Can a FireWire-only Hasselblad H3D tether to a USB-only laptop?
Asked 2/9/2014
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I want to shoot tethered with a Hasselblad H3D-39, which connects over FireWire 800, but my Windows laptop only has USB ports. Can a FireWire-to-USB adapter make this work, and will Phocus or Lightroom recognize the camera through that setup?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
12y ago
2 Answers
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As far as I know, there's no Firewire-USB adapters available. Emulating Firewire over USB is quite difficult, as technology is so different.
- In USB, there's no guaranteed bandwidth available.
- In Firewire, there is (which is really important for streaming video)
- Firewire allows DMA (Direct Memory Access), while USB does not. That means special driver emulating DMA is required for Firewire adapter. This is a huge performance hit.
Also, do note that there's no Firewire on newer Macbook laptops (since mid-2009), according to Wikipedia page. However, official Apple-made Firewire-Thunderbolt adapters are available (29€).
Originally by user3810. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user3810
12y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
No. A simple FireWire-to-USB adapter will not let a FireWire-only Hasselblad H3D tether to a USB-only computer.
FireWire and USB are fundamentally different interfaces. FireWire supports features like direct system access and guaranteed bandwidth that USB does not provide, so a passive or generic adapter cannot make the camera appear as a normal tethered device. Because of that, Phocus or Lightroom would not be expected to recognize the camera through a basic USB adapter.
Some niche converter devices exist for very specific FireWire uses, but they typically only support limited device types and are not a general solution for camera tethering.
In practice, you need a computer with native FireWire support or a supported expansion path that provides real FireWire functionality, not just a plug adapter. On some systems, Thunderbolt-to-FireWire solutions can work when true Thunderbolt is available, but USB alone is not enough.
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