7d overheating still a problem?

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Eljoninjo

Well-known member
Hi I still read that people have problems with there 7d overheat. Isnt it any firmware update that fix this yet? Or what do canon say about this issue?
I have a hvx200 and thinking of getting the 7d this week as a complement camera. The only reason I look at the 7d instead of the 60d is the hd out while recording. I have shot with the 550 and I get crazy everytime I hit record and the external monitor goes blue for 2 seconds before I get the picture in the monitor. Also it is important to watch the focus while shooting.
But 7d seams to have the most overheating problems of all the canon cameras due to the dual processor I guess.

Is 7d a good buy or a good bye? 60d has everything I need from the 7d but hd out while monotoring.
 
Yes. Read the camera comparison sticky up top.
Personally, its one of the reasons I don't shoot with a 7d. Also, having magic lantern was more important to me than hdmi out. ML has excellent tools to assist in focus (live magnification box, focus peaking, etc).
 
All indications I've seen point to this being a hardware issue. Firmware will never be able to fix it. It doesn't usually come up, but I have had it happen at events before. That's why the GH1 is my primary event camera. The 7D is great if you're shooting narrative projects because you aren't pushing the camera for such long periods that it has issues.
 
Naw, the grip wont help. Ive heard of people using ice packs around the camera...
Also, you are shooting what?
If its long, get something that can handle the longer record times. I shoot with the GH2 and it has a nifty touch focus which allows my to shoot without worry. But if I use a Nikon/Canon lens, it has a focus zoom which helps.
I cant chime in about the other Canon models, but im sure someone will give you the "Down Low" on them.

But it sounds like the 7D isnt a good fit for you, with your given needs.
 
I do mostly comercials, corporate, interview and produkt videos. I really dislike using the 550 with external monitor.
So the hd out is a big sellpoint for me. Only problem is the heat problem. I need to rely on a camera. Also 2 processors
 
ive had my 7d for over a year or maybe a year and it overheated 2 times in that time period...and these were brutally hot days. So its not much of an issue for me. I have my camera set to turn off every 2 minutes or a minute ( i cant remember) if its idle. So i'm sure that helps somewhat.
 
I dont want to turn it of. Isnt the problem it gets hot of the recording? Also a person said the lcd makes ithot and the external monitor out helps this. This because the lcd turn off.
 
Yes, its the camera sensor that gets hot whilst recording. The 2 Processors shouldn't make to much a difference when choosing the camera.
I think the 2 Processors are more for the photo end of the camera...zippy menus, and faster focusing.
 
I've heard the 550D is more prone to overheating then the 7D, but a battery grip alleviates a lot of in-body heat.

And the dual processors allow the video output in HD while recording.
 
I've never overheated. The warning only came on once in 100+ degree weather. I shoot narrative. I set mine to shut off at 1 min.

It was the 550D that was overheating all summer last year. Just look at all of the threads from last year. It gave me something to gloat about. (There's not much)
 
If you are shhoting events in the summer outdoors... You are playing roulette....That simple...
 
well as i said...it overheated twice in the long time i;ve had it on 2 brutally hot days. iv shot in hot days already with no issue. I dont know if an external monitor helps or not but i have mine set to turn off after a minute if its idle. I shoot short films, commercials and music vids so thats not a problem. I dont shoot events, i would not use it for events...and thats not because of the heating but cuz of the time limit and audio.
 
I wish to keep it on for long times but not record so long each time. Do you really have to have it set to turn of every 1 or 2 min.
I can not believe this camera be popular if it overheats just be turned on for a while.
 
natums said:
I've heard the 550D is more prone to overheating then the 7D, but a battery grip alleviates a lot of in-body heat.

And the dual processors allow the video output in HD while recording.
Click to expand...

WhiteMonkey said:
I've never overheated. The warning only came on once in 100+ degree weather. I shoot narrative. I set mine to shut off at 1 min.

It was the 550D that was overheating all summer last year. Just look at all of the threads from last year. It gave me something to gloat about. (There's not much)
Click to expand...

Interesting that you guys are saying that, because my experience (and those that I've worked with) are the opposite. Yes, there have been threads about T2i's overheating, but do you really think a 7D in that same situation would NOT have overheated?

I had a shoot recently, a live stage event, in which I recorded it using 2 T2i's running Magic Lantern back-to-back recording (when the recording limit is reached, it restarts only losing about 3 seconds of material). Set one to start 1-2 minutes after the other so that when one camera has a gap, I can cut to camera B and vice versa.
Each camera was in constant use for over an hour.
At the end, both were a little warmer than I was comfortable with, however neither displayed an overheat warning the entire time (and someone was watching each camera to make sure things were moving smoothly).

I think the lesson eljoninjo can take from all this is that you'll always find people who've had different experiences. The ones with bad experiences will voice them rather loudly, while others when asked will say they've never had anything like that.

Will it happen to you? It depends- find someone who shoots something similar to what you would be shooting, in a climate and scenario similar to yours. Personally, I'm under the impression that the dual-chip design of the 7D creates more heat more quickly, and this has been confirmed by colleagues of mine as well as some of my camera store rep buddies (mostly B&H photo folks- really nice guys if you want to talk cameras). In fact, I know people who last year sold their 7D bodies for T2i's. That was last year, though. These days, I think they would have opted for the 60D or the T3i. I'm not even sure I've seen any overheat threads for either of those yet. Then again, summer is coming up. ;)

Eljoninjo said:
I wish to keep it on for long times but not record so long each time. Do you really have to have it set to turn of every 1 or 2 min.
I can not believe this camera be popular if it overheats just be turned on for a while.
Click to expand...

That's one of the points I was trying to lead up to- the 7D was iconic when it was released because there wasn't much to compare it to.
But now, its not really as popular a choice anymore.

With large film crews, it is still the most popular because it is the ONLY one that have a live HD output for the crew to monitor during filming. But for smaller operations, I have to wonder why you are more interested in this model versus the others?
 
natums said:
And the dual processors allow the video output in HD while recording.
Click to expand...

Really? Where did you read that? Not to go on a tangent, just was curious about that statistic. Cant many of the other Canons output to HDMI as well (i.e. 5D, 60D, T2i).... And none of those have Duel Processors...
In all the readings i've seen, the Duel Processor was designed for more powerful/fast image processing when taking stills.

Wouldn't the battery grip act as an insulator, holding in heat after a few mins of usage? Sure it will take a few mins to heat up, but the 7D doesn't overheat in the beginning anyhow.

My wedding company used several 7D and 5Ds for some of the coverage, however we all knew after about 13-15mins. The camera had to be turned off, and wait for about 3 mins and start recording again. We only used normal HD cams for the event coverage.... not that anyone would want to cover an entire wedding with an HDSLR :P

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daihard said:
Really? Where did you read that? Not to go on a tangent, just was curious about that statistic. Cant many of the other Canons output to HDMI as well (i.e. 5D, 60D, T2i).... And none of those have Duel Processors...
In all the readings i've seen, the Duel Processor was designed for more powerful/fast image processing when taking stills.
Click to expand...

Every canon DSLR drops down to SD when you hit the record button. It is only HD in between takes. This is well documented.
See Cheesycam's demonstration here if you still doubt me. Or ask anyone here who has tried it. I recall someone emailed Canon to ask them about it, and received a response that the Digic 4 chip isn't powerful enough to encode video and output HD at the same time. Its one or the other.

Yes, the dual processor was put in the 7D to take more fps during rapid still shooting. The idea is to have a second processor to take the load off the first while the previous image is being processed. The fortunate side effect of having all that extra CPU power lying around is apparently that you also don't need to choose between recording HD and outputting it to an external monitor.

Wouldn't the battery grip act as an insulator, holding in heat after a few mins of usage? Sure it will take a few mins to heat up, but the 7D doesn't overheat in the beginning anyhow.
Click to expand...
No, maybe someone with some more physics knowledge can chime in and explain why batteries get so hot, but you'll likely notice the same thing on a cell phone or any digital device- when there is a large draw of power, the battery heats up as well as the processor. Having a battery outside the body of your camera keeps at least one source of heat away from the other source of heat, and allows more physical space for it to dissipate. It won't solve the problem, but it can alleviate it.

My wedding company used several 7D and 5Ds for some of the coverage, however we all knew after about 13-15mins. The camera had to be turned off, and wait for about 3 mins and start recording again. We only used normal HD cams for the event coverage.... not that anyone would want to cover an entire wedding with an HDSLR :P
Click to expand...

Hmm- are you sure you were getting an overheating warning after 13-15 minutes? Because that sounds like the normal limit of the file system Canon uses (limited to 4GB at a time). Usually when you reach that you can start recording again right away- you only need to turn the camera off for a few minutes if it actually overheats and will refuse to record until cooling down.

...and just FYI, I know people who shoot weddings entirely on DSLRs. And they swear by them (I thought they were crazy honestly, but it does happen).
 
@M. Gilden
Good to know, I personally am not a Canon shooter these days for my gigs. Just the company I was working for used Canons for the photo side..also Canons had the best video features of DSLRs at the time, so we used them for video as well.
I didn't know all Canons except the 7D didn't display HD whilst recording. We used a LCD attachment for our needs.
Most of our usage was Bride/Groom prep and venue shots, so we had time to tweak the focus.
Yes, it is the video clip size limit... but we also got temp warnings on many occasions, so it became more of a habit to switch the cam off for a min. (usually shooting outdoors around 75-85 degree weather, or inside a large hotel ballrooms)
Thats a good point about the battery grip, you are right about the battery heating up.... My thinking was more about insulation, but the battery heat would be a much larger factor in the equation... then insulation.

Ye, i heard of people covering the entire wedding with HDSLR... but why? Aside for being a bi*ch to focus and stabilize, you have insanely large files, expensive CF/SD cards, bulky and cumbersome add ons (rigs, mics, lights, monitors, etc...), limited recording times/limits, etc...
When a HD video cam can cover all the "evening" things without half as much hassel.

I personally use a GH2 with Nikon lenses, since im usually solo I just figure its less to deal with and worry about. Also running around I have to be light and simple and longer record times.
I guess ill have to put it to the test though, as Wedding season approaches here in Hungary... and Dubai (My previous work), it just finished.
 
The use of two processors is well documented on Canon's website for the product. So that's something you can take as fact. It's used for photos.

Yes, different people have different experiences, but a few of us have had it overheat, which means it can. That's all that matters. Not if it will. If there is any reasonable chance of something like that happening you need to assume it will and be prepared, otherwise you could easily be caught in a bad situation. I will admit the only time mine overheated was during a wedding on a very hot day, but I don't know that it won't happen other times. That's why long shoots require bringing something else, especially if its hot. Or don't record continuous long takes. Or be prepared to wait a couple of minutes if it does happen. It's really not a huge issue unless you put the camera in a situation where it becomes a huge issue, like being your safe shot camera during an event in summer. So just don't do that and you'll probably be fine. Interviews and corporate videos are a very different situation, so the risk is not so high.

One of the advantages of HDSLRs for weddings, and most of why I don't mind using them, is that people tend to be a lot more comfortable around a little camera that could be taking stills than they are with a larger rig. It helps for candid shots and for making the film crew invisible.
 
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