topic Re: Canon 5D Mark iii stopped recording video! in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

Canon 5D Mark iii stopped recording video!

ScottESwartz — Mon, 17 Feb 2014 21:46:40 GMT

I was shooting on my new Canon 5d Mark iii yesterday, recording to a 16SD card and using a RODE shotgun mic for sound when a weird image appeared on my live view. Towards the right of the screen these blocks started piling up. When there were 4 blocks, my video stopped recording! I'm talking maybe 10 or 15 second videos here. My SD was less than half full at the time, and when I hit record again I only got about 10 to 15 seconds more of video recording. What the heck was going on!? Please help!

I've drawn a picture of what the blocks lookied like to further illustrate my point. Thank you!

Re: Canon 5D Mark iii stopped recording video!

Tim — Thu, 20 Feb 2014 23:03:11 GMT

Hello ScottESwartz,

What you are seeing with this indicator is the amount of data being recorded to the buffer. Even though you are using a 16GB memory card, if it is a slow card, this indicator will fill quickly and stop. It makes it seem as though the card you're using doesn't have the speed to keep up with the recording level you have set. You could test this by selecting a smaller movie recording size and compression method within the Menu. For example, you may try 640 / 30 frames / IPB and see if this indicator either doesn't appear or fills more slowly. This tells you that the card isn't simply fast enough to handle large recordings with ease, hence the quick fill up.

Another method would be to use a much faster class of card, for shooting full HD video use the highest class of card you can afford. This would be Class 10 with a high write speed. This ensures that the buffer in the camera writes to the card quickly, allowing for longer record times.

Re: Canon 5D Mark iii stopped recording video!

ScottESwartz — Thu, 20 Feb 2014 23:45:15 GMT

Thanks Tim!

Unfortunately I was already using a Class 10 card because I was assured that this would not happen. Does that mean that even though the buffer indicator was coming up that it still could have been the camera overheating? I had been shooting in the sun near the beach for several hours. Or is it possible that I have a defective class 10 sd card? Thanks again!

Scott

Re: Canon 5D Mark iii stopped recording video!

MikeSowsun — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 22:10:27 GMT

It may be defective or it may not be an authentic Class 10 card. There are many "fake" memory cards being produced for quick profits.

Re: Canon 5D Mark iii stopped recording video!

Poucedeleon — Sun, 15 Jun 2014 02:53:06 GMT

I just ran into this problem and had no ideal what was causing it until I read your post. I was recording to a Eye-Fi class 10 card in camera and my Atomos Ninja externally. After reading your post I removed the Eye-Fi card and now it is recording fine. The card is not counterfeit, it just does not have enough throughput. My other (SanDisk Extreme) class10 cards work fine.

Re: Canon 5D Mark iii stopped recording video!

TCampbell — Mon, 16 Jun 2014 14:49:36 GMT

Unfortunately the "Class 10" claim and logo on the card -- which is supposed to mean that card is capable of writing at a sustained speed of at least 10 megabytes per second -- doesn't necessarily mean that the specific card actually can write at that speed.

It may be a bad card... or an unscrupulous manufacturer.

Re: Canon 5D Mark iii stopped recording video!

marcosphoto — Fri, 01 Aug 2014 12:50:10 GMT

Consider also that this appears to be a relatively common failure with the Mk3 as I've read in either Cinema5D or Planet 5D - cannot recall now. I've seen much conversation about this topic and from what I remember, the Mk3 does have an actual failure on earlier models which require replacement of the main board of the body to rectify. If you have warrenty and confirm that a better data card does not rectify the condition - I'd get it in right away for repair. (I think Canon is aware of a design flaw with regards to this).

I'm a little worried because I have one of the first examples of this body as well but because I don't really get into video I have not really tested mine to see if my body has the same issues 😞

Re: Canon 5D Mark iii stopped recording video!

gibpap — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 16:05:56 GMT

We just completed a four day shoot that involved a series of takes of 8 minutes each or more. I shoot mostly with a Mark III and high speed cards, 24fps. The overheat problem seems to be exacerbated (in theory anyway) when shooting full raw in Technicolor Cinestyle. I'm not sure of course, but when shooting in less data intensive formats, the camera seems to be far less prone to an overheat after the 2nd or third extended take.

I've discovered it takes at least 5 full minutes of cool-off to get things rolling again. I'd change cards too. One of my brandf new 32 cards froze almost immediately last week. I think the qwuality control on those things is marginal at best. Hope this helps.

Re: Canon 5D Mark iii stopped recording video!

Darren — Fri, 12 Sep 2014 18:05:32 GMT

My Mark III has the dreaded Movie Recording has Automatically Stopped. I reformatted 64 mg class 10 card with the same results. Then I used a different 64mg class 10 card with the same results. It can only record for average of 6 seconds before dialog box says movie recording automatically stopped. I was able to shoot movies just fine until today. I'm really frustrated. I don't know what else to try. I tried letting it cool off and still have same issue. Any ideas out there?

Re: Canon 5D Mark iii stopped recording video!

Mykolas — Sun, 14 Sep 2014 12:53:53 GMT

Hi Darren!

Welcome and thank you for posting.

As mentioned earlier in this thread, not all SD cards are the same and just because it is a Class 10 rated card does not mean it can sustain the higher write speeds over a long enough time to record HD video. Some cards only record at high speeds in short bursts.

What specific brand and write speed rating are the cards you are using?

If this is a time sensitive-matter, additional support options are available at Contact Us.

Re: Canon 5D Mark iii stopped recording video!

question — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 22:09:52 GMT

Same happened with a 128gb UDMA 7 120MB/s CF card. The camera performed well for 5 days and the buffer sign never showed up eventhough we made long clips 15-20mins. And than suddenly it happened. In a moment I couldn't face the camera top and LCD screen proppely, so i couldn't see that it stopped recording. Any suggestions? Anybody found the rest of the not recorded file(s) back via data recovery program? suggestions for a good program?

thanks for your help!

Re: Canon 5D Mark iii stopped recording video!

RobertTheFat — Wed, 10 Dec 2014 13:05:43 GMT

@question wrote:
Same happened with a 128gb UDMA 7 120MB/s CF card. The camera performed well for 5 days and the buffer sign never showed up eventhough we made long clips 15-20mins. And than suddenly it happened. In a moment I couldn't face the camera top and LCD screen proppely, so i couldn't see that it stopped recording. Any suggestions? Anybody found the rest of the not recorded file(s) back via data recovery program? suggestions for a good program?

thanks for your help!

Are you sure you didn't simply hit the 30-minute limit? (I.e., the arbitrary recording limit imposed by the manufacturer so that EU countries won't tax the camera as a video camera.)

Re: Canon 5D Mark iii stopped recording video!

question — Wed, 10 Dec 2014 15:29:22 GMT

Yes very sure it didn't hit the 30min limit.

Re: Canon 5D Mark iii stopped recording video!

johnnyquest — Tue, 07 Jun 2016 21:43:02 GMT

if you are recording video to the sd card slot, the canon 5d mark3 will shut off because the the sd slot cannot write video to an sd card fast enough; the sd card slot was never designed to record video or even photos. if you try to record video to the sd card, it will start recording, but when the buffer fills up, the camera will stop recording. even if you have a super fast sd card, the 5D will still stop recording when recording video; Canon did not design the sd card slot to record video (unfortunately). record video to the compact flash card, select the appropriate card slot. class10 udma7 / 800x / 120Mb/s is plenty fast for recording 1080p video on the 5D.

i used to use the sd card slot for exclusively for photos, as fast sd memory cards are cheaper than compact flash cards. one day i was shooting in high burst mode, the buffer paused all shooting and created a double exposure. after a lot of research, i discovered what i wrote above. noe i only use cf (compact flash) cards.compact flash memory are better and more reliable than sd cards, but more expensive. 64Gb cf cards at udma7 120 Mb/s are now only 50.00, but still only twice that of an sd card.

i hope this helps. i know how much it sucks to have your camera stop stop working during an important shoot.

Re: Canon 5D Mark iii stopped recording video!

johnnyquest — Tue, 07 Jun 2016 22:28:58 GMT

this is discouraging. my experience has taught me only recording to sd cards and long takes causes the 5D camera to stop recording or shut off. i have no solution for this, unless it was a bad card? unlikely, but possible. sandisk does make a data recovery program and i have used it to recover photos, but the data needs to be recorded to the card first. i'm not sure if it can recover only brand memory cards.

Re: Canon 5D Mark iii stopped recording video!

StefFerret — Sun, 28 Aug 2016 06:28:56 GMT

I'm experiencing the exact same problem but the SD card I'm using is a Lexar 128GB SDXC Class 10, 633x speed 95MB/s and can record 4k video. So what would the problem be with mine? Would it be a faulty camera? It's brand new I literally just bought it 4 weeks ago. Could it be the settings? I really need help on this. Thank you!

Re: Canon 5D Mark iii stopped recording video!

johnnyquest — Sun, 28 Aug 2016 22:22:10 GMT

your camera is probably fine, just record video to the cf card. record video to the compact flash card slot. change the record to in the yellow menu system. the sd card slot is not fast enough to record video, it does not matter how fast your sd card is, the camera cannot write video data fast enough to the sd card. i talked to canon, they told me the sd card slot was only intended for firmware updates, not to write data such as video or even photos. however, i have used the sd card slot for photos, but am sure to pause between each click to allow the camera to write to the card; when the red light turns off, i take another photo. most of the time i use the compact flash card slot for everything. cf cards are more expensive, but they are more reliable and more shock resistant than sd cards. unfortunately, the new canon 5d mark iv has the same slow sd card slot. after 4 years, i would have expected dual cf card slots plus a writeable sd card slot.

Re: Canon 5D Mark iiii stopped recording video!

BillyD — Sun, 11 Sep 2016 22:30:00 GMT

I have done a low level reformat of the cards from my Sony A7s2 for my new Canon 5d4, but it will not record video for more than a few seconds. The cards are Sandisk Extreme Pro 64GB 280 mb. I have never had issues with the cards shooting full frame 4k in the Sony. In the Canon, I get just a few seconds of recording before it says "recording has stopped" ...Any thoughts?

Re: Canon 5D Mark iiii stopped recording video!

Waddizzle — Sun, 11 Sep 2016 22:45:18 GMT

@BillyD wrote:
I have done a low level reformat of the cards from my Sony A7s2 for my new Canon 5d4, but it will not record video for more than a few seconds. The cards are Sandisk Extreme Pro 64GB 280 mb. I have never had issues with the cards shooting full frame 4k in the Sony. In the Canon, I get just a few seconds of recording before it says "recording has stopped" ...Any thoughts?

Yeah. Try formatting the cards in the Canon. Why are you using the Sony to format cards for use in the Canon?

Re: Canon 5D Mark iii stopped recording video!

SkyYCCD — Wed, 26 Oct 2022 22:35:29 GMT

I have been shooting on my 5D III for six years with no problems, using the regular SD card slot. I didn't start having this issue until recently, with BOTH of my Canon cameras! It's hard to tell if it's overheating or the card, and the compact flash cards are so expensive. Could the card type still be the issue, even though I never had problems with this type of card before?