Can someone explain the "12mins" limit in the T2i please?

12 mins a shot? or what! I don't get it. :huh:
I'm planing on getting the camera tomorrow, and this is the only thing stopping me right now.
 
12 minutes is the longest single take that you can record, due to a file-size limitation on the memory card.

As such, if you wanted to shoot a 1-hour interview you'd have to stop & start every 12 minutes on five separate times.

It's no big deal for most situations; most cuts & takes are well under 12 minutes. It's only a problem if you intend to do really long event videography (weddings, interviews, school-play) where you'd typically just turn the camera on and leave it running.
 
Basically the 12 minute limit on the T2i is only for continuous video. So that means that no single take can be longer than 12 minutes. Is this a problem? Well, that depends on how what kinds of things you'll be shooting with the camera.

If you plan to shoot narrative work, you will almost certainly never have a take that lasts 12 entire minutes. When I start to notice a long take, I tend to check my watch because I love seeing how far the filmmakers can take it. I'm still impressed when I see a one minute take. I've surely never seen a 12 minute take.

On the other hand, if you plan on shooting documentaries or weddings where you are going to need live, uninterrupted footage and you only have one chance to get it, you will run into problems with the 12 minute limit. Even with as fast as you can hit the record button again, you can miss a lot and you'll get jump cuts.


And to be more specific, in case you were wondering this, the 12 minute rule has nothing to do with how much you can store on a memory card. The amount of footage you can store on a memory card is solely dependent on how big the card is.


As always, if someone knows better than me, please correct :D
 
On my Pentax K-x which I did video work, the Cmos chip would overheat after 11min.

I think the 12 min limit is a result of individual file size limitations. meaning the cam can only write a file 4gb in length. if Im not mistaken
 
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The way it was explained to me (and I'm no camera guy) is that the memory card is formatted with a file-system that can only recognise single files that are 4 or 8 (forgot which) gigs in size or smaller.

The HD video shot will keep writing to file 'til it hits the maximum size, which happens to work out to be 12 mins.

This also means that if you are recording in SD (which fills much less space) that you could make a single take that is much longer than 12 mins - obviously in SD, though.

Does the camera have an SD option on it?
 
YES you can shoot SD w/ the T2i, I think 30 min is tops.

And i think the 30 min limit is because anything under is in a still camera bracket and anything more is officially a video camera. And companies have to pay different charges depending on which one it is.

@OP: As everyone said, you're good with the 12 min limit even if you want to do a DePalma take.
 
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