Overheating / Cooling

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I had a shoot in a very hot spot yesterday. On a top floor city parking garage in Jakarta all day with a roof of skylights, full sun, a wall of 30 air conditioners blowing out hot air from the building at us, and two 1000 watt open face spots aimed close to the 550D. The camera overheated very quickly. We were shooting the interior of a car that was running with the AC on. As soon as I saw the heat warning appear I pulled the battery out and held the spare battery in front of one the AC vents and the 550D open battery compartment in front of the other. They were both stone cold in less than a minute, worked great in an emergency.
The AC pumps out dry air that may be better than ice packs or other cooling methods that contain moisture.
This may sound like a no brainer, but sometime the simplest solution is right in front of your nose. That's why I posted this tip.

 

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550D Auto Battery Cooler

 

[robotsound]

Cool tip. I've read (but not verified) that the optional battery grip accessory can help with overheating as well. It kind of makes sense, since it moves the batteries (it holds two) farther away from the camera internals.

 

[ROCKMORE]

I've read (but not verified) that the optional battery grip accessory can help with overheating as well. It kind of makes sense, since it moves the batteries (it holds two) farther away from the camera internals.

That would probably help a lot. The handle always gets very hot before the camera starts overheating. Today I was shooting with the 60D and noticed the screen flipped out on the side was also heating up but away from the camera body. Anything that separates the components is sure to help. If I need to keep the camera running a long time I will also invest in an external battery grip.