Tethering the Hasselblad

[Emilmedia]

So I'm currently looking at buying me a new laptop with firewire so i can tether the Hasselblad. Does it have to be firewire 800 or is 400 fine?

Also if i buy one with thunderbolt, something i have to think about?

[epines]

400 is fine -- just get yourself a cable with 400 (male) at one end and 800 (male) at the other. I have one that's probably 15 feet long. Works like a charm.

Don't know about Thunderbolt. Check if a Thunderbolt-to-Firewire-800 adapter exists. 

[David WM]

I have found Phocus to be a demanding program. I would not want the trouble of wondering if any problems I encounter when tethering may be due to the FW connection being slower than necessary. I'd imagine that any laptop which only has FW400 would probably not have enough grunt to run the program. If budget is the problem, make sure you try out the configuration first before you commit any $.

[Emilmedia]

The problem is mostly that i can't find any laptops with firewire 800 and the req i have. .. :/

[jerome_m]

Look for a laptop with an express card slot and get a firewire 800 express card...

[saltysearabbit]

A few weeks ago I talked to the tech guy at hasselblad. I am thinking about upgrading my laptop (from an older Macbook Pro to a Newer one) and he said to steer clear of the Retina Display Macbook pro because it does not have a FW800 port, he said they have been getting lots of complaints relating to people using the thunderbolt ports with adapters, and that it would be less reliable for tethering. Any one shooting in the real world confirming this?

[bcooter]

Try powermax.

I buy a lot of refurbished from them.

Always had good luck.

http://www.powermax.com/parts/show/pow-t41760b

BC

[Dustbak]

I am shooting with a MBP Retina and a H3/H4. No problem whatsoever, I do not hear many other HB users that have a lot of issues with the TB/FW adapter either.

Shooting with the retina MBP and my H4D60 is a true joy, continuously shooting without hitting a buffer. When I stop shooting the files are almost instantly on the laptop. For me it is shooting as I always wanted it too.

I still have the occassional disconnect but that has more to do with my firewire cable and the firewire port on the H body. This seems to be much better on the H5.

[jerome_m]

It seems that most problems come from the thunderbolt connector disconnecting from the weight of the firewire cable. Nothing that a bit of gaffer tape could not solve.

[Chris Barrett]

I actually find the TB connector to hold more snugly than FW800.  Been shooting the P65+ with the adapter, no probs.

[jimgolden]

TB to FW adapters generally work very well from what my techs use