The GetDPI Photography Forum
Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!
Apple Thunderbolt to FireWire adapter now available
- Thread starter gerald.d
- Start date
Woody Campbell
Workshop Member
Thanks.
dougpeterson
Workshop Member
We (Digital Transitions) will be testing this with Leaf Aptus II, Leaf Credo, Phase One IQ, and Phase One P+ with an Apple MacBook Air 13" the moment we receive ours.
We'll also be in close touch with Phase One Denmark who will be doing their own testing.
Ship time is listed as 1-3 days so may be this week, may be next week.
We'll also be in close touch with Phase One Denmark who will be doing their own testing.
Ship time is listed as 1-3 days so may be this week, may be next week.
Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
I'm having issues with USB3 card reader as well. It comes down to diffrent cords it seems. I'm going to try again today, I'm back from vacation and need to solve this. In NY I had to shoot to SD cards after the first day. Also having trouble with a Seagate Flex drive being plugged in to my USB 3 powered hub being seen. Directly it works. So my bet is cord plus a low power issue.
MGrayson
Subscriber and Workshop Member
Speeds were identical between my MacPro (2009 2x2.26 GHz Quad Xeon) and Air (2012 2GHz Core i7) reading and writing to a 16 GB SanDisk Extreme Pro (don't the names seem a bit silly? Hasselblad Ferrari Edition has nothing on "Extreme Pro").
Blackmagic Design Speed Test:
Write: 46.2 MB/s
Read: 57.8 MB/s
I have no idea how that compares to other FW800 or USB3 card readers. Given that my ancient USB2 card reader and old laptop were so slow that it took hours (not an exaggeration - I think it was running USB1 somehow) to download a 16GB card, I'm not complaining.
I don't have any DBs to test. An oversight I intend to remedy
Best,
Matt
Blackmagic Design Speed Test:
Write: 46.2 MB/s
Read: 57.8 MB/s
I have no idea how that compares to other FW800 or USB3 card readers. Given that my ancient USB2 card reader and old laptop were so slow that it took hours (not an exaggeration - I think it was running USB1 somehow) to download a 16GB card, I'm not complaining.
I don't have any DBs to test. An oversight I intend to remedy
Best,
Matt
JoshMerwin
Member
Can someone please try to connect a fw800 portable drive to it and see if that works. I tried Bob's makeshift sonner setup with my mom's MBP this week and couldn't get it to connect. The drive wouldn't power up. I did test that setup with my P30+ and it tethered fine.
Thanks
Thanks
JoshMerwin
Member
Haha
Cool, Thanks!
Cool, Thanks!
DeckardTrinity
New member
Just did a quick & dirty test between my 11" Macbook Air (mid-2011) and Leaf Afi7 + Hy6, connected through the Apple TB -> FW adapter, and a FW800 -> FW800 cable. Fired off about 15 shots in a rapid clip, then another 20 into Leaf Capture 11.5.3, all worked brilliantly. Back was powered through the Hy6 grip's battery.
I also tried powering up the back unmounted from the camera, plugged in to the MBA, but no go. Orange light flashed a few times, but no power on.
I also tried powering up the back unmounted from the camera, plugged in to the MBA, but no go. Orange light flashed a few times, but no power on.
dougpeterson
Workshop Member
Hey everyone. As promised we have done an initial round of fairly extensive testing with the Thunderbolt adapter.
Phase One Denmark have received their adapters and will begin formal and extensive engineering testing this week. In addition, absolutely nothing is a substitute for the real world. So I post these results with the advice that if you don't need such an adapter it's still a good idea to wait a few weeks for others with less fear of the cutting edge to find any possible glitches that our initial testing has not revealed.
Also, this is just a summary of what we've learned through testing. A more detailed post will be made to our website with some comparative speed charts etc probably next week.
With those caveats out of the way...
Backs: Mamiya Leaf Credo 80, Phase One IQ140, and Phase One P65+.
Computer: [MacBook Air 2011 vintage with 4gb of ram and OSX 10.8] vs [MacBookPro 2009 with 8gb of ram, SSD, and OSX 10.8]
Software: Capture One 6.4.3
File Formats: Full Resolution and Sensor+ (on the two P1 backs) in both IIQ-S and IIQ-L
Results with factory default settings: all three did not work.
Results with non-default settings selected: all three worked flawlessly. No errors, communication drops, lockups, or other issues.
The non-default settings required all relate to telling the back not to rely on consistent/sufficient firewire voltage.
IQ: Menu > Power Management > Battery Charging > Off
P+: Menu > Configuration > Power Source > Battery
Credo: Menu > Power Management > Battery Charging > Off
Phase One's US office is reporting that they felt the Thunderbolt-to-Firewire connection was modestly slower than native Firewire. We cannot confirm these results since our testing on speed is not entirely apples-to-apples, though it is two apple computers. However, our [13" Macbook Air with Thunderbolt] outperformed our [15" MacBookPro with FW] in about half our tests. So I suspect that if the Thunderbolt based FW connection is slower, it's a pretty minor difference. A relatively moot point since if a computer has a FW port I would suggest it (simply one less component / attachment point to fail or hassle you). So Thunderbolt (in my mind) will only be used on computers like the Retina MBP which only has Thunderbolt.
All in all very positive for those who are hoping to tether P+, IQ, or Credo backs to a Thunderbolt computer.
Phase One Denmark have received their adapters and will begin formal and extensive engineering testing this week. In addition, absolutely nothing is a substitute for the real world. So I post these results with the advice that if you don't need such an adapter it's still a good idea to wait a few weeks for others with less fear of the cutting edge to find any possible glitches that our initial testing has not revealed.
Also, this is just a summary of what we've learned through testing. A more detailed post will be made to our website with some comparative speed charts etc probably next week.
With those caveats out of the way...
Backs: Mamiya Leaf Credo 80, Phase One IQ140, and Phase One P65+.
Computer: [MacBook Air 2011 vintage with 4gb of ram and OSX 10.8] vs [MacBookPro 2009 with 8gb of ram, SSD, and OSX 10.8]
Software: Capture One 6.4.3
File Formats: Full Resolution and Sensor+ (on the two P1 backs) in both IIQ-S and IIQ-L
Results with factory default settings: all three did not work.
Results with non-default settings selected: all three worked flawlessly. No errors, communication drops, lockups, or other issues.
The non-default settings required all relate to telling the back not to rely on consistent/sufficient firewire voltage.
IQ: Menu > Power Management > Battery Charging > Off
P+: Menu > Configuration > Power Source > Battery
Credo: Menu > Power Management > Battery Charging > Off
Phase One's US office is reporting that they felt the Thunderbolt-to-Firewire connection was modestly slower than native Firewire. We cannot confirm these results since our testing on speed is not entirely apples-to-apples, though it is two apple computers
. However, our [13" Macbook Air with Thunderbolt] outperformed our [15" MacBookPro with FW] in about half our tests. So I suspect that if the Thunderbolt based FW connection is slower, it's a pretty minor difference. A relatively moot point since if a computer has a FW port I would suggest it (simply one less component / attachment point to fail or hassle you). So Thunderbolt (in my mind) will only be used on computers like the Retina MBP which only has Thunderbolt.All in all very positive for those who are hoping to tether P+, IQ, or Credo backs to a Thunderbolt computer.
Woody Campbell
Workshop Member
Doug - as always thanks for your careful work and your contribution - you're a real credit to this community.
Leaf Aptus II?
Hey everyone. As promised we have done an initial round of fairly extensive testing with the Thunderbolt adapter.
Phase One Denmark have received their adapters and will begin formal and extensive engineering testing this week. In addition, absolutely nothing is a substitute for the real world. So I post these results with the advice that if you don't need such an adapter it's still a good idea to wait a few weeks for others with less fear of the cutting edge to find any possible glitches that our initial testing has not revealed.
Also, this is just a summary of what we've learned through testing. A more detailed post will be made to our website with some comparative speed charts etc probably next week.
With those caveats out of the way...
Backs: Mamiya Leaf Credo 80, Phase One IQ140, and Phase One P65+.
Computer: [MacBook Air 2011 vintage with 4gb of ram and OSX 10.8] vs [MacBookPro 2009 with 8gb of ram, SSD, and OSX 10.8]
Software: Capture One 6.4.3
File Formats: Full Resolution and Sensor+ (on the two P1 backs) in both IIQ-S and IIQ-L
Results with factory default settings: all three did not work.
Results with non-default settings selected: all three worked flawlessly. No errors, communication drops, lockups, or other issues.
The non-default settings required all relate to telling the back not to rely on consistent/sufficient firewire voltage.
IQ: Menu > Power Management > Battery Charging > Off
P+: Menu > Configuration > Power Source > Battery
Credo: Menu > Power Management > Battery Charging > Off
Phase One's US office is reporting that they felt the Thunderbolt-to-Firewire connection was modestly slower than native Firewire. We cannot confirm these results since our testing on speed is not entirely apples-to-apples, though it is two apple computers
All in all very positive for those who are hoping to tether P+, IQ, or Credo backs to a Thunderbolt computer.
Stefan Steib
Active member
For those who already have the adapter:
if connected with a Firewire repeater, would then the standard power settings work - I mean for intense studio work or Repros it is simpy not good to have to switch batteries all the time.
Looking for a try also on old leaf, older P and P+ backs.
TIA
Stefan
if connected with a Firewire repeater, would then the standard power settings work - I mean for intense studio work or Repros it is simpy not good to have to switch batteries all the time.
Looking for a try also on old leaf, older P and P+ backs.
TIA
Stefan
Jay Emm
Member
My TB > FW adaptor arrived the other day. Tested it quickly with the following;
1 x Lacie bus powered Rugged Drive
1 x Lacie mains powered external drive
1 x Hasselblad H4D-40 tethered to Phocus.
Pleased to report all three mounted and performed as normal. I didn't do any speed tests, suffice to say I was happy at that point and in a rush, but will do some more extensive testing this week.
1 x Lacie bus powered Rugged Drive
1 x Lacie mains powered external drive
1 x Hasselblad H4D-40 tethered to Phocus.
Pleased to report all three mounted and performed as normal. I didn't do any speed tests, suffice to say I was happy at that point and in a rush, but will do some more extensive testing this week.
dougpeterson
Workshop Member
We have now posted our extensive preliminary review.
The executive summary reads: The results are preliminary but Phase One IQ, P+, and Mamiya Leaf Credo backs work with a Thunderbolt to Firewire adapter - but only after changing a power setting in the menu of the digital back. Also, there is some concern about extended rapid shooting, and the adapter is still quite new, so like any change to the core of your workflow, make sure to test extensively before using in production.
Naturally the executive summary is not comprehensive, so if it's important to your workflow I advise you read the entire article: Thunderbolt Adapter Testing of Phase One and Leaf Digital Backs.
The executive summary reads: The results are preliminary but Phase One IQ, P+, and Mamiya Leaf Credo backs work with a Thunderbolt to Firewire adapter - but only after changing a power setting in the menu of the digital back. Also, there is some concern about extended rapid shooting, and the adapter is still quite new, so like any change to the core of your workflow, make sure to test extensively before using in production.
Naturally the executive summary is not comprehensive, so if it's important to your workflow I advise you read the entire article: Thunderbolt Adapter Testing of Phase One and Leaf Digital Backs.