1D2 Firewire Maximum Length

I have a possible upcoming project that having instant proof could be very beneficial to the workflow, so I am considering shooting the entire set with my 1D2 on a tripod and tethered.

Anyways, what is the maximum cable length one can use for remote capture on a 1D2? I know I can probably look up a spec on this, but who can confidently say he or she has the longest wire working reliably?

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Ray Chen
http://www.arrayphoto.com

If I remember correctly, Canon sells them roughly at 6 1/2 feet and 14 1/2 feet, You won't get anything else out of them on the subject after that length. How long do you want to make it?

CtDiGi said:

If I remember correctly, Canon sells them roughly at 6 1/2 feet and
14 1/2 feet, You won't get anything else out of them on the subject
after that length. How long do you want to make it?

Click to expand...

I am just working out the upper bound right now. I won't know the specifics until I get the contract and start to design the set at their location. Thanks for the 14.5 number, and that should be a good starting point.

--
Ray Chen
http://www.arrayphoto.com

CtDiGi, did you ever figure out what is the function of the choke on the cable? I saw your post when I tried to search for my original question. It seems that it is merely an optional feature from those who had replied.

--
Ray Chen
http://www.arrayphoto.com

Dont know if it will work,but you could look into a repeater hub for over 15'

The only thing I can say first hand is that my 1D2, (and I would guess all the others), came with connections for most desktops, and I only have a lap top. But when I saw the price of the cord I decided to go shop else where for it. There are 3 different cord configurations I think multiplied by 2 different lenghts. Has to be the right connector on the computer end, I guess there are a few different pin amount types, all depending on what its plugging into.

But the Canon ones have magnetic chokes on them, at least I believe thats what they are. Of course I couldn't get a word out of Canon about having or not having them. They must have cought on because I emailed tech support, but I only asked what they did for the cord, and what there did, I received back a standard, (we don't support what we don't sell),
e-mail....lol. I guess I was a little to obvious.

Anyway, I ended up (after confirming with others they didn't have a problem), going and purchasing a short after market one, and it seemed to be fine. Although I still have not put it through all the paces at this time.

So my only question would be if there could be a problem suddenly based on what else is around in a shooting enviroment and close to the connections. that could cause interference, and if this could/would be even more of a problem if the cord length were long on top of it.

Unless I am way off as to the purpose of the chokes, and in that case disreguard my comments and go with anyone else who reply's back and sounds like they know what there talking about!

Good luck

The choke is there to eliminate interference to and from other electrical devices. I don't think it's an option, I think it's part of the cable moulding.

As for reviewing pictures, you can use a monitor with a composite input simply by connecting the video out terminal from the camera using a jack to phono lead.

This way you can get 20 or 30 feet away if needed. It won't give you full res imagery but will give you an idea of lighting and exposure details. Failing that, use EOS capture to a laptop and feed VGA from the laptop to a large monitor. A decent VGA cable will be good for 40 feet if necessary.
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It's an L of a life, this photography lark

http://gordon-walker.fotopic.net/

No it's not an option as you say, they are part of the cord assembly one way or another. I have seen some with locking barrels that crimp onto the cord also, and done by the manufacturer. I was told you can also purchase them.

I noticed that most of the aftermarket manufacturers of cords and fittings don't have the chokes. But they do have a much heavier molded end to end ouside case along with braided shielding and possibly even more shield layers after that. So it may take the place of the chokes themselves.

The trade off is a much stiffer heavier cord instead of a small flexible one. But most likely a better shield overall. I will have to look into that

But that would be my guess anyway.

I use a 15' cord without any problems even without the magnetic coils.

You can go longer than 15', but you would need another firewire device to act as a "repeater".

The purpose of the magnetic coil is to eliminate electromagnetic interference. The firewire cable (or any wire for that matter) acts like an antennea and can actually pick up current (electromagnetic waves) from the air (tv, radio, cb's, powerlines, etc. etc.). The magnetic coils act as dampeners - sort of like grounding the wire. Without them, there is a remote possibility of signal corruption during file transfers.

This is my non-techie understanding of their use.

I have Epson Pro Scanners and the firewire cable are double headers (two magnets) but imagine the scanner wire hanging down amoungst all the power/monitor/modem/printer/etc. cables and you can see the need.

Just plug into a front port or use the laptop. I haven't had a corrupted image yet.

One last bit of IMPORTANT advice. Try before you buy... not all firewire 4-pin connectors are created equal. I actually tried 4 different "brands" before I found one that fit perfectly like my canon supplied shorty. 15' foot "no-name" brand out of china and it fit perfect for 9 bucks and it's heavily shielded - no magnets. I could always pick up a set from Radio Shack if the need arouse. So many other 4-pin ends were WAAAAY too tight. No way I was gonna force it.

-CJ

I use a 5 meter cable I bought of EBay. with no problems at all.
Cheers,
Dennis.

I bought a 25' fiewire cable that works with my 1D2.
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http://web.mac.com/tcphoto1

Using a single 33' cable w/our original 1D (4 mgs) for capture times of about 2 sec. (large jpgs) into a fast desktop pc w/XP pro.

I used to use 10m ( 30feet ) with my 1Ds 2 years ago and still use that with my Phase One back. Since the 1Ds Mark2 changed to use 4pin terminal that my 10m firewire cable is 6pin-6pin, that I did not try it even with an adapter. I just use the one shipped with the camera. I do not like the 4pin terminal because it becomes loose often in shooting especailly shooting handheld around an object. I hope Canon will go back to 6-pin in the next pro body.
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Khun_K