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Author Topic: Firewire to USB adapter for phocus/h4d  (Read 3378 times)

orc73

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Firewire to USB adapter for phocus/h4d
« on: May 19, 2015, 03:10:11 am »

Hello

I own the macbook pro 2012, which only has thunderbolt and no firewire.
With this setup I use the apple firewire to thunderbolt adapter. Tethering is not reliable like that and causes a lot of trouble(some of this reported last year on this forum). Last week I found out, the apple ethernet to thunderbolt adapter also causes problems. Looks like my hardware port is not really well build, to loose to have a sturdy connection. I try to fix it with taping. It's also possible, that there is some defect in the laptop, or just a bad implementation from apple.

I'm now wondering if I would get a firewire to usb adapter to solve the problems.
Does anybody have experience with this?

best regards
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BobShaw

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Re: Firewire to USB adapter for phocus/h4d
« Reply #1 on: May 19, 2015, 04:07:19 am »

No experience with Firewire to USB, but Thunderbolt to Firewire works fine. I think you have other problems. Probably a faulty firewire cable. Also don't daisy chain the firewire if you are tethering.
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NickT

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Re: Firewire to USB adapter for phocus/h4d
« Reply #2 on: May 19, 2015, 05:45:02 am »

I'm almost certain that there is no such thing as a firewire>USB adaptor.

I use the Thunderbolt to Firewire adaptor with my Hasselblad and it works perfectly.

Nick-T
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orc73

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Re: Firewire to USB adapter for phocus/h4d
« Reply #3 on: May 19, 2015, 05:52:42 am »

Thanks, as said the thunderbolt on my macbook seems to be faulty, I don't have money to buy a new laptop now.
As soon the H4d has connection problems, the camera hangs and is in wait mode not responding to anything, that can be for 20 minutes easily and is not a very welcome addition to a shooting when the customer is waiting next to you.
So looking for a solution, or I have to skip tethering and depend on the (crappy) Hasselblad screen.
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BobShaw

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Re: Firewire to USB adapter for phocus/h4d
« Reply #4 on: May 20, 2015, 12:16:45 am »

If you have changed the cable to a new short one then I would look at OS version, Phocus version, firmware version.
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Ken Doo

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Re: Firewire to USB adapter for phocus/h4d
« Reply #5 on: May 20, 2015, 12:39:33 am »

Firewire and USB are different protocols----in short, there is no such Firewire to USB adapter available.

I'm just thinking how cool it would be if it were possible----imagine a P+ MFDB tethered to a Surface Pro!  New blood in an old digital back line...  ;D

Joe Towner

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Re: Firewire to USB adapter for phocus/h4d
« Reply #6 on: May 20, 2015, 10:14:50 pm »

Hello,

If you're doing multiple thunderbolt adapters your laptop may not love you due to the amount of current required.  Do you need the ethernet plugged in while shooting?  If so, grab the Belkin Thunderbolt dock - http://www.belkin.com/us/p/P-F4U085/ - version 1 or 2, as it'll get your laptop tether to a single port (it has ethernet and firewire), but most importantly it'll properly power the fw800 port for tethering.

If you're looking for a cheaper option, grab a powered fw800 hub - https://www.digitalback.com/product/fw800-powered-hub/
The H4 backs don't have the option to pull from the normal grip battery while tethered - it's trying to power off the fw800 cable.  This is fixed in the H5 backs.

-Joe
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orc73

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Re: Firewire to USB adapter for phocus/h4d
« Reply #7 on: May 22, 2015, 03:13:11 am »

I never use ethernet and firewire together. After having a lot of problem with firewire/Hasselblad, and now had the problems with the ethernet as well, I just guess the thunderbolt might be the problem.

There was some discussions going on in forums about the powering problems with the new macbooks - of course this could also be the source of the hasselblad problems.
I was not aware there is a solution for this at all, maybe the above suggested hub by Joe Towner might be a solution.
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