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John Miele
professor emeritus
Reged: 05/29/05
Posts: 657
Loc: North Alabama
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Hi all,
 My laptop had both USB2 and firewire ports. I'm more comfortable using USB2. I'm looking to buy a used imaging source camera. Does it matter which one I get?  I wanted USB but I just got an offer to buy a firewire one. Are there differences in ease of setup, ease of use, performance, etc that I should be aware of? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks. --- John
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C11/Atlas Mount/Denk II BV
SV102ED/AT Voyager
DSI IIc, DSI II Pro
ST-80, Mallincam Hyper Plus B/W Video Camera
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orenabah
sage
Reged: 05/21/08
Posts: 290
Loc: Connecticut
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With FireWire, you will get the benefit of using an interface that was designed with video in mind - so frame drop etc is a lot less prone to happen. This is at the expense of having to have the camera be externally powered.
With USB, there is no external power, but there might be some frame drop. I have a USB DMK21 and it hasn't given me any issue.
In terms of setup, if I recall, when you stick the install disk in it gives you the option of either USB or FireWire camera drivers...so I don't think there'd be any real difference in terms of setup.
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Paul S.
SLT alt-az mount & EQ4
Orion 8" OTA
Orion Apex 127mm Mak-Cass
Coronado PST
DMK21AU.04
Meade DSI pro
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johnnyha
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 11/12/06
Posts: 1089
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"This is at the expense of having to have the camera be externally powered."
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Firewire does provide power, in fact that is why it has the catchy name. Wikipedia and Apple and my own experience with Firewire in video editing and audio recording back that up. Here's some additional useful info from wikipedia:
"Although high-speed USB 2.0 nominally runs at a higher signaling rate than FireWire 400, data transfers over S400 FireWire interfaces generally outperform similar transfers over USB 2.0 interfaces. Typical USB PC-hosts rarely exceed sustained transfers of 280 Mbit/s, with 240 Mbit/s being more typical. This is likely due to USB's reliance on the host-processor to manage low-level USB protocol, whereas FireWire delegates the same tasks to the interface hardware (requiring less or no CPU usage). For example, the FireWire host interface supports memory-mapped devices, which allows high-level protocols to run without loading the host CPU with interrupts and buffer-copy operations.[5]
Besides throughput, other differences are that it uses simpler bus networking, provides more power over the chain, more reliable data transfer, and uses fewer CPU resources.[26]
FireWire 800 is substantially faster than Hi-Speed USB, both in theory and in practice."
A newer camera should have Firewire 800, but even the Firewire 400 would be faster amd more reliable than USB 2.0.
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brianb11213
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/25/09
Posts: 2090
Loc: 55.215N 6.554W
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Quote:
FireWire 800 is substantially faster than Hi-Speed USB, both in theory and in practice.
True, but moot if the drivers don't work properly. Windoze Firewire drivers tend to be carp. Reason, the unholy alliance between Microsoft and Intel (who are behind USB)...
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johnnyha
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 11/12/06
Posts: 1089
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"Windoze Firewire drivers tend to be carp." True. It might be advisable to get Firewire if you have a Mac, and USB 2.0 if you have PC... In this application (640x480 mono) you should be perfectly fine with either.
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Johnny
Spicewood, TX
Sherman Oaks, CA
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orenabah
sage
Reged: 05/21/08
Posts: 290
Loc: Connecticut
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Quote:
"This is at the expense of having to have the camera be externally powered."
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Firewire does provide power, in fact that is why it has the catchy name.
IIRC, all the DFKs run on external power. You may be right, but I was under the impression that only the DMKs did not need external power. 
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Paul S.
SLT alt-az mount & EQ4
Orion 8" OTA
Orion Apex 127mm Mak-Cass
Coronado PST
DMK21AU.04
Meade DSI pro
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johnnyha
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 11/12/06
Posts: 1089
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Quote:
Quote:
"This is at the expense of having to have the camera be externally powered."
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Firewire does provide power, in fact that is why it has the catchy name.
IIRC, all the DFKs run on external power. You may be right, but I was under the impression that only the DMKs did not need external power.
DFK = color, DMK = mono ? It does start to get confusing doesn't it?  
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Johnny
Spicewood, TX
Sherman Oaks, CA
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Lunatiki
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 08/07/05
Posts: 1839
Loc: Amarillo, TX
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I think the current crop of TIS USB cameras have a problem with the chips, making targets that are too dim too red. I'm waiting for a second one to evaulate, but as of now, even though I've had problems with some frame dropping in the past, I'd go with FireWire. Hopefully I'll get the new USB on evaluation soon.
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Mars Watch
All images taken with:
Celestron CPC 1100
DBK 21AF04.AS
K3ccd/Registax4/PSP8/Maxim DL IP
ALPO Member #4287
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Lunatiki
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 08/07/05
Posts: 1839
Loc: Amarillo, TX
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Oh yea, that point is moot though unless you are going with the color version.
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Mars Watch
All images taken with:
Celestron CPC 1100
DBK 21AF04.AS
K3ccd/Registax4/PSP8/Maxim DL IP
ALPO Member #4287
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orenabah
sage
Reged: 05/21/08
Posts: 290
Loc: Connecticut
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Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
"This is at the expense of having to have the camera be externally powered."
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Firewire does provide power, in fact that is why it has the catchy name.
IIRC, all the DFKs run on external power. You may be right, but I was under the impression that only the DMKs did not need external power.
DFK = color, DMK = mono ? It does start to get confusing doesn't it?
I thought the DBK's were the color ones.
Now I'm seriously lost. 
--------------------
Paul S.
SLT alt-az mount & EQ4
Orion 8" OTA
Orion Apex 127mm Mak-Cass
Coronado PST
DMK21AU.04
Meade DSI pro
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brianb11213
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/25/09
Posts: 2090
Loc: 55.215N 6.554W
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Quote:
I thought the DBK's were the color ones.
DBK & DFK are both colour cameras. One has a built in UV/IR blocking filter, the other doesn't.
DMK are monochrome.
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