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Firewire 400 vs. 800
When I capture I go from MiniDV camera to Firewire to computer. It was recommended to me that I may want to use Firewire 800 over 400 mainly because of the higher bandwidth for HD. Well, in looking at the 2 types side by side, it looks like the cables are the same size in diameter, just a different connection to the capture device (computer, card, etc.). If getting a cable that is 9 pin to 4 pin, would it still be capable of transfering a max of 800 mb/s, or would I need to get a 9 pin to 9 pin? My camera takes 4 pin and it would be great if I could do 9 pin to 4 pin and capture at a higher bandwidth.
Thanks
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14 Replies
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4-pin or 6-pin is FW400 speeds.
9-pin is FW800 speeds.
So a FW 9-pin to 4-pin or 6-pin will only run at FW400 speeds.
-Russ
Russell Lasson
Kaleidoscope Pictures
Provo, UT -
Is there basically nothing that will improve bandwidth capturing straight from camera that is 4 pin?
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Right. In fact, both FW800 and FW400 share the same bus in the computer. Since the camera is only FW400, then it doesn’t help to speed it up on a faster bus.
Just for perspective, if you’re capturing DV footage, you’re only using about 3.6MB/sec of the 40MB/sec that FW400 is capable of. So FW400 is more than enough for that.
It really comes down more to disk speed and processor speed.
-Russ
Russell Lasson
Kaleidoscope Pictures
Provo, UT -
Very interesting. Any way to upgrade your self? I’m capture to a MacBook Pro, 2.4 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo with a 7200 rpm hard drive, straight to the hard drive.
Any suggestions, I’ll gladly take them. A tape deck is out of the price range right now, maybe later.
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On a MacBook Pro you could add Serial ATA (SATA) or another FW800 port using the Expresscard Slot. This would be on a different bus than the other Firewire ports.
-Russ
Russell Lasson
Kaleidoscope Pictures
Provo, UT -
As for the SATA, if you are referring to an internal hard drive, I do have a SATA 7200 rpm. I was looking at Express cards, mostly on Amazon and unfortunately have read a fair amount of bad reviews on them on thr fact that they just aren’t recognized. What are you thoughts? Do you recommend one or a site that is reputable?
Thanks
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Would this be something that would increase capture rate via firewire 400 on 15in macbook pro?
Thanks
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The previous post about SATA was to suggest you add an eSATA or a firewire card like the one you posted.
Your FW 400 is more than enough bandwidth to capture DV. Any problems you are encountering is probably from capturing directly to your systems disk. You should have an external hard drive to capture your files to. It is best if your external drive is not on the same firewire bus as your camera. So you could go with either an eSATA card and hard drive, or the card you posted as well as a FW 800 drive.
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Ok, so if I capture via firewire 400 (50mb/s) or firewire 800 (100mb/s) to a express card (one that will fit a MBP 15 in, I should get better results. Even better if I capture to an external firewire. Correct? I believe I understand what is going on now.
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Ryan,
You want to capture to an EXTERNAL FW hard drive. Capturing to your MBPro’s hard drive will cause you problems in the long run.
Steve Eisen
Eisen Video Productions
Board of Directors
Chicago Final Cut Pro Users Group
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