Firewire cable length
 

Hello all,

Is there a maximum safe cable length for firewire?

I'm very tempted to buy DV Rack but I am doing more and more shots with movement, eg dolly shots, and I can't think of any way of easily carrying the laptop with me while moving around. As for crane or jib shots . . . well you get my point.

So, assuming my laptop is sitting safely on a little table away from the camera, I guess I'll need a long firewire cable run. But how long could it be before it starts to drop out?

Any thoughts? Also, does anyone know of a decent cable supplier in the UK that offers long runs?

Thanks in advance of any advice.

Ian . . .

I have a 50' One i got from EVS and it works perfect. i know you can go longer but you might need a signal booster.

There are several finely made FW cables of 50-100' that people use into recorders without repeaters. Check out tecnec extended fw products at markertek.com. Check out comprehensiveinc.com too.

Thanks Seth & Max for the replies. I have been looking for a UK supplier who offers 50' runs but as yet I can't find one.

I did see the following statement on a suppliers web site (cablecity.co.uk), relating to a 10m (approx 30') cable:

"Please note that Firewire A specifications decree that the maximum length of a Firewire cable for a device-to-device connection is (approximately) 5M. These good quality, well-constructed 10M cables will function perfectly in most situations, but their performance cannot be guaranteed due to their length being outside specifications."

Thought that was interesting. I also read (on a different site) about a 100' length where the recommendation was not to use it near electronic equipment. Hmm . . . anyone detect a tiny problem here?!

I suspect 30' is about as much as I would need at this time so I think I'll go with that.

Thanks again for the advice.

Ian . . .

I'm using a 25 footer attached to my notebook without any problems.

I am use DataVideo cables and repeater. Their longest cable is 60' without a repeater. They have a UK site. http://www.datavideo-tek.com/

That's what I was looking for - thanks Hart. And thanks to other posters for their advice.

i find no problem using 50ft 1394a cable with camera to laptop ..

however i find 50ft 1394a cable with laptop to 1394a hard drive doesn't work ...

Sorry to labour this point (I hope others on this forum will also find this thread of use).

Something just occurred to me (as I was about to buy a 20m length). My camera and laptop both have the smaller 4 pin connectors yet these long run cables all seem to be 6 pin. In fact the longest 4 - 4 pin run I could find was 5m.

Is this a limitation of 4 pin firewire connections or have I just not looked hard enough? My understanding of the difference between 4 and 6 pins was that the latter can power external devices.

Would a 6 pin to 4 pin adaptor work at either end? (And if it does, do I want to spend £60 on the cable plus 2 x £12 for the adaptors - £84 for a cable?!?).

Thanks again in advance of your (as always) great advice and help.

4 pin to 4 pin are available.

You are correct about 6 pin carrying power. The only other difference is that 6 pin is more robust.

Adaptors do work, but they also extend out and put weight on the small 4 pin socket. A little ungainly at the camera, especially. I'd hold out a little more for a 4-4. There is one line of good cable that is only 6-6 with adaptors that are on a short piece of cable, so, you don't have quite the strain a one-piece adaptor.

As for value, my reference is the TecNec 4-4 pin 75' at about $60 USD. Don't know the conversion for pounds or euro.

This is specialty gear, I wouldn't expect to find it at my local fine electronics retailer.

I think i paid like $69 for my 50' one, but i could have got a better deal online i bet... Its a 4-4. I would recomend not getting those adapters its just 2 more connections that can go wrong when you are recording.

I thought an update might be appreciated.

I searched high and low for a 4-4 pin with a length greater than 5m but I couldn't find one anywhere in the UK.

In the end (and despite my better judgment and the advice of other posters) I went for a 10m 6-6 pin with adapters on each end.

I've done some test shots to check it all works and so far so good, with no drop out or interference caused by operating near electronic equipment as was suggested might occur. But I will certainly have to be careful about the connections while I'm moving around. NOT very secure.

Of course if I ever find a decent length 4-4 pin cable then I can relegate the flaky adapter cable to studio-bound duties.

Oh, cost was £35.85 including next day delivery. (2 adapters plus 10m cable). Not cheap in the UK, but then you don't enjoy our fine weather ;-)

Cheers.

Ian . . .

I have a datavideo IEEE 1394 serial bus cable, length 20m. It's 6-to-6 pin, but in the ends of the cable are 6-to-4-pin adapters. So all combinations are possible.

www.datavideo-tek.com

Next week I'm off on a real shoot with my 10m 6-6 pin + 4-pin adaptors cable!

I'll let you know how I get on. My biggest concern is the adaptor connection being flimsy. Fingers crossed!

Still haven't found a UK supplier of long 4-4pin lengths. Strange that.

Here's a 4-pin to 4-pin Firewire Cable in a 25ft length (7.5 meters):

http://www.cxtec.com/products/item_d...art=CC1394C-25

Wireless
 

Boy, it'll be neat the day they come out with a "wireless" FireWire. Just a little transmitter plug with the correct amount of pins and a receiver with pins but no wire in between. Maybe BlueTooth will come out with something like this some day. What do you all think? Could it ever be possible for digital video?

In 2002, there were a number of announcements about a "Wireless FireWire" protocol but nothing ever came of it. I keep looking....

here is an article that is about two years old on the subjuct of Wireless Firewires development. Must not be going too well as of yet.

http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20040511S0001

OK, thought I'd report back!

I used DV Rack on the shoot but never got the opportunity to try out the 10m length with the adaptors!! Instead I was stuck in a tiny room with a 3m length with 4 pins on both ends.

So, can't report back on how usable the 10m cable + 6 to 4 pin adaptors was, sorry! I can confirm that it DOES work, though and I have since tried it in a number of environments, including near radio equipment and other electronics. No probs.

Still haven't found a UK supplier that can offer greater than 3 or 5 m lengths with 4 pins at both ends.

The usability experience was enough to make me go ahead and buy DV Rack, which I did from a US based eBay shop at a total cost of around £160 including FedEx delivery - a lot cheaper than list.

I just have to add that I appreciate all this information...especially since you guys took the time to report back to the forum about your successes!

Cheers, Jon

Laird
 

We've had great success with Laird's 30' cable. They have different options with 4 and 6 pin. Not sure about UK suppliers.
The flimsy 4 pin is a bit of an issue. The upshot is that it disconnects more easily than the 6 pin in case someone trips on the cable, which could easily result in a tethered camera coming crashing to the ground. The downside is that the weight of the cable itself is too much over time for the flimsy connector. The cable sags and then eventually the adapter breaks apart. Our workaround was to wrap a loop of the cable around the battery, which takes the weight off the adapter. This of course negates the "easy disconnect" benefit of the 4 pin in the first place.