FireWire 800

I'd like to use a computer with a FireWire 800 port to drive a Cell that has a FireWire 400 connector. Is this ok?

Firewire 800 will work. We recommend you buy a cable with 800 on other end and 400 on other. Adapters work but can become loose over time.

You should note that using a FireWire 800 interface does not improve the performance of the FireWire bus at all, if there is even one FireWire 400 camera in the bus. In these cases the bus drops immediately into FW400 mode.

Important: Grounding in FW 800 (*) has given some problems in the past. Please use the following sequence when plugging everything in:

• All power cables need to be unplugged
• Connect DVI and USB first
• Then connect Firewire, first the FW800 terminal, and then the FW400 terminal
• Then connect power cables
• Now turn on the power to the computer

(*) In our experience FireWire 800 connectors are very unreliable, and may cause dangerous electric shocks to the FireWire bus due to to bad connections. In cases where only FW800 connectors available (for example recent Apple MacMini/MacBook computers) one should be careful with the connections.

In general we have found that FW800 connectors tend to break down even in normal, light use. The reason for this is that FireWire 800 connectors that are on the computers have practically always fragile attachment mechanisms. Combined with the rather long FW800 cables, the end result is that the the connectors frequently fail, causing all kinds of miscellaneous problems. We recommend that you avoid FireWire 800 equipment, unless you need it for a real reason.