Any limit as to how long you can leave a 5D3 on?

Nov 12, 2016
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Long story short, I'm doing something related to multiple exposures, and to avoid bumping the camera and changing its orientation, I decided to just leave it switched on. It's plugged into the wall with a DC adapter. Is there any limit to how long a 5D3 can be left sitting in the on position before it shuts itself off or otherwise wigs out due to a software glitch or some internal chip timer resetting? (Most likely will leave it like that for a few days, but I'm curious about whether or not it could do that for weeks or months.) Obviously I've disabled the "auto power off" setting.
 

Valvebounce

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Apr 3, 2013
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Hi Kit Lens Jockey.
I have no idea of the answer to your question, but in return I have a question. (Or three).
How are you triggering your camera to take the required shots? Wired remote, infrared remote, tethered to a computer, walking up and pressing the button?
I often have my 40D running on battery power and set to sleep after a minute or two on a bracket on the wall to shoot documentary shots of work undertaken, it is set to shoot every 20 seconds using a timer remote, then I stop and get lunch 1/2 an hour later I press go and it wakes and takes the first shot before I can get my arm out of the shot! Well it used to, I have put a 5sec delay in the timer sequence! :)
I guess what I’m saying is these modern cameras wake so fast that I can’t see a reason not to let it sleep whether you are using a remote or pressing the button (not sure about whether computer tethering or infrared remote will wake the camera). I’m curious as to your thinking behind keeping it awake for hours or days!
I wonder if keeping the camera continually awake might cause a significant temperature increase of the sensor which might add extra noise to your images?

Cheers, Graham.
 
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Nov 12, 2016
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I'm using a wired remote, but no specific timer, I just want to take another photo with the camera in the exact same spot a few days from now. The camera is on a Gorillapod type thing, which is pretty flimsy, but it's the perfect height for this specific task. Only drawback is the camera is pretty easily moved when it's on this, so I'd like to avoid flipping the power switch on and off if I can help it.

I'm also using the in-camera multiple exposure feature, which is cumbersome to use unless you leave the camera on between exposures. Yes, I could take a photo, shut off the camera, turn it back on, go into the menu, set up the multiple exposure, select the first photo as the first photo in the multi-exposure set. But all of this jostles around the camera, which again I don't want.

I know what you mean about leaving it on and sensor noise, but as long as the camera is not actively taking photos all this time when it's on, surely the sensor itself is not energized and heating up, right?
 
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Jan 1, 2013
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I left my 60D on for over 36 hours, shooting with an intervalometer at 10 minutes interval. Auto-sleep was disabled so shots were reliable. A speedlight was used to illuminate the object so lighting could be even over the shots. Batteries in the speedlight had to be replaced twice in a 24 hour period.

So, with the 60D, it worked well. A 5D3 should perform better.
On the other hand, I would be a bit concerned with the gorilla pod. Over time, the friction on the pod may not hold up and may slip, if tiny amount.
-r
 
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Nov 12, 2016
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You're right about the Gorillapod. Oh well, if it moves on its own, it moves. It won't be the end of the world, I'm just trying an experiment. I did at least tape the feet down to the surface it's on, so those aren't moving. The camera only has a 40mm pancake lens on it, so it's not like a I have a heavy zoom lens weighing down on the tripod or anything.
 
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Jan 1, 2013
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If you can hang the camera upside down, and balance the camera on the pole the pod clings to, that may reduce the slip.
-r

Kit Lens Jockey said:
You're right about the Gorillapod. Oh well, if it moves on its own, it moves. It won't be the end of the world, I'm just trying an experiment. I did at least tape the feet down to the surface it's on, so those aren't moving. The camera only has a 40mm pancake lens on it, so it's not like a I have a heavy zoom lens weighing down on the tripod or anything.
 
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Valvebounce

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Hi.
I’m with lion rock on the tripod, if you have a large tripod that you can invert the centre column and hang the camera upside down then that is a far better way to go.
If the camera sleeps, as opposed to you flipping the power switch, does it still loose the multi exposure settings? That seems pretty useless!
As far as not enabling sleep for reliable shots, I have not found an issue using my timer, the focus call from the timer wakes the camera whether the lens is set to manual or AF (the timer doesn’t know the state of the lens switch) and then the camera fires reliably every time. I’m not suggesting others might not have had issues, just that I haven’t.
If you are using a simple cable release then you can look for the wakeful state of the camera, card light flickers (l think), top screen fills with info! Then press the button.

Cheers, Graham.

Kit Lens Jockey said:
I'm using a wired remote, but no specific timer, I just want to take another photo with the camera in the exact same spot a few days from now. The camera is on a Gorillapod type thing, which is pretty flimsy, but it's the perfect height for this specific task. Only drawback is the camera is pretty easily moved when it's on this, so I'd like to avoid flipping the power switch on and off if I can help it.

I'm also using the in-camera multiple exposure feature, which is cumbersome to use unless you leave the camera on between exposures. Yes, I could take a photo, shut off the camera, turn it back on, go into the menu, set up the multiple exposure, select the first photo as the first photo in the multi-exposure set. But all of this jostles around the camera, which again I don't want.

I know what you mean about leaving it on and sensor noise, but as long as the camera is not actively taking photos all this time when it's on, surely the sensor itself is not energized and heating up, right?
 
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Nov 12, 2016
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It's really too late for tripod recommendations at this point. The thing I wanted to take a photo of is a time sensitive process, and we're already past the point where I could redo it. And yes I have a tripod that I can invert, but I'm telling you it just wasn't the right tool for the job in this case.

Anyway, I guess I answered my own question... Somewhere between 12 and 24 hours of sitting idle, the camera did shut itself off. So there you have it, you cannot leave a 5D3 on indefinitely. So, I had to nudge the camera a bit to turn the power switch off and back on, but oh well, I think it's pretty much in the same place.

Also worthy of note, I was in the middle of a multiple exposure, with the camera set to record all individual photos as well as the final photo, and it did indeed record and keep the initial photo I took that was supposed to be part of a multiple exposure, even though it shut itself off while waiting for me to take the next photo of the multiple exposure. So, that might be helpful for someone to know.
 
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Mar 25, 2011
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Don Haines said:
As for tripods in the future.....

One of the things I have done is to drill into a solid cement block and epoxy in a 3/8 bolt, then attach the tripod head. That gets you a VERY stable mount that isn’t going to move.....

A piling driven into bedrock in a very stable earthquake free area works best for a mounting. That's what is done with sensitive instruments where any movement degrades the readings. Nothing is perfect, of course, its a matter of how good you can get.

A cement block laying on the ground is going to vibrate every time a truck goes by. There are some good vibration damping materials like sorbothane which you can use to damp out the trucks driving by. Its a expensive material.

https://www.amazon.com/Isolate-Sorbothane-Anti-Vibration-Leveling-Pieces/dp/B019O4YDC8/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1519175639&sr=8-17&keywords=vibration+absorbing+material
 
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