PowerBook G4 capture via firewire at DVinfo.net

Jon Grimson · March 14th, 2004, 12:48 PM

I have a new PowerBook G4 that has 2 firewire ports. One (firewire 400) is connected to my LaCie drive and the other is a Firewire 800. What kind of connection am I supposed to use to capture video from my Sony PDX10? It doesn't come with a firewire cable so I have to buy one. Will it support firewire 800? or 400? What's the difference anyway between 400 and 800? Thanks for any help folks!

Jeff Donald · March 14th, 2004, 02:29 PM

The camera supports FireWire 400. FireWire 800 is twice the speed and but is new, hence many cameras, do not as of yet, support it.

Jon Grimson · March 14th, 2004, 02:39 PM

Thanks Jeff, I know. My question is if I have a LaCie firewire drive hooked up to my Powerbook then what do I hook the PDX10 to? The PowerBokk has 1 firewire 400 port and 1 firewire 800 port. I guess my only solution is to capture the content to the internal drive and then swap out the cables and copy the captured video over to the external drive. I just wish one of these would run off the firewire 800 port. Unless I'm missing a better way to do this.

Ignacio Rodriguez · March 14th, 2004, 03:58 PM

If the drive is FW800, then use the right cable to connect it to the faster bus and connect the camera to the other one.

Then again, if the drive only supports 400 Mbps, it's still better to keep the camera and drive on separate cables.

Both the camera and the drive should work on both busses with the right cables attached, since the FW800 connector and cables also support 400 Mbps.

Jeff Donald · March 14th, 2004, 04:03 PM

You should be able to daisy chain the camera via FireWire to your external drive. If that presents a problem, then do as Ignacio suggests, get a cable to connect your drive to the FW 800 port and connect the camera to the FW 400 port.

Jon Grimson · March 14th, 2004, 04:36 PM

Thanks guys! Daisy chaining through the drive seems like the answer. Does anyone know what the firewire 800 port supports at this time? I guess connecting to a DV deck via that port will make things faster somehow? Or does anything exsist yet that utilizes the firewire 800??

Jeff Donald · March 14th, 2004, 04:51 PM

There are hard drives that support FW 800 and some DVD, CD burners. Right now FW 400 is fast enough for most video formats. HD, in it's various forms, will require FW 800 at a minimum. Cameras and other media devices will support FW 800 when their data streams require the additional speed that FW 800 offers.

March 14th, 2004, 12:48 PM	#1
Jon Grimson Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 30	PowerBook G4 capture via firewire I have a new PowerBook G4 that has 2 firewire ports. One (firewire 400) is connected to my LaCie drive and the other is a Firewire 800. What kind of connection am I supposed to use to capture video from my Sony PDX10? It doesn't come with a firewire cable so I have to buy one. Will it support firewire 800? or 400? What's the difference anyway between 400 and 800? Thanks for any help folks!

March 14th, 2004, 02:29 PM	#2
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	The camera supports FireWire 400. FireWire 800 is twice the speed and but is new, hence many cameras, do not as of yet, support it. __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

March 14th, 2004, 03:58 PM	#4
Ignacio Rodriguez Contributor Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Santiago, Chile Posts: 932	If the drive is FW800, then use the right cable to connect it to the faster bus and connect the camera to the other one. Then again, if the drive only supports 400 Mbps, it's still better to keep the camera and drive on separate cables. Both the camera and the drive should work on both busses with the right cables attached, since the FW800 connector and cables also support 400 Mbps. __________________ Ignacio Rodríguez in the third world. @micronauta on Twitter. Main hardware: brain, eyes, hands.

March 14th, 2004, 04:03 PM	#5
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	You should be able to daisy chain the camera via FireWire to your external drive. If that presents a problem, then do as Ignacio suggests, get a cable to connect your drive to the FW 800 port and connect the camera to the FW 400 port. __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

March 14th, 2004, 04:51 PM	#7
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	There are hard drives that support FW 800 and some DVD, CD burners. Right now FW 400 is fast enough for most video formats. HD, in it's various forms, will require FW 800 at a minimum. Cameras and other media devices will support FW 800 when their data streams require the additional speed that FW 800 offers. __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

March 14th, 2004, 02:39 PM	#3
Jon Grimson Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 30	Thanks Jeff, I know. My question is if I have a LaCie firewire drive hooked up to my Powerbook then what do I hook the PDX10 to? The PowerBokk has 1 firewire 400 port and 1 firewire 800 port. I guess my only solution is to capture the content to the internal drive and then swap out the cables and copy the captured video over to the external drive. I just wish one of these would run off the firewire 800 port. Unless I'm missing a better way to do this.

March 14th, 2004, 04:36 PM	#6
Jon Grimson Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 30	Thanks guys! Daisy chaining through the drive seems like the answer. Does anyone know what the firewire 800 port supports at this time? I guess connecting to a DV deck via that port will make things faster somehow? Or does anything exsist yet that utilizes the firewire 800??