Video above: Sony A33/A55 commercial
Ahi Ahi Ahi! Sony Japan says that the video recording time on the A33 and A55 are limited because of the overheating sensor! The A33 can redord 11mintues only and the A55 9minutes. If you switch of the IS you will be able to record many more minutes. Sony also suggests you to “Avoid direct sunlight as possible“. Not really good news…
85 Responses
it’s a good deal buy A55 ? ;/
I think these new cameras are a very bad idea.
Avoid direct sunlight? WTF?
As internet sayings go FAIL
Hello Nikon….
I will say Nikon’s manual also have the same “Avoid direct sunlight” caution, too.
Why not buy one and check it out? LOL
Avoid direct sunlight?
Well, it maybe quite a shocking news for you, my whiny friend, but such recommendations are standard for any camera.
And please, when you by a shiny new superb Nikon with famous “masterpiece” shutter release button, place it on a tripop, put a telephoto lens on it and make hour-long video of sun spots. You surely will get amazing results!
Amazing indeed.
just IMHO:
now might be the right time for some people at sony to think about if it is a good idea of turning a good still image camera system into a hybrid of a wretched still image camera and a poor video shooter….
How come i can shoot video up to 30 minutes with my NEX with no problems?
And you are a douche bag and I am not your friend.
I will be moving to Nikon once the D400 is out.
Perhaps too subtle.
Hmm, because the quality is different.
Oh and do move. And sell us your Alpha gear. If you have them 🙂 Discounts please.
You can record up to nearly half an hour with A55 too – just turn off the steady-shot.
LOL
It’s BETTER than NIKON! Cause out there you can record up to 9 minutes and that’s all. No option to make it longer. In Sony you just switch one thing and you got half an hour.
Wretched? Wow, hyperbole much? Compare the image quality of the A560 and the A55 and you’ll find they are basically identical at the same ISO.
The problem here isn’t the AF sensor.. it’s the IS and imaging sensor combination. Hopefully, they’ll spend some quality time improving this for the A77, etc.
I read: “The problem is not limited to only Sony though, as Engadets own Nikon D5000 won’t last more than five minutes no matter what they try. This problem is not good if you buying them to regularly shoot video.”
Really, this is not as much of a limitation as it looks at first glance. During extended recordings (i.e. Your kid’s school play or maybe basketball game), your camera will be on a tripod, and therefore not need SteadyShot. In hand-held situations, you likely won’t have a shot go on that long.
As SirWired said this actually doesn’t sound too bad as most handheld vids are short.
The question I have is about the cool down time. So, can I shoot lots of short videos in a short time frame or is there a cumulative affect? Also how the time limit is managed, is there a warning or does it just cut off?
This does seem to be good fuel for the many people who seem to hate this camera, but I think it doesn’t matter too much to the intended market.
What is the problem? Sensor overheating affects every brand. Every brand record off the main sensor, every brand has aprox the same size sensor and the heat issues that comes with larger sensors. Only Sony-related problem is the added heat caused by sensor stabilization.
Direct sunlight should be avoided in any case. One doesn’t need to be an engineer to understand that light through a telephoto (you know, thats light light through a magnifying glass) doesn’t do wonders on anything.
And 11 minutes is a heck of a long time to handhold a camera in one stretch. If on tripod, turn off sensor stabilization and save on the heat.
the problem is that the modifications made to traditional DSLR design to improve video capabilities reduce the quality as still image camera but create nothing but a crippled, hardly useable video shooter….
add “slightly” in front of reduce. The fact is that the A55 far outpaces any 4/3 camera for stills as well as a number of APS-C SLRs.
I’m a D80 user selling my Nikon gear for the A55 because the A55 is better than the D80 pretty much across the board.
i wouldn’t complain as much if the evf and the semi-transparent mirror would just be an option – if i had the choice which technology to use. but it seems as sony is likely to drop the great traditional DSLR system for this useless video stuff….
i used a camera with electronic viewfinder for several years and compared to an optical system it is REALLY CRAPPY….
Excuse me, but you have a choice – SLT A55/33 with EVF or traditional A580/560 with OVF. It is strange that you don’t know about it.
If you speaking about future successor of A700, well, there is no such thing, only rumors and mockups and something inside sony labs. While appearance of A77 is almost guaranteed, no one can say now than traditional A7** will never be made.
Moreover, while you used some camera with EVF, you hadn’t tried EVF on these specific cameras. It is like saying that USB is too slow because you used only old computer which supported only 1.1 versions while someone offers you 2.0.
For now you can choose – A55 or A580.
Joel: i am surprise you are opting for A55 rather than D7000! Hope you are making a right decision.
Well, it is not like this is a telepath forum. Please, be more specific.
– Which modifications on which cameras reduce still image quality?
– At which extent?
– Where any evidence of such “drastic” loss of quality can be seen?
– Is this loss present on any image produced by such camera in any conditions?
– Is these modifications made solely for improving video capabilities and do not provide any benefits of any kind for still image capture?
– Which modifications on which cameras reduce still image quality?
* the evf….now matter how good they will ever get, i used one of these for years and it is in no way comparable to an optical prism finder….
* the slt technology – besides the fact i like the sound and feeling of the moving mirror, for example in theatre photography you just can not spare another half stop down in lighting
* the fact that sensor intended for normal photography are modified to provide enough frames for video surely does not improve quality either….although this might be the least disadvantage…
– Where any evidence of such “drastic” loss of quality can be seen?
* on my behalf, an electronic view finder (“oh look, you have such a nice magnification option with wich you can focus manually almost as easily as with an optical one…”) adds unnecessary distance between me and the things i want to photograph, besides….evf are crappy!
* and as i have explained already….under the conditions i shoot most of the time another half stop down in light (for an “advantage” i just don’t need!) is….not really desirable for me
– Is these modifications made solely for improving video capabilities and do not provide any benefits of any kind for still image capture?
* there might be people wo are fond of the idea of not having sound and movement of the mirror but
a) i like this, it is part of photography for more than 50 years now….
b) as long as these cameras are stil required to use a hardware shutter making sound and producing vibrations….where is the big improvement?
as i already explained in another post:
i would not care if sony produces an aXX series with this technology as long as they keep on building reliable still image (only) cameras with slr technology besides this stuff…
oh seriously u aspect everything to be top notch out of the gate?
Why is the IS causing so much heat?
A short, multiple clips movie is nicer to watch than a long, single clip anyway IMHO.
How is this not good news? How is this any news at all?
Don’t you people understand basic physics? The sensor moves continuously when the IS is on so heat is produced. This is not a Sony problem or SLT problem…
Maybe it’s good time to come with Sony a55 white edition.
Can be used on direct sunlight and looks good in winter:)
One more thing comes into my mind..
9 minutes in 30 degrees and same 9 minutes in 0 degrees Celsius?
So there is not thermo sensor?
They are just fooling us.
My sony HX5v compact camera can record more than 20 mins in 1080/50i…
Comparing to a compact camera isn’t a fair comparison because the sensor area is 1/10 of the A55’s. That generates a lot less heat and the reason why we’ve had video on compacts for ages but SLRs only for the past couple years.
That’s no so bad really. When I had my K-7 the heat warning light would come on in as little as 30 seconds (of course that was the summer in South Texas). For a while it was OK but if you kept running it more and more vertical banding in the shadows would start to appear. I don’t think I ever pushed the camera to the point to where it shut itself off when it got too hot but still, this is a common issue (except for Panasonic) and Sony looks to be doing better than Pentax, which was the only other camera company that offered built-in IS while shooting video. And as someone said earlier, if you’re shooting for more than 5 minutes you’ll probably be needing a tripod
In some of previous posts I asked for waffle iron in new FF camera. Yahoo! There it is! I didn’t expect Sony will add such an advanced feature in middle level camera… it’s amazing how many creative things you could do with it.
I don’t think this is a con at all against A33 or A55. It is normal for the sensor to overheat during continuous use. So if you want to achieve a long recording, turn off IS and get a tripod!
Here’s what the Sony Japan said:
Notice of Video Recording Time α33/55
Continuous recording time for video
APS-C to perform high-speed continuous shooting with high-resolution video and image sensor size requires a lot of power. By continuing to shoot the camera continuously, so the temperature rises, especially the image sensor.
The temperature rise in our specifications and automatically turns off the camera because it causes adverse impact on quality and impact.
Recommended time continuous video capture
If you start taking the power off for a while, following continuous shooting is possible. (This time from start to stop recording)
Shake correction when shooting video [Off] can be taken by setting longer.
Continuous recording time available may vary depending on usage and temperature conditions before the movie.
Additionally, stops at 29 minutes in length.
Model name/Ambient temperature/Image Stabilization – ON/OFF
α55 (SLT-A55V) ℃ 20 9 min Approximately 29 minutes
℃ 30 6 min 13 minutes
α33 (SLT-A33) ℃ 20 11 min Approximately 29 minutes
℃ 30 7 min Approximately 22 minutes
The recording will stop when the temperature, leave the power off, please restart your cool down the camera before shooting.
To take a longer video
You can consider the following points, shooting video Okonaemasu longer.
Avoid direct sunlight as possible
Turn off when not used frequently, If available use a tripod, the image stabilizer [OFF]
Look like sony has the same issue as canon one, wonder if nikon has similar issues, gh1 has no such issue, i can record much longer than that and feel little heat.
Because the gh1 has no stabilised sensor.
PEOPLE CALM DOWN.
9min with image stabiliser in the camera.
With any lens.
That sounds pretty fair.
Although the 9min mark is more like a lab environment measurement.
The video will stop as soon as the camera senses an overheat.
For the NEX it is know that the camera does hold longer when the screen is moved away from the body btw!
The 29:59min mark is a general thing.
A limit to all DSLR cameras with video (and surely also micro ft).
It is to avoid taxes in the EU region and has nothing to do with overheating.
PS: I think the manual even tells about this “limitations”.
Canon and Nikon has not built-In IS, the reason for GH-1 to last longer is maybe the sensor size is smaller
It is normal, that direct sun should be avoided. You don’t want to burn-out CFA filter, or damage cmos.
Put a little heatsink on the back of the sensor? And have a little fan to blow air through the heatsink? That would increase the time before the sensor would overheat.
And isn’t the sensor continuously used during live view anyways? So is live view limited to 30 minutes?
at least its still better then nikon with 5min limit. LOL
canon faces overheating issue at summer too… 3 minute and 5DmkII goes overheated and went into 20min cooldown timer (crap)
panasonic G2 has same problem too, and about 10minute the thing goes overheat too.
how is this bad news? there been even OLDER news on others with overheat issue.
so is this a good news? HELL YA! 11min with SSS, or longer without SSS… now sigma user will have joy with OS lens…. deactivate SSS, active OS!
why people would never stop complaining. This problem has been around since dslr got video feature in it. It’s nothing new. even me, who is pretty dumb about new tech. Stuffs, knew this issue
“why people would never stop complaining” It’s the human nature. :]
The one thing that seems odd to me… why would the A55’s recording time be appreciably lower than the A33’s? They use the same size sensor and the A55’s sensor is more power efficient (better battery life on the A55 with identical battery). Maybe the GPS device generates heat or harms cooling? Very strange.
Maybe the sensor is more sensitive to heat as it is more dense.
The reason for that difference is the a55 uses Full-hd(1080) and the a33 shoots only 720. The a55 sensor has more points to calculate so thats why.
The A33 shoots 1080 (and all the resolutions and formats) just like the A55. You are mistaken.
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10151&catalogId=10551&langId=-1&productId=8198552921666254681#specifications
It’s a concern for ignorant amateurs. When was the last time you’ve seen a clip in a movie lasting for more than 1 min? About the longest clip I’ve seen are newscast and nature shows, where they may do 5mins before switching to another camera. Well, i guess you may need more than 20mins if you’re planning on taking a video of yourself and your partner in illicit acts.
Good videos tend to be made of short clips. People’s attention span are short. You need to switch out clips often to shake up things and keep their attention. TV shows and movies are using the 5DII and their 5min of record time just fine.
The 5D2 has a 12 min recording time creating a 4GB file.
What about recording your child’s concert? Sometimes having a long recording time is necessary.
Anyone make a clip with more than 10 min????….no i think not! Its more easy to edit shorts clips.
Well I have the a33. If you want long record times you need to reduce the heat.
1. Turn IS OFF
2.lower you evf and lcd brightness levels all the way down, it is over exposed from factory, and besides slt cameras automaticaly raises view finder gain to compinsate for dim light. ( believe it or not, it also makes the images seen through both lcd’s look more natural and is easyer on the eyes.
3. Different lenses generate more heat from the type of af motor they are useing.
If I do ever use video on my SLR, these limits would probably not bother me most of the time. I agree good videos are usually edited together from shorter clips. But its far easier to record too much and edit than choose exactly what to record ahead of time. Are you going to tell everyone to wait till your camera cools down every 9 or 11 minutes to continue? How long do you wait to fully cool down so you get a full 9 or 11 minutes again?
josef// its look can crappy compared to optical vf. But the thing is sony is trying to give us benefit of evf. I know people who have used evf loves the features only evf can offer. It’s sony’s decision. One comment from customer would nwver change their decision. I like the way the sony is working woth nrw technology. If sony can develop and improve at constant rate, they will be the company offering the most advanced dslrs.
There are many occasions when you need a long recording time – a band playing a long song, a natural disaster unfolding, etc. Best to think of these cameras as having video for short emergency use only.
Need a long recording time? Use a video camera.
What worries me about all of this discussion is that folks seem to be looking for a good video-capable cam that just happens to be able to take still photos as well, rather than the other way round. Heaven help us if Sony listen to these requests.
Isn’t that what the NEX VG 10 is for? 😉
Need a long recording time? Turn off the SSS. It’ll give you nearly half an hour of video.
Sony needs to counter this ‘engadget’ hit job with a clarifying response. For Pete’s sake the a55/33 will shoot video for 29minutes continuously without overheating issues, if you do not have the sensor stabilizer on. In case non Sony users don’t know, Sony alpha cameras have built in sensor shift stabilization, which has a switch on the camera body that can be turned on or off. If on a tripod, you turn the stabilizer off, it is a bonus, not a negative. It will shoot for approximately 10 minutes with the built in sensor stabilizer running. Canon and Nikon have no in-body stabilization , so this is a negative for canon and nikon, not sony.
We talk about cameras or about camcorders?. I use a Panasonic 3ccd camcorder when i play table tenis championships in games of two or three hour recorders in minidv but i use My Nex 5 to take pictures and shorts clips… I havent problems of hi temperatures.. I think that is like say that a Ferrari dont like becouse is not confortable for drive 4 hours continious…..
Eehhh.. Ferrari? o_O
For Many people is a problem push the récord button six times for one hour footage???…not for me
I doubt that will solve the problem if you don’t give the camera a rest to cool down.
WHine whine whine. Jeex
Consider you can record video with a 85/1.4 stabilized, I think it is an easy trade off.
You guys are amazing. I was expecting scorns and complaints and ‘Go Canikon’ comments. Instead all I see are ‘hold your horses, what’s the big deal?’
Wow people here do grow up.
+1
Glad I went FF!!!
i rather they keep making good still cameras with sort of crippled video function, if you really want video get a freaking camcorder, that’s why it’s there for video mainly!
Let’s not forget, that most people who buy there models, are mainly amateurs, who don’t really need them that much for video, people are basically complaining because it’s what they got used to when it comes to sony, but the ones complaining are only a few, the majority will buy these cameras without saying anything on a forum.
nobody, even people who make videos with a videocamera, shoots 11 minutes continously.. i don´t see the problem here..personally i am not that kind of photographer who needs in build video, but some problems here, seem to me, a bit exaggerated..
Example:
I was recently taking video of concert which was about one hour long.
Solo singer is coming to scene and ups.. I need to rest my camera now, could You wait a couple of minutes please?
Btw: how u feel if your battery just ran out or shutter button has a lag when there is a great shot opportunity?
It is a nasty limitation
buy a nex vg-10, that would solve your problem..don´t forget, the a33/a55 are at first still-camera´s with ´some´ capabilities of shooting video inside their guts..
if you want to shoot complete movies, you should consider a sony handycam instead..
Nope, I want all in one small package :> And VG-10 is not big benefit for price…Or I rather wait for pro version of vg-10.
I hope Sony will do something about this heat-problem in the a77. Like a little passive intern cooler behind the sensor or something?
Yeaaaaah, wow, I bet they never thought of that. Are you, like, a genius?
Truth is that most older sensors had a heat sink attached, but if you need to move the sensor for some reason — I don’t know, an anti-shake system or something — you have to move sensor PLUS sink which is a great deal more mass. So, that’s not an option.
Here’s my question:
Using it to record frequently, and perhaps to the point of overheating, would the longevity of the camera or the sensor be drastically reduced?
I asked because I would expect at least 5 to 10 years of regular usage from a D-SLR.
I see everyone is giving excuses for Sony here. First off, sometimes longer shooting time is needed. Some comments above even give examples. To say that you don’t need it doesn’t make sense. Second, to a big extent the whole SLT thing is about video – AF, etc. Heck, Sony advertisers it this way. And in the end they can’t even do better than the competition?
And they can’t? In what?
They offer as long recording as everyone else, or even better than some of competition.
+ it offers 10 minutes of video with stabilization on any lens. How that isn’t better than the competition? lol
You do remember that Pentax also offers in-body image stabilization? Also Olympus? And the others have at least a few stabilized lens? So the great Sony innovation in fact gives us at best a tiny improvement? What was the point then? The only thing I see here are the 10FPS that really stands out.
for the criticasters here… look at any movie you have in your dvd collection, or just go to the local cinema.. take a stopwatch with you, and start counting seconds while looking to the movie..count how many seconds it takes, before one scene is switched into another scene..
you will not find any scene as long as 11 minutes..
why?
because looking to a scene of 11 minutes long is boring as hell..
did anybody watch the promo-vid of the a33/a55? the guys, who made this vid, knew exactly what they were doing.. short scenes, changes in camera-position, and a lot of editing work.. that is what video is all about..
nobody wants to see, a 1 hour scene of a concert..
and even in concerts, the professional filmmakers switch all the time between camera´s or scenes..
check the video-clips at you-tube from any artist available, and you´ll see what filming is all about..
just a silly exampleabout video-shooting..
don´t look to the music, but to the vid, and count how many scene-changes it has…
it is all about seconds, not minutes..
personally, i do not care too much about lady gaga, but the camera-work is awesome..
ofcourse it would be very difficult to do this with a a33/a55, but just to show, how vids are made…LOL!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bESGLojNYSo
Film makers do, of course, cut between shots. However, what they don’t do (on live events at least) is turn each camera off to let it rest.
Any video camera which can only capture a few minutes at a time will only be usable for a limited number of shots. I have a wedding ceremony to video later this month, and something that could only capture 5 minutes is simply not going to do the job.
The A33/A55 are fine for ad-hoc, short captures, but not much use for anything also including filming concerts (which I also do occasionally). Even where I have had the luxury of more than one camera, then you shoot the whole thing complete from all cameras and mix it and edit it later.
Maybe we’ll see something more suitable later on. As it is, none of the DSLRs yet make great general-purpose video cameras.
that is why, when i am off to a wedding, i go together with a colleague of mine.. i do the pics, and my colleague does the rest with a sony hxr-nx5 in full HD….
“you’ll see these warnings in every HD-recording DSLR’s manual”
http://www.digitaltrends.com/photography/the-truth-about-overheating-dslrs/
I recently got an a33 and took it to an arboretum to take some pics. Several times during the 2.5 hour shooting session my camera tyurned off three times saying it was too hot and needed to cool off. This wasn’t shooting video…I was taking stills. It happened last night at the Rangers game and it wasn’t really hot at all. I was not a happy camper.