A7R II 4K recording shut down times

A

A7s_user

Active member
I am just selling my A7R II, as it was unusable for me, because of its short times till shut down in 4K video mode. I've read a lot here and in other forums and am very unsure. Could they have "improved" it (maybe by just allowing 1-3° more before shut down with newer firmware, without newer firmware number) between different batches of production? Some recording times seem to be much better, even at higher temperatures, than with my A7R II.

My A7R II (with a 3772xxx serial number and FW 1.00) shuts down very soon with these parameters:


  • IBIS off
  • noise reduction off
  • s35 mode
  • PP on
  • foreign lense, so no AF or similar
  • LCD fully folded open
  • put on tripod
  • internal recording 4K/100MBit
  • or internal + HDMI out recording, with recording triggered by cam
  • or HDMI out only, with recording triggered by cam



  • The critical temperature seems to be at 18-20°C indoor or outside with little to now wind. Temp. warning and following shutdown can be reliable expected at my cam from less than 5 minutes upto +20min. At this temp. its almost certain that it shuts down before reaching 30min recording limit.
  • Few degrees less and/or little more wind may cool camera, so it would reach recording limit. I had success at around 15°C and some wind and were able to record several times 30min in a row. It's uncritical below that temp. outdoors to record "endless" (several 30min steps).
  • starting recording on external recorder (not by record button on cam) SEEMS to influence recording times positivly - I could record "endless" (more than one hour) at around 18° indoor with Odyssey triggering recording. Only few tests, since I need the cam without external recorder...


Does this compare to your experiences?
Or do I have an "early A7R II, which could improve by "14bit raw"-firmware update (containing any unmentioned temp improvement), so better not to sell it immediatly?
 
Last month I was shooting in India with roughly 25-35°C consistently in 4k, or 120fps HD, usually in the 5 minute range, with no issues. Haven't done any specific tests for longer recording, but I have yet to experience that shut down. You may simply have a faulty unit?

Always with IBIS on, mix of native and EF adapted lens.
 
Typically the dummy batteries that connect A/C power are more less hollow with very little in the way of circuits. Perhaps someone with knowledge of electronics and soldering skills could mod a dummy battery and encase a tiny fan to see it would have any impact on cooling. If I were handy in that dept. I would give it a shot myself just for the fun of it.
 
maranfilms said:
Typically the dummy batteries that connect A/C power are more less hollow with very little in the way of circuits. Perhaps someone with knowledge of electronics and soldering skills could mod a dummy battery and encase a tiny fan to see it would have any impact on cooling. If I were handy in that dept. I would give it a shot myself just for the fun of it.
Click to expand...
Good idea and maybe just using grip woul help. Not only because there would be more space in a battery slot but battery it self is emmiting heat.
 
For a fan to work, it would need an air input and an air output, and some interface with warm areas in the camera in the middle. I don't think you can get that in the confined space of the battery compartment. Maybe with a heatpipe system taking the heat out for it to be blown by a fan outside, or simething like that... Not worth the effort if you ask me.
 
But I still do not know, if my A7R II is really faulty or if something was improved with FW 1.1 (I will check later) or in hardware at later production batches.

@llirik
This sounds great, seems to be longer than on my cam - but maybe 5 minutes shots are somehow different. My 5 minutes shut downs only happened after a longer period of say 15-20 min before.

So, are there any more experiences with the A7R II shutting down?
 
As you may know the A7sII manual makes a point about HD record vs 4K record, it will do 4K up to 29mins at 30deg but not at 40deg, however it still claims 29 mins record at HD at 40deg.

IMHO the compression system may be quite processor intensive hence the external recorder doing well.

cheers
Paul
 
Jep, your tests and mentioning the manual of A7S II are very depressant, thanks again! I've ordered the A7S II already since I need one anyway. But I would like to find out the recording times for the A7R II vary between different FW/hardware, since some guys seem to get better times than me. The problem is, the same recording times are mentioned in A7R II manual too, which is not true for my camera:

The duration of time available for movie recording is as follows when the camera starts recording after the power of the camera has been turned off for a while. (The
following values indicate the continuous time from when the camera starts recording
until the camera stops recording.).

Ambient temperature | Continuous recording time for movies (HD) | Continuous recording time for movies (4K)

20°C (68°F) | About 29 minutes |About 29 minutes

30°C (86°F) | About 29 minutes | About 29 minutes

40°C (104°F) | About 29 minutes | About 22 minutes



HD: AVCHD FH (17 Mbps)

4K: XAVC S 4K (Super 35 mm, 60 Mbps)
Click to expand...

It's even not 4K/100 Mbit/sek (page 95). So we need more experienced times for A7R II and A7S II please...
 
I did a few run tests in my 80+ degree garage and out in the open sun when it was about 95, I made it to the time limit in both situations using the FE 70-200, LCD out, airplane mode and probably IBIS off - don't remember the rest of the settings. I shoot shorter clips, usually just gathering B-roll and short 5-10 min interviews, shut off camera between takes and so on and I've never had it shut down. If I shoot a longer take I swap batteries because they get real hot too. Long run tests are the only time its happened to me, and total record time was almost double shooting FF compared to S35. That full readout really generates a lot of heat.

My camera was part of the initial shipment. Using the lower bitrate extended record times before shutting down. I switch between the two 4k bitrates depending on what I'm shooting.
 
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