6 ms·

If I were Canon, I would make this guy a generous job offer to integrate a better stock heat spreading solution and optional external cooling into future camera

If I were Canon, I would make this guy a generous job offer to integrate a better stock heat spreading solution and optional external cooling into future camera models.

robin_reala 6y ago
Why? He’s just hacked on an external cooling system that is in no way meeting the basic quality requirements of a production device. For that you’d want to hire a heat transfer engineer with experience of designing small-sized passive solutions, and with both a valid work visa for Japan and fluency in Japanese. Kudos to the guy for debugging his particular problem, but that doesn’t make a product.
- grenoire 6y ago
  His practical business solution to it is quite sensible and likely overlooked: "Matt also believes that Canon could have designed the camera to dump the heat toward the bottom of the camera and then sold a separate base attachment for videographers that provides vastly extended recording times." In the video he more specifically describes how it could be possible to use the mounting point's metal base to transmit heat to a mounted cooling attachment.
  - Rillen 6y ago
    Its quite clear that canon engineeres or managers are aware how to build it like this. I haven't even started watching this video and had the same thought of transporting the heat through the bottom. Whatever made canon made it like this, was on purpose. Either the concentrated on picture for the most time and realized to late and it would have required rebuilding core parts and not getting it out in time or they will bring out a camera/pro version to this with unlimited 8k recording and with a higher price. The assumption that a hobby engineer can solve this issue while canon can't, is not realistic. Based alone on the original firmware approach, i would argue that time or priority was the issue.
    - chrismorgan 6y ago
      Yeah, no way they overlooked something like that. I had my Sony α6100 overheat within 20 minutes on mere 1080p video when the ambient temperature was at least 45°C. When these things run hot, it’s easy to feel where the hottest areas of the body are, and attaching a heatsink is obvious, and at that time, dumping heat to the tripod mount was the first thing that occurred to me when I contemplated how I might do it.
      - samatman 6y ago
        The flip side of this is that Sony (finally) made an APS-C mirrorless, in the α6600, which has a recording time that's only limited by power or storage. So it was never impossible, and it isn't just a Nerf to segment customers into the cinema bracket. It's just an area where they're willing to compromise. Without IBIS, the αN < 6500s aren't great for many video applications, they're photo cameras which can also take some video. I suspect that Sony just didn't realize the degree to which the YouTube generation would be using their entry-level mirrorless systems for extensive video. Consider that it took them a generation to make flip screens standard, and that they bumped the battery size and ability to record indefinitely on (only) the model which has IBIS: that's a nudge, saying "If you want to record a lot of video, the α6600 is the model you want".
        chrismorgan 6y ago
        It was the α6000, α6300 and α6500 that were time-limited, because they generated more heat in their video encoding. The newer α6100, α6400 and α6600 don’t run so hot, using a newer and better chip for the encoding. You’re wrong about the ability to record indefinitely: this is not specific to the α6600; all three of the newer generation get it. I’m recording 100 minute videos weekly on my α6100 with no sweat now (plugged in by USB, otherwise the battery will be down to 5–10% by this time—with the camera fixed in place for these recordings I also don’t care about image stabilisation, whether in-lens or in-body), it was only having trouble in the middle of summer when the ambient temperature was at least 45°C.
        6y ago
dqv 6y ago
Canon has better heat spreading already - you just have to buy the more expensive camera models ;)
- codeulike 6y ago
  Really? Thats interesting, have you got a link?
  - geerlingguy 6y ago
    Cinema cameras: https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/products/list/cameras/cinema-eos https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/products/l... SLRs are optimized for handheld, photography use. The body just doesn't have the surface area for proper long-term cooling, and even if it did, it could be difficult to get it to work well while maintaining water resistance and retaining the compact grip.
    - Godel_unicode 6y ago
      The r5 is a mirrorless design, not a (d)slr. Sony sells plenty of video optimized cameras in both mirrorless and DSLR designs, in particular the a7s line are explicitly video cameras which can take stills. They can overheat eventually in very hot weather, but it takes some doing.
      - jolux 6y ago
        None of them do 8K raw though.
        Godel_unicode 6y ago
        More pixels more better? I'll take 4k raw at 16-bit with larger pixels over 8k 12-bit and needing more light. To each their own.
        jolux 6y ago
yholio 6y ago
It's absolutely clear that Canon made the camera work like this deliberately, to not canibalize their line of cinema cameras with a body intended for stills that is half the price. So yeah, it's a nice hack to force the design to deliver more than the manufacturer allowed it, but don't expect them to be happy about it.
- spuz 6y ago
  The fact that the two thermal pads only partially cover the heat-spreader on the main processor is pretty damning evidence against Canon's claims that they did not deliberately cripple the camera's video functionality. It seems they want to encourage film makers to buy their more expensive cinema line of cameras.
  - bserge 6y ago
    Of course, this has been their MO since DSLRs started being able to compete with dedicated camcorders in video quality. Nikon is an even worse offender.
    - jolux 6y ago
      It will still record 4K 30p just fine for as long as you want.
    - formerly_proven 6y ago
      Nikon's poor support for video (even though being one of the first to market) boggles the mind. They don't even have professional video cameras that could be cannibalized, I don't think they even make camcorders.
      - jefftk 6y ago
        That seems like a pretty strong evidence against this theory?
        6y ago

If I were Canon, I would make this guy a generous job offer to integrate a better stock heat spreading solution and optional external cooling into future camera models.

robin_reala 6y ago

Why? He’s just hacked on an external cooling system that is in no way meeting the basic quality requirements of a production device. For that you’d want to hire a heat transfer engineer with experience of designing small-sized passive solutions, and with both a valid work visa for Japan and fluency in Japanese. Kudos to the guy for debugging his particular problem, but that doesn’t make a product.

grenoire 6y ago
His practical business solution to it is quite sensible and likely overlooked: "Matt also believes that Canon could have designed the camera to dump the heat toward the bottom of the camera and then sold a separate base attachment for videographers that provides vastly extended recording times." In the video he more specifically describes how it could be possible to use the mounting point's metal base to transmit heat to a mounted cooling attachment.
- Rillen 6y ago
  Its quite clear that canon engineeres or managers are aware how to build it like this. I haven't even started watching this video and had the same thought of transporting the heat through the bottom. Whatever made canon made it like this, was on purpose. Either the concentrated on picture for the most time and realized to late and it would have required rebuilding core parts and not getting it out in time or they will bring out a camera/pro version to this with unlimited 8k recording and with a higher price. The assumption that a hobby engineer can solve this issue while canon can't, is not realistic. Based alone on the original firmware approach, i would argue that time or priority was the issue.
  - chrismorgan 6y ago
    Yeah, no way they overlooked something like that. I had my Sony α6100 overheat within 20 minutes on mere 1080p video when the ambient temperature was at least 45°C. When these things run hot, it’s easy to feel where the hottest areas of the body are, and attaching a heatsink is obvious, and at that time, dumping heat to the tripod mount was the first thing that occurred to me when I contemplated how I might do it.
    - samatman 6y ago
      The flip side of this is that Sony (finally) made an APS-C mirrorless, in the α6600, which has a recording time that's only limited by power or storage. So it was never impossible, and it isn't just a Nerf to segment customers into the cinema bracket. It's just an area where they're willing to compromise. Without IBIS, the αN < 6500s aren't great for many video applications, they're photo cameras which can also take some video. I suspect that Sony just didn't realize the degree to which the YouTube generation would be using their entry-level mirrorless systems for extensive video. Consider that it took them a generation to make flip screens standard, and that they bumped the battery size and ability to record indefinitely on (only) the model which has IBIS: that's a nudge, saying "If you want to record a lot of video, the α6600 is the model you want".
      - chrismorgan 6y ago
        It was the α6000, α6300 and α6500 that were time-limited, because they generated more heat in their video encoding. The newer α6100, α6400 and α6600 don’t run so hot, using a newer and better chip for the encoding. You’re wrong about the ability to record indefinitely: this is not specific to the α6600; all three of the newer generation get it. I’m recording 100 minute videos weekly on my α6100 with no sweat now (plugged in by USB, otherwise the battery will be down to 5–10% by this time—with the camera fixed in place for these recordings I also don’t care about image stabilisation, whether in-lens or in-body), it was only having trouble in the middle of summer when the ambient temperature was at least 45°C.
        6y ago

dqv 6y ago

Canon has better heat spreading already - you just have to buy the more expensive camera models ;)

codeulike 6y ago
Really? Thats interesting, have you got a link?
- geerlingguy 6y ago
  Cinema cameras: https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/products/list/cameras/cinema-eos https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/products/l... SLRs are optimized for handheld, photography use. The body just doesn't have the surface area for proper long-term cooling, and even if it did, it could be difficult to get it to work well while maintaining water resistance and retaining the compact grip.
  - Godel_unicode 6y ago
    The r5 is a mirrorless design, not a (d)slr. Sony sells plenty of video optimized cameras in both mirrorless and DSLR designs, in particular the a7s line are explicitly video cameras which can take stills. They can overheat eventually in very hot weather, but it takes some doing.
    - jolux 6y ago
      None of them do 8K raw though.
      - Godel_unicode 6y ago
        More pixels more better? I'll take 4k raw at 16-bit with larger pixels over 8k 12-bit and needing more light. To each their own.
        jolux 6y ago

yholio 6y ago

It's absolutely clear that Canon made the camera work like this deliberately, to not canibalize their line of cinema cameras with a body intended for stills that is half the price. So yeah, it's a nice hack to force the design to deliver more than the manufacturer allowed it, but don't expect them to be happy about it.

spuz 6y ago
The fact that the two thermal pads only partially cover the heat-spreader on the main processor is pretty damning evidence against Canon's claims that they did not deliberately cripple the camera's video functionality. It seems they want to encourage film makers to buy their more expensive cinema line of cameras.
- bserge 6y ago
  Of course, this has been their MO since DSLRs started being able to compete with dedicated camcorders in video quality. Nikon is an even worse offender.
  - jolux 6y ago
    It will still record 4K 30p just fine for as long as you want.
  - formerly_proven 6y ago
    Nikon's poor support for video (even though being one of the first to market) boggles the mind. They don't even have professional video cameras that could be cannibalized, I don't think they even make camcorders.
    - jefftk 6y ago
      That seems like a pretty strong evidence against this theory?
      - 6y ago