I am completely new to video and I am using my 5 D III, and running into problems.

Today I did a shoot of a teachers meeting at a local school.
Everything started out fine, then a few minutes into the shoot I got a message on the screen that indicated something about 4gig, and the fact the camera had to cut the video. It appeared to continue to record, however when I got back home, there were two files on my card. One was 3.96 GB and the other was 1.44 GB in size. The camera apparently stopped recording at the 1.44 size of the second file. I did not notice the recording light go off, and I missed recording about 15 minutes of the meeting.

Can anyone explain how this camera does it's recording, and how long can I record when using a 32GB - 40MB/s SanDisk card?

I am aware of the maximum record time limit of approx 30 minutes, but so far I have never been able to get the camera to record for that long.

Lawrence

With a 32GB card you can record continuously for 30 minutes. The camera will split the files into 4GB chunks. Why a portion is missing could be any number of reasons, and unless you accidentally stopped recording, it can be an issue with the memory card. Did you format the memory card before you started recording? If not, when did you last format the card? Did you purchase the Sandisk CF card from a reputable dealer or did you purchase it from a discount site or eBay?

I am completely new to video and I am using my 5 D III, and running into problems.

Today I did a shoot of a teachers meeting at a local school.
Everything started out fine, then a few minutes into the shoot I got a message on the screen that indicated something about 4gig, and the fact the camera had to cut the video. It appeared to continue to record, however when I got back home, there were two files on my card. One was 3.96 GB and the other was 1.44 GB in size. The camera apparently stopped recording at the 1.44 size of the second file. I did not notice the recording light go off, and I missed recording about 15 minutes of the meeting.

Can anyone explain how this camera does it's recording, and how long can I record when using a 32GB - 40MB/s SanDisk card?

I am aware of the maximum record time limit of approx 30 minutes, but so far I have never been able to get the camera to record for that long.

Lawrence

I've used the 5D-II and the 5D-IV a lot so its easy for me :- )

There are two limits on the file size \ duration. Overall each time you start recording the camera can save for up to 29 minutes 59 seconds. It then stops and you have to push the button to start it again. Within that limit the file also has to be split into elements of approximately 4gb. Part way through the 29:59 it will finish one 4gb and start the next. Each 4gb can be around 14 minutes depending on the content. Your files of 3.96gb and 1.44gb will have corresponded with the total time of 29:59. If you bring these into your editor you should be able to see the duration of each one.

Although the camera stops and restarts within 29:59 there is a short pause of - not sure with the 5D-III - around 2 seconds. With the Mark IV it is shorter than that but it still happens. You should see the amount of time being used show up in the screen.

To overcome this and if you have one camera rather than two (which you could edit to overlap) its best to physically stop and restart the cam at points in the proceedings at which that doesn't matter. Some point when no-one is doing or saying anything important and you can therefore "lose" 2 seconds.

32gb actually lasts for just over an hour as does a decent battery. I've used that extensively.

Check your card - it may be slower than recommended.

You can completely overcome the 29:50 limit by installing the third party firmware called Magic Lantern. Its been available for years and is reliable. I've used it lots of times with the 5D-II but its not available yet for the 5D-IV.

Alternatively you can control your camera for video (and stills) using your Android smartphone using DSLR Controller.

Pete

Although the camera stops and restarts within 29:59 there is a short pause of - not sure with the 5D-III - around 2 seconds.

There is no pause with a stock 5D Mark III. Without Magic Lantern installed, once the 29:59 limit is reached, the camera stops recording and does not continue until the operator presses the record button again.

I want to thank everyone for you feedback.

I have a bunch of the SanDisk Ultra 40MB/s, 32GB cards that I have been using for a few years without any problems.

I was not aware of the 4gb limit before.

I just purchased a ATOMOS Ninja Flame which I hope will solve my problem, but now I need to get up-to-speed on using it. I only have a couple of days before I have to shoot 30 training videos of about an hour long each for a local food producing company.

I did a search on YouTube for videos on the product, but they are all pretty much either just unboxing or review of the product. I have not found any which show how to just use it as a recorder.

Gary, I don't know if we're talking crossed-purposes here but I have used Magic Lantern scores of times specifically for my two 5D Mark II's to record until either the card runs out or the battery runs flat. The 29:59 limit does NOT happen. I don't have any Mark III's but I was under the impression that the Magic Lantern firmware had fixed this feature as well. The Mark IV does not of course have Magic Lantern.

Regardless, there is a very short break between each 4gb file with the Mark II and the Mark IV. Usually I have three or even four cams running at the same time and so that doesn't really matter as I can simply edit in post to use a cam other than the one which is having its break.

I still use the Mark II's a lot as B-cams for lengthy church wedding ceremonies at which either I'm not allowed to move around or its impractical to move around to restart each cam. I use Magic Lantern by default but I occasionally also use DSLR Controller using a separate smartphone for each cam to enable me to restart that cam whenever - and anything else such as exposure and change of focus.

I do prefer the Mark IV now and would always use them if I am able to restart recording (not Magic Lantern). The touch screen, auto-focus and higher ISO are terrific and another biggie is that when I'm shooting in full manual, which I usually do, I can change auto-ISO compensation on the fly by holding down the SET button whilst rotating the main dial (custom setup).

Lawrence: 40MB/s cards are OK for stills according to your own use but what about video - which you haven't used apparently? Check out the spec., I don't know if thats fast enough. You may be side-stepping that by using the ATOMOS. That may supply 4gb files as well as a consequence of the type of file you are recording, not sure. Chances are that each clip you shoot in each 1 hour slot will be a lot less than 4gb anyway so it would be theoretical.

Pete

Gary, I don't know if we're talking crossed-purposes here but I have used Magic Lantern scores of times specifically for my two 5D Mark II's to record until either the card runs out or the battery runs flat. The 29:59 limit does NOT happen. I don't have any Mark III's but I was under the impression that the Magic Lantern firmware had fixed this feature as well. The Mark IV does not of course have Magic Lantern.

Yes, you are correct. There is nothing that Lawrence has said that indicates he is running Magic Lantern. Your comment seemed to imply that the 5D Mark III would restart the recording at the 29:59 mark, missing about two seconds. That is not the case on the *stock* 5D Mark III, just like I originally said. Without Magic Lantern installed, the 5D Mark III will stop recording at 29:59 and not start up again without user intervention. I was very clear on this in my post.

Regardless, there is a very short break between each 4gb file with the Mark II and the Mark IV.

There shouldn't be if you ingest correctly, like AVCHD.

I thought I'd made it clear about the 4gb and i hadn't implied he is using Magic Lantern - that would be quite a step for someone completely new to video :- )

Anyway, you're right, yes I'd forgotten about the way of ingesting the AVCHD without breaks as I'd stopped using it several years ago. The reason was that at that time I was using Sony Vegas Pro and with video cams rather than the Canons. I had to ingest via the cams using SVP rather than using cards with a reader. The cams were USB2 only and copying would take forever followed by several audio recorders. So I switched to downloading the cards via USB3 instead. The 2 second breaks didn't matter as I was almost always using several cams simultaneously. Thanks.

Pete

I have a lot of experience with 5D3. Ignoring ML for the moment there is never a break between 4GB files it's just the file system on the CF/SD cards cannot handle files larger than 4GB. Your editing software will see the various 4GB files as a single contiguous clip up to 29'59".

With Magic Lantern there is a still a 29'59" clip length limit but ML can be set to automatically restart i.e. just the same as if the operator had pressed the record button again. There will be a second or two loss of video while recording is restarted.