The Complete Handbook of Camera & Optic Replacement Cables

Chapter 1: Understanding Camera & Optic Replacement Cables

It happens on set, in the lab, and in the field. You slide a new monitor onto your rig, plug in the cable, and nothing appears on the screen. Or your camera's timecode blinks irregularly during a two-camera interview. Or the remote trigger for your telescope's shutter fires only when the cable is bent at a specific, uncomfortable angle. In every case, the first suspect is usually everything except the actual culprit: the cable. Camera and optic replacement cables look like the simplest part of your system, and they are. But they are also precision components with specific electrical, mechanical, and environmental requirements, and they fail in predictable ways that are entirely preventable. This book exists to make you fluent in that subject, so you can diagnose, select, and maintain cables with the same confidence you bring to your lenses and sensors.

First, it helps to define what we are actually talking about. "Camera and optic replacement cables" is a broad category, but it is not every wire in your kit bag. We are concerned with the cables that connect a camera body to its peripherals, power sources, and control systems. That includes, but is not limited to, remote shutter release cables, external monitor and recorder cables (often carrying HDMI, SDI, or proprietary signals), timecode and genlock cables, USB and FireWire data cables, and the various power cables that feed a camera body or a lens's focus and aperture motors. We also