Sony a7s 30 min clip limit

[Ryan Douthit]

Okay, important correction. I just did the test again and this time I set the "sleep" mode to 1 minute and didn't touch the camera. Recorded for 5 minutes without the camera going to sleep and without any issues.

I chalk my test last night to A) It was late. B) I was tired.

Seems when it's doing HDMI out it DOESN'T go to sleep and you can record for an unlimited amount of time.

[Cees van Kempen]

Originally Posted by Ryan Douthit

Doesn't seem to be. It's adjustable, but there aren't any options longer than 30-minutes max.

Really? Can't switch sleep mode off? Hdmi out then stops?

Well, that's ridiculous and makes it a useless camera for me. Was just about to buy one or two, but they have to keep on rolling with Shoguns stand-alone.

[Cees van Kempen]

Originally Posted by Ryan Douthit

Okay, important correction. I just did the test again and this time I set the "sleep" mode to 1 minute and didn't touch the camera. Recorded for 5 minutes without the camera going to sleep and without any issues.

I chalk my test last night to A) It was late. B) I was tired.

Seems when it's doing HDMI out it DOESN'T go to sleep and you can record for an unlimited amount of time.

Thank god.

Would be very happy if someone could test if it also doesn't switch off after more than 30 minutes with an hdmi device connected.

[Cliff Totten]

I made a 2.5 hour recording with an Atomos Blade over HDMI and and AC power adapter.

No A7s heat problems and no breaks or pauses.

No internal XAVC-S was rolling, only HDMI output.

The camera "knows" when HDMI is connected and stays awake with no problems.

CT

[Steve Kimmel]

Ah, thank goodness. All is well!

[Cliff Totten]

Yup, nothing to worry about with the A7s HDMI. They did not add any sneaky crippling tricks.

It's an honest, non stop output.

The only slightly annoying thing is that if you are recording XAVC-S internally, when it hits its 29 minute limit, it will give an audible "beep" when it stops the recording. This sound will get picked up on your HDMI recorder. The solution is to just not record internally. The HDMI does not studder or glitch or give you any problems.

I hate the micro HDMI port but if you are delicate with it and protect it with a "Lock Port" protector, I think it should last the life of the camera.

[Meredith Sward]

Re: Ryan Douthit's tests "Test was done with the back LCD on simultaneous to the HDMI out."

I am using a sony a7 and attached the Ninja Star as a work around for the 30 min clip limit, but when I turned on the ninja star I lost my LCD monitor image.

Am I missing a crucial setting, or does the video monitor cut out when attached to an hdmi device?

Thank you for your help!

[Ryan Douthit]

I don't have my camera in front of me, but that's a setting in the camera. You can choose to enable or disable the back screen.

[Roger Martin]

Originally Posted by Steve Kimmel

That's too bad as I was hoping to use it as a stand-alone camera that I don't need to monitor over periods for more than 30 minutes.

Mine will be here Monday. I will initially be using a Ninja II external recorder.
The LCD going to sleep is not the issue for me. However,
It will be returned the same day if the A7s cannot go over 30 minutes unattended of HDMI recording.