having never heard of issues with firewire at that stage. This on the day or two I was to deliver some footage for a client. I had to purchase the cheapest mini dv cam on the market purely for capturing purposes (the camera still records no problem and I had a spare firewire port on the PC). Since upgrading my camera (to a much more expensive model than the previous) I'm now using a firewire isolator - cost about £50-60 - well worth it!