Hey y'all. I was wondering to any of the DSLR users out there if they have any suggestions on how to keep their camera cool enough to prevent overheating when shooting a short film? That's a pretty vague question, I know, but I thought I should ask if any of you guys any tips or tricks to keep the sensor of the camera cool.
How to Manage Overheating of DSLR'S
- Thread starter beamazed
- Start date
The common sense answer is to know your camera and its limitations. For example I use a 5Dii which can't go for more than 10-15 continuous recording before it overheats. So we know that camera cannot shoot any extra-long oners. If you do have any long takes, take advantage of the time between takes to reset the scene, snack break, etc to allow the sensor to cool.
There may be better suggestions out there but the above has worked just fine for me.
There may be better suggestions out there but the above has worked just fine for me.
Odd, I've shot over 100 hours of footage on my 5DmkII and have never had it overheat - even when shooting an hour or two continuously. Maybe it depends on the ambient temp? I know the 7d was known to have overheating issues, and have heard pulling the card out helps it to cool down more quickly.
Can't help you there as it's never happened to me, and it seems to vary quite a bit from camera to camera.
If the overheating thing is true, it is another reason to steer clear of DSLRs and get KISS gear so you can spend time actually making a film.
Every camera has limitations. Without exception.
Overheating seems to be the result of using something for what it wasn't designed to do. If my videocamera was overheating during production, I would have craiglisted it, pronto.
ItDonnedOnMe, it's great to hear that you haven't had that problem. I only know about the overheating "issue" from reading message boards about it. I personally have never had it overheat either but then I have always been wary of pushing it to that point.
I am shooting a church sermon later in the month and this actually makes me feel a bit better about using the 5D as a backup.
I am shooting a church sermon later in the month and this actually makes me feel a bit better about using the 5D as a backup.
Heat is an inescapable byproduct of electronic circuitry; as sensors have grown and required faster and more complex processors to handle their output it becomes increasingly difficult to manage that heat in a reliable way. When you combine that with the design limitations imposed by the specific application - overall size and weight must be appropriate for portability and maneuverability, battery life must be balanced between run times and size, operation must be near-silent so as not to pollute audio, cost is always a factor as is reliability and durability - compromises must be made. Given those compromises you'll likely often be operating somewhere close to the edge of the performance envelop for the system, and given the broad variability of environmental conditions it's inevitable that at times you may cross that threshold.
It's not that you're using something for what it wasn't designed for - it's that you can't escape the compromises necessary to produce a practical large-sensor camera for general use. The Alexa is the only large-sensor camera I'm aware of that I've never heard having issues with overheating at times. If one of the compromises you have to make is overall cost though it's not likely to be an option, so you'll just have to live with the possibility of overheating and plan accordingly.
The Alexa, as with other non-dslr large sensor cameras, has a cooling system.
http://www.arri.com/camera/alexa/technology/camera_hardware/alexas_cooling_system/
The indie feature filmmaker has a host of things beyond her control to monitor. To deliberately add something to that list is nutty. I'd find a videocamera that doesn't over heat.
Your constant berating of other for being "gear heads" seems to have simultaneously pushed you as far as possible the other direction.
Sure, you can make a film with a crappy old sony handicam. It won't overheat. It might eat its tape though, or drop frames, or generally just have a shit image. All of which would be limitations. As I said, every camera has limitations. You work within the limitations for the gear you've chosen to work with.
There's no perfect tool for the job, and what I, or someone else finds works well for them may very well not be your tool of choice. No need to come into this thread solely to say that people are using the wrong equipment because it's not some simple video camera. That's nutty.
Sure, you can make a film with a crappy old sony handicam. It won't overheat. It might eat its tape though, or drop frames, or generally just have a shit image. All of which would be limitations. As I said, every camera has limitations. You work within the limitations for the gear you've chosen to work with.
There's no perfect tool for the job, and what I, or someone else finds works well for them may very well not be your tool of choice. No need to come into this thread solely to say that people are using the wrong equipment because it's not some simple video camera. That's nutty.
How long will the sermon be?
The 5D has a maximum filesize (and therefore a maximum length) it can record in 1 take.
MkII has a 10-12 minute limit (the FAT32 4GB limit). MkIII 29:59 minutes (to dodge taxes).
MagicLantern might be able to take the time limit away, but it can't cool the camera down
And another question that will influence the heat: what is the temperature in the church?
Because that obviously influences the possible overheating.
Next question: did you think about audio?
Don't forget wow and flutter when using analogue tapes
GA is a 'rebel', trying to say he doesn't have a DSLR, slider, UAV, etcetera, and still managed to make a feature.
Which is great.
Everyone should always think: 'do I really need this gear?'
But sometimes he answer is 'yes', not everything can be done in a minimalistic skeleton way.
The OP is keeping it simple, btw. He asks about the camera he has access to.
At the risk of derailing the OP's original topic, the sermon will be in the 15-30 minute range. I had planned on using the 5D as a backup camera anyway due to the recording length issues, so that information regarding the file size is very helpful to know.
Church temperature will be up in the air. It's in Maine in August, so it's anybody's guess until the weather reports a few days ahead of time!!
Audio will be recorded on a H4N. I will mic the podium with a hypercardioid vocal mic into one channel, and the other will record from a shotgun mounted on my primary camera. I know I should be using a lav but I do not have one; if I was making any money off this I'd probably reconsider the audio setup.
Church temperature will be up in the air. It's in Maine in August, so it's anybody's guess until the weather reports a few days ahead of time!!
Audio will be recorded on a H4N. I will mic the podium with a hypercardioid vocal mic into one channel, and the other will record from a shotgun mounted on my primary camera. I know I should be using a lav but I do not have one; if I was making any money off this I'd probably reconsider the audio setup.
Yes, indeedy, there are some things even "skeleton" budget filmmakers have to fork up money for:
Good tripod. Absolutely required.
Fluid head. Also worth the expense.
Off camera miking. A must regardless of cost.
Fast edit system. An absolute must. With lots and lots of storage and off location backup.
Top notch film editing software with all the bugs and hardware issues long solved.
But nobody talks about these things -- ALL FAR MORE VITAL to a feature film than shiny DLSRs and sliders!
I've over 100 hours of mini-DV tapes. Never once did my old Sony DVX 2100 (yes, it says "handicam" on the box) eat a tape, or drop a frame (Mac/FCP). I lit most of my shots so there weren't too many "shit" images, even with SD.
These days however I've no problem with tapeless media transfer.
Agree, these are all more important than a particular camera, or the oft-overused slider..
I see these items discussed with pretty regular frequency.. even here on this very forum.
I must be drawn to gearhead threads. I'll keep a look out for threads by rational thinkers.