Are All 12-Pin Industrial Camera Cables Created Equal ?
Well... yes, they are. I work for a small robotics manufacturer near Lansing Michigan. We build pick and place robot arms for automotive manufacturers and other vision system, or industrial camera, integrators. The arms have several articulating joints so tryiing to run cables through the assembly to a camera at the end of the arm is tricky, and cables get chewed up frequently.
Sony 12-pin cables ( Models CCXC-12P02N, CCXC12P05N, CCXC12P10N, etc.. ) can be terribly expensive. A 10 meter cable for example, can cost $300. Why ? I don't know. Maybe Sony doesn't really want to make cables and they are trying to discourage us from purchasing them.
Well recently I was asked to investigate other sources for cables. Would we need custom cables for our system ? Do the cameras have unique pin assignements for their interface ? I set out to find the answers.
What I found surprised me. Sony has been developing industrial camera products for several decades. In fact, they were the first to mass produce them and standardize the various components and accessoires, CCXC cables being one of them. The result ? Every other industrial camera manufacturer followed suite, creating cameras that could be drop in replacement for Sony products. Thereby, indirectly, setting a standard for industrial cameras, their operation and their electrical interface. Virtually every industrial camera, e.g. Hitachi, Sony, Panasonic, Pulnix, JAI, and others, have an identical 12-pin electrical interface to provide power, sync or trigger signals, and video output ( on analog cameras ).
Sony 12-pin cables ( Models CCXC-12P02N, CCXC12P05N, CCXC12P10N, etc.. ) can be terribly expensive. A 10 meter cable for example, can cost $300. Why ? I don't know. Maybe Sony doesn't really want to make cables and they are trying to discourage us from purchasing them.
Well recently I was asked to investigate other sources for cables. Would we need custom cables for our system ? Do the cameras have unique pin assignements for their interface ? I set out to find the answers.
What I found surprised me. Sony has been developing industrial camera products for several decades. In fact, they were the first to mass produce them and standardize the various components and accessoires, CCXC cables being one of them. The result ? Every other industrial camera manufacturer followed suite, creating cameras that could be drop in replacement for Sony products. Thereby, indirectly, setting a standard for industrial cameras, their operation and their electrical interface. Virtually every industrial camera, e.g. Hitachi, Sony, Panasonic, Pulnix, JAI, and others, have an identical 12-pin electrical interface to provide power, sync or trigger signals, and video output ( on analog cameras ).
Now, of course it would have been nice if they also adopted a common part number system, but they did not. Every camera cable manufacturer has their own number system. You can't tell on the surface whether any of these cables are compatible. So I did a bit more investigation. I'm sharing the results here in an effort to save others the hours of phone calls and web surfacing I had to do to gather this information.
Below is a table showing the Sony cable part number, and the part number of equivalent cables from other manufacturers and suppliers. There are many other manufacturers, but these are the popular ones.
Below is a table showing the Sony cable part number, and the part number of equivalent cables from other manufacturers and suppliers. There are many other manufacturers, but these are the popular ones.
ICS Part no. |
CEI Part no. |
Sony Part No. |
Intercon Part No. |
Length |
ICS-12P-20N |
MVA-10-1-1-2M |
CCXC-12P-02N |
VCP-2.0-S |
2 Meter |
ICS-12P-05N |
MVA-10-1-1-5M |
CCXC-12P-05N |
VCP-5.0-S |
5 Meter |
ICS-12P-10N |
MVA-10-1-1-10M |
CCXC-12P-10N |
VCP-10-S |
10 Meter |
ICS-12P-25N |
MVA-10-1-1-25M |
CCXC-12P-25N |
VCP-25-S |
25 Meter |
All of these cables are far less costly than purchasing the Sony OEM specified cable. They all meet or exceed those OEM specifications and are perfectly fine as replacements. In many cases you will save as much as 40-50% by purchasing the equivalent cables.
There are a number of suppliers that can provide these "cross over" CCXC Sony cable products. Below is a short list of suppliers with links to their websites.
Good luck with your project, I hope you found this informaion helpful.
There are a number of suppliers that can provide these "cross over" CCXC Sony cable products. Below is a short list of suppliers with links to their websites.
Good luck with your project, I hope you found this informaion helpful.
Nortech Intercon 1 Cable Systems | Baxter, MN 56425 |
Components Express Inc | Woodridge, IL 60517 |
Phase 1 Technology | Deer Park, NY 11729 |
Industrial Camera Sales & Service | Lansing, MI 48152 |