USB Cable Pin-type for Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ3

Recently, my girlfriend's digital camera(Lumix FZ3) developed a new
problem where it would no longer communicate via the supplied USB cable
to my laptop and desktop. On the laptop, once the USB plug was plugged
into the camera(which was off at the time), the entire laptop(an IBM
Thinkpad) shut down and could only be restarted by removing and
reinstalling the battery. When we got home, she plugged the USB cable
into our desktop(it didn't power down...yea!) and then turned on the
camera with the mode switch in the proper position. The desktop,
running Windows XP home, no longer recognizes the camera's presence.(no
USB mass storage icon on tray...no offer of help from Picture and Fax
program) The camera was unaware of the computer as well, with its LCD
screen displaying the last image taken instead of the usual PC
connection graphic.

The USB ports on both the desktop and laptop work with other devices
such as thumb drives and MP3 players, so that rules them out. That
leaves either the camera itself or the supplied USB cable. The
cheapest route is to buy a new USB cable, but I can't tell the pin
configuration of the LUMIX's. Many cable stores and other online
stores mention two types of USB camera cables. One has a 4-pin Mini B
male and the other has a 5-pin Mini B male. The 5-pin Mini B male is
listed as being a suitable replacement for many cameras from the Lumix
family, but the DMC-FZ3 camera is never listed. Does anyone know if
the Lumix DMC-FZ3 has a proprietary pin configuration?

Thanks in advance for any information or advice you can offer.

Danny in Yorktown, VA

Actually, why not just buy a card reader and that will be guaranteed to
solve the problem. The card reader may not be the cheapest solution
(but certainly it won't cost more than $10 to $20), but you may end up
spending a lot of your own time figuring out the solution to the
problem you have described. And, a card reader will work with any
machine with a USB port. If you are careful and get a card reader that
will work with any memory format, you can use it for more than one type
of memory chip and more than one digital camera.

Dave

"Danny" wrote in message
ups.com...
Recently, my girlfriend's digital camera(Lumix FZ3) developed a new
problem where it would no longer communicate via the supplied USB cable
to my laptop and desktop. On the laptop, once the USB plug was plugged
into the camera(which was off at the time), the entire laptop(an IBM
Thinkpad) shut down and could only be restarted by removing and
reinstalling the battery. When we got home, she plugged the USB cable
into our desktop(it didn't power down...yea!) and then turned on the
camera with the mode switch in the proper position. The desktop,
running Windows XP home, no longer recognizes the camera's presence.(no
USB mass storage icon on tray...no offer of help from Picture and Fax
program) The camera was unaware of the computer as well, with its LCD
screen displaying the last image taken instead of the usual PC
connection graphic.

The USB ports on both the desktop and laptop work with other devices
such as thumb drives and MP3 players, so that rules them out. That
leaves either the camera itself or the supplied USB cable. The
cheapest route is to buy a new USB cable, but I can't tell the pin
configuration of the LUMIX's. Many cable stores and other online
stores mention two types of USB camera cables. One has a 4-pin Mini B
male and the other has a 5-pin Mini B male. The 5-pin Mini B male is
listed as being a suitable replacement for many cameras from the Lumix
family, but the DMC-FZ3 camera is never listed. Does anyone know if
the Lumix DMC-FZ3 has a proprietary pin configuration?

Thanks in advance for any information or advice you can offer.

Danny in Yorktown, VA

It surely has a proprietary connector. Many cameras have no room for the
standard USB socket. However, surely the pinout is the same; it is just
the plug and socket that are different.
If I had this problem, I would just buy a universal card reader. With that
purchase, my problems with cables and flaky software would go away.
Jim

On Sat, 29 Oct 2005 15:12:40 GMT, "Jim" wrote:


"Danny" wrote in message
oups.com...
Recently, my girlfriend's digital camera(Lumix FZ3) developed a new
problem where it would no longer communicate via the supplied USB cable
to my laptop and desktop. On the laptop, once the USB plug was plugged
into the camera(which was off at the time), the entire laptop(an IBM
Thinkpad) shut down and could only be restarted by removing and
reinstalling the battery. When we got home, she plugged the USB cable
into our desktop(it didn't power down...yea!) and then turned on the
camera with the mode switch in the proper position. The desktop,
running Windows XP home, no longer recognizes the camera's presence.(no
USB mass storage icon on tray...no offer of help from Picture and Fax
program) The camera was unaware of the computer as well, with its LCD
screen displaying the last image taken instead of the usual PC
connection graphic.

The USB ports on both the desktop and laptop work with other devices
such as thumb drives and MP3 players, so that rules them out. That
leaves either the camera itself or the supplied USB cable. The
cheapest route is to buy a new USB cable, but I can't tell the pin
configuration of the LUMIX's. Many cable stores and other online
stores mention two types of USB camera cables. One has a 4-pin Mini B
male and the other has a 5-pin Mini B male. The 5-pin Mini B male is
listed as being a suitable replacement for many cameras from the Lumix
family, but the DMC-FZ3 camera is never listed. Does anyone know if
the Lumix DMC-FZ3 has a proprietary pin configuration?

Thanks in advance for any information or advice you can offer.

Danny in Yorktown, VA

It surely has a proprietary connector. Many cameras have no room for the
standard USB socket. However, surely the pinout is the same; it is just
the plug and socket that are different.
If I had this problem, I would just buy a universal card reader. With that
purchase, my problems with cables and flaky software would go away.
Jim


About all that a card reader loses for you is the function of
automatically rotating portrait shots. Presumably the camera's own
software will do this for you if the portrait flag is set.

On 29 Oct 2005 05:29:35 -0700, Danny wrote:

Does anyone know if
the Lumix DMC-FZ3 has a proprietary pin configuration?

Danny,

very unlikely. I use various cables with my FZ1-2, and I don't
see any reason why the FZ3 should be different.

Try to buy a cable with the option to return it if it doesn't
work. Or take the camera to the shop and test it there.

If all else fails, a card reader could be a reasonable way out.

Hans-Georg

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