Should I get 9 pin firewire express card to connect hard drive to?

[Onionsayswhat]

I bought the hv40 - now I have to get all required accessories.

Today I want to get the express card for the firewire cable and external hard drive.

Please don't laugh as I am rookie starting from scratch and have very little technical knowledge.

I always thought the external hard drive attached to one of the usb ports but in some reading I did - it seemed to be saying that the external hard drive attaches to firewire ports on the express card? Do I have that right?
Or do I connect the external hard drive to the usb port?

Here is what the article said:

"If you read through the technicals of IEEE1394, the 4-pin and 6-pin connectors were designed to support "Firewire 400". As I recall, the initial protocol brought to the IEEE standards folks by Apple used the 6-pin connectors. 4 pins for data and 2 pins for power. Sony chimed in and removed the two power pins - hence the 4-pin version. But the order of the bits and how they actually work remained the same - as did the throughput speed. Some time passed... and Firewire 800 came in with the 9-pin connectors. It is faster than Firewire 400 - and it is also backward compatible with the earlier technology.

In my opinion, you probably want 6-pin or 9-pin firewire, but there is no specific advantage in this particular instandce because the limiting factor will be the camcorder's DV port. That said, if you plan to connect other firewire devices (external drives), then the computer's port being a 9-pin firewire 800 port will be advantageous (assuming the external drive uses Firewire 800 connectors)."

Thanks.

I am also looking to buy tripod, shotgun mic, boom, extra battery, dead cat, cokin hood, jag35, lens adapter.

If anyone has those items for sale please send me a message - preferrably include your telephone number of possible.

I have a limited budget so just really looking to get low-end basic things required.

[Onionsayswhat]

I am going to post it in accessories instead.

[morteym]

External hard disc drives can be connected to USB port or firewire port, which is faster and therefore the best option for vido editing. The majority of HDD only has USB ports depending on the prize. You should also choose a fast HDD (min. 7200 rpm, or prefearably 10.000 rpm).

I don´t know about the express card, I have iMac with 9-pin while the HV40 has 4-pin.

[Onionsayswhat]

External hard disc drives can be connected to USB port or firewire port, which is faster and therefore the best option for vido editing. The majority of HDD only has USB ports depending on the prize. You should also choose a fast HDD (min. 7200 rpm, or prefearably 10.000 rpm).

I don´t know about the express card, I have iMac with 9-pin while the HV40 has 4-pin.

I am a novice - only just got the camera so can you please clarify somthing?

so the firewire is faster but someone at another forum said the usb should be used with windows. Is that true? have you heard anything about that?

Am I right in thinking that hdd will go with any computer? that nothing has to be matched up? (other than what you mentioned about 7200 or 10k rpm?
Thanks

[Onionsayswhat]

I am a novice - only just got the camera so can you please clarify somthing?

so the firewire is faster but someone at another forum said the usb should be used with windows. Is that true? have you heard anything about that?

Am I right in thinking that hdd will go with any computer? that nothing has to be matched up? (other than what you mentioned about 7200 or 10k rpm?
Thanks


. . . was that if you want to run the hard disk drive connected to firewire - that the 9 pin is better to use - I think that's what someone was saying.

[morteym]

As fare as I understand the USB and FireWire 400 has about the same speed on the paper where the firewire provide a constant speed all the time while the USB will vary in speed and overall be much slower in real life.

FW 800 is the latest type and is the fastest one, 9-pin connector. This doesn´t matter if the other end of the cable is connected to FW 400 port (4 or 6 pin). If you choose a card with 9 pin you´re better prepared for newer technology/standards in the future but I have no clue when camcorders will come with 9-pin. As of now, I think Mac is the only one that comes with 9-pin cause I had a really hard time to find 9-4 pin cable in any shop around here.

I came across som numbers that one guy came up with when doing a test on his powerbook (so this is just an example to give you an idea):

Read Speeds:
48 MBytes/sec - FW 800
38 MBytes/sec - FW 400
18 MBytes/sec - USB 2.0

Write Speeds:
51 MBytes/sec - FW 800
36 MBytes/sec - FW 400
27 MBytes/sec - USB 2.0

If you just want more disk space to store files, any HDD will be good. But if you are rendering video to an external HDD which is recomended for large projects, then firewire and fast RPM is better.

The drawbacks with fast HDD is more noise and more expensive prizes.

I think you can use any HDD for windows and mac os, but not at the time as it has to be configured for each system. Not sure how it works, but I think this is basically plug and play for windows when you buy one.

As for the rest of your questions, spend just enough money to get the quality you need so you don´t have to buy new stuff all the time. That will be more expensive in the long run.

Some accessories can be made, i.e a boom pole.

Røde VideoMic is a good mic for the prize people say. You can buy stuff at B&H, Amazon or Ebay. I will look for batteries at ebay myself, just make sure it´s the right type for the camera.

If you´re not very experiences with camera and filming I would strongly advice you to wait with the adapter. It´s so much struggle and has lot´s of disadvantages IMO but ofcourse it depends on what your after. You need a lot of practise before you can use it in projects...

Spend more time learning about technices etc first. At least buy proper mic, tripod first, and maybe a wideangle lense (x0.66).

I don´t know if USB is better for windows, never heard about that btw.

I write a lot tonight, just trying out my new keyboard. He he

[Onionsayswhat]

As fare as I understand the USB and FireWire 400 has about the same speed on the paper where the firewire provide a constant speed all the time while the USB will vary in speed and overall be much slower in real life.

FW 800 is the latest type and is the fastest one, 9-pin connector. This doesn´t matter if the other end of the cable is connected to FW 400 port (4 or 6 pin). If you choose a card with 9 pin you´re better prepared for newer technology/standards in the future but I have no clue when camcorders will come with 9-pin. As of now, I think Mac is the only one that comes with 9-pin cause I had a really hard time to find 9-4 pin cable in any shop around here.

I came across som numbers that one guy came up with when doing a test on his powerbook (so this is just an example to give you an idea):

Read Speeds:
48 MBytes/sec - FW 800
38 MBytes/sec - FW 400
18 MBytes/sec - USB 2.0

Write Speeds:
51 MBytes/sec - FW 800
36 MBytes/sec - FW 400
27 MBytes/sec - USB 2.0

If you just want more disk space to store files, any HDD will be good. But if you are rendering video to an external HDD which is recomended for large projects, then firewire and fast RPM is better.

The drawbacks with fast HDD is more noise and more expensive prizes.

I think you can use any HDD for windows and mac os, but not at the time as it has to be configured for each system. Not sure how it works, but I think this is basically plug and play for windows when you buy one.

As for the rest of your questions, spend just enough money to get the quality you need so you don´t have to buy new stuff all the time. That will be more expensive in the long run.

Some accessories can be made, i.e a boom pole.

Røde VideoMic is a good mic for the prize people say. You can buy stuff at B&H, Amazon or Ebay. I will look for batteries at ebay myself, just make sure it´s the right type for the camera.

If you´re not very experiences with camera and filming I would strongly advice you to wait with the adapter. It´s so much struggle and has lot´s of disadvantages IMO but ofcourse it depends on what your after. You need a lot of practise before you can use it in projects...

Spend more time learning about technices etc first. At least buy proper mic, tripod first, and maybe a wideangle lense (x0.66).

I don´t know if USB is better for windows, never heard about that btw.

I write a lot tonight, just trying out my new keyboard. He he


No that is great - i appreciate that - more is better!!

that helps - I have some response but have to run out now but I have a few insights but that was really educational.

I have learned quite a bit here at this website. I thought I coulld just buy a camera and be ready to shoot but I see there is much more to it.

I guess I could just shoot without all of the accessories but it would be amateurish so I guess the point of all the accessories is to look professional.

I really wanted the 40 for the movie making feature but the 20 or 30 would have fit my budget better as I am now still faced with cost of accessories.

At this point I must forge ahead budget be damned!!

I hope to get the mic and tripod etc tomorrow. Low end models. that will have to do for now.

[Onionsayswhat]

i looked at ebay but so far all I have seen is for things to sell for close to what you can get new equipment for. I have not seen any values there - in the little that I looked.

[debuys]

Forgive me here If I offend you with stating what might be obvious, but I cant tell if you know this from your orriginal post. You can't connect to a hard drive with the USB or firewire port on the camcorder. You can only use them to connect to a computer.

I have some of the items you are looking for. I have sent you a PM with my email and I will be happy to help you on the other parts. Bellow are some other comments related to your original post.

I wouldn't do too much more reading from whoever wrote the article you quoted. It sounds like another iTard spreading stupidity. DV/HDV over firewire is universally transferred with Firewire 400. It does't matter if Apple or Sony or your grandma makes a 163 pin firewire conection, your HV40 will still be using 4 conections on a mini iLink connection (in other words IEEE1394).

It's not as complex as you made it out to be. Firewire is Firewire unless you have a recently built mac.

USB is not the same thing and is not adaptable. You can not connect one to the other despite what some claim or sell.

You need a firewire cable to connect and transfer video from an HV40. You can connect an external hard drive with either a USB connection or firewire. In general if you are working in real time, firewire is superior. USB is faster on average, but can slow down without regard to a minimum transfer speed. If you are on a budget, get a USB drive and work with your computer's drive(s) for anything that needs to be streamed.

[cgbier]

But be careful: You can't go cam > HDD Firewire, HDD > PC USB ... won't work!

You need a complete FW chain from cam > HDD > computer.

[Onionsayswhat]

No offense taken at all - quite the contrary - I appreciate the comments as I am very, very shaky on all of this as I am just starting out.

It is much more involved I am finding than just getting a camera, pointing and shooting.

I do believe I understood (just barely) the hardrive connects to the computer via usb or firewire.

I was under the impression I download from the camcorder to the computer via the firewire cable but I am not confidenat at all.

I pretty much suck at all of this right now. On scale of one to ten - ten being the most knowledge - I am about maybe a .5 right now but willing to learn. It will take time - a little bit at a time.

I spent several weeks researching what camera to get and making sure my computer etc was compatible but that's the total extent of my knowledge. I was close to buying a $300 camcorder from Best Buy when I read about the HV raves and so I bought the hv based on the extremely favorable reviews.

I will check out your pm and be in touch!

Thanks for all the help!

[Onionsayswhat]

ok thanks that helps.

I would have been totally screwed if not for this great forum and people so generous with their help!