D70 camera (USB) cord coming out often w/tethered.

[Eric_llasenko]

Anyone got suggestions in how to keep the USB/camera cord from coming unplugged during shoots?

I thought the D1x connector was easily "jarred" loose, but I have been doing lots of tethered shoots of little ones with an off-tripod handheld D70 lately and the placement of the cord (c'mon Nikon engineering - how about a locking connector?!) makes it super easy to come out, crashing our Express Digital s/w and making me reboot camera and software before it works again.

Seems worse now after recently adding a USB extension cord to the standard camera cord as gravity seems to be always tugging it loose and when I bump the cord while focusing or set the camera down between shoots it has a disconnect and stops recording to the laptop until we reboot camera and software.

Wondering if anyone has rigged a way to make the cord more secure and not pop out as easily?

Also wondering if folks using only a straight long USB to 5pin cord (not using the original camera cord at all) have less of a problem with this? The little cylindrical do-hickey (fuse???) on the original cord seems to make it heavier and bulkier but I did not know if that thingy was needed and if that original camera cord MUST be used always for best results or electronics safety??

Sure wish they had wireless image transmission for the D70!! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]

[Nigel_Anscombe]

Hi Eric,

Do you use a flash bracket? If so you could tie the USB cable around it or tape it to the bracket.

Alternatively you could try taping it to the neck strap.

Regrds
Nigel

[David_Buzzard]

I tape the firewire cable to the bottom of my D1X with a big piece of gaffer tape. If it's on a tripod, I just wrap the cord around the base of the tripod head a few times. Getting the longest patch cable you can find is a big help. I had to special order a 15 foot firewire cable, which cost me about $50.00.

David Buzzard

[Geoff_Waugh]

Also wondering if folks using only a straight long USB to 5pin cord (not using the original camera cord at all) have less of a problem with this? The little cylindrical do-hickey (fuse???) on the original cord seems to make it heavier and bulkier but I did not know if that thingy was needed and if that original camera cord MUST be used always for best results or electronics safety??

Eric's got a valid question there. I have just purchased an extension cable but if I could do away with the short Nikon cable altogether that would make for a much sleeker unit. Does anyone have an answer to this? Would Nikon tell us it can be done - or would they say it would void the warranty (three guesses!!)

Geoff