Teardown: Canon EOS R5 by Lensrentals.com

tron

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Nov 8, 2011
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Since this thread is about the R5 teardown, I'll mention what recently happened to my R5:

I got my new R5 and lenses a while back (yay!). So I decided to put it on a tripod with a RF 70-200 f2.8 lens with lens hood and put it out on my outside deck at minimum focus distance for 200mm at my hummingbird feeder. I started an unlimited 8K raw video with a formatted 325GB Prograde Cobalt card. My goal is to extract, from the video, some nice 8K pixel wide still frames of hummingbirds in flight or in a good pose while sitting there (in pre-determined focus). Since this is about the fourth time I've done this, I thought I'd go back inside and get on the computer and come back after the CFExpress card filled up.

After getting distracted for about an hour while focused on my computer, I looked outside and marveled at just how hard the rain had been coming straight down for the last 5 minutes or so. Then it hit me - BAM - wasn't my camera outside on the porch? DOHHHHHH!!!!!!

I ran to my deck, grabbed the camera & tripod (still in the pouring rain) and brought it inside. I got some nice quality towels (the kind they use at car washes) to slowly dab the water off the camera & lens. When I got most of it off I dared to look inside the lens hood to see how much water got on the front lens - and saw there wasn't a drop on it! - There wasn't any moisture at all on it! Wow - that long lens hood really made a difference, way more than I'd expect. After getting all the water off it (including the back LCD) that I could see I left it in a dry location to sit for a few hours. After that I opened the battery door (remembering seeing Sony Alpha videos of water running out of its battery compartment when people did an intentional water test with it). There was no water there - not a speck of moisture. The top LCD had no moisture anywhere (including under the glass itself which I really worried about). The back LCD & EVF had no moisture on them or under the glass. Next I slowly took the lens off and saw that there was not a speck of water around the mount surfaces, at the back of the lens or inside the camera that I could see. Looking through the lens, there was no water or moisture at all that I could see. I couldn't find any moisture anywhere.

In the few days past, I have used the same R5 and lens for lots more pictures, and there was no problem whatsoever.

All I can say is "Thanks, Canon! You did a great water sealing job!", followed by "I hope I'm never this stupid again!"
Thanks for sharing your experience with us. Nice to know R5 is so well sealed.
 
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cornieleous

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Was pleased to see Roger not be an armchair mechanical engineer with thermal specialty. He admitted what he didn't know right away- intellectual honesty is rare these days but worthy of respect and trust. Still, the teardown may lead to more speculation by plenty of amateurs.

It was always obvious even without opening one up that a weather sealed MILC with this much capability would have only conduction and not convection as a method of heat removal. About all that can be done is generate less heat, or dissipate heat to the body, which Canon has done fairly effectively. The magnesium alloy feels somehow different than a 5D4 but alloys of magnesium are not the best heat sink material. Plus, if a heat sink is in hot ambient condition, it becomes less effective. Nothing was that eye opening in this teardown except how dense the design is and how well built most of the sub components are.
 
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usern4cr

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If so, then if only all lenses had a tripod mount, not just the larger ones and lens adapter.
I don't get what you mean?

The tripod mount that the R5 heat is connected to is the threaded hole at the bottom of the camera. It wouldn't be connected to anything if you hooked your tripod up to the foot of the lens itself, so that wouldn't help dissipate heat at all.
 
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I don't get what you mean?

The tripod mount that the R5 heat is connected to is the threaded hole at the bottom of the camera. It wouldn't be connected to anything if you hooked your tripod up to the foot of the lens itself, so that wouldn't help dissipate heat at all.
You could mount the lens to the tripod, and then something else to the camera body's tripod thread that is better designed to dissipate the heat.
 
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usern4cr

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You could mount the lens to the tripod, and then something else to the camera body's tripod thread that is better designed to dissipate the heat.
Yeah, I guess you could. If you hooked up a peltier cooler which was screwed in to the camera tripod mount then I wonder if you could extract enough heat from that spot to make much of a difference? I'm guessing you'd get a noticeable runtime increase, but how much would it turn out to be? And that would take a 120/240V wall-plug to run, unless you had mondo batteries hooked up & carried around.
 
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Yeah, I guess you could. If you hooked up a peltier cooler which was screwed in to the camera tripod mount then I wonder if you could extract enough heat from that spot to make much of a difference? I'm guessing you'd get a noticeable runtime increase, but how much would it turn out to be? And that would take a 120/240V wall-plug to run, unless you had mondo batteries hooked up & carried around.
My armchair view is that a battery grip with built-in Peltier cooler/fan connected to the tripod mount would be the ideal scenario. The tripod mount is connected to one of the thermal spreaders and the grip also has physical contact with the base plate but heat conduction will primarily be via the tripod mount. It has an additional tripod mount so no issues with expansion. Vertical grip buttons would not be required as video (mostly) is landscape orientation. Grip can be made deeper to still hold 2 batteries and/or external power as well as the additional circuitry for the cooler.
Another advantage would be to keep the batteries warm if needed ie fan or not in very cold weather to maintain battery performance. Fridge-like ambient temperatures have some effect on the overheating times but I haven't seen any reviews in deep cold yet.
 
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My armchair view is that a battery grip with built-in Peltier cooler/fan connected to the tripod mount would be the ideal scenario. The tripod mount is connected to one of the thermal spreaders and the grip also has physical contact with the base plate but heat conduction will primarily be via the tripod mount. It has an additional tripod mount so no issues with expansion. Vertical grip buttons would not be required as video (mostly) is landscape orientation. Grip can be made deeper to still hold 2 batteries and/or external power as well as the additional circuitry for the cooler.
Another advantage would be to keep the batteries warm if needed ie fan or not in very cold weather to maintain battery performance. Fridge-like ambient temperatures have some effect on the overheating times but I haven't seen any reviews in deep cold yet.

I forgot about the Battery Grip (I had thought of a similar idea at start of the overheating talk). Thanks for the reminder! (now I need to patent it...don't tell anyone ;) )

:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 
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usern4cr

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My armchair view is that a battery grip with built-in Peltier cooler/fan connected to the tripod mount would be the ideal scenario. The tripod mount is connected to one of the thermal spreaders and the grip also has physical contact with the base plate but heat conduction will primarily be via the tripod mount. It has an additional tripod mount so no issues with expansion. Vertical grip buttons would not be required as video (mostly) is landscape orientation. Grip can be made deeper to still hold 2 batteries and/or external power as well as the additional circuitry for the cooler.
Another advantage would be to keep the batteries warm if needed ie fan or not in very cold weather to maintain battery performance. Fridge-like ambient temperatures have some effect on the overheating times but I haven't seen any reviews in deep cold yet.
I don't know exactly how much power you need for a Peltier cooler to suck enough heat from the camera tripod hole to be enough to justify the effort. But I *do* know that Peltier coolers take a very large amount of energy to function, and generate a tremendous amount of heat *in addition* to the heat they extract. So if you put this in a fairly normal looking dual battery/grip I'd think you'd run your batteries out of juice in a pitifully short time. Hence my guess that it'd have to have a 120/240 wall plug or else DC cables to a big car or Lithium battery. My guess is that 2 camera batteries can't really do the job with a Peltier cooler.
 
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I don't know exactly how much power you need for a Peltier cooler to suck enough heat from the camera tripod hole to be enough to justify the effort. But I *do* know that Peltier coolers take a very large amount of energy to function, and generate a tremendous amount of heat *in addition* to the heat they extract. So if you put this in a fairly normal looking dual battery/grip I'd think you'd run your batteries out of juice in a pitifully short time. Hence my guess that it'd have to have a 120/240 wall plug or else DC cables to a big car or Lithium battery. My guess is that 2 camera batteries can't really do the job with a Peltier cooler.
I am not a thermal engineer but external power is the obvious long term solution ie what videographers are looking for.
The grip with 2 x LP-E6NH gives 4.2Ahr so the question is how many watts need to be transferred to keep the temperature sensors (and associated circuitry) cool enough.
I believe that Peltiers are ~10% efficient plus the power for the fan as a simple heatsink wouldn't be enough. Trial and error would be needed to work this out depending on what times are needed. Even a modest cooling might be sufficient to double the current times or at least reduce the recovery times.
The upcoming firmware update with lower bit rates would be required to allow external recording (no cards in place) for 8k/30 and 4k/120 via the HDMI 2 port. That should increase the recording time in any case and be cheaper than CFe cards. If unlimited 8K recording was required then an external recorder and external power shouldn't be an issue compared to run and gun shooting.
Would be a fun project if people have some spare time :)
 
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The only thing I do remember from Roger's EOS R teardown was the quick conclusion that they would continue relying on lens based stabilization. We new otherwise from canon's patents and leaks, Roger is just too good at what he does to be concerned about future product rumors.

It's as if IBIS development was not ready for the EOS R's weaksauce debut. A good IBIS + the 5D4's sensor at the same price could have left a deeper dent in the segment and signaled stronger, Canon's intent. But we knew from those crazy RF L lenses that Canon was committed from Day 1 even if the new tech was not ready. And I dont blame them for the accelerated pace, the EOS R was rightly compared to the EOS 620 at the dawn the autofocus and electronic contact only lens mount era. And they skipped nifty 50 for RF, those guys.
 
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usern4cr

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I am not a thermal engineer but external power is the obvious long term solution ie what videographers are looking for.
The grip with 2 x LP-E6NH gives 4.2Ahr so the question is how many watts need to be transferred to keep the temperature sensors (and associated circuitry) cool enough.
I believe that Peltiers are ~10% efficient plus the power for the fan as a simple heatsink wouldn't be enough. Trial and error would be needed to work this out depending on what times are needed. Even a modest cooling might be sufficient to double the current times or at least reduce the recovery times.
The upcoming firmware update with lower bit rates would be required to allow external recording (no cards in place) for 8k/30 and 4k/120 via the HDMI 2 port. That should increase the recording time in any case and be cheaper than CFe cards. If unlimited 8K recording was required then an external recorder and external power shouldn't be an issue compared to run and gun shooting.
Would be a fun project if people have some spare time :)
Yes, it would make a fun project. But what would interest me is if they came out with a astronomy specific version of the camera (R5 or R6) - with different sensor filter and an add-on ability (by Canon or others) for a Peltier cooler through the tripod socket or additional bottom electrical interface, with 120/240V wall cord, or else DC cables to a big car or lithium battery(s).
 
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Yes, it would make a fun project. But what would interest me is if they came out with a astronomy specific version of the camera (R5 or R6) - with different sensor filter and an add-on ability (by Canon or others) for a Peltier cooler through the tripod socket or additional bottom electrical interface, with 120/240V wall cord, or else DC cables to a big car or lithium battery(s).
IBIS would need to be removed to enable any cooling of the sensor itself and I guess a heatpipe directly connected to the back of it to conduct heat somewhere external. The heat spreader to the tripod is at the back of the circuit boards if I follow Brian's teardown correctly. It isn't connected to the front spreader which is closest to the sensor, processors and card slots.
Using the R mount drop in adaptor with specific spectrum filters would be an interesting touch.
 
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