Hey y'all. I was wondering to any of the DSLR users out there if they have any suggestions on how to keep their camera cool enough to prevent overheating when shooting a short film? That's a pretty vague question, I know, but I thought I should ask if any of you guys any tips or tricks to keep the sensor of the camera cool.
How to Manage Overheating of DSLR'S
- Thread starter beamazed
- Start date
To answer the OP's original question... Turn it off. In the early days of film making DSLRs, I personally witnessed a few overheating problems. The only solution was to turn it off as much as possible between takes.
This is why I bought a Sony 'Handycam' (VG10) as this could shoot continuously including in the desert in 50 degree temperatures and in the right hands is a fantastic tool. If continuous shooting becomes an issue then trading in your DSLR for a VG30 or similar might be another way to manage this.
This is why I bought a Sony 'Handycam' (VG10) as this could shoot continuously including in the desert in 50 degree temperatures and in the right hands is a fantastic tool. If continuous shooting becomes an issue then trading in your DSLR for a VG30 or similar might be another way to manage this.
Lighting (and operation skill) will have way more impact than the camera also. Give Roger Deakins a t3i and pretty much anybody on this board an arriflex and his film will still look 1000% better than yours.
Maybe. Is everything else equal? Equal budget, crew and lighting kit? Or does he come with crew, lights and whatnot along with his decades of experience, and we get stuck with the Arri and whatever we happen to have lying around?
Maybe. Is everything else equal? Equal budget, crew and lighting kit? Or does he come with crew, lights and whatnot along with his decades of experience, and we get stuck with the Arri and whatever we happen to have lying around?
I've always contended you could give him a couple of work lights and bounce boards (and his light meter) and give 98.5% of us a 2 ton grip truck and he'd make a better looking film. Gear just helps you execute the ideas and techniques you have in your head. It doesn't give you the ideas or techniques.
I agree.. and I'm not suggesting that the gear need to be all fancy and exotic. But if you want it to be "fair" (as fair as going head to head with Mr. Deakins could be) the available tools should be pretty similar so that it really is a test of skill, and skill alone.
You're right.
Inferior equipment would just make a great DP have to work harder to make it look "good"/interesting. He'd figure out a way.
Lighting gets short shrift on film making message boards many times. I see tons of footage posted, and people saying it looks "great", that is flat as a pancake with no depth to it at all. Usually because it's not lit well or at all.
Back to the topic, I shot 6 films, 3 music videos and a commercial on a 5Dmk2 and never overheated once. Some of that shooting outside on 95 degree days, some on interior sets turned into saunas by 3K worth of tungsten. Never happened even once.
Inferior equipment would just make a great DP have to work harder to make it look "good"/interesting. He'd figure out a way.
Lighting gets short shrift on film making message boards many times. I see tons of footage posted, and people saying it looks "great", that is flat as a pancake with no depth to it at all. Usually because it's not lit well or at all.
Back to the topic, I shot 6 films, 3 music videos and a commercial on a 5Dmk2 and never overheated once. Some of that shooting outside on 95 degree days, some on interior sets turned into saunas by 3K worth of tungsten. Never happened even once.
I was part of a short which got into a fest 3 years ago (the first ever short I was a big part of!). One of the shorts being played had an Oscar nominated DoP shooting. They gave him a 5D MkII with stock lens and his results were incredible considering the camera.
Blown up, the image quality was definitely not as clean as higher end stuff but the composition, angles, intelligence etc... meant I was sitting up in my seat thinking 'wow.' He was also happy to give a few tips out to up-and-coming film makers and every single one was simple but just so brilliant. Just fantastic advice.
If I were to compare it with a recent short where the director had a few grand to spend, had a stunning location and an Epic, I would 100% say the Oscar nominated DoP's 5D MkII footage was significantly better than the footage on the Epic (which had a larger budget).
I am 100% sure that Deakins with a 5D MkII and some lights would be better than the rest of us with an Epic and a ton of lights, great setting etc... I've seen this myself.