My dealer (DT) was kind enough to send me the new IQ4 tech cam cable free of charge. Although many (including me) were disappointed that this cable wasn't included with the IQ4 at release, I really appreciated being shipped this cable shortly after it was released, without me having to ask or order one. I tried it out tonight using my Alpa TC and two Copal shutter lenses.
The cable is high quality and the fittings are secure; the PC sync plug is much more snug and secure than my Alpa one-shot cable. Both the 12-pin plug and the PC sync plug are right-angled. The cable is nicely coiled and shorter than my Alpa sync cable—all improvements in my opinion. As was perceptively pointed out by another forum member, the ergonomics probably would have been better if the PC sync plug was straight rather than right-angled, because the angled plug causes the cable to lie on top of the diaphragm sliding switch on the Copal shutter.
The cable works as advertised; you open the diaphragm on the lens, frame the image, adjust aperture and focus, close the diaphragm, cock the Copal shutter, press the virtual shutter button on the back of the IQ4 to wake up the camera, then fire the Copal shutter.
The quality and reliability of the cable seemed excellent and being able to use a Copal shutter (with flash sync from the IQ4 if needed) is an important step towards maturing the IQ4. The main downsides of using this cable are that:
1) The need to pull up and press the virtual shutter button to wake up the back adds another fidgety step in a capture sequence that is already full of fidgety steps.
2) Since the current IQ4 firmware lacks virtual auto exposure during live view, it can be even more cumbersome to capture an image than the above sequence implies, because you might have to crank up the back's ISO or open the aperture to frame and focus, then crank it back down before the capture.
Currently the cable and 1.01.18 IQ4 firmware provide a working, if clunky and somewhat tedious, solution. I'm hopeful that a one-shot (no wakeup required) cable is still in the works, along with firmware that would support its use as well as live-view virtual auto ISO.
Thanks again to DT for sending the cable.
The cable is high quality and the fittings are secure; the PC sync plug is much more snug and secure than my Alpa one-shot cable. Both the 12-pin plug and the PC sync plug are right-angled. The cable is nicely coiled and shorter than my Alpa sync cable—all improvements in my opinion. As was perceptively pointed out by another forum member, the ergonomics probably would have been better if the PC sync plug was straight rather than right-angled, because the angled plug causes the cable to lie on top of the diaphragm sliding switch on the Copal shutter.
The cable works as advertised; you open the diaphragm on the lens, frame the image, adjust aperture and focus, close the diaphragm, cock the Copal shutter, press the virtual shutter button on the back of the IQ4 to wake up the camera, then fire the Copal shutter.
The quality and reliability of the cable seemed excellent and being able to use a Copal shutter (with flash sync from the IQ4 if needed) is an important step towards maturing the IQ4. The main downsides of using this cable are that:
1) The need to pull up and press the virtual shutter button to wake up the back adds another fidgety step in a capture sequence that is already full of fidgety steps.
2) Since the current IQ4 firmware lacks virtual auto exposure during live view, it can be even more cumbersome to capture an image than the above sequence implies, because you might have to crank up the back's ISO or open the aperture to frame and focus, then crank it back down before the capture.
Currently the cable and 1.01.18 IQ4 firmware provide a working, if clunky and somewhat tedious, solution. I'm hopeful that a one-shot (no wakeup required) cable is still in the works, along with firmware that would support its use as well as live-view virtual auto ISO.
Thanks again to DT for sending the cable.
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