Sony A7IV OVERHEATS - How long can you record before it happens? 

Hi All. Just to add a little more info to this great video. I recorded in 10bit 4K 4.2.2 H.265 (the XAVC HS mode) on my A74. I put it on a tripod in a 72 degree F room. In 24P it recorded for 1 hour and 53 minutes when the battery died. No overheat warning or shutdown. After a long cooldown. I used the same codec H.265 4.2.2 4k, but at 60fps on a tripod in the same 72 degree F room and recorded for 1 hour and 42 minutes - which is when the battery died. No overheat warnings or overheat shutdown. Maybe the H.265 helped with the longer 60fps record time, or maybe it was because I had it on a tripod. Not sure. I also tried the 10bit H.265 HS 4.2.0 Codec in 24fps and 60fps and got essentially the same times as the 4.2.2 H.265 HS times. I normally record in the HS 4.2.0 mode, as I like the smaller file sizes, it edits easily on almost any computer ( since it's the 4.2.0 Codec, and most Macs and PC's have hardware optimization for that particular H.265 Codec). I always record in Slog 3, and I have yet to be able to discern any color grading flexibility difference between the 4.2.2 codec or the 4.2.0 codec in any footage I have ever shot. I haven't seen any limitation of the 4.2.0 10 bit H.265 HS codec in any color grading pushes, Noise Reduction, or effects. It all grades just as well as the 4.2.2. Hope this is helpful.

To prevent overheating on my A7III, I set the heat tolerance to high, popped the screen open a bit, and put a small piece of tape over the eyepiece to trick the camera into shutting off the screen. I've been able to record continuously for four hours on a tripod (with short breaks to restart the camera when swapping out batteries and SD cards, and after that infernal 30-minute limit).

Hi Chris, Good content as always. I shared in other posts that I have a lot of experience using the R5 and its overheating issues. The culprits comes from lack of applying thermal physics. Design and weatherproof and/or waterproof (like action cams) and shoot in high frame rates, high resolutions, 4:2:2 10bit codecs will lead to overheating. What gets me is it seems these engineers haven’t learned to design it for thermal physics such as: - using inductive bodies such as Magnesium alloy bodies - passive cooling using copper heat sinks - active cooling fans as done first on Pana S1H, then FX3, Z9, and now R5C Here are the culprits that generates the most heat: 1) The ISP and image sensors are the biggest culprits, followed by the LCD screen, which all residues as neighbors. This is why Tilta built the fan to flush against the back of the LCD when the LCD is opened. The active cooling fan helps a lot and I am able to get double the times on the R5 shooting times set by Canon. 2) The next ones are the memory cards and batteries. On the R5, I use a grommet to put inside the hole to fake that the memory card door is closed to keep it open. For the battery, I use a dummy battery. For the A74, the memory card door can be left opened without inserting any grommets. 3) wifi, bluetooth, lens compensation, GPS, NFC, and other features will generate heat can be turned off using the “airplane mode” There are essentially two types of recording that I do: 1) short form recording (under an hour and run and gun situations): - flip out LCD (as Chris mentioned in this video) - turn power settings to high temp (as Chris mentioned in this video). This is what Sony calls tripod mode as for consumer protection for the hands. The default setting is standard for handheld. Hot to the hand or “hand hot” is different for each person but can range from above 40degC. In US, I believe the law is 53degC and above. In UK and Europe, I think it is 48degC and above - turn LCD screen brightness down if feasible (may not be option outdoor in sunny day) - use Tilta fan on high setting (loud but if you mic up and not vlogging, you’re fine) - use dummy battery. Chris, saw that you use the Anton Bauer Tilton Base but Core SWX has matched it with a 70Wh but better wider QR base plate, has a V-mount adapter with 1/4” female screw to attach to tripod, cage, or to lights and other accessories, and best of all, it can be piggy backed or daisy chain to have multiple batteries to last all day. You just need to be careful which power port you can plug external recorders and camera dummy batteries into as the output is usually 8.4V and the P/D-taps are 12-16V. You will short out your main board which has the power management and other components. 2) long form recording: - use an external recorder such as the Ninja 5/5+, BM Video Assist, SmallHD, etc. and record externally only. If you also record internally, you will be faced with same overheating issues. So Sony, Canon, Pana, and any cameras that has a small body and try to design it to be weatherproof and also allow to shoot at high resolutions (4K and above or oversampled), high frame rates (60/120fps), and taxing encoding codecs such as 4:2:2 10bit All-I H.264, will have some sort of overheating at some point. The comments why Sony’s APSC cams and A73 didn’t overheat does not understand that they all were using low end encoding codecs on 8bit 4:2:0, weren’t capable of 60/120fps high frame rates, and not shooting at 7K oversampled 4K. Anyhow, sorry for the long rant!

Glad to see someone with a significant following talking about this. I didn't see any reviewers with pre-release models suggest there were overheating issues under normal circumstances, nor discuss the matter in this depth. My first recording on the A74 lasted just less than 9 minutes, then overheated. I was shooting 4k 25fps XAVCs 10bit 422, with the auto power off set to high, and I was indoors with the heating on. I believe it overheated because I was intensively changing settings whilst recording. I wasn't doing an overheating test, just cycling through the picture profiles, playing with the AF tracking and constantly changing exposure settings to test the 'second base' ISO' in different profiles. I've since done overheating tests where I've left the camera recording without playing with the settings, and I've not had any problems. On these tests I recorded for over 90 minutes, with and without the screen folded out, until a 128gb filled up. For one test, in the last few minutes of card space, I tried to make the camera overheat. It didn't overheat, but I noticed as soon as I switched to 64,000 ISO (which I realistically wouldn't shoot at), the overheating warning appeared, and disappeared as soon as I went back down in ISO. Thanks for sharing this Chris!

Thanks for this video. I had this type of overheating expirance my first few days with the camera but after changing the shutdown settings to high this has been a none issue. At the end of the day these cameras are incredible tools that have their limitations just like EOR R 5s or 6s. The main idea of shooting slow-motion is to have the option available not to use it continuously for a whole shoot. I shoot commercial, event, and film work. Each other these areas require a different type of tool for the job. For those watching this please remember to choose the tool or camera you invest in based on what you are creating. Is it film, youtube, commercial photos? Whatever it is, in my opinion this camera is one of the best tools I have ever used for a variety of jobs. Anyways, that's my two cents you all have a great day.

Great job on the tests Chris! My respect for testing this way I know how incredibly time consuming it is. I think most people that are having an issue are keeping the screen closed and not changing the temp shut off setting. Well done!

Thanks for putting this test together. I have the Sony A7IV which I receieved on the 30th of december and this thing heats up and shuts down. I have a A7III and never changed the heat setting from standard to high and never had any issues. your milage may be different but my A7IV gave me the hot icon while moving through the menus without even recording. I see a lot of people saying set the temp setting to high, but during my tests it will power down at 108-110f which is pretty darn warm. Turn the mode dial to photo and it will never heat up, change the dial to video and the beast of a processor is doing something and causes it to heat up. If I can get mine to power down on standard heat setting at 108F I can just imagine how hot the body can get if the setting is set to high .

This is exactly the video I was looking for! Need to record longer than 30 minutes on my A7iii

Great tests man! Bummer that it overheats, but glad it's only in very specific scenarios.

Excellent job on this. I just recently shot a wedding with the Sony A7IV and did a vlog about it on my channel. I had no issues with overheating, but at the same time it was cold AF outside (literally snowing). I also was mainly only doing photography and I was shooting it along side my Z6ii. So that probably helped as well. But now I know I’m the future that if I do something more video centric to look out for overheating. Yikes 😬

This is the only reason why i wont go for this camera, because i have a 2 camera man crew and i want them to think about the shoots and not if the camera will overheat or no. I bought 2 Lumix SII instead and i am very very happy with my purchase.

Very insightful! With screen open, it seems to offer pretty competitive recording times before overheating.

Thank you for taking the time to do this test, as well as your friend. Do you think that's why Sony didn't enable 4K 60p full-frame? Downsizing from 7K to 4K at 60p would cause it too overheat really fast?

That’s some handy info and has no negative effect on how I shoot. I already assumed the flip out screen would make a difference so thanks for confirming.

Very helpful, Chris..thank you. My brand-new A7IV overheated and shut down yesterday while I wasn't even recording (I was just sorting my menus out for about 30-45 mins).

Day 666 of watching videos on the A7IV until mine arrives

Conclusion of the commentary space must be don’t charge the battery in the camera. It will heat up your camera up pre use and make it overheat doing even the lightest tasks. That’s useful info to👍🏽

Check it out. Found this on reddit.... EDIT/UPDATE: Looks like in my scenario, dual SD card slot recording was the main overheating culprit. It makes sense as dual card slot recording means more work, more heat and another SD card heating up the internals. Not everyone dual records so this won't be an issue for a lot of people. But if you do like dual recording, either for proxies or to have an immediate backup of your footage, overheating may cause issues with the dual recording method. In the same room with ambient temps of 20 degrees Celsius / 68 Fahrenheit, 4K60 10bit 422 IBP, tripod and flip screen out, but SINGLE card slot recording instead of dual slot recording, I was able to record for 1 hour and 18 minutes before the overheating symbol came on. So another half an hour or so of additional record time compared to my original test. However, coming from an a7SIII, I'm still used to shooting 4K60 10bit 422 in direct sunlight outdoors on a hot summer day without ever getting the overheating symbol. So the a7IV still underperforms in that regard but it should still do the job for many people as long as you work within it's overheating limitations. EDIT #2: Tried 4K 24 10bit 422, recording to 1 card slot, did not overheat at all. Warning symbol did not come up once.

Great video, I haven't seen such a thorough test anywhere 👌 In a german video I saw somebody complaining that it overheats quicker if recording externally in an Atomos Ninja V. I find it surprising because that's supposedly the solution for the overheating of my R6...

Nice! your testing answers all my questions about recording

Switch to V90 SD. Ok, guys, I'm posting that comment under every video related to Sony A7IV overheating issue, because it solved the problem for me and I'd be happy if it helps you. I've browsed through dozens of videos on that subject and most of them didn't mention that particular thing. Yes, auto power off temp works. Opening the screen and battery door works too. Eventually it allowed me to record 35 min instead of 15 min in 4K 100M 4:2:2. Better, but not perfect. External recorder, switched off linking, camera grip, etc. probably does its job as well. But V90 SD card instead of V30 allowed me to record a 2-hour take easily. The battery exhausted earlier. Maybe that's dumb, but having been an A7III user, I never thought the card would be such a gamechanger. In fact, yes. Slow cards just don't have enough capacity, being overheated while trying to process the recording, they overheat the camera internally even though it stays cool on the surface. Don't bother with CFExpress, just a regular V90 128G card would do the thing. At least it worked like a charm for me. Thanks for the video, Chris! 🙌

Thank you so very much! Enjoyed thoroughly the whole piece! Yet, there are 2 questions: 1. Can you film, providing energy to the camera with USB-C card, - maybe it will remove a bit of heat? 2. Does this camera record the video before "dying"? My very old and cheap Sony A5100 does record everything, while my FF Nikon 610 dies and looses all what;s been filmed, - too bad! IS there any way to know in advance, if a particular camera "writes everything" or it does, before the "death of the battery" ??

Thanks for sharing your findings! I tend to shoot outdoors in warmer climates with a gimbal. I am hoping overheating will not be too much of an issue especially, since I keep the screen closed with the screen visible.

Great video. What about doing a test with USB Power, this could be useful for people doing live multicamera streaming and recording in camera.

Love your videos bro. I think you should have had the cameras on tripods. The heat coming from the camera is then returned from the table it’s resting on. It’s not allowing the heat to dissipate through the base of the camera. Just a thought. Thanks again.

Alrighty. So… I’ve contacted Sony. Just as they’ve fixed overheating issues with the A1 and many other models with firmware updates, they have been receiving reports and their production team should be working on it. This is not an official statement, but given their history of fixing these issues, I’m sure this will also be taken care of. In the meantime, this was their advice: 1. Change the auto power off temperature setting from “standard” to “high.” This is one we already know. 2. Turn on airplane mode so that it’s not drawing power constantly attempting to search for devices to pair with BT and NFC. 3. Turn the screen brightness down to the lowest setting. 4. Turn off proxy recording. 5. Turn off focus breathing compensation. Other tips I’ve seen around include: 1. Keeping the screen flipped out and away from the body (which we know, also not always ideal depending on your situation). 2. Leaving the battery door open (which we know, but may not be ideal). 3. Attach a lens on the camera instead of the body cap (heat can dissipate through the lens better than through the body cap). 4. Don’t cradle the entire body of the camera in your hands for a significant period of time going through the menus and setting up the camera. 5. Don’t play with it in bed (or any other location where it may be “suffocating” on a blanket, on a pillow, etc., just like you wouldn’t with a laptop). 6. Do not have the camera in video capture mode while going through your settings, as the sensor is currently programmed to pull power at all times in movie mode, creating heat. If you have the body cap on, are cradling it fully with both of your hands coming into contact and covering most of the camera body, sitting in bed resting the camera in your hands on the blanket that’s on your lap, and you’re in video mode; it will probably overheat. Lol However, the Sony representative I spoke to said “As of this time, there is no firmware update that will address it. This has been raised already to our product engineers.” And while he could not give me an official declaration that there is a firmware update coming, the answers to the rest of my questions gave me great confidence that their engineers are working on it, and that we can look forward to a firmware update that should fix these issues, just as they did with the A1, A7SIII, and A7III before this. So. I’d go far enough to say, hang on! The fix should be coming!

I love that you got your camera from Henry’s! I just got mine from there - It’s a Canadian family owned business and love to see them competing with the big dogs!

Hey Chris, incredible video! My A7 IV shut down today and my flip out screen was closed. I'll keep it open next time. Cheers! 👍

I shoot in 4k 60 for my DIY Car Audio channel most of the time but not for an hour lol! I occasionally shoot in 4k 30 But it's nice to know that if I ever need more then an hour in 4k 60 with XAVC S 4K i can just continue to leave the Screen open to keep the A7IV as cool as possible. I also use a 160GB Sony Tough CF Express Card The Type A for all my video. I only got a warning 1 time since I owned the A7IV which concerned me a bit but I did have the temp settings to High. My PC starts to choke with anything higher then 200M anyways lol! Thank you so much for making this video. I have subscribed! 😁🙏

Thank you for doing all this work! Does the camera save the files when it shuts down due to overheating? Or will you loose the entire recording? Thank you!

Thanks for doing these tests! Moral of the story: keep your screen open!

Nicely done, this video is like tailored for me. I was just thinking about overheating and using third party batteries. Thank you! As a Sony a7II user and aspiring videographer I am planning to upgrade. The main reason is video AF which is a torture if you use a7II. You can almost see battery percentage dropping while waiting for nailed focus 😒 And charging while recording with a7II is impossible, only dummy battery is a solution.

Fantastic, thanks for the hints and insights. Just a side question though: what card type do you use for prolonged tests? CFExpress or UHS-II?

I've found that when shooting in 25p, 4K 10Bit XAVC-S, S-Cinetone with Steady shot set to Active & Screen closed, the camera overheats in just a few minutes. (Ambient temp 24 Degrees c). I believe that having steady shot set to active drastically reduces the time it take for the camera to overheat. Far better off to stabilise in Catalyst Browse.

Thxs! Can you share results with a dummy battery?

Hey Chris, thank you for this very detailed video. It surely helps the rest of us considering this camera.

Thanks but you really should've continued the open screen tests right up to the limit of the cards/batteries. There may (likely WILL) come a day when you're shooting for over an hour and the camera shuts off (maybe) in the middle of something important. Then you'll wish you had run a full test. As of now you don't know. Cheers again. EDIT: I've just read your pinned note above. Good for you! 🙂

Great video Chris! It was fun to collaborate on this too!

Appreciate the tests! The only time my A7iv overheated so far was during a live stream (using the A7iv as a webcam). The camera was plugged into my computer via USB-C and I was on a Zoom call (streaming at 720p/30fps) when the overheating warning showed up around the 1hr mark and the cam shut down soon after. I'd be curious to see if you (or anyone else for that matter) experienced this as well because I've never had this issue with the A7iii (connected via HDMI to a capture card). Thanks!

Thanks! What about bigger objectives?

worth noting that overheating happens even with camera on on menus etc. So you gotta make sure u turned cameras on at same time

Nice work Chris as usual but was the "Sony A7IV OVERHEATS" necessary ? A bit clickbaity mate. It's not like it's Canon level overheating, open the screen and it's not a problem.

This video is sufficiently reassuring :) thanks Chris!

Hi Chris, thanks for your video. I'm considering switching from my Panasonic S5 for indoor concert shooting that does does a really good job with no overheating. I need a reliable sony camera for an hour and a half video shooting in 4k 25p and I wonder if I should buy the A7iv or the FX30 since I don't have a the budget for the FX3 for this kind of shoot. Any recommendations? Thanks a lot.

I talk about overheating 1 month ago and nobody care ;/ the biggest difference of recording time is when you use AF-C (record when somebody is in frame (EYE)). Try to do Chris the same tests but when somebody is in AF-C and your result gonna be much worst ;/ .

Holy crap, hadn’t set it to HighTemp yet, was just going through all my photo setting, just switched to Video settings and not long into it and the temp warning showed up and a minute later ‘click’ it shut down. That over-heated fast!!!! That’s a first for me! Is the HighTemp setting going to be enough on a hot day. I’m in Sedona in May, outside, Holy Crap!

Thanks for this test! Screen open and we all can live 😅 👌🏻🔥

Learned a lot. Thanks bro. Btw what is the cover of your camera that looks like a flower?

As many big time youtubers who got the camera 2 months in advance, im disappointed that none of them even did a real overheating test. This is deal breaker for those filming testimonials for a living.

Perfect Video! Exactly what i wanted to know.

need help. i updated my sony a7iv to version 2.0 and now it shuts down in 15 minutes. would it be possible to downgrade?

Congrats on 100k Chris!

hello thanks for the video if anyone checked: use SSD instead of sd card ? it could help and keep time?

Have you tried comparing it with different sd card brands for each camera? I am not entirely sure, but sd cards could probably contribute to the device's temperature.

Most of these tests were done in winter and indoors. But what happens at 30 to 40 degrees Celsius?

I actually had my brand new a7iv overheat right after opening the box and navigating the menus for about 20 mins, very sad to see but just updated it and switched the threshold to high, it's warm to the touch but didn't shut down, unfortunately all of this was done in my room with ac on, and I need to use this outside in florida heat, I hope this helps.

Excellent video. Did you set the temperature to high in the tests? With temperature to standard i have recorded 20 minutes and with temperature to high i have recorded until the battery exhausted (1 hour and 20 minutes) for 4k 8bit

Thanks for these tests! I had a handful of cases with the a6500 back in the day where I got burned (pun intended?) by not opening the screen...looks like this will be a similar case here with the a7 IV, at least to be safe for longer recordings.

Thanks Chris! Great video 📸

Always informative. Thanks.

Great test1 Thanks! Very helpful!

Hey thanks for the excellent content & the info on the kondor blue, I have purchased one 🙂. I’m looking for the best memory card to pair with my a7iv, I wanted to see what’s your recommendation? Thanks in advance

nice!! have you try with dummy battery? that who'd be interesting because no battery inside changes everything.

Hi, thanks to share your interesting video. I will have to use Sony A7 IV enough often in Africa. Do you think the Sony A7 IV will be sturdy enough to withstand the heat, dust and humidity? Thank you

Realy helpful many thx for this.

Great video, im still waiting fir my camera to be delivered, and you have TWO! Lol

I was shooting a live event on stage with the adapter powery (plugged in the power) and I got about an hour before it shut off, I was shooting 4K 30 60M 4:2:0, I need to test it more. The adapter battery was from amazon (third party)

I wonder if the canon R6 behaves in the same way? Would be nice to see if the screen position affects its running time.

I find if you connect to the A7IV using wifi (monitor+ app) it's guaranteed to overheat and have even bigger effect than the screen closed

Useful video Chris!

how do we identify its an original sony battery? here in sri lanka vendors selling Sony A Grade batteries they saying its not original but closer to original.

I had a really scary experience. I was just simply playing around with my settings, just opened up the camera the next day after batteries were charged. about an hr in, it was overheating and shut off. I'm going to check it off as bad luck in getting a bad model. When I first opened it, the inside of the box was dusty, I did get it from Amazon which the upside is I will get a full refund. I'm just skeptical now if Amazon is the best place, but the convenience of the service when it comes to warranty has always been a good experience.

Mmmm I haven’t suffered any over heating at all. I have shot on all modes both indoors and out.. interesting vid, thanks.

thanks for the info

Great job! I would love to see how it performs with the dummy battery.

Thank you so much for this!

The Neewer 3rd party Batteries give you a percentage and don't have the initial "this is not a Sony battery" screen. Might be a good option for a good 3rd party battery. They work perfectly on my A74

Great review, thanks! But mic so close to your face looks super weird.

May i ask you that: if i charge by type C, is it fine for my a7 Iv - or i need to use the external charge. Thank you

Looking to do sports videography. Outdoors in heat of summer. I’m assuming this camera is not the best for that?

I have recorded a couple concerts with recording over an hour using my A7iv and A7C (simultaneous from different angles) in 4K 25fps and neither camera overheated. Can’t remember if I had screens open, but that was probably the case going from your tests. My recordings were with no colour profile.

What if the screen is closed altogether. Not using the view from that screen. Utilizing eye viewfinder or external monitor instead?

Great video. I’m getting my a7iv in two days🎉 I hope I didn’t screw up when I bought two 256GB v60 cards ProGrade

Which camera would you recommend for long streaming hours?

Super helpful! 🙌🏻

I have been posting this as much as possible: I am in Canada as well and my Sony A7IV is overheating. Particularly in a more real world test where shooting 4K24 for 35Min and then switching to 4K60 where it shut down in under 3 min. Long story shot I called Sony and they said they are aware however their test body was not exhibiting signs of overheating and can't re-create the issue. They therefore are very interested in people calling them and providing them with information on their cameras and when they shut down or not as they want to document the scenarios in order to pin point this. Please contact Sony if you have this problem!

great informative video!

The conclusion up front made me trust you lol. I'm gonna try this with my wife 🤔😂

So do you think its worth having the a7iv with over heating issues or maybe there will be an update

just got the camera - overheat 11 minute for 4k 4.2.0 on 8 bit indoor @24C

I am a new sony user. Had been using canon camera all this while ? Can I know if this only happens if you 'record' or the camera is in the 'on' position without recording ? Thank you

Mine overheated in 10 minutes tops. I charged it via USB as it comes because it’s my first Sony camera and I don’t have the charger yet. While going through menus it overheated in sub 10 minutes. I have the heat limit turned up now and under the many cases I’ve used the camera so far no overheating but it does get quite warm at times. Holding with hands on the body and screen closed definitely warm things up the quickest.

how about connecting a dummy to power bank? does that affect the heating?

I have a issue in sony M4 it's click image in still photography...show half light and half dark ..any solution?? I clicked these images in day light ...no artificial light or flash used for that time

Do you think the camera would overhead if we're recording to the Atomos Ninja V?

Can you purchase a power adaptor and not use the batteries at all? Wonder if that helps

Good test. Well done.

I just ran mine outside shooting in 4k 60pfs, 4.2.0 S-LOG outside in 78° weather. I live in Texas and shoot weddings with a lot of them outdoors in the summer that are on average 90°-100°.... returning this camera.

I can't get more than 30 minutes at 90°F ambient temperature. I turned on the heater upstairs. Got the room nice and warm. It's only going to get hotter here in Oklahoma. I'd be nervous trying to film and outdoor wedding with this camera in the summer heat. Tested XAVC S 4K 60p 200M 4:2:2 10bit, XAVC HS 4K 60p 100M 4:2:2 10bit both with the screen closed and open. I'm fairly certain I'll be returning these and maybe dropping the extra cash on A7Siii. I have one more test but I have to wait for new SD cards to arrive.

Why are people making such a huge deal out of this?! Literally in every single type of filmmaking or just videography, the average time per one take/scene is like from 10 seconds to 30-40 seconds at most. Especially when it comes to TV shows, documentary shows and documentary footage, TV and internet commercials, movies and so on. Anything shorter or longer than that is very rare. 99.99% of ALL video work you can EVER possibly do, is shot in 10 to 40 second takes/scenes. Even if you EVER happen to do a 2 minute take/scene, that's considered an extremely long take/scene and is VERY rare. I feel like it's mostly RU-vidrs who are complaining about the overheating, as they are the only ones who are consistently filming in takes that are longer than 30 seconds to a minute, usually around 20-30 minutes - Like... Who the hell would EVER shoot a 30 minute scene/take?! Not even documentary footage or interviews are filmed in such long takes... The only people who have an issue with this seems to be people who should not be using cameras like these in the first place and those are people like RU-vidrs or LiveStreamers.