Hello all. I just got done shooting a promo video for a client here in Austin. They wanted me to shoot with thier 7D. (Not sure why, we have a P2 we could've used)

I noticed that the camera would overheat when shooting sequences over 3 minutes or so in length. Does every one have this problem? How can I prevent it, in the case I use it again?

I own four 7D's and only once have I seen the overheating warning - after the camera had been recording for hours in 105 degree, direct sun.

If your camera is overheating after 3 minutes, you may have a problem.

thanks! I'll let my client know. They have more work they want done in the future. And I love the depth of field you get with the 7D. I would like to use it again.

I don't know why my search didn't find this thread? I think this should be stickied

My 7d has always overheated on extended shoots.
But today I was using a monitor, which of course disable the built in LCD. It didn't overheat despite repeated 9-10 takes. Perhaps not running the LCD keeps the camera just cool enough that the overheat warning doesn't come on?

Has anyone else noticed this?

I have the 7D and used it for filming speeches at the weekend there. I have upgraded the firmware on it so it is quite recent (will confirm later what version it is) but about 45 minutes in and I got the heating warning light on - firt time I've seen it. I've not recorded as long as that before continuously. Before I had recorded the speeches I had been doing other bits of filming, but the camera had been sitting for about 15 minutes beforehand so might have been slightly warm.

anyway, I really didn't expect this to happen since the firmware updates and nobody else appears to have reported this as a continuing problem. Has anyone else had this issue in recent months?

I occasionaly see it at about an hour of continuous recording, only every now and then.

I have the most recent firmware (well, not the one that was released a few days ago, the one before that)

just checked - it's version 1.2.3 I have. Am surprised at that James as I thought that before the firmware was released to fix the overheat issue, it had a max record time of about 1 hour? In my case it was about 50 minutes. I wonder if changing to a fresh/cool battery would make any difference, or even a new card.

Brian has the key to the overheating issue: the LCD. Yes, using a battery grip will help as the battery also gets hot, and sure ice packs will help, but it's the LCD that really contributes to the overheat-sensor going on. I know this because I believe the T2i is very similar to the 7D is far as overheating (unlike the 5D which rarely overheats). My T2i will overheat after 20-40 minutes of "continuous" running (manual restarts). Now I use the Magic Lantern for the T2i with the version that allows auto-restart as well as the ability to turn off the LCD while recording. Now I can record at least 80 minutes continuously (with 3 second gaps at restarts) and no overheating at all. This may change when the summer humidity increases, as humidity is also a major factor.

Anyway, if you can use an external monitor, this will turn off the LCD and this will minimize overheating for sure. I don't know if the camera needs the monitor or if just plugging in the HDMI cable will trigger to turn off the LCD, so that would be interesting and cheaper than needing a monitor.

I did find some interesting information in the exif data from the 7D some weeks ago. I´m not aware if this info show up in every program capable of showing exif data, but I downloaded a small program from App store named ExifExtreme. This is for Mac only and I´m not aware if it´s available for Win users.

This small program list a huge amount of information particularly from the .thm file. And one of this is the internal temperature inside the camera during recording.

It was just of luck I did find this information, as I am a wildlife photographer and I´m trying out the 7D for wildlife recording and analyzing the exif data back home is quite important to find out the best settings for different kind of shooting.

During this period I have mostly done shooting from a blind/hide out in the woodland. Morning/early day temperature has been quite cold (but for wildlife this is the best time of day for shooting!). Average air temperature has been 8-10 degree Celsius (46 - 50 F). During this period the internal temperature inside the 7D varied from 25 degree Celsius ( 77F) to 46 degree Celsius (almost 115 F!) which is quite much higher internal temperature than the surrounding air temperature!

I was quite shocked when I find that the difference in temperature was so high!

Note that I have not experienced any overheating warning from the 7D in this periode of testing.

I did various recording sequences in length from just 20-30 seconds and up to 12 minutes which is the limit for continuos recording in HD.
I recorded in 1080/25p and 720/60p mostly.
I found that the internal temperature increased slightly when recording in 720/60p but also in 1080/25p during long recording runs, temperature was quite high.

The camera was on between the period of recording, and I switched battery when the change battery icon appeared on the screen. 2-3 fully charged batteries was used every day (4-6 hours) during this test period.

My setup is tripod recording only. I use one original battery in the internal camera battery bin, but I use a external monitor via HDMI feed all the time, which turns off the 7D internal lcd screen.
I did use lots of different lenses, from a Sigma 30mm f/1.4, Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8, Canon 300mm f/4.0 and Canon 500mm f/4.5. The kind of lenses used had no influence on the internal temperature
I also used a external Røde mono mini shotgun, feeding the 7D via the 3.5mm mic input.


I do hope this information could help some of you with overheating problems. Maybe you could investigate your own exif data. It could be interesting to know when the internal temperature is high enough to trigger the overheating warning in the display!

Mine overheated yesterday many times; i was viewing on the camera's lcd. I'll take the battery out, even for 1 or 2 minutes > shoot for 3 or 4 and it'll comes back on again. it wasn't even that hot, but it was humid, i think that does it!

I haven't noticed any pictures problems as a result.

Shooting with a monitor cures the problem for the most part.

I have yet to have an overheat but am probably coming close on my latest project, shooting classroom teaching for online purposes.

I have a Marshall field monitor that I use religiously, so maybe that has held it off for me...

I can attest that the battery grip and/or using an external monitor makes no difference with overheating. I was shooting recently using my 7D as a 3rd camera (lockdown) INDOORS and after about 45 minutes I noticed the warning icon flashing. I have the latest firmware update, and was using a battery grip and an external monitor. Also using a 16GB UDMA card. Still it overheated. I ignored the icon and let it go until the card ran out (long interview!) I wasn't able to get to the camera during the interview to put in a new card (it wasn't that important that the 3rd camera was running for the whole interview) and afterward I noticed the camera had shut down. Okay, that's normal after a period of inactivity, but it wouldn't come back on. Powering it off and on did no good, still or movie mode didn't matter.... it was just dead. The only thing which revived it was removing the batteries and reinserting them. That did the trick, but what was that about? I didn't use the camera the rest of the day, so I have not yet had an opportunity to troubleshoot it further. The footage from the card was fine all the way to the end, so no problems there.....

I had hoped that by installing all the firmware updates, that this problem was a thing of the past? Pretty annoying....

This problem is so commonplace that I'm surprised there hasn't been a Class Action suit brought against Canon.

Paul, it is a documented limitation of the camera, disclosed by Canon themselves. They were even kind enough to put a warning into the camera for when overheating is imminent, as well as an automatic turn-off feature to stop the camera from cooking itself. All this, no less, no address an issue with a feature that is not even part of the camera's primary purpose.

Hardly any ground for legal action, methinks. If they didn't put in the automatic shut-down and everybody's cameras had melted, then a class action suit might be appropriate.

Not sure where this disclosure is John, but it sure wasn't there when I bought my 7D. If it was, it certainly wasn't conspicuous, which it should have been.

Hello !

I am 7D owner as well, and already met the overheating problem. Just a single test it was, I put it on a tripod, and start recording, (to a 32Gb Extreme CF). After 26min. the temp. icon came, and after 44mins. the camera shut down itself. It was a summer evening, ca. 30C degree.
I have tried also under a bit optimized circumstances, I ised a fan, directed to the 7D. Lasted ca. 10% longer.
Plus when the camera starting to overheat, than the quality starts to decrease (after couple of shutdowns)
60D works better for video (2.5 hours battery life, no overheating after 3 hours contniuous rec.)
7D hold better against weather
Must have both of them :)

Please remember the 5D and 7D cameras are doing an incredible amount of processing inside an incredibly small space. Canon performed a small miracle cramming that amount of electronics inside the body of an SLR and managing heat dissipation is just one of many balls they had to juggle.

The overheating issue is not a flaw, it is a side effect of the compact and frankly quite impressive design. If you want to shoot continuous video in warm temperatures for extended periods of time, find a piece of equipment built for that purpose, say...an actual video camera.

I have two 7D's and while I have encountered the overheating warning indicator, I've never had one shut off automatically, and the issue has only cropped up while shooting in direct sunlight. The fix is easy...a small piece of cinefoil over the top to block the sun.

Of course it's a flaw. Regardless the amount of technical wizardy, this should not happen, especially when they already had a camera, the 5DM2 that doesn't have this flaw.