D90 5 minute record limitation

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pilgrimtoad

Member
I've been reading conflicting reports on this issue and wanted it confirmed here, where people actually use the thing!

Is there a firmware upgrade that allows you to record to the max mem card capacity in the d90 or is it still stopped automatically after 5 minutes?

Thanks for settling this for me.
 
The max memory card capacity has nothing to do with the 5min clip limit. You can record to the max capacity of any card, but your still limited to 5mins for unknown reasons really. Some say it's cause of over heating issues, other says it has do with taxes and others say it has to do with it's buffer something another. But point being, no firmware has been issued for the D90 for anything. Unless you're doing weddings or live events, it really has no affect on what you record, definitely no affect on narrative filmmaking.

And just to be clear, after 5mins is up, you can record another 5mins, and another after that, it's just limited to 5mins at a time until your card is full.
 
From my experience, I'm able to just record 5 minutes, immediately pickup recording again, I'm not sure if I've had it overheat on me just yet. It's a real pain in the ass to deal with when you want to record something for a long time.
 
Shooting 10 minute segments ie 2 back to back 5 minute shots (plus some very short segments of additional footage) with significant gaps in between each sequence, my D90 will usually be overheating after 3 or 4 hours, and takes quite a time to cool down.

I haven't seen any significant (additional) noise in the shots even when it is overheating though.
 
Regarding the overheating issue, I'm almost 99% certain it's the LCD that cause the camera to get hot. I've had it only once, get hot, and I wasn't even recording....just using Live View.
 
So you mean the sensor would be inactive until you press rec? Where do you think the live view image comes from? :-)
 
Thanks all. Helpful to know.

Are any of you aware of any firmware updates planned?

This 5 min clip issue is a problem for long shoots, such as an interview project I am in the planning stages of, and seems like an odd/unnecessary limitation...

Why not just shut down when it overheats rather than at the arbitrary 5 min mark?

This seems particularly odd as csainsbury has shot continuously for 3-4 hours before an overheat.

Hmmm.....
 
I was only shooting in bursts - approx 10 mins per shot with maybe 20 mins between shots. Once it starts to overheat you only get about 30s before it turns itself off. Had to let it cool for an hour or so then.
 
I've had mine overheat once. I had it in LV constantly for an hour(ish) doing 3-5 shots and pausing recording only to move around my sticks. I now turn off LV between shots and have had no further problems.
 
I think I read somewhere that it was also a tax issue. That is: in some territories anything that records more than 5 mins at a time would be considered a camcorder and thus would be subject to camcorder taxes. I guess Nikon wanted to avoid that, thus the 5min limit.
 
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