If It Wants to Beat the Canon r5 and r6, the Sony a7s III Just Needs to Shoot 4k 60p Without Overheating

If It Wants to Beat the Canon r5 and r6, the Sony a7s III Just Needs to Shoot 4k 60p Without Overheating

The phenomenal video features of the Canon EOS R5 are mind-blowing, so how can the soon-to-be-announced Sony a7S III possibly compete? The answer might be simple: shoot 4K 60p — or even 4K 30p — without overheating.

The R5 is yet to fall under proper scrutiny and be tested in the field by filmmakers who want to make the most of these incredible specifications making it hard to know just how good this camera is, despite the insane features. One major revelation has come to light, however: according to details unveiled on EOSHD, there will be some serious limitations when it comes to cranking up the video resolution.

Unearthed from among information supplied by Canon to one of its suppliers, there is a recording time limit of 20 minutes for those wishing to shoot in 8K due to overheating. 4K doesn’t fare much better: 4K 30p oversampled is restricted to 30 minutes, and if you want to shoot 4K 60p without a crop, you get up to 35 minutes (although that will mean shooting for 29 minutes and 59 seconds before hitting record again for another 5 minutes and 1 second). All of the chat suggests that if you want to shoot 4K without melting anything, you’ll need to shoot lineskipped 4K, and as Tony and Chelsea Northrup pointed out, the lack of actual reviews means that it might soon emerge that the rolling shutter is terrible.

The R5 has no mechanism to cool it down and both 8K and 4K place a lot of demands on the processor, producing a lot heat that threatens the integrity of the camera if it’s allowed to go beyond a certain level. In addition, Canon is sticking with the 29 minute 59-second record limit that’s a result of some odd taxes imposed on cinema cameras in Europe.

So where does this place the long-awaited Sony a7S III? Expected sometime in the next month (we assume), details are scant and Sony seems to have done a good job of keeping a lid on the specifications. That said, Sony Alpha Rumors is reporting something that should be of interest to filmmakers: there will be no recording time limits — neither as a result of overheating nor for tax purposes.

“But that’s ok,” you might think, “if overheating is a problem, maybe the R6 is a better option.” Unfortunately, it seems that the smaller sensor in the R6 doesn’t mitigate the heat problems and the 4K modes will be subject to very similar limitations:

While Canon is grabbing the headlines with the R5 and R6, Sony will steal some of them back with a7S III if it has found a means of overcoming the build up of heat that arises due to shooting such high resolution video in such a small unit. As mentioned in the video above, for shooters who are documenting a live event, sure, they might not need to shoot continuously for more than 20 or 30 minutes, but over the course of an hour, you might be filming intermittently, still building up heat, and the camera will not necessarily cool down sufficiently, especially if it’s in your hands between shots. The possibility that the camera suddenly decides that it’s too hot is not a pleasant prospect.

As a result, we might not see the exodus from Sony back to Canon that many are predicting, and this makes me even more intrigued to find out what Sony is planning. Is a 12-megapixel camera still viable in 2020? Will it shoot 4K 120p internally? Will Sony be aggressive with the pricing in order to make it more appealing than the R6? As usual, leave your thought in the comments below.

Andy Day's picture

Andy Day is a British photographer and writer living in France. He began photographing parkour in 2003 and has been doing weird things in the city and elsewhere ever since. He's addicted to climbing and owns a fairly useless dog. He has an MA in Sociology & Photography which often makes him ponder what all of this really means.

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It was inevitable that the media would get hung up on this and start basing the camera before it comes out. Here's the thing, at least Canon is up front and honest about it, and advises how to mitigate any issues in their documentation. A far better handing of the situation than other manufactures have done in the past.

For the price point it's, at least on paper, one of the best 8k/4k cameras and here's the caveat within it's limitations and price point. Especially if you shoot C-Log which it has full support for. At the end of the day all cameras have limitations you just work around them if the base features suit you, but of course that doesn't get clicks or views so brand bashing becomes the norm instead of actual analysis.

I doubt someone with 5-10 Canon lenses and uses current cameras will switch to Sony over 8K heating. People switch companies only if they have not invested in huge number of lenses and now I have a desire to shoot more video and not just still. And they are camera junkies like me - just leave us be.

Aye, and going by reports it's their best selling camera based on pre-launch sales leading to likely delays in fulfilling orders. This cameras is going to make Canon bucket loads of cash. It's going to be interesting to see how the mirrorless market shapes over the coming months. It's good to see Canon actually taking the fight to Sony again.

Now all we need is the final production reviews and how it performs in the real world before the media proclaims all Canon cameras should come with a fire extinguisher (which is going to happen regardless).

I shot Canon for nearly 23 years until I moved over to Sony 4 years ago. To be honest, I don't care much for the video capabilities of SLR's. What I was hoping was that the R5 would push stills resolution. From this perspective, I don't see a need for me to buy a Canon R5... although it was tempting.

For the video specs... put aside the 8K for a moment... I would think that overheating even at 4k presents an issue for event photography (i.e. weddings). Its been years since I shot my last wedding but given the need for consistent performance without interruption, I would think that overheating while shooting 4k is going to create issues.

I applaud Canon for taking another step into mirrorless. Now for the video-centric community, I wonder what the Sony A7SIII will deliver. If Sony delivers 4k/120, I'm guessing the video-centric folks will flock to the A7S lineup all over again even if the camera can't shoot 8k.

I have heard the comment from lots of people who say "my machine can't handle 8k" or "8k TV's are not really a thing right now." I think that is somewhat besides the point... if you can record at 8k now, you will have 8k video for when 8k becomes standard. Yes, it requires more processing now to downsample to 4k but to use this point to berate Canon for attempting to deliver 8K is funny.

I remember a time when my A7RII used to overheat and the photography world had memes and jokes for this. Sony eventually corrected this. So, I am going to wait for the next generation of mirrorless cameras from Canon that deliver higher resolutions for photography.

Given all that I said, I'm looking forward to in-depth testing of the R5 and R6. Perhaps the overheating isn't as bas as you think? Who knows.

If you're going to shoot a wedding in video and let it run for the entire ceremony, get a video camera, not a R5. Canon even has those in their line-up. I don't get why people are focused on this. It's a non-issue.

"Unfortunately, it seems that the smaller sensor in the R6..." Say what? Both have 36x24mm sensors.

I want an a7IV with 4k/24/30/60 10bit 4:2:2 internally.....for 2k.

Actually honestly....I want an a7000 with all that and significantly better IBIS for like 1600-2000. That's what I'm ACTUALLY waiting for to go with my Sigma lenses.

It's a bit more than that. Current Sonys only shoot consumer grade 4K, internally or externally. So for anyone doing serious video, pro-grade is required. So Sony had not been a factor. But there have been quite a few others willing to accept Sony as a compromise, deciding for some reason they needed full frame. Between Nikon, Panasonic, Fujifilm, and now Canon offering real in-camera or external pro-grade options, there's virtually no reason to use Sony today. They need to fix this in every upcoming camera to appeal beyond Fanboi vloggers on YouTube.

As for heat and IBIS, Sony has certainly had their own share of heat issues, even dping consumer grade video. The ability to shoot 4K 10-bit for hours on a new Sony might be pretty compelling. The ability to shoot lower quality longer than Canon, not necessarily useful. What actually shows up will matter more than manufacturer's hype. Canon makes big claims about IBIS. So has Sony, but they never really delivered. In particular, especially for a big sensor, heat is usually a tradeoff vs. IBIS. If Canon has really anything even close to 8 EV IBIS (1/2 stop better than reigning champion Olympus with 1/4 the sensor mass and decades more experience with the technology), Sony is toast on that front... but does that even matter for FF video? Canon does have excellent OIS tech, and their numbers are always hybrid system numbers. And Sony's got tgecweajest hybird stabilization going. Looks hood, but lets hear from people testing this put who don't work for the Canon marketing department.

And its not just Canon and Sony. Panasonic and Nikon have been outperforming both for awhile, on video. Both offer external raw options, in addition to better in-camera options.

only time i shoot more than 30 min of video is if i accidentally hit the record button in the bag. other than that 20 min is fine for a majority of the target market. having 35 megapixel stills from video is a huge deal.

Something that all the masturbators out there will overlook . . . much to the glee of Canon and other manufacturers.

Overheating is a far more serious problem than what Canon, Sony, Godox would let on. Forget all the marketing bs that you masturbators drool over . . . and consider some basic science. When heat is applied, or present, everything expands. As it cools, everything will contract. Expand, contract, expand, contract . . . can you break a wire? No. But keep on bending it (constant flexing . . . like expand/contract) and it will break . . . SOONER rather than later. Constant expansion and contraction is a built in recipe for premature failure . . . not tomorrow, not next week . . . but sooner than it should happen.

But the jerk-off elite will race to buy another piece of flawed technology, but marketing smarts will as usual, prevail . . . a sucker is born every minute . . . so they will sell a boatload of . . . junk.

I'd love to read the study you've found that demonstrates the expanding and contracting camera that's succumbed to said expansion/contraction. Or are you speculating?

You seem to be worried about how others spend THEIR money. Why do you care?

Which is of course why PCs, with their 180W CPUs and 300W GPUs, only last a year or two. Oh, wait...

Seriously, the heat involved can be problematic, but it's not leading to PCB flexing problems. Keep in mind, unlike your standard PC, these are highly mobile devices designed for rugged use. Pretty much every non-trivial mobile device has to deal with the potential of overheating. Not just a Canon R5, but every camera, every smartphone, etc. Every digital circuit generates some heat. Every system design has a fixed ability to remove that heat. And every digital circuit has a maximum operating temperature, which is absolute. Given a hot enough ambient temperature and sufficient work, every device will overheat.

Canon's one of the few suggesting when and admitting it happens. But it'll happen on a Sony, a Fujifilm, a Nikon, etc. under the right operating conditions. In fact, Sony had a big problem with that in the A7II generation and were not very forthcoming about it. If you don't want a camera that overheats in 8K, don't buy the R5. Or buy it without any plan to ever shoot 8K video. But if you want a camera that never overheats, you're probably better off with a pure mechanical film camera... though those expansions and contractions will affect that camera even more. And this includes your smartphone as well, which can easily overheat, depending on what you ask of it. Particularly considering that iPhones, for example, are only rated for operation at up to 35C ambient temperature.

Oh ffs. This is getting moronic. Why the hell would people want to shoot 4k 60fps for 35 minutes! There is a reason that films and TV still shoot at 24 and 30 fps, it is because our brains are hardwired to that and the vast majority of films, which shoot faster just look weird, from the Hobbit through to Gemini Man.

8k 30fps and 4k 60fps, isn't the issue it is made out to be. People need to remember that 8k is the equivalent of 32mp, shooting 30 frames per second for up to 20 minutes. That is a huge achievement.

Even then though, 8k is useless for 99% of videographers because the file size is just so massive and most people can't tell the difference.

Whilst 4k 60fps and 120 maybe more useful, I can't imagine many situations, where I am going to need to shoot them for long periods of time and if I did, I would want a proper video camera.

This all sounds like people getting desperate to complain about something and is exceptionally sad. Now I am a Nikon owner and love taking the piss out of Canon owners but this is so off the mark I am embarrassed.

The R5 and R6 are designed to be photographic cameras first and foremost, with good quality video. The A7sIII is designed for video first, the same as the Panasonic S1H.

If people want to complain about the R5/R6, complain about it having a micro HDMI port (in fact any camera which has a micro HDMI port) because they are shit and break easily.

Complain about a real issue not some made up bullshit.

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