General Recording time limits: Rebel t3i vs. Rebel t4i vs. Rebel t5i vs. 5D MKii

J

jordy2324

Well-known member
Right now, I have a 60D, 7D and 5D MKii. They all record around 12 minutes HD before shutting off, regardless of the card size. I'm thinking of re-arranging my camera lineup, and wouldn't mind having a B or C cam that can shoot longer than 12 minutes)

So I've been looking over the Rebels and 5D Mkiii for a while. Here's what (I think) I know after looking over all the specs on the Canon Web site:

T3i -- with 16gb card has 44 minute time limit for HD and 22 minute with 8GB card (weird)
T4i -- has 22 minute time limit for HD (no mention of 8 or 16 GB card)
T5i -- with 16gb card has 44 minute time limit for HD and 22 minute with 8GB card (weird)'
5D Mkiii -- with 8GB card has a 32 min time limit in IPB (no mention of 16 GB card)

So here's my questions:

1. T3i and and T5i have 44 minute limit, what about the T4i with a 16 GB card?
2. Does movie recording automatically stop in all cameras at 29:59 or at 4GB (I'm guessing it stops and restarts after the 4GB limit?)?
2a. If recording does stop at 29:59 or 4GB, will it restart atomically in any of the cameras? Which ones?
3. Any huge differences between the 3 rebels? (I know the T3i is the only one with the 3-10 crop/zoom feature, while T4i and T5i have touch screen and an "auto-focus" in movie mode that doesn't work too well....)
4. Any comparisons of quality of the 5D mkiii in IPB and ALL-I? (I read they're pretty equal until iso 1600, where IPB starts to slightly lose IQ)

Thanks, ya'll!
 
jordy2324 said:
Right now, I have a 60D, 7D and 5D MKii. They all record around 12 minutes HD before shutting off, regardless of the card size. I'm thinking of re-arranging my camera lineup, and wouldn't mind having a B or C cam that can shoot longer than 12 minutes)
Click to expand...

The 12 minute limit is caused because every video file being written onto the card is capped at 4GB due to the FAT32 file system, one single file can only be as big as 4GB. You cannot use NTFS since Canon doesn't support it (because NTFS is Microsoft made and licensing was probably annoying, although I don't know about exFAT. I don't think any Canon cameras support exFAT yet.)

ProTip: recording an event with many DSLRs? Want to cover as much as possible? Press record on the first camera, wait a minute or two then press record on the second camera and so on. So you have a place to fall onto during editing.

1. T3i and and T5i have 44 minute limit, what about the T4i with a 16 GB card?
Click to expand...
It should be the same since the bit rates should be the same

2. Does movie recording automatically stop in all cameras at 29:59 or at 4GB (I'm guessing it stops and restarts after the 4GB limit?)?
Click to expand...
4GB because of filesystem limitations and it will not restart after stopping unless you put Magic Lantern on it and turn on the continuous video recording option. Note: Magic Lantern sucks up a lot of battery

2a. If recording does stop at 29:59 or 4GB, will it restart atomically in any of the cameras? Which ones?
Click to expand...
I believe none of them restart, as said above you can use Magic Lantern to fix this limitation.

3. Any huge differences between the 3 rebels? (I know the T3i is the only one with the 3-10 crop/zoom feature, while T4i and T5i have touch screen and an "auto-focus" in movie mode that doesn't work too well....)
Click to expand...

This is what the T4i and T5i have over the T3i:
-better internal mic, on the T3i it's a single spot to the left of the camera (when you face the screen) while the T4i and T5i have a better mic located in a better spot. It's also seperated into two mic areas so you actually get proper/better stereo audio. Although DSLR audio still sucks so get a proper mic.
-dedicated movie switch, on the ON/OFF switches, you get the movie option right above the ON switch location, so instead of turning the dial to movie move, which can be a hassle some times, just switch it directly into movie mode regardless of what mode you're in on the dial.
-access to STM lenses, these are the new lenses that are closer to how video lenses on broadcast cameras and such pull focus. It's similar to USM (ultra sonic motor) and it has better auto focus for video but I doubt you'll use the kit lens or get them.

4. Any comparisons of quality of the 5D mkiii in IPB and ALL-I? (I read they're pretty equal until iso 1600, where IPB starts to slightly lose IQ)

Thanks, ya'll!
Click to expand...
No idea on that part.
 
There are two different limits working together here.
1) FAT filesize limits
2) The 29:29 limit

If you use Magic Lantern on a 550/600/650D etc. you can change your bitrate and extend the time before you hit the FAT filesize limitation of about 12:00. But with reasonable quality this is only a slight extension. No Canon DSLR camera will auto-restart without Magic Lantern.

The 29:29 limit is for tax purposes. Legally the camera becomes a video camera when it can record 30 minutes consecutive, so this is disabled to reduce the tax paid in some parts of the world.

The 6D eliminates the FAT filesize limit by spanning clips across multiple files, so it records to the second limit, 29:29. It's possible that it will be able to exceed 29:29 with a simple firmware update or Magic Lantern tweak in the future.

If I were in the market for a rebel, I would be looking at the T3i or T4i. The T5i offers such small improvement, it's not worth the $100s more in price. Just don't go back to the T2i, which doesn't handle heat as well.
 
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