Sony A7 IV Overheating?

[Gionni]

I'd like to ask to owners of the A7IV if you noticed any overheating issue.
Today I was almost ready to buy the camera, but then on youtube and other forums I started to read about this problem.
Some says that you just have to change in the menu the auto shutoff temp to "High", but I'm quite worried and not sure if it would be better to wait before buy this camera.

 

[Jeff A]

I'm sure someone else with more background than I have will chime in but there were some older models that would get hot while taking prolonged 4K movies. I have an A7 IV and i'm pretty sure I've read just about every word written about it but the A7 IV is good to go. I have an A7 III as well and it is not affected either. If you find one in stock, I would buy it quickly. This is going to be a great seller for Sony.

 

[Gionni]

I'm sure someone else with more background than I have will chime in but there were some older models that would get hot while taking prolonged 4K movies. I have an A7 IV and i'm pretty sure I've read just about every word written about it but the A7 IV is good to go. I have an A7 III as well and it is not affected either. If you find one in stock, I would buy it quickly. This is going to be a great seller for Sony.

Thanks Jeff, nice to hear that your a7IV do not overheat.
I was reading comments about overheating even while just browsing into the menu of the camera, and that scared me.

 

[Tim Mayo]

My a7 IV hasn't overheated yet, although I have heard some users are experiencing this over in our Sony a7 IV Facebook Group. They appear to be in the minority right now, but yes it's still a little concerning.

 

[Jeff A]

My a7 IV hasn't overheated yet, although I have heard some users are experiencing this over in our Sony a7 IV Facebook Group. They appear to be in the minority right now, but yes it's still a little concerning.

So Timothy, under what conditions were these overheats?

 

[Reciprocum]

I have experienced no overheating whatsoever even in prolonged 2h+ photo sessions (zero video), my heat tolerance setting is still the factory default "normal".
I understand the overheating occurs in the more demanding video modes (4K 50p/60p, FullHD 100p/120p) when used for long periods. Switching the heat tolerance mode to "high"will defer the moment the camera shuts down, but it will also reduce the longevity of your electronics (reason why so many buyer candidates of my previous M3 kept asking me if I had done any video with it).

 

[Tim Mayo]

So Timothy, under what conditions were these overheats?

Some just appear to have been setting up the camera and going through the menus, so not even 4k recording. Which is a little worrying!

 

[Jeff A]

Some just appear to have been setting up the camera and going through the menus, so not even 4k recording. Which is a little worrying!

That sounds pretty strange.

 

[Jeff A]

Some just appear to have been setting up the camera and going through the menus, so not even 4k recording. Which is a little worrying!

So trhis morning I have been doing some setup and menu exploration. I've been at it for some time and I have been interrupted by phone calls and other distractions. All the sudden I get a message that the battery has been depleted. I was surprised because yesterday afternoon it was a fresh Sony battery, but that is not what I am here to say. While changing the battery I could not help but notice that the camera was barely warm.

I think that we should not get upset and worry about overheating cameras here. There are thousands of these cameras in use already. If there was a problem system wide, we would be hearing about may of these camera overheating. Did any of the pre-release reviewers mention overheating? I don't remember reading any reports.

 

[diamonddawg21]

Thanks Jeff, nice to hear that your a7IV do not overheat.
I was reading comments about overheating even while just browsing into the menu of the camera, and that scared me.

I received my A7IV on the 30th of December and I am having the issue with overheating while just moving through the menu. I am trying not to freak out too much and wait to speak with Sony when they open but this is a bit odd. The fix seems to switch the Auto Power off temp to high from standard but my gut tells me forcing the camera to cook itself just does not feel right. I took it outside today for a few tests and the outside temp was 72f and once I turn it on you can feel the heat building up in the body, and if you start recording it heats up quicker. Last night I set to record 4k 24p 8 bit and it went 4 minutes and shut off. I pulled the battery and let it cool down and tried again and it went 9 minutes before I got tired and just stopped it. My finder settings are set to standard also. Any ideas on what may be causing this would be great, but at the moment I will have to wait to speak with Sony for the next steps.

 

[Gionni]

I received my A7IV on the 30th of December and I am having the issue with overheating while just moving through the menu. I am trying not to freak out too much and wait to speak with Sony when they open but this is a bit odd. The fix seems to switch the Auto Power off temp to high from standard but my gut tells me forcing the camera to cook itself just does not feel right. I took it outside today for a few tests and the outside temp was 72f and once I turn it on you can feel the heat building up in the body, and if you start recording it heats up quicker. Last night I set to record 4k 24p 8 bit and it went 4 minutes and shut off. I pulled the battery and let it cool down and tried again and it went 9 minutes before I got tired and just stopped it. My finder settings are set to standard also. Any ideas on what may be causing this would be great, but at the moment I will have to wait to speak with Sony for the next steps.

That is really strange and concerning. I should receive mine in the next few days, I hope it will not overheat!

 

[diamonddawg21]

That is really strange and concerning. I should receive mine in the next few days, I hope it will not overheat!

Just to add to my experience. I switched to photo mode on the dial and not a single issue with heat. I can fiddle with it as long as I want and even did time lapse with no issues. As long as I'm in photo mode no issues. Switch to video and toasty

 

[Jeff A]

Just to add to my experience. I switched to photo mode on the dial and not a single issue with heat. I can fiddle with it as long as I want and even did time lapse with no issues. As long as I'm in photo mode no issues. Switch to video and toasty

First of all Mark, I'm sorry that you are having this problem, and I do believe that it's a problem for your camera. Just to add a little more experience to this series, this morning a spent a lot of time checking the memory setups in my A7 IV. I am running a very slightly modified CAMSET file created by Mark Galer who distributes this file who are his Patreon Members. So I started with a fresh battery (a Sony Battery, FWIW) and ran it down to 30% remaining before unplanned telephone calls intervened and I had to call it quits. The entire session was editing Movie menus while the cam era was in movie mode. I don't have a way to measure heat but the camera got slightly warm and that is all. Either way, if you are having heat problems this is not good news for you, as it seems to me, this may be a problem related to an individual camera or cameras. Good luck with your issue. Mark.

 

[diamonddawg21]

First of all Mark, I'm sorry that you are having this problem, and I do believe that it's a problem for your camera. Just to add a little more experience to this series, this morning a spent a lot of time checking the memory setups in my A7 IV. I am running a very slightly modified CAMSET file created by Mark Galer who distributes this file who are his Patreon Members. So I started with a fresh battery (a Sony Battery, FWIW) and ran it down to 30% remaining before unplanned telephone calls intervened and I had to call it quits. The entire session was editing Movie menus while the cam era was in movie mode. I don't have a way to measure heat but the camera got slightly warm and that is all. Either way, if you are having heat problems this is not good news for you, as it seems to me, this may be a problem related to an individual camera or cameras. Good luck with your issue. Mark.

Jeff, Thanks for the compassion as I work through this issue. I will report back to the thread with an update once the issue is mitigated.

 

[Jeff A]

Jeff, Thanks for the compassion as I work through this issue. I will report back to the thread with an update once the issue is mitigated.

I'm a Mark Galer Patreon Member and just this morning another Member brought this same issue up for Mark's comment and the one thing I took away from the conversation was that when your programing your menus in the Movie mode, the sensor is powered and therefore will be making a maximum amount of heat. His suggestion was to open the LCD so that it was not embedded in the camera body and that allows some cooling air to reach the camera. Also, set the heat tolerance to high. I guess that's more than one Take-Away, but you get what I mean.....I hope.

 

[Reciprocum]

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

The Sony A7IV has overheating issues and will shut down. But only in certain modes and situations, here's examples showing how and when and what to do to get...

www.youtube.com

 

[Brownie]

It's been over a month, has anyone heard anything more on this? I've seen a few posts from people spreading the fear, mostly when talking about their own brand. @diamonddawg21 hasn't been back since Jan 8. His experience sounds way more extreme than most from what I can tell. He's talking 4 minutes while others are citing a half hour minimum.

I rarely shoot video and the last time I shot a clip that was more than a couple minutes was...never. Most cameras these days will have a limit unless it was made specifically for video like the Panasonic GH series. I don't care if it won't shoot more than 30 minutes, but Sony needs to be forthcoming about that and state the limit like everyone else does. I find it hard to believe they don't know, it's doubtful they did all their testing in a refrigerator.

 

[Charles7]

ILCE-7M4 | Help Guide | Auto Power OFF Temp.

 

[diamonddawg21]

It's been over a month, has anyone heard anything more on this? I've seen a few posts from people spreading the fear, mostly when talking about their own brand. @diamonddawg21 hasn't been back since Jan 8. His experience sounds way more extreme than most from what I can tell. He's talking 4 minutes while others are citing a half hour minimum.

I rarely shoot video and the last time I shot a clip that was more than a couple minutes was...never. Most cameras these days will have a limit unless it was made specifically for video like the Panasonic GH series. I don't care if it won't shoot more than 30 minutes, but Sony needs to be forthcoming about that and state the limit like everyone else does. I find it hard to believe they don't know, it's doubtful they did all their testing in a refrigerator.

I am still having the issue but have just learned to work around it. Sony contacted me and advised that I use a v90 card. I purchased one and still have the issue. At this point, I have just adjusted my workflow to manage or work around the heat issue. I am a hybrid shooter and video is 1/2 to 75% of what I shoot. It's annoying but not a show stopper as the camera is full of cool features I enjoy. Friday I was shooting a video inside my house and its around 68F inside and it gave me the warning after about 15-20 minutes, I was shooting 1080P, I just took the camera outside on the patio as its 20-30 cooler outside and let it cool off. once cooled I started recording again. The camera has way too many features that I like to return it so I have made it work, now if I was shooting just video I may have to reconsider.

 

[Gionni]

It's been over a month, has anyone heard anything more on this? I've seen a few posts from people spreading the fear, mostly when talking about their own brand. @diamonddawg21 hasn't been back since Jan 8. His experience sounds way more extreme than most from what I can tell. He's talking 4 minutes while others are citing a half hour minimum.

I rarely shoot video and the last time I shot a clip that was more than a couple minutes was...never. Most cameras these days will have a limit unless it was made specifically for video like the Panasonic GH series. I don't care if it won't shoot more than 30 minutes, but Sony needs to be forthcoming about that and state the limit like everyone else does. I find it hard to believe they don't know, it's doubtful they did all their testing in a refrigerator.

So far I never encountered this issue.
I also tried to use the camera as webcam for about 40min without any issues.
As already suggested I set the Auto power off to High as soon as I received the camera.

 

[Brownie]

Yeah, I get all of the workarounds and do this don't do that. I was hoping for something more substantive, like Sony acknowledging the issue and promising a fix, or at least editing the specifications. Doesn't anyone else think this is total crap?

"Our camera works properly if you open this door, change to a different card, force it to hi-heat before auto-shutdown, and don't leave the screen closed."

I have owned many, many cameras and have never once had to wade through a bunch of caveats for it to work as advertised.

Does anyone know what the biggest enemy of electronics is? No, not water, wet can be dried out. It's heat. Heat will significantly reduce the life expectancy of electronics. Excess heat over time will destroy electronics.

Honestly, if this is as good as Sony can do they've lost my trust. Again, not because the camera overheats shooting video under "certain circumstances", but because they aren't telling people up-front. The release of this camera was delayed long enough for thorough testing to take place. I can see a class-action lawsuit coming, just until some content creator has a camera go belly-up while shooting an important clip.

I will continue to hope Sony sorts this out so people can be made aware, and sooner rather than later.

 

[Jeff A]

I am still having the issue but have just learned to work around it. Sony contacted me and advised that I use a v90 card. I purchased one and still have the issue. At this point, I have just adjusted my workflow to manage or work around the heat issue. I am a hybrid shooter and video is 1/2 to 75% of what I shoot. It's annoying but not a show stopper as the camera is full of cool features I enjoy. Friday I was shooting a video inside my house and its around 68F inside and it gave me the warning after about 15-20 minutes, I was shooting 1080P, I just took the camera outside on the patio as its 20-30 cooler outside and let it cool off. once cooled I started recording again. The camera has way too many features that I like to return it so I have made it work, now if I was shooting just video I may have to reconsider.

So, hand held or on a Tripod? Monitor open or closed?

I own an A7IV and I'll confess, I have yet to shoot a movie. I have however spent a great deal of time programming in Movie shooting mode, and holding the camera in my hand most of the time. I DO have the monitor open because it affords versatility. And since I have noticed some heating and read some of these posts, just good common sense and taking care of my equipment demands that the Monitor be open. And FWIW. there have a been a couple of times that inadvertently, I let the camera run until it shut down, not from heating, but from battery exhaustion.