Z1 blown firewire port video
 

This was posted on another forum by one of the members that has a fried firewire port. Anyone who has had this problem will love it !

Check it out :

http://tinyurl.com/35eka5

He is hot swapping the firewire. He must not be a DVi forum member.

It's LOVELY-O!
 

Here's the deal: I hate to break the bad news for you but I'm afraid you have not followed Sony's instructions when connecting your camera to the computer - that's why your firewire got fried. You need to connect the cable to the PC first, then to the camera, in order to avoid static electricity buildup - see page 96 of the Z1 manual (might be different page for the E model). I know I'm guilty too, just as other thousands of users - I do not always follow these instructions either... the difference is, I got lucky so far. Best practice would be to first connect them together, then turn on PC first and camera second.

How would Sony react? I suspect you will get their attention! They are pretty good in keeping a good company image, especially within their professional division. Even their consumer division is actively trying to keep owners happy... here's my own story:

I bought something Sony about 5 years ago, forgot what it was (I have tons of Sony stuff) that came with a $100 cash rebate. I forgot to mail it in in time, got a polite refusal. I wrote back telling them I work with consumers and can easily recommend their products or scare potential clients away (I was working TV repair all brands at the time).

Got the check in five days!

I can understand your frustration, but the advice against hot-swapping the i.LINK cable is on page 107 of the FX7 manual and 122 of the V1 manual, and page 97 of the HC5-7 manual. It's true that the Z1/FX1 manuals do not specifically say not to hot swap your firewire, but we don't know when these went to press vs. the web posting date of that admonition. From the link it appears that the web notice went up in mid 2006, while the Z1 and FX1 manuals were likely printed nearly two years earlier in anticipation of their late 2004/early 2005 releases.

The precaution against inserting the i.LINK connector the wrong way appears on page 4 of the FX1/Z1 and HC1/A1 manuals, page 7 of the FX7/V1 and HC5-7 manuals, and page 6 of the HC3 manual.

So while they may not have called a lot of attention to it, it's certainly not "something hidden away on a sony website" and it's not true that "they did not put it in the instructions."

And threads on this very topic have been very active on this and other forums for years. That's how I learned about the issue, and I've never tried to hot-swap my firewire cable, just to be safe.

So maybe a little more reading and a little less ranting is in order.

That being said, your postings in every forum on every applicable website is bound to get the message out again, so I think the community owes you thanks for that.

This isn't confined to Sony products, firewire connectors are prone to damage and putting 12v on the wrong terminals has the described effect. Obviously it is important to power up equipment after connection (no hot plugging) and to connect the cable first to the computer, then to the gear. Any cables with any physical defects (loose plug shells, bent pins, distorted casings) must not be used.
One thing about the video, which I enjoyed, that puzzled me was the US/Canada locations with UK source.

A cheap insurance; http://www.kramerelectronics.com/ind...sp?name=PT-1FW

It looks like for a couple of dollars more, you can get this hub that will extend your firewire distance as well as protect you from electo static charges.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...eater_Hub.html

Agreed. Hopefully no DVi member would be foolish enough to hot-swap a FireWire cable...