Firewire for photographers

[valdore]

Am I correct in the assumption that using a Firewire cable to upload my photos from the camera to the computer will be a lot faster than using the USB cord that came with the camera?

I ask because uploading RAW files from a 5D takes a tortuous amount of time using USB.

How many pins on each end of the cable do I need for the cable to work between the camera and the computer?

 

[yippy]

The camera needs to have firewire first......

If you are uploading using the camera that is part of your problem. Get a good external USB card reader and watch your times be cut in half.

PS, the whole Firewire thing for cameras if for video, not stills. I don't know any DSLR that have Firewire but almost all camcorders do.

 

[ups757pf]

SanDisk has a firewire CF card reader that works on both FW800 and FW400. Its way faster than USB.

 

[Digital Skunk]

USB 2.0 is wonderful for small files... anything smaller than 512MB IMHO.

FW400 and 800 are perfect for everything else. Get the card readers that have Firewire on them and never look back.

 

[Hmac]

The 5D doesn't have a Firewire connector, so you can't connect the camera, but you can get an external firewire card reader and that is indeed going to be much faster. Get on that support Firewire 800.

 

[jlcharles]

While USB has a higher theoretical speed of 420 or something, firewire 400 has a much higher sustained speed. I've firewire networked my laptop and imac and transferred upwards of 10 gigs of photos in 5-10 minutes. I want to get a firewire reader for my cards as I use a cheap USB one now.

 

[Crawn2003]

I have a Fuji S5 and I take anywhere between 2-4 gigs of photos at a time with it.

I bought a USB Card Reader and a Firewire Card Reader and to transfer 3 or 4 gigs it would have taken the USB about 20+ minutes. The Firewire reader actually transfered it in around 7 minutes.

~Crawn

 

[dllavaneras]

I don't know any DSLR that have Firewire.

Every Canon in the 1D series has firewire (except maybe the original 1D). The Fujifilm FinePix S3 Pro also has firewire.

And I agree with the other posters, get a FW card reader. That way you can spend more time taking pics instead of transferring them to your computer.

 

[Kebabselector]

Think Firewire has been removed off the 1D Mk III and probably the 1DS MkIII as well.

 

[jwkicks]

USB can be painfully slow and dont use the USB on your camera, use a card reader. There a few FW800 ones out there now I think.

 

[Kebabselector]

Must admit USB from the camera is slow, but I tend to go and make a cup of tea during a download.

 

[Hmac]

Every Canon in the 1D series has firewire (except maybe the original 1D).

I don't think you'll find Firewire in any of Canon's cameras these days, at least, not in any of the Mk III's, not in the 5D, not in the 30D or 40D.

 

[dllavaneras]

Think Firewire has been removed off the 1D Mk III and probably the 1DS MkIII as well.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/canon_eos1dmkiii.asp
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/canon_eos1dsmkiii.asp

DPReview states the opposite, that's where I checked to make the above post. But, having never actually seen either one, it could be a typo.

 

[palmerized]

Oh - you HAVE to get an external card reader. This allows the computer to speed up the photo transfer instead of the processor in your camera.

 

[ab2650]

I don't know any DSLR that have Firewire...

My Nikon D1x was Firewire. It was still painfully slow anyway so I used a card reader and it was much better.

To the OP; Downloading pictures with your camera "tethered" to the computer will also use your camera's battery. If you're really serious about upping transfer time, look at a FW800 card reader.

 

[Kebabselector]

DPReview states the opposite, that's where I checked to make the above post. But, having never actually seen either one, it could be a typo.

Think Dpreview have got it wrong. I've seen the Eos 1d MkIII and it was missing off that one (it was a preproduction one though). The Canon website only lists the 2 new Eos 1D's as having USB 2.0