I'm new at the Canon XL1s and the whole 1394 thing. I'm planning on buying a 1394 card and cable today.

I found the "SIIG DV-Cam Kit" at Best Buy for $79 which which includes the PCI card and a DV cable.

My questions are these:

1 - Will the SIIG 1394 PCI card work good with the XL1s?
2 - Does one end of the 1394 cable included with this kit fit into the XL1s? It's a 6 pin to 4 pin DV cable. If this cable is not correct, what type do I need to buy?

I wasn't sure if this particular question was appropriate for this forum, so if not, I appologize.

Thanks,
Ron

I'm not familiar with the card you mention, but the cable is probably OK. The Canon uses the 4-pin, and most cards (and MACS) are 6-pin.

Vic

Just an FYI,
You may want to take a look at post: XL1 and Premiere: Recording at 29.95
-Brad

Ron,
Just to clarify Vic's comment (since this little issue led me to waste time and money when I was new to 1394 cabling several years ago) there are 2 types of Firewire cable connections (i.e. "1394", "iLink").

"6-pin" connectors, when viewed end-on, are rectanguar with one end of the rectangle flat and the other rounded. This connector carries the standard 4 signal wires as 2 wires for low-voltage power, thus enabling some devices to be powered completely by the Firewwire bus.

"4-pin" connectors are smaller rectangles which, when viewed end-on, have one side of the rectangle dimpled to mate with a 4-pin port. As you'd imagine, 4 pin connectors carry only signal, no power.

As Vic noted video cameras have 4-pin 1394 connections while most 1394 adapters have 6-pin connections. This is no problem at all. Just make sure you have a 6-pin - to - 4-pin cable on hand. While you're buying 1394 cable you may as well also get a 6-pin to 6-pin cable. You're sure to need it some really cold, rainy day.

What is the maximum length 1394 cable can be?

I have a CD burner that I need to place farther from my cpu than the cable is long.

-- Alan

I don't know. I do know that the maximum standard length of a 1394 cable is 4.5m. I have seen long cabes for sale but I would imagine that a powered 1394 hub would be called for.