Pro video blog…Produced by Philip Johnston DoP/Editor

As usual Johnnie Behiri from Cine D gets to the point and interviews Canon’s Product Manager Mr Katsuyuki Nagai-san asking him why the Canon R5’s overheat.

Here is a snippet of his interview with a link to the whole interview down below.

Johnnie – CineD: Both cameras suffered from overheating issues in video recording and more than that, long recovery times. By introducing the latest firmware update, it seems as if Canon is trying to overcome some of those issues by allowing longer recording and shorter recovery waiting times (until the camera can film again). What exactly is causing those cameras to overheat and what’s the new FW doing in order to help here?

Katsuyuki Nagai-san – Canon: I think we should look at the fundamentals of the whole topic to give a better perspective. The cameras feature cutting edge features squeezed into compact bodies designed to offer weather resistance.

This is where we come to the first of the two governing factors that affect the cameras when it comes to overheating. Holding a very warm object for an extended period has the potential to result in what is known as low temperature burns. Secondary is to protect the internal components of the camera from the overheating. We limit how hot the external body of the camera can get to protect users, which is one of the causes of overheat shutdown. Some heat management must also be applied to ensure the camera continues to operate.

HDW : As I have pointed out before on this blog. Why if you know you are going to limit this camera by heat did Canon not design an internal fan the same as Panasonic did with the S1H.

I think its shocking that Canon produced this camera knowing its vastly reduced limitations using 4K and 8K due to heat when the answer was available via their competitors using an internal fan.

UPDATE with latest firmware installed : The new firmware allows the camera to record 20 minutes in one go. The recovery time is 10 minutes and then you will be able to record for another 10 minutes. This “recording/pausing” dance can continue for rather a long time with different recording/pausing times on each circle.

The link to Johnnies full interview below…

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Having been working in the video business since 1988 I have amassed a great amount of knowledge of both the kit and production values over the last 30 years.

3 thoughts on “Canon admits to overheating problems, new firmware will help but not fix the problem.

  1. Andew Reid at http://www.eoshd.com has been pretty vocal on this subject and is well worth a read also.

    I think there was a breakdown of the camera on his site and it was not even properly heatsinked on the cpu let alone a fan!

    Apparently the camera can also be tricked into getting around the cool down period by adjusting the date / wedging open the battery door so it appears to be a software restriction rather than hardware sensor.

    He does go way to far with a lot of the things he says to the point of being downright childish but a lot of it is very insightful.

  2. The only limitation that Canon should have had is the normal 30 min. time limitaton in 8K, regardless temperatures or timers.

  3. This is exactly the reason why back in July Associated Press went with Sony to provide reliable equipment for photo and video news journalists across the globe.

    https://apnews.com/46bb085c02ea2d0b873d76aa43ed1aa8

    There is no other camera maker in my knowledge that would be up to this task except Panasonic, but they lack reliable CAF for video. As for Canon, well they produced another crippled hybrid, surprise, surprise.
    I have no idea who they think their pro hybrid user base is. It’s not as if Japanese weddings run exactly 19 mins and 59 secs followed by a 10 min break where filming is culturally discouraged followed by a 10 min reception dinner.

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