Fact Check: Wooden Camera Pogo Cables Fry Your Camera?

[Kenneth C Merrill]

Every time someone brings up the WC pogo cables, a lot of people come out and say they "know someone" who had their board fried by using those cables. So far, I have only seen one first-hand experience of a cable "shorting out" the camera, but that first-hand account made it sound like they just switched to a lemo adapter system and everything was fine (so I guess their camera wasn't destroyed?).

Anyway, I currently use pogo cables with no issues, but I want to know if there is the potential for a serious problem like frying a sensor board. So please, if you have had your camera damaged when using a WC pogo cable, step forward and let me the details of your story. I want to get to the bottom of this.

Thanks!

Kenneth


PS. I know some people will want to encourage me to switch to the lemo adapter system. I have no problems doing that, but I want to know the skinny on the WC pogos because it's good to have solid information. We shouldn't ignore this when the product is out there on the market and people are buying them every day. We should know what to expect.

 

[Luca Perin]

It sounds very alarming!! I'm curious too!!

 

[Fabio Lanzone]

Mine is working okay, except for one day when the monitor became completely green when moving the cable. Attaching the monitor to the brain solved the issue, re-attaching the pogo showed it again. Hope that soldering is well done inside the connector, because both data and power runs through it and yes, frying the camera is something that could happen then.

 

[Björn Benckert]

Mine is working okay, except for one day when the monitor became completely green when moving the cable. Attaching the monitor to the brain solved the issue, re-attaching the pogo showed it again. Hope that soldering is well done inside the connector, because both data and power runs through it and yes, frying the camera is something that could happen then.

Not necessarily, if made well the connections could be protected with diods. That does not allow it to fry. Simple test to find out is to apply 12v to each and every one pin in the camera lemoconector and see if your camera works afterwards. Now if you like to have your camera working let some one else do the test .

I dont think it should fry the camera and I dont know how much power is going to the screen. But I have not heard of any single camera that got fried this way, but I seen / heard many discussions when people talked about non working cameras and lemo cables. Simply they are all quite fragile as there is so many pins and they are quite small and the cables are being pulled in and out quite a lot. I think for those reasons red made the new connectors on weapon which is not as sensitive as the lemo connectors.

 

[Joel Arvidsson]

If there would been any problems I'm sure wooden camera had stop selling those cables. Also should not the screen be the one to fry instead since its the device that receive the power from the camera?

 

[Jeff Garton]

One of my EVFs was likely fried by a Wooden camera cable (lemo to lemo). Circumstances. EVF had always worked fine. I went to use the WC cable for the first time in a prep build because the length would have made a slightly more efficient build. No signal. Went back to the cable I had just been using. Nothing. Never worked again. It was my older EVF and so I choose not to have it repaired. So there was no autopsy. But the circumstances were pretty damning. So that cable went straight into the trash and I'll never buy another. Just my experience. I have owned and been happy with many other WC products.

 

[Fabio Lanzone]

Not necessarily, if made well the connections could be protected with diods.

Correct. IF there is any diode. :smile:

But I have not heard of any single camera that got fried this way

On blackmagic frying the SDI is very easy sadly. https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=40601
Sure REDs are built better, but for example there isn't any diode protecting against reversed polarity dc in on DSMC cameras. :frown5:

 

[Fahnon Bennett]

Bringing this thread back from the dead to see how people feel about this 2+ years later. I just ordered this cable, and of course only then see this. Am I at risk using this on my new Scarlet W? What good options do we have to move the monitor from the top of the camera, or am I just better off going with a second monitor or EVF for shoulder work?

 

[Cole Sprague]

I’ve been using mine almost everyday for three years with no problems, I think somehow the rumor mill mixed this up when the OG wooden camera top plate did fry a couple boards. I wouldn’t worry about the pogo cable.

 

[Fahnon Bennett]

Ok great thanks that’s good to know. I see someone revived the thread about that top plate too