camera vs. drive cable

[Jo-Anne]

My digital camera came with a long, thinnish USB cable that includes a tube
about the size of a small piece of chalk near the camera connection; my
external hard drive came with a short, fat, plain USB cable. Would it be OK
to use the hard drive cable to connect the camera to a USB port on my WinXP
SP3 computer?

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

 

[smlunatick]

My digital camera came with a long, thinnish USB cable that includes a tube
about the size of a small piece of chalk near the camera connection; my
external hard drive came with a short, fat, plain USB cable. Would it be OK
to use the hard drive cable to connect the camera to a USB port on my WinXP
SP3 computer?

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

No. The camera was provided with a "USB to camera" cable. Any other
cable might not fit the USB connector on the camera.

 

[Paul]

My digital camera came with a long, thinnish USB cable that includes a tube
about the size of a small piece of chalk near the camera connection; my
external hard drive came with a short, fat, plain USB cable. Would it be OK
to use the hard drive cable to connect the camera to a USB port on my WinXP
SP3 computer?

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

If you scroll down in this article, there are pictures of
connectors. Compare to the camera, to get some idea of
what is needed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usb

Paul

 

[Jo-Anne]

Thank you both! I did check the camera and the USB cable from the external
hard drive, and the small connector on the hard drive's cable fits the
camera just fine. So given that it fits, will it be OK to use it? Or is
there something else that might make it unwise to try it?

Thanks again!

Jo-Anne

 

[Paul]

Thank you both! I did check the camera and the USB cable from the external
hard drive, and the small connector on the hard drive's cable fits the
camera just fine. So given that it fits, will it be OK to use it? Or is
there something else that might make it unwise to try it?

Thanks again!

Jo-Anne

That is generally the idea with all the different shapes, to prevent
wrong things from being connected.

This hard drive enclosure has a standard B type receptacle, and
it is surprising they'd use something that big on a camera.

http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/productimage/17-145-656-03.jpg

Paul

 

[Ian D]

That is generally the idea with all the different shapes, to prevent
wrong things from being connected.

This hard drive enclosure has a standard B type receptacle, and
it is surprising they'd use something that big on a camera.

http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/productimage/17-145-656-03.jpg

Paul

She didn't say what size external drive it is. The 2.5" drives use
the same mini USB connectors that are used on digital cameras,
cell phones, etc.

 

[Jo-Anne]

She didn't say what size external drive it is. The 2.5" drives use
the same mini USB connectors that are used on digital cameras,
cell phones, etc.

Thank you, Paul and Ian! Yes, my external drive is a 2.5" one, and it does
use a mini USB connector. To me it looks like the Mini-A shown here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Types-usb.svg

Instead of being rectangular, the top is wider than the bottom. The sides
curve in a bit.

Can I assume that since the hard drive's USB cable does connect to the
camera's receptacle, it will be OK to use it for the camera?

Thank you again!

Jo-Anne

 

[smlunatick]

Thank you, Paul and Ian! Yes, my external drive is a 2.5" one, and it does
use a mini USB connector. To me it looks like the Mini-A shown here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Types-usb.svg

Instead of being rectangular, the top is wider than the bottom. The sides
curve in a bit.

Can I assume that since the hard drive's USB cable does connect to the
camera's receptacle, it will be OK to use it for the camera?

Thank you again!

Jo-Anne- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Then your camera is following the USB standards. My Fuji Film F480
uses a different connector than the known standand USB connectors.

 

[Ian D]

Thank you, Paul and Ian! Yes, my external drive is a 2.5" one, and it does
use a mini USB connector. To me it looks like the Mini-A shown here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Types-usb.svg

Instead of being rectangular, the top is wider than the bottom. The sides
curve in a bit.

Can I assume that since the hard drive's USB cable does connect to the
camera's receptacle, it will be OK to use it for the camera?

Thank you again!

Jo-Anne

The cables should be interchangeable. To confirm this, I used the
cables for my digi-cam on a 2.5" external drive, and used the drive's
cable on my cellphone, and all worked. I didn't try it on the camera
because it's not set up to transfer pictures, and the memory is empty.
If you want confirm this with minimum risk, try the camera cable
on the drive.

The cylinder on the camera end of the camera's cable is there to
suppress radio frequency noise from interfering with the camera.
It's not really necessary, unless you're close to powerful sources
of such interference.

 

[Jo-Anne]

The cables should be interchangeable. To confirm this, I used the
cables for my digi-cam on a 2.5" external drive, and used the drive's
cable on my cellphone, and all worked. I didn't try it on the camera
because it's not set up to transfer pictures, and the memory is empty.
If you want confirm this with minimum risk, try the camera cable
on the drive.

The cylinder on the camera end of the camera's cable is there to
suppress radio frequency noise from interfering with the camera.
It's not really necessary, unless you're close to powerful sources
of such interference.

Thank you again, Ian! Good to know that they're interchangeable. Maybe I can
at least slightly unclutter my desk.

Jo-Anne

 

[Jo-Anne]

Thank you, Paul and Ian! Yes, my external drive is a 2.5" one, and it does
use a mini USB connector. To me it looks like the Mini-A shown here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Types-usb.svg

Instead of being rectangular, the top is wider than the bottom. The sides
curve in a bit.

Can I assume that since the hard drive's USB cable does connect to the
camera's receptacle, it will be OK to use it for the camera?

Thank you again!

Jo-Anne- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Then your camera is following the USB standards. My Fuji Film F480
uses a different connector than the known standand USB connectors.

 

[M.I.5¾]

Thank you, Paul and Ian! Yes, my external drive is a 2.5" one, and it does
use a mini USB connector. To me it looks like the Mini-A shown here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Types-usb.svg

Instead of being rectangular, the top is wider than the bottom. The sides
curve in a bit.

Can I assume that since the hard drive's USB cable does connect to the
camera's receptacle, it will be OK to use it for the camera?

Yes you can. You may care to note that if you are resident within Europe
the EMC approval of the camera is only valid when it is used with the
supplied cable. On the other hand most users are either unaware of this or
don't care.

The relatively small difference between the mini-B and the mini-A comes
about because there is a version of the receptacle that accepts both the
mini-B and the mini-A connectors. These are found on devices that function
as both host or peripheral (and some can even switch on the fly). The
device tells the difference because that is function of the fifth contact on
the connector.

 

[M.I.5¾]

Thank you, Paul and Ian! Yes, my external drive is a 2.5" one, and it does
use a mini USB connector. To me it looks like the Mini-A shown here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Types-usb.svg

Instead of being rectangular, the top is wider than the bottom. The sides
curve in a bit.

Can I assume that since the hard drive's USB cable does connect to the
camera's receptacle, it will be OK to use it for the camera?

Thank you again!

Jo-Anne- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Then your camera is following the USB standards. My Fuji Film F480
uses a different connector than the known standand USB connectors.

--------------

Many of these were designed before the later USB specs included the much
desired small form factor connectors. Although strictly a violation of the
USB specs, the issue was side stepped by treating such small connectored
devices as having a captive cable (which the effectively are as the cable is
generally unique).

 

[Jo-Anne]

Yes you can. You may care to note that if you are resident within Europe
the EMC approval of the camera is only valid when it is used with the
supplied cable. On the other hand most users are either unaware of this
or don't care.

The relatively small difference between the mini-B and the mini-A comes
about because there is a version of the receptacle that accepts both the
mini-B and the mini-A connectors. These are found on devices that
function as both host or peripheral (and some can even switch on the fly).
The device tells the difference because that is function of the fifth
contact on the connector.

Thank you, M.I.5¾! Interesting about the combination receptacles. I noticed
in my reading that there are mini A-B cables. Now I know what that means.

Jo-Anne

 

[Dave Cohen]

My digital camera came with a long, thinnish USB cable that includes a tube
about the size of a small piece of chalk near the camera connection; my
external hard drive came with a short, fat, plain USB cable. Would it be OK
to use the hard drive cable to connect the camera to a USB port on my WinXP
SP3 computer?

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

As long as the connectors are the same, it will probably work, just try
it, you won't do any harm.
Some devices use USB cables with a phono type plug on the other end. The
USB part can contain circuitry or same can be in the cable. I've got two
of these for two different organizers. Those are not interchangeable but
no harm in trying them to verify same. My GPS device, camera and
external hd (powered from USB) can all share the same cable.
Dave Cohen

 

[Jo-Anne]

As long as the connectors are the same, it will probably work, just try
it, you won't do any harm.
Some devices use USB cables with a phono type plug on the other end. The
USB part can contain circuitry or same can be in the cable. I've got two
of these for two different organizers. Those are not interchangeable but
no harm in trying them to verify same. My GPS device, camera and external
hd (powered from USB) can all share the same cable.
Dave Cohen

Thank you, Dave! It's good to know that I can't do any harm by trying them.

Jo-Anne

 

[Frank-FL]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Types-usb.svg

Instead of being rectangular, the top is wider than the bottom. The sides
curve in a bit.

Can I assume that since the hard drive's USB cable does connect to the
camera's receptacle, it will be OK to use it for the camera?

Thank you again!

Jo-Anne

I don't know your exact situation, however I use the same USB cable for my
camera, my cell phone, and my 2 1/2 drive enclosure.
The ferrite that you see on the cable is a shield to deter unwanted signals to the
cable. In days gone by we used to tape the ferrites to monitor cables to deter
interference.

 

[Jo-Anne]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Types-usb.svg

Instead of being rectangular, the top is wider than the bottom. The sides
curve in a bit.

Can I assume that since the hard drive's USB cable does connect to the
camera's receptacle, it will be OK to use it for the camera?

Thank you again!

Jo-Anne

I don't know your exact situation, however I use the same USB cable for my
camera, my cell phone, and my 2 1/2 drive enclosure.
The ferrite that you see on the cable is a shield to deter unwanted signals
to the
cable. In days gone by we used to tape the ferrites to monitor cables to
deter
interference.

Thank you, Frank! So it looks like the shield isn't really needed any more.
Good to know that I can use the same cables for all three purposes. (By the
way, yours is one of the few posts that haven't appeared with the
greater-than symbol in front of each line when I reply...)

Jo-Anne

 

[Miske]

In short - try it! It should work.