DPReview: Canon EOS R5 and R6 overheating claims tested: cameras work as promised – but that’s not enough

Dec 25, 2017
569
557
And there's a bigger exception. If I am reading through this mess (why I am I am still not sure) you have the following scenarios:

(1) You are the videographer at a wedding using the R5. You've been recording in one of the high quality modes--8K, HQ, or 60. Just as a key moment happens--say the cake is being cut--your R5 reaches the thermal limit. You quickly switch to 4K30 and capture video of the cake cutting, saving you from the wrath of the bride.

(2) You are the videographer at a wedding using the a7siii. You've been recording in 4K60. Just as that cake cutting moment happens your a7 reaches the thermal limit and shuts down. Yes it will recover faster than the Canon under a fan--3 min or so. But by that time the cake is cut and later the bride will be horrified when you tell her you missed taking video of the moment.

Which camera is "ideal" for weddings? That's the problem with back-and-forth forum wars. People can create whatever scenario they want to prove whatever point they want.

Ha, well said!
I think option one is certainly better :) (Especialy given that I have canon colors with that :-D)
In general I still think the 1DX II or III is the best option for wedding videography. Both offer stellar 4k60 image quality and great Autofocus (Which is realy good to have for weddings) with a decent crop of 1,3.
I used the 1DX II for a lot of events and it was always a pleasure to use :)
 
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davidhfe

CR Pro
Sep 9, 2015
346
518
Times have changed I guess. Usually the wedding videos I’m familiar with are buried deep in a closet somewhere and are only trotted out as a way to get stubborn party guests to leave.

Then again, with the fail rate of marriages these days I guess it could be used as a negotiating tool in the divorce - you can keep the house, but you have to keep the wedding video as well.

Oh I didn't say anyone would actually WATCH that 8K footage ;)

Just that as a differentiator in a competitive space, 8K could be a nice bullet to add to your site.
 
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Bert63

What’s in da box?
CR Pro
Dec 3, 2017
1,072
2,335
60
the (stellar) video specs built up expectations in people that this would be the hybrid video / stills camera of their dreams, including for pro and semi-pro applications.


Maybe those folks with their overactive imaginations now need to own it instead of melting down like the brat in the grocery line that didn’t get what they wanted from the impulse buy candy shelf.
 
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1D4

Jun 5, 2020
100
170
No, not my camera - I'm citing what others are saying and what Canon's R5 manual implies. By contrast, I'd be happy to learn that the camera does not or cannot overheat when shooting stills, alone. Sounds like you've had a great experience!
There were literally two people I've seen who said the R5 overheated while only shooting stills. One on FM, who said he was shooting for a few hours on a hot day, and the heat indicator warning icon came on, and at some point the camera turned off. He later clarified that it turned off due to the battery dying, and not because the camera shut down because of the heat. He also later stated that after he put in a fresh battery, the camera was able to shoot stills immediately, and there was no heat indicator icon. The other person (I believe here) said that he shot something like 2,000-3,000 photos over a few hours outside and the camera turned off on him. No reviewers I saw, nor have any other customers mentioned the camera shutting off just due to stills...only that video times were reduced after shooting stills -- which is exactly what Canon stated would happen. People keep on referencing the same two users (out of thousands of people who now have R5s), and it suddenly seems like a huge, widespread issue. Heck, multiple Sony fanboys were referencing the FM thread and just happened to disappear, when it was clarified that the poster's R5 shut off because the battery died. Maybe Sony cameras don't turn off when the battery dies?
 
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DBounce

Canon Eos R3
May 3, 2016
500
544
I do own the camera.
I dont see why it shouldnt be a profesisonal video tool. Its not video centric (given alone the fact that it hase a MICRO hdmi port). But its a great tool.
Please remember: there is NO 4k60 camera on the market in that form factor with a fullframe that can shoot THAT long. AND the R5 wont overheat in 4k60 if you use an external recorder.
If it overheats, you can allways switch to 4k30.
4k30 HQ is basicaly an 8k image which is saved in a 4k image. Its not very surprising that an 8k readout overheats. Again there is NO FF camera in that class that can even do 4k60 longer than the R5 - and there is NOTHING ANYWHERE near of an 8k imge.
Canon did communicate this 100% transparent (unlike other companies). The camera performs 100% as promised. I can not see ANY sign of a defect in my camera and its hard to belive that it actualy overheatet just from stills.
No Canon was not transparent that everything you do on the camera would reduce recording time, from switching it on, to playing back videos, to shooting stills or even flipping through menus. Everything reduces the available recording time.
Canon was not clear that cool down times could be anywhere from 2 hours to 6 hours. Please, I can’t understand why anyone that coughed up the $4200 (with tax) for this body would be ok with this highly unpredictable behavior?
 
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Jul 16, 2012
486
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And there's a bigger exception. If I am reading through this mess (why I am I am still not sure) you have the following scenarios:

(1) You are the videographer at a wedding using the R5. You've been recording in one of the high quality modes--8K, HQ, or 60. Just as a key moment happens--say the cake is being cut--your R5 reaches the thermal limit. You quickly switch to 4K30 and capture video of the cake cutting, saving you from the wrath of the bride.

(2) You are the videographer at a wedding using the a7siii. You've been recording in 4K60. Just as that cake cutting moment happens your a7 reaches the thermal limit and shuts down. Yes it will recover faster than the Canon under a fan--3 min or so. But by that time the cake is cut and later the bride will be horrified when you tell her you missed taking video of the moment.

Which camera is "ideal" for weddings? That's the problem with back-and-forth forum wars. People can create whatever scenario they want to prove whatever point they want.

Im sure theres some truth in this, but in general I think this might be a replay of the betamax vs VHS wars, where overall duration is going to be seen as more important to the market, even if there are use cases where the other product is superior.

Or its all a storm in a teacup and people will be using external recorders.
 
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Jun 9, 2020
135
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No Canon was not transparent that everything you do on the camera would reduce recording time, from switching it on, to playing back videos, to shooting stills or even flipping through menus. Everything reduces the available recording time.
Canon was not clear that cool down times could be anywhere from 2 hours to 6 hours. Please, I can’t understand why anyone that coughed up the $4200 (with tax) for this body would be ok with this highly unpredictable behavior?

This is the point every canon fanboy is in denial about. Yes canon told us we'd only have 20 minutes of 8k, but they didnt tell us we we're on the clock from the second we flipped the on switch.
 
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tbintb

5DSR, R5
May 26, 2020
16
48
No, not my camera - I'm citing what others are saying and what Canon's R5 manual implies. By contrast, I'd be happy to learn that the camera does not or cannot overheat when shooting stills, alone. Sounds like you've had a great experience!
Sorry, I had misread your previous comment. I imagined you had the R5. I think what the manual implies perhaps is about shooting video after taking stills, which is disappointing if you are a hybrid shooter. But from my experience Saturday on the stills side alone, the R5 was up to the task! Crossing my fingers it wasn’t a fluke after reading all this overheating crap online. Gonna take it for another spin this weekend.
 
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stevelee

FT-QL
CR Pro
Jul 6, 2017
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Oh I didn't say anyone would actually WATCH that 8K footage ;)

Just that as a differentiator in a competitive space, 8K could be a nice bullet to add to your site.
If the couple insisted on 8k final product, an upsample in post from 4k should work fine. They are unlikely to find something to view it on without downsampling.
 
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1D4

Jun 5, 2020
100
170
No Canon was not transparent that everything you do on the camera would reduce recording time, from switching it on, to playing back videos, to shooting stills or even flipping through menus. Everything reduces the available recording time.
Canon was not clear that cool down times could be anywhere from 2 hours to 6 hours. Please, I can’t understand why anyone that coughed up the $4200 (with tax) for this body would be ok with this highly unpredictable behavior?
Stop spreading around lies. The user who upvoted your post was the same exact user who posted this from Canon, 3 weeks before launch:

So how was Canon "not transparent that everything you do on the camera would reduce recording time, from switching it on, to playing back videos, to shooting stills or even flipping through menus" when it literally says in there that "IF THE CAMERA'S INTERNAL TEMPERATURE RISES DUE TO SHOOTING OR ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS, RECORDING TIME WILL BE REDUCED." and "EVEN AFTER A COLD START, TOTAL RECORDING TIME MAY BE SHORTER, BECAUSE THE CAMERA'S INTERNAL TEMPERATURE MAY RISE DUE TO FACTORS SUCH AS CAMERA SETTING OPERATIONS BEFORE RECORDING, OR MAINTAINING THE LIVE VIEW DISPLAY". Again, this was known weeks before launch. Canon didn't try to hide anything....they literally said that changing settings and having the display on could affect things.
 
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BakaBokeh

CR Pro
May 16, 2020
218
482
Let's be clear about what the issues with the R5 are.
  • The camera overheats. Or, it has thermal protection that will disable certain modes in the camera that will prevent it from overheating and damaging the camera. Canon has published estimated recording times before it becomes throttled. This is not an unreasonable limitation as most Cameras will overheat after a period of time.
  • The camera will not overheat taking stills. There are a couple of extreme case reports that the camera actually shut down after just shooting stills. However there is overwhelming evidence and reports that the camera will not overheat just shooting stills. We can take those extreme cases as outliers.
  • The camera will build up heat that may limit anything above 4K30P. If you shoot stills, review images or footage, or shoot in 4K30P Normal mode and below, then switch to a higher quality mode, the allowable time for recording may be reduced. The reports for this issue are varied. We can conclude that the wide variety of usages and environments will all contribute to very different results for each user. The fact that we cannot expect any form of consistency at the higher quality video recording modes is an issue. Users will need to determine for themselves if their specific use case will make the R5 a feasible tool for them or not. If the performance does not meet their workflow requirements, they should provide this feedback to Canon.
  • The diminishing recording times after successive cool down recovery periods is an issue. Canon has been up front about this, but it's not a practical workflow for any user to have less and less recording times after waiting for the Camera to cool down. If it had a published cool down period that allowed the user to have the max available time again, that might be acceptable. But to expect someone to record for 30 minutes until the camera shuts down, wait 10 minutes to cool down, then only get 3 minutes of shooting time is not reasonable. Consumers should take Canon to task for these weird recovery periods. Also, there have been varying reports for the amount of time that has had to pass for the Camera to complete cooldown, where allowable recording periods have returned to maximum. This is also an issue.
  • If you can accept 4K30/24P in non-oversampled mode and below, or using an external Recorder on everything up to 4K60p, the camera will not have any overheating issues in most normal uses.
  • The Lack of 120FPS in 1080p is an issue. There is no reason why this should have been withheld. This is like removing 24 FPS all over again.
  • UWA IBIS Wobbles is an issue. I am not entirely clear on the specifics of the issue. But it needs to be clear if the lens firmware update addresses this. If not, it sounds like it was not an issue on EOS R/RP, so the culprit is the IBIS. It seems like you either get the combination of Lens IS & IBIS or nothing at all. If Lens IS did not have this wobble issue, then they need to allow the option to disable IBIS only and still allow Lens IS and/or EIS.
I don't really care about the outrage being spewed as if some have been personally offended. Some have had some incredibly unrealistic expectations about this camera. But Canon should definitely be taken to task on issues that are just simply impractical or not usable. I'm still patiently waiting for my R5 and know that I will make it work. I will simply find workarounds, or not use features if they are unusable. On the other hand, while I don't think whining and crying is productive, I do think constructive feedback should be given to Canon so they can address these issues. If they can take care of them with firmware updates, then great. If not, then at the very least it will be on the radar for future cameras.
 
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jam05

R5, C70
Mar 12, 2019
916
584
Main issue is Canon insulates the R5 and R6 too well, limiting heat exchange between internal components and the body.

It almost seems it makes better sense if Canon has a way to actively cool an already overheated camera. An enclosed RF mount cooling fan? :D
I have no problem with mine. Houston, Texas. It's hot. I'm not a YouTuber. I just use it and if needed put a CPU fan on it and it run as long as I want.
 
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Jan 29, 2011
10,675
6,121
For those of you getting the R5 and wanting an Arca-Swiss baseplate, I just wanted to mention that I just ordered a R5 baseplate & removable L bracket from ReallyRightStuff. Yes, it's expensive, but so is the R5 and all the great RF lenses. I've had the same custom base plate on my EM1_II for years and it fits the entire body bottom like a glove - so well that it makes it even better to grip than it already was. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting the best for their R5. They told me that they expect it to be delivered sometime around the end of August. And no - I'm not getting anything for saying this (but I wish I could have!) :sneaky:
Personally I have fallen out of love with RRS L-Plates, they are excessivly bulky and I think any photo staff they had on the design team left. The 1DX II was the last RRS plate I will buy, the 1DX III RRS L-Plate is a dogs breakfast of cockups, the Kirk design is MUCH better. Don’t know about the R5 but I wouldn’t buy any custom plates until I had seen the design in detail.
 
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jam05

R5, C70
Mar 12, 2019
916
584
Let's be clear about what the issues with the R5 are.
  • The camera overheats. Or, it has thermal protection that will disable certain modes in the camera that will prevent it from overheating and damaging the camera. Canon has published estimated recording times before it becomes throttled. This is not an unreasonable limitation as most Cameras will overheat after a period of time.
  • The camera will not overheat taking stills. There are a couple of extreme case reports that the camera actually shut down after just shooting stills. However there is overwhelming evidence and reports that the camera will not overheat just shooting stills. We can take those extreme cases as outliers.
  • The camera will build up heat that may limit anything above 4K30P. If you shoot stills, review images or footage, or shoot in 4K30P Normal mode and below, then switch to a higher quality mode, the allowable time for recording may be reduced. The reports for this issue are varied. We can conclude that the wide variety of usages and environments will all contribute to very different results for each user. The fact that we cannot expect any form of consistency at the higher quality video recording modes is an issue. Users will need to determine for themselves if their specific use case will make the R5 a feasible tool for them or not. If the performance does not meet their workflow requirements, they should provide this feedback to Canon.
  • The diminishing recording times after successive cool down recovery periods is an issue. Canon has been up front about this, but it's not a practical workflow for any user to have less and less recording times after waiting for the Camera to cool down. If it had a published cool down period that allowed the user to have the max available time again, that might be acceptable. But to expect someone to record for 30 minutes until the camera shuts down, wait 10 minutes to cool down, then only get 3 minutes of shooting time is not reasonable. Consumers should take Canon to task for these weird recovery periods. Also, there have been varying reports for the amount of time that has had to pass for the Camera to complete cooldown, where allowable recording periods have returned to maximum. This is also an issue.
  • If you can accept 4K30/24P in non-oversampled mode and below, or using an external Recorder on everything up to 4K60p, the camera will not have any overheating issues in most normal uses.
  • The Lack of 120FPS in 1080p is an issue. There is no reason why this should have been withheld. This is like removing 24 FPS all over again.
  • UWA IBIS Wobbles is an issue. I am not entirely clear on the specifics of the issue. But it needs to be clear if the lens firmware update addresses this. If not, it sounds like it was not an issue on EOS R/RP, so the culprit is the IBIS. It seems like you either get the combination of Lens IS & IBIS or nothing at all. If Lens IS did not have this wobble issue, then they need to allow the option to disable IBIS only and still allow Lens IS and/or EIS.
I don't really care about the outrage being spewed as if some have been personally offended. Some have had some incredibly unrealistic expectations about this camera. But Canon should definitely be taken to task on issues that are just simply impractical or not usable. I'm still patiently waiting for my R5 and know that I will make it work. I will simply find workarounds, or not use features if they are unusable. On the other hand, while I don't think whining and crying is productive, I do think constructive feedback should be given to Canon so they can address these issues. If they can take care of them with firmware updates, then great. If not, then at the very least it will be on the radar for future cameras.
There are no issues. I have the camera and use it quite well. I knew how to purchase a 3" CPU fan and voila. No problems. Top end video cameras have FANS.
 
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