Z1U - Firewire or Component for Robustness?
 

Hi Everyone,

I am using a Z1U for some HD webcasts. I have no problem with quality, but a I am a little concerned on repetitive use and stress on the video outputs. Both the component output and 4pin firewire don't give me much confidence in prolonged use. In fact, the component output connector was busted when I bought it, so I'm using the firewire output until a replacement connector comes in.

Just wondering if anyone has any tips or techniques they could share to help keep both connectors in good shape. I even thought about hot gluing a cable to one of the outputs to save wear and tear on the connectors, but don't know if that would be a good idea. The camera has only been used indoors and on tripod so far so I could lock cables down to tripod legs or anything. My streaming computer has both component and firewire video inputs and can handle either without problems.

Thanks
Mark

Re: Z1U - Firewire or Component for Robustness?
 

The easiest way to provide strain relief is use gaffers tape to hold the cable to the camera or tripod so the weight of the cable doesn’t pull on the connection.

A word of warning I once had a jack go bad and tried fixing it by replacing the part. It is unbelievably difficult to reassemble. A tiny screw fell into the camera that was impossible to retrieve that caused the camera a few weeks to short out and die. Inside these cameras are bunch tiny components attached by ribbon cable in such a way that they fit into an incredible tiny space.