70d - movie recording has been stopped automatically

[LmharrisonTX]

I just purchased a new Canon 70D...once I start recording, it records for a few seconds...small boxes appear on the upper right side of the display screen and then it shuts down and says "Movie recording has been stopped automatically"...is this due to a setting or something? I have been using a 7D for a number of years and this is a new issue for me...

[geffo]

If it only stops after 30 minutes then its acting properly. The manual says that the 70D can record clips up to 30 minutes (even though it may break them into smaller files on the disk) - Other people have issues where it only records 5-10 seconds. Have you had shorter clips stop automatically?

[atlynch]

Wow!  I wish I had known this before I bought the camera.  This is very dissapointing.I was planning on using this to record my wife's choral concerts, and each half is usually 45 minutes....  I guess I'm back to my regular video camera for this

Any idea why they limit this, and if the limitation might be lifted?

and to answer your question, no, I have not had any problems with shorter clips.

-Drew

[geffo]

I'm not sure why, but I imagine other people here have reasons. It could be to prevent the camera from overeating, could be so you buy the 5Dmk3 which will record until the disk is full. Sometimes I use it as a static camera and have someone stop and start it when it's nearing 30 minutes. It's annoying but there are ways around it, and hopefully Magic Lantern will be available soon for it so it can automatically record on its own.

[Krgphoto]

I am having a similar problem. I got my 70d a couple of days ago and have not been able to shoot video since I got it. I have a San Disk Extreme Pro 32gb Class 10 95 MB/s SDHC card. When I press the start/stop button, nothing happens. I've been in touch with canon support and have gotten no conclusive answers. It's really aggravating to spend all that money on a product that does not work!!

[Bitbucket1]

I'm wondering whether you are experiencing a different problem than the one being discussed in this thread. 

The symptoms of the problem being addressed here are that you can start video recording in low compression mode (ALL-I) but then you receive the error message "movie recording has been stopped automatically" as the card overruns it's buffer and video recording stops.

It sounds like you are not getting the camera to record video at all and you are not getting the error message above. To me, that sounds like a different issue and I'm thinking that the card isnt the problem, especially since the card you are using (or ones with similar specs) have solved the issue for those experiencing the "stopped automatically" issue.

This is perhaps overly general advice, but since you are a new owner of the 70D (as I was), you may want to check out this video series that takes you though every button and setting of the 70D :: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAwt2t1vGthIMWNTt2OxPJ2GRjNYKZskU

It may seem like overkill, but there are lots of little features in the 70D that are not intutitve. For example, you can't shoot video and have wifi active simultaneously. Not sure why, but it's one of the many things that I leanred while watching this series. 

Apologies for not having a direct answer for your issue. Hope the above is helpful.

[Flossy]

Bitbucket, thank you for your link to the training videos!  I'm new to DSLR cameras too and I've been looking for something like this.  Very much appreciated!

[hpmoraes]

Why didn't any moderator from CANON reply on this forun? This is a CANON forun and THEY also should help us out!!! I don't understand why they only replyed once if they see there are many questions about this issue. PLEASE HELP US OUT!!! WE EXPECT HEAR FROM YOU, CANON!!! It's looks like it's not a memory card issue since some cards worked to some people and didn't work to others.

[tarantula3]

I have made the world's shortest video on how to fix this issue...
have a look here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oaHnhKI...

[kc_shutterbug]

Clearly, some of you are encountering legitimate issues (recording should NOT stop after 12 seconds or whatever).  Most of you (and I lump myself into this latter group) are, however, probably encountering an apparently intentional limitation of the hardware.

To address the memory card, per page 3 of the 70D's user manual, the required read/write speed is 20MB / second; anything with an equivalent or faster write speed should work just fine, and I can say with confidence that 30MB / second cards from Lexar and SanDisk work without issue.  As noted by several posters here, manufacturers play pretty fast and loose with their specifications - the trick is to find a card with a 20MB / second write speed, which can be significantly harder than it should be.  Using Lexar as an example, their own web site says that their 100x, 200x, and 400x cards will read at 15MB/sec, 30MB/sec, and 60MB/sec (respectively) - and that "write speeds will be lower" (they do not say how much lower).  You have to move to their 600x cards to get guaranteed minimum sustained write speed (of 90MB / second).

Unfortunately, even if you have a card that's up to the task of video recording, you still have another hurdle to clear. The camera itself is officially limited to just 29 minutes and 59 seconds per clip.  This is reflected in the camera's own menu and in the user manual on page 266.  That said, however, my own experience has been that it's only the first clip which is limited to 29:59 and that subsequent clips in the same session (no still captures, no switching away from movie mode), though split into 4GB chunks, will only be limited by the card's and/or the battery's capacity.  I guess I should be thankful, but I find this inconsistency to be frustrating.

Hopefully this saves some of you some money and heartache.

-j

[RobertTheFat]

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@kc_shutterbug wrote:

Unfortunately, even if you have a card that's up to the task of video recording, you still have another hurdle to clear. The camera itself is officially limited to just 29 minutes and 59 seconds per clip.  This is reflected in the camera's own menu and in the user manual on page 266.  That said, however, my own experience has been that it's only the first clip which is limited to 29:59 and that subsequent clips in the same session (no still captures, no switching away from movie mode), though split into 4GB chunks, will only be limited by the card's and/or the battery's capacity.  I guess I should be thankful, but I find this inconsistency to be frustrating.

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But as I (and many others) understand the situation, your frustration is only indirectly Canon's fault. Canon limits the video capability of its still cameras to keep them from being taxed as video cameras by countries of the European Union. If the criteria for that distinction seem arbitrary and inconsistent, you should probably blame the EU.