The temperature problems of the Canon EOS R5 seem to have a solution , but it does not come from Canon but through a user who in a fairly simple way has managed to record without time limitation. Which leads us to wonder how Canon didn’t do this kind of testing before.
Memory card out
If you have followed all the topic related to Canon and its new EOS R5 and R6 you will already be aware of the situation. The Japanese manufacturer recently unveiled its latest two mirror cameras with some truly amazing specs. Especially the EOS R5, capable of capturing video at 8K resolution or slow cameras at 120p and 4K resolution.
The problem is that as soon as the first users who were able to use it in the field, they realized something quite serious: the camera heats up and quite quickly. But of course, the biggest problem is not that, it is that when it happens (and you don’t really know when it will be) you are unable to continue recording.
Because it does not matter if you let the camera rest for a few minutes, when you use it again the recording time is reduced and you have to stop much longer for that initial value that sometimes was not fulfilled as Armando Ferreira indicated in a video. He commented that the camera had been on for a long time before starting the recording, only on, and when they went to record the warning jumped and they couldn’t even start.
Well, although some had already pointed to a software problem and excessive processing, now the person in charge of the YouTube channel No Life has shown how the Canon EOS R5 is capable of recording 4K at 30p with practically no time limitation and without cuts by high temperatures thanks to a solution as simple as removing the memory cards (CFExpress and SD) and using an external recorder.
This coincides with those other comments where some owners of an EOS R5 noticed that the body of the camera was not especially hot and the memory card was a little more. Therefore, would it be all a problem of excess heating at the processor level and bad dissipation of the body? Too demanding software level settings? Could it be solved by disabling the internal processing and recording to do it on an external medium?
It seems that a bit of everything, although through an optimization of the software and the use of an external recorder -like the Atomos Ninja V- the big problem of the new EOS R5 and R6 could be almost solved. Logically, when recording in 8K or 4K 120p, there would still be limitations, but the cameras would be usable in most of the recordings that even those users with a more professional profile would do. Because you have to remember that moving 8K material or those slow cameras is not something easy to say for many current computers.
Now it remains to be seen what Canon says about it. Especially why didn’t they try something like that before launching it. And if they did, why didn’t they comment on the possibility. Of course, there is nothing to reproach them, because if they have done something right from the start, it is to be transparent with the recording times and other characteristics.
Hopefully a firmware update fixes this whole situation and helps reassure those planning to invest in one. Because they are two very high value proposals, both for photographers and videographers.