C500: C500 Fan noise be gone!

Wow that fan sounds pretty loud to my old ears, it sounds like when your Macbook pro is taxed on the battery front, and the fans kick in to cool down the mother board, it also sounds like my old old Mac G4 that had a fan running all the time (pretty loud) I think this is not a very good camera for long interviews, unless something can control the fans from coming on? It's fine when you first start recording till 8 minuets in for me, then the fans come on for two minuets then they go off for 4 minuets, and so on. In an intimate setting say a 12x12 room you would hear the fans going on and off for sure. I hope the external fan set up will keep the insides cool enough in 2K and 4K to not set of the internal fans. My old Eclair NPR camera without the sound jacket on it is much quieter. What was Canon thinking? This camera gets really hot! so I can understand why these fans come on, I did this test on the C500 for 45 minuets set to 2K.
 
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That's such a pain. Is it constant meaning I record interviews say 2 minutes stop next question. Does it come on just for long recordings and stop and starting.

Sounds like you were disappointed. Have you tested it in 4K?

Thanks
 
Not that I am buying a C500 but this is good to know as MANY of my interviews are shot in tiny production offices, executive offices at the studios and space is always tight and sound is always an issue, even without fan noise. Long, continuous interviews sometimes up to 90 minutes long are stock in trade for what I do, docs and EPK/BTS. Having to deal with it would make the C500 a non-starter for me to ever rent or borrow, at least for interviews in small rooms. Problem is, I rarely know what the offices will look like until we arrive on location.
 
So for any of those thinking the fan noise is okay for interviews, from my testing it isn't! I just replied, on yet another FAN thread started here, read bellow.

Chris, I have been working with many cameras over the years, and this Canon C500 is by far the noisiest one of the bunch (I here from forums the Epic is pretty loud too) :( There are many sound issues going out on location: the fridge, air conditioning, people talking in other rooms, leaf blowers here in LA, the fan on the C500 would now be the main problem in the room for the sound recordist, it is such a shame to only now discover this problem with the c500. I bought a brand new one just two weeks ago! I was so happy to finally get this camera, I opened the box, attached the monitor, then the battery, switched the camera on and was prompted REMOVE THE SDI SIDE COVER ( the camera was set record 4K out of the box) I then removed the side cover, the camera began the whir, the camera was now in standby mode set to 4K, this fan noise confused the heck out of me, was it going to quiet down I said to myself? I fiddled around and hit the record button and presto, the camera went quiet! what a relief. Well now we know that noise will come back on in 7-11 minuets while recording in 2K or 4K, the fan will stay on for two minuets to cool the camera, then turn back off for four minuets, this goes in this cycle till you turn off the camera and for interviews this fan noise is not going to work. I found that Matt Porwoll Blog post about the "Problem Solved" which shows the fan system AbleCine built for him, this little devise will be the last deciding factor for me on whether the C500 stays or goes? The C500 ranks so high in regards it's picture, such a shame it has this noise (fan) problem.
 
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Hey guys

How you getting on with the fan noise?

Also is it 6/8 minutes recording the fan noise kicks in? If you do takes in 3 minute bursts does the fan not kick in? So record 3 minutes and then stop and start

Thanks
 
I would think it mostly depends on the room/outside temperature and the camera's internal temperature?
 
That's really open to personal taste/opinion...some people think the C300 Mark II is filmic...some think the FS7 is...BMPCC...GH4...
 
Of course I was comparing more C500 VS C300MKII i know there is the addition of CLOG 2 and dynamic range.

B.Berry, how you getting on with the fan mod?

Thanks
 
ollywood88 said:
Of course I was comparing more C500 VS C300MKII i know there is the addition of CLOG 2 and dynamic range.

B.Berry, how you getting on with the fan mod?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Hey Oliver,

I know you where not asking me, but my mod is working great! I picked up an Odyssey 7Q+ and will be shooting footage for a documentary "Pilot" show this weekend. We will be using the C500 in 2k 12Bit to ProRes and my Canon 1DC in 4K for B-Roll and 2nd Camera. I am excited to see the results. Some would say the C500 is more filmic, but I have used both a little and think both the C500 and C300 MK II look great. I have heard and believe that if both cameras are shot in the original CLOG there won't be much difference in Dynamic range or from what I understand image. From what I have been told, the C300 MK II will have less noise in this situation, but I have not tested them side by side, so I can't speak from a personal experience on this subject.

Best Regards,

Chris
 
C500 Fan Noise

C500 Fan Noise

Huh. I'm just picking up on this thread now. I had a C500 and the fan would run when the camera was not recording, when I hit record the fan would stop and not come on until I stopped recording. Never had a fan problem affecting sound. THere was a menu setting for fan which determined fan operation if I recall correctly. IS the fan noise problem with the C500 a new thing due to some firmware update?
 
Mark Smith said:
Huh. I'm just picking up on this thread now. I had a C500 and the fan would run when the camera was not recording, when I hit record the fan would stop and not come on until I stopped recording. Never had a fan problem affecting sound. THere was a menu setting for fan which determined fan operation if I recall correctly. IS the fan noise problem with the C500 a new thing due to some firmware update?
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Hey Mark,

The fan noise does turn off temporarily up to 14 mins or so and then it triggers back on for 4 mins or so and then off for 8 mins and so on and so on. This is not a problem for most Narrative film, TV commercials, or B-Roll type shoots, but can be a problem for long Documentary interviews.

Best Regards,

Chris
 
CMAC, Sorry I didn't include you in the post, thanks for the feedback.

I am considering one of these very soon just working out my options before any price hikes.

Mark Smith, have you not had any problems? Also you guys recording 2k via the 7Q heard the atoms does not cover it.

Thanks
 
Just wondering about everyones experience with the C500 fan. We got ours and will get the yellow overheat icon within about 5 mins recording in 4K. At about 10 mins, the icon will turn red and the fan will kick on. I'm assuming this is normal?!?
 
JoeMedia said:
Just wondering about everyones experience with the C500 fan. We got ours and will get the yellow overheat icon within about 5 mins recording in 4K. At about 10 mins, the icon will turn red and the fan will kick on. I'm assuming this is normal?!?
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Hey Joe,

I have built a prototype fan system with a steel mount that shuts the fans down and is very quite. I have run my camera for 1hr and 40 mins in a 70 degree room and not had the fan or the temperature warning icon come on during that time. I do a lot of interviews and find the internal fan noise to be unacceptable for my taste.

Feel free to PM me if you would like to learn more and get a fan modification kit. It takes me about 20 seconds to take my prototype off and under a minute to put it back on. I am not going to make a lot of these, but am willing to fabricate a few as I know this is important to some in order to breath new life back into this beautiful camera.

Best Regards,

Chris McGuinness
www.pulsecinema.com
 
Thanks Chris. Will contact you in a minute. This particular C500 is a loaner from Canon. We bought ours last month and it immediately overheated out of the box (icon immediately went red). We sent it in for repair and Canon has had it ever since. They are still testing ours to see why it's overheating so quickly. We also noticed quite a bit of digital noise after it overheated. I believe the sensor got damaged from the heat. We own multiple C300's and have never experienced these problems. (Realize 4K is taxing the cooling system) I was just shocked the loaner displayed the heat warning so quickly. Called Canon this morning and they said it's normal for the yellow warning icon to display but it shouldn't go red at all. Just seeing what others experience is. Thanks for the reply.
j
 
JoeMedia said:
Thanks Chris. Will contact you in a minute. This particular C500 is a loaner from Canon. We bought ours last month and it immediately overheated out of the box (icon immediately went red). We sent it in for repair and Canon has had it ever since. They are still testing ours to see why it's overheating so quickly. We also noticed quite a bit of digital noise after it overheated. I believe the sensor got damaged from the heat. We own multiple C300's and have never experienced these problems. (Realize 4K is taxing the cooling system) I was just shocked the loaner displayed the heat warning so quickly. Called Canon this morning and they said it's normal for the yellow warning icon to display but it shouldn't go red at all. Just seeing what others experience is. Thanks for the reply.
j
Click to expand...

I have never seen mine turn read, so that does sound like an issue. Without the external fan modification, it turns yellow then in a bit the fans trigger and are quite load. I have the a brand new unit with the latest firmware.

Chris
 
Honestly I don't think I ever ran into this fan cycling problem with my 500. Are you shooting long form 4K interviews ? I can't recall having that issue and I did do some longer 4K takes with the camera recording to O7Q. I don't have the camera any more having switched to a C300 Mk2 ....so I can't test it out on my end anymore.
 
Mark Smith said:
Honestly I don't think I ever ran into this fan cycling problem with my 500. Are you shooting long form 4K interviews ? I can't recall having that issue and I did do some longer 4K takes with the camera recording to O7Q. I don't have the camera any more having switched to a C300 Mk2 ....so I can't test it out on my end anymore.
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Hey Mark,

Canon itself admits to this issue and even has images of how it turns on and off repetitively after 14 mins. Shane Hurlbut also says he would not recommend this camera for Documentary work due to the sound issues from the internal fans.

Here's a test I did to show the issue:

https://vimeo.com/188426060

Thank you Mark.

Best Regards,

Chris
 
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