protecting ports

[Lee Kelly]

Not sure if this is the correct place for this question.

I am sure everyone will agree that the position of the HDMI port on Dragon/Epic etc is in a spot that is very easy to damage.
I remember when smallHD came out with a little protector for the HDMI on the Canon 5d and that saved people from having to replace an expensive part that was very easily damaged.

I was working the other day in handheld mode and some shots required some very fancy kneeling down action applying pressure on the HDMI connection to my Arrow wireless thingy.
Has anyone (wooden or similar) invented a little protection device for those ports on the Epic/Dragon?

Does anyone on here have some tricks they use to protect their ports from an expensive damage?
Share your secrets, I just gave you my kneeling down technique.

 

[Matt Hall]

Assuming that the HDMI port you're trying to protect isn't actually being used (or did I miss something?) you could get a cover for it. Datapro makes a plastic $0.95 one. Google it.

If you've got something plugged into the port, I suggest NOT applying pressure to it. They are not very robust at all.

 

[Lee Kelly]

Yeah Matt, you missed my point. I was suggesting there might be a product to protect the port when the cable is plugged in to prevent applying pressure to it. I am pretty sure its an expensive repair if you damage it. And in my experience with other cameras, the port is much weaker than the cable that plugs into it. I would much rather have to replace the $15 cable not the $$$$$ port.

 

[Bob Gundu]

Yeah Matt, you missed my point. I was suggesting there might be a product to protect the port when the cable is plugged in to prevent applying pressure to it. I am pretty sure its an expensive repair if you damage it. And in my experience with other cameras, the port is much weaker than the cable that plugs into it. I would much rather have to replace the $15 cable not the $$$$$ port.

In many cases, I don't believe it's pressure damaging the ports. Its a short circuit that seems to spark the damage.

 

[Nathan DuMoulin]

SmallRig has a whole lineup of HDMI protection parts for rails and rigs. Not sure if any of them will suit your needs, but I figured it was worth mentioning.

http://www.smallrig.com/products/hdmi-lock/

 

[Jake Wilganowski]

I want a little plastic cover for the redmag port. Just a rubber plug. No one makes one.

 

[Tommaso Alvisi]

w00d3n camera makes an extended riser called Easy Riser XL which extends from the back a little, the right amount to protect the ports (especially HDMI!!).

That's what I used when I wanted to protect the rear ports, hope it helps!

 

[Marcus Friedlander]

Wooden also makes a signal splitter module called the C-Box. It's a module that can stack on the back of your camera and it will take either your sdi signal or your hdmi signal and turn it into 3 brand new sdi ports and 2 hdmi ports. If you use the C-Box, you can stay away from accidentally applying pressure to either signal ports that are on the camera body itself. Also, wooden makes an hdmi protector for the 2 hdmi ports on top of the C-box. So if you want extra security, you can get it that way.

 

[Marcus Friedlander]

The +1 adapter basically lives on my camera so the C-box has been essential in me getting enough different signal paths out to the various monitors. Can't recommend more.

 

[Erick Liu]

I know some companies were making SSD guards for the DSMC's, so DSMC2 will for sure have some type of protection later on