Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Medium Format / Film / Digital Backs – and Large Sensor Photography => Topic started by: andyptak on October 13, 2025, 12:16:09 pm
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I'd like to bring my Fuji GX680III and Phase P45+ back into use again, after years of sitting in a cupboard. I've tried various firewire to USB C adapters and none of them work - for me anyway. I'm on Windows which I know makes it a little harder but surely there must be a solution out there. Anyone know of one? Thanks.
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get a new/used firewire card for the PC
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Firewire is pretty much dead. Even Apple has dropped support for it in the latest operating system. I suggest that you pick up an old Mac with Firewire port to work with Firewire equipment if you want to tether. The almost new gear will work with it too but you need Apple adapters. If you only want power then the most adapters should work if the port puts out enough current. You can of course just shoot to cards.
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I was hoping that someone actually made an "adapter" - a box with associated firmware etc and input and output ports for the associated cables.
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I can save you some time here.
I can say with absolute complete confidence that there is no such thing as an “adapter” for FireWire to USB which will allow you to tether your back to usb.
You’ll find some things that look like they are just that kind of adapter; they are not. They are power only, no data.
The closest you’ll get is something like a hub that has a FireWire port. And not many of those exist either, at least sold as new.
FireWire is dead
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Adaptec had a couple different firewire cards. Maybe find on ebay. Probably PCI instead of PCIe buss interface though.
Older working MAC with firewire port may be your only option. i think the last windows drivers were for Win2K or possibly Win 7.
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Older working MAC with firewire port may be your only option.
I wouldn't say that it is the "only" option for tethering. Almost any Mac will do, but you may need any or all of Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adaptor, Thunderbolt 2 to Firewire 800 adaptor, Firewire 800 to Firewire 400 adaptor. Some of those are no longer produced either. I recently got my old video camera working using all of them.
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Well it is theoretically possible with Macs. I got my old Polaroid sprintscan 120 to connect to my iMac but it was quite a struggle. Firewire 400 from the scanner to an apple Firewire 400 to Thunderbolt 1 adapter and then an Apple Thunderbolt 1 adapter to the current USBC/Thunderbolt connection. But then I also have a Firewire 400 to Firewire 800 adapter and I am not at all sure where that fits in or if it does at all. It did work, but I fear that the Apple adapters are no longer readily available new. Possibly on eBay. I have pretty much given up shooting film and have scanned all the negatives I want to keep by now and in future will work out how to digitise any negatives that turn up with my cameras.
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Go onto eBay, buy an old Mac dirt cheap that supports FireWire, and move on. This will work, but with an old OS, no further support, like security updates, so keep it off the net.
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Oh I remember the days of Firewire and the adapters... and one of them was always a bit flakey or loose or just not quite up to snuff. Thank goodness that's behind us.
Agree with recommendation of an older computer, dedicated to FW.
And next to it will be my Mac Mini, still supporting Aperture on an old OS.
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Oh I remember the days of Firewire and the adapters... and one of them was always a bit flakey or loose or just not quite up to snuff. Thank goodness that's behind us.
Agree with recommendation of an older computer, dedicated to FW.
And next to it will be my Mac Mini, still supporting Aperture on an old OS.
But do you remember the days of SCSI? :D
Steve Hendrix
[email protected]
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I have a firewire PCI card in my windows box ( running macos)
so try that...
or buy for almost nothing an old mac.
probably you can put a faster ssd in that mac
look at https://everymac.com/ what type you will need.
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I have and use a Nikon 8000 Cool Scan medium Format Film Scanner. Long ago discontinued. It too, required Firewire, so when I had my PC built about 12 tears ago, it included a Firewire port. Well the Firewire card died recently, and I was able to get a new card....but belonging to a Facebook Coolscan Group, I was told (quite correctly) that the Coolscans must have a "Special" Firewire" card. Off hand I don't remember which brand it had to be. The Coolscans were delivered new with the specific Firewire Card included with the scanner. BTW I see many people struggling trying to copy old slides and negatives with digital cameras. At 88 years old the thoughts of lining up the camera, slide and keeping them parallel would be a nightmare. The Coolscan scans at 4,000 dpi and the resolution supports very big prints -- "24"x32"-the biggest my printer can handle.
Good luck
Dave in NJ
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Adaptec
2940 if i remember correctly
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Adaptec
2940 if i remember correctly
That's a PCI to SCSI interface, based on my keyboard search.
Steve Hendrix
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Yep. Used it to connect to several scsi scanners over the years.
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I have and use a Nikon 8000 Cool Scan medium Format Film Scanner. Long ago discontinued. It too, required Firewire, so when I had my PC built about 12 tears ago, it included a Firewire port. Well the Firewire card died recently, and I was able to get a new card....but belonging to a Facebook Coolscan Group, I was told (quite correctly) that the Coolscans must have a "Special" Firewire" card. Off hand I don't remember which brand it had to be. The Coolscans were delivered new with the specific Firewire Card included with the scanner. BTW I see many people struggling trying to copy old slides and negatives with digital cameras. At 88 years old the thoughts of lining up the camera, slide and keeping them parallel would be a nightmare. The Coolscan scans at 4,000 dpi and the resolution supports very big prints -- "24"x32"-the biggest my printer can handle.
Good luck
Dave in NJ
If budget allows a DT Digitization Station (eg DT Atom with DT Film Scanning Kit) eliminates the difficulty of bringing the film and camera into precise alignment. It becomes a two minute operation and only needed when you relocate the system.
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The larger issue is that you're not going to get OS support for Firewire in Windows 11.
For a PC, the easy method would be an old Sony laptop, as they'd have an i.LINK 4-pin firewire port onboard. Toss in a SSD, install Windows 7 & off down the road you go.
Or an old iMac/Macbook Pro with a FW800 & do BootCamp for Windows 7. Note there may be power issues, where the port can't provide full power, but it's a known with workarounds.
I have a Belkin TB Dock that has a FW800 port on it. But finding driver support for these is getting even more difficult as time marches on. At least Apple has all their old OS'es available for download & FW800 will just work.