[FIXED] Canon R5 Overheating issue : SLFA-R5

The Canon EOS R5 and R6 have just been announced and many video bloggers noticed a quite stunning limitation on the recording capabilities when reading Canon announcement.
Even in a 4K 30p, at a low room temperature of 23 degree Celsius; the camera should overheat and shut down.
The Canon R5 was supposed to be a perfect balance camera able to serve cameramen and photographers with a limited investment in one unique body.
But this overheating issue raise a large concern among the videographers audience to check if this will be the camera they actually be able to use for a paid job where they can’t control the pace.

Which recording modes are impacted by overheating on the R5?

According to Youtubers who never touch the camera; it seems that not only 8K, but all recording modes except pixel binning have overheating issue.
It’s even worst for 4K mode than 8K as digital compression is kicking in.
The camera will shut down for about 20mn after 20mn of non-stop recording.
It’s getting stronger after this as the next forced stop is coming only 10mn later.
It’s not clear for now if adding an external recorder will remove or ease this limitation.

What can you do about the Canon R5 overheating issue?

The first obvious way to remove this overheating bricked issue is to not shoot any video: period!
It’s simple to avoid pressing it by mistake as there is a dedicated recording button.
You can add some masking tape on top of the red dot push button to make sure you will never hit it. This way, the camera will never overheat.
The downside could be quite annoying as no filming can be done either. That’s quite a choice to make.

The picture mode will just keep working fine.

You can also ask your clients to plan their interview on refrigerated room and get few extra recording minutes.

Here come the cooling fix: The SLF-R5

Any video camera these days come with an active cooling to solve this issue.
It’s quite obvious that a fan will be needed at one point to push the air inside the camera. On this particular case; the answer came as a extra slice of cooling device to be added to the camera body.
The device will not remove water sealing capability. All other video cameras do have such fan and do not accept to be used under the rain.

On the contrary; the SLF-RA Canon R5 cooling unit use waterproof fan and the electronics is not in the possible path of water.
The device include 2 rubbers part to keep the original part of the camera from getting wet. As a classic sandwich bread; it is to be installed in-between the camera screen and the sensor.

For copyright reasons; we can only put a picture of the box for now.

What is the cooling slice device?

To cool down the electronics, an extra layer need to be inserted inside the camera to support forced air path. The air intake is under the camera to hold it without blocking the vent.
The fresh will circulate in a S shaped path to follow all the processing unit and is sent back to the bottom to extract the extra heat.
Most of existing cage will be compatible with the add-on.
Please be aware that the extracted air may be extremely hot. Such high temperatures can start melting the paint of your rig. If you are planing for a long hand-held shot; we advice to wear gloves similar as the one you use for removing baking tray in your oven.
This SLFA-R5 cooling path is directly powered by the camera itself but do not impact so much on battery life. The overall consumption is only few extra watt.
The unit have a temperature sensor and will be activated only if the temperature approaching the shutdown limit. The standby current is almost negligible.
One downside is the extra space this slice will bring to the camera body. The Canon R5 is already 1 cm thicker than a Sony Alpha R7. The device will had an extra 5mm to that. It may be hard for photographer with small hands to keep getting a grip to the camera with the cooling module in place. Please make sure you can firmly still hold the camera in a secure way. If you are suffering from arachnodactyly; the new SLF-RA device is designed for you.

Here is the how your Canon R5 body will look like with and without the SLF-R5 cooling device.

How to clean from dust the SLFA-R5?

As any device with fan, and depending on the shooting environment, dust may come inside the cooling path reducing it’s effectiveness.
It’s recommended to clean it time to time, especially after using your camera on polluted area.
The operation is quite simple and consist on using only water without any cleaning product. The fan are waterproof and can even run under water at reduced speed.
As the camera is water-sealed, you can directly put the camera under a simple warm running water. It’s better to do it with the camera turned on and with a water around 40 degrees Celsius, so the fan will be activated.
This way, its will ensure the entire cooling system is clean.

According to our sources; a new upgraded version is in test in a undisclosed location. It take a regular water hose input and output to get continuous water cooling for conference and convention coverage.
Another hose will get the hot water out and can be connected to existing piping. If you are into green renewable energy; you may want to use this high temperature water for SPA, steaming bath, coffee maker,…

Does the fan bring any noise or shake?

The SLFA-R5 is designed to keep the noise impact super low. It’s composed of 2 small fans that spin at different speeds and direction.
This way, the noise generated by one fan is canceled by the second one.
As the air intake are located under the camera body, it will not generate any audible noise.

If you are planning on shooting in phone/portrait mode, the noise may get higher, but video camera are not designed for people that can’t flip a screen with their hands anyways.

The vibrations issue are solved in the same way. One amazing feature this cooling device brings is an extra stabilization steps.
As the 2 fans are rotating at high speed,; they are acting as a gyroscope. Any small movement will be automatically corrected in-body.
This feature alone can be the best selling point.

How to install the Canon R5  cooling slice?

The best and preferred way is to use any dedicated and approved maintenance center. The operation will take about 20mn to install the extra slice to your Canon R5. You can also ship your Canon camera to any of the authorized centers.
Another way is to order the SLFA-R5 device and install it yourself. The unit come with a clear description how to mount it. The overall process do not required specific precaution.
It consists of removing the back of the camera, insert the cooling slice and put it all back together.
This operation will necessitate the removal of about 352 tiny screws, all with different sizes. You will need to replace with longer one provided withing the package.

As you may understand, this manual operation will remove the Canon warranty.
We strongly recommend you to come to the approved maintenance center and let professional doing the fix for you. That the same kind of professionals that mess it up at the first place, so you can trust them.

What is the cost and availability?

The SLFA-R5 is already available and come at a low USD 499 price per unit. It will enable you to shoot 4K/8K without any time limitation due to overheating.
You can order it today or contact any  authorized centers  to get it installed during opening hours.

This is not a camera software hack and the 30mn recording limit per clip is still active.
The SLFA-R5 model is also compatible with the R6 version of Canon DSLR as well as the upcoming R8 and R9 models.

What SLFA-R5 stands for?

The SLFA-R5 is the first of a long list of cooling device to come. With global warming getting worst; the list of place below 23 degree Celsius temperature is reducing everyday.
The name came after a Google search to make sure it will not compete with another existing product.

SLice FAn for Canon EOS R5 is the first idea that came to the designer mind. It took about a year and half to get with the exact name.
“As a slice of salad in an burger; this extra layer to your camera body will bring you freshness for years to come.”

What else?

Please keep a link to this article if you re-post it.
This is obviously a satirist post and do not represent any product (for now).
This is what happens when a camera brand is focusing on specs and do not think that people will actually shoot any video for real with it.
Canon or Sony name are copyrighted.

If you actually wants to shoot without this limitation, I found the real way by changing the time and dropping the battery. You can read the real R5 time hack here.

VisionRouge is a video production company based in Hong Kong and China, specialized in corporate communication and time-lapse system design.
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