7D overheating solution report
 

Just throwing this out there -

I've been having really good luck with those ammonium nitrate freezer packs. I place them on the CF door side of the camera, held in place with the handgrip of my Redrock Captain Stubling, and it cools the camera right down.

Tried this on a recent gig. Worked great and the camera ran all day long like a champ. I have not had many issues with the 7D overheating but when your in a hot space filled with lights and you have to keep the camera going this has worked for me.

Hope this helps, anyone else have a similar experience?

My 7D does not overheat on a job yet but my T2i did and I just rubber band the instant ice pack on the back by the record button and wrap it to grip and it stop over heat.

What exactly are those bags called and where is the best place to get them?
Thanks
Bruce Yarock

I got mine here,
By Dezign First Aid Introduces Urea Based Instant Ice Packs

I picked mine up at a Rite Aid pharmacy. They are the little portable chemical cold packs that go in first aid kits, NOT the freezer type cold packs. I think the ones I got were about $4 bucks for two cold packs in a box. Very portable and ready in an instant if you need one. The only issue is that when you are shaking up the bag to get the chemical reaction going people on the crew ask you "oh, did you hurt yourself?" :)

We've had our 7D's overheat at every wedding so far, and we're considering switching to 5D's. We're going to try the cold packs first, and see how it goes.

Travis,

I must have gotten lucky because my 7D's never overheat. The only time I've even gotten so much as a warning light was after a very extended use of the 60P recording in a VERY hot room with no ventilation, but that's it! I've gotten through a 3 hour Indian ceremony with both my 7D's and my 5D just fine running continuously with nothing more than a couple seconds between 4GB limits a battery and card change ... several outdoor high 90 degree ceremonies here in sunny California... again, no problems. I'm thinking that MAYBE some bodies are more prone to overheating than others... which doesn't really make sense, but I can't figure out why others are having problems and I don't?

I wonder if it has something to do with the cards being used? Mine never overheats either. I use fast cards, 45Mbs minimum. If your buffer is constantly being used because the camera writes to the card slowly, then maybe that is adding to the heating issue?

Just a thought, no basis in actual tests...

When the flashing symbol appears does that mean that (a) any damage is currently occurring or (b) merely a warning that if you don't turn the camera off and/or cool it down quickly damage will be caused? The flashing thermoter sign appeared for the first time over the weekend for me and panicked me no end!

Yeah, it does seem to be somewhat sporadic. I hear about people shooting in rain forests with no problem, but then mine overheats in a hotel room. Go figure.

I tend to doubt this, as I am using 60Mbs cards. Also, video recording on the 7D the amount of information transfer is not that high. Shooting RAW stills actually benefits more from the higher speed cards. Good thought, though.

There are basically two stages to this. The first is when the temp icon first appears. This simply indicates that the camera is getting hot and continued use may increase the temperature to the point where video quality is compromised and/or the camera shuts down (some wording suggests that the camera will simply stop recording).

So essentially, the camera will shut down or terminate recording (whichever is correct) before the internal temperature can damage the camera. There is apparently the possibility that footage quality may be degraded before this happens. As of yet, I haven't noticed any footage quality degradation while shooting with the temp icon present.

Run Time
 

Hi Andrew: Do you know how long you were able to shoot before changing the battery? I want to try and us the camera to film a scene that will last 2 to 2.5 hrs. Many thanks.

Tommy

Tommy,
You should be able to shoot that on one battery if the battery is fairly new. Always a good idea to have two fully charged batteries.

Here's my overheating theory: if the camera gets too hot the tape will curl up and break.

I was shooting some Ibis on a 97 degree very humid day in August. They were so hot they were laying down on the lawn spreading their wings out to cool off. Never seen this activity before and they could have moved into the shade of a nearby tree. It was so beautiful I just had to keep shooting.

I was standing in full shade of the house with the 7D and a 100-400 lens on a tripod recording this activity. The temp light came on and I just kept on shooting (I have the original firmware). I've been told that the key is not to let the smoke out of the camera, once that happens you've had it.

I just kept on saying die baby die if that's what you want to do. Eventually a message came on saying the camera was shutting down and I would not be able to shoot any more video. About then the bird activity was over so that was fine.

Since then I've shot hours of clips and the camera is fine.

Just my 1.5C, these cameras are tougher than we think.

Regards,
Doug.

I never had any heating problems when I had the 7D. First thing I did was run it for an hour and a half non stop (except for changing cards) to see if anything happened. It was OK, and I shot in some hot and humid conditions with no heating light. Then I got the 5DII this past summer and shot an auto show on a 105 degree (F) day, also not a single heating problem. Must be the luck of the draw.