R1 overheating in stills shooting

[Cyrano]

I have two R1 bodies which I use for indoor theatrical work. I shoot stills only, and always in single-shot mode -- never video, and never continuous shooting. Averaged over several hours, my shooting rate is typically 1 shot per second. 

In such usage, both bodies routinely give overheating warnings. I frequently see 1 to 3 white bars; the most I've seen is 6 white bars. 

One body was sent to CPS. CPS replicated the problem and addressed it by replacing the main circuit board. The fix was not effective, as the problem still exists.

While neither body has ever shut down from overheating, this behavior is still a concern. Per page 338 of Canon's published EOS R1 Advanced User Guide, "The white [thermometer icon] icon indicates that the image quality of still photos will decline."

Similar overheating behavior has been reported by other users in other forums. Some key areas of discussion (and my personal technical opinions) are:

• Whether the make and model of memory card matters. (It doesn't.)
• Whether the behavior exists when the camera's Auto Power Off Temperature is at Standard. (It does.)
• Whether the appearance of the overheating warning in stills shooting has any significance for stills shooting* (It does.)
  * One user reported that a CPS rep informed them that the overheating warning has no significance for stills shooting. The user was told that the significance of the warning is that if the user were to begin shooting video, the camera would be at risk of overheating. (This is contradicted by the EOS R1 Advanced User Guide, p. 338.)

I invite all members of this Community to share any experiences where their R1 body gave an overheating warning during undemanding stills shooting. 

Participation in this thread by Canon technical staff will be greatly appreciated. 

[Nick2020]

Hi Cyrano,

Thanks for sharing your experiences with the camera. Simply seeing a few bars on the thermometer icon does not necessarily suggest a problem, especially when shooting for hours.

I would be more mindful about if and when the camera temporarily powers down because of the heat.

You can also try doing tests without any connected accessories, just in case any of them are affecting the way heat dissipates.

[Waddizzle]

“ Averaged over several hours, my shooting rate is typically 1 shot per second. “

How many hours?  That sounds like shooting conditions that could cause overheating, to me. It’s similar to video capture. You are writing almost continuously to the card.

Where are the images being stored?  Saving to the memory card for hours on end can cause a significant amount of heating in the memory card compartment. 

If you can save images to a computer, instead, then I recommend trying it. 

[Cyrano]

Nick,

Thanks for the quick response!

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... Simply seeing a few bars on the thermometer icon does not necessarily suggest a problem, especially when shooting for hours.

Can you help me understand why Canon's EOS R1 Advanced User Guide reads "The white [thermometer icon] icon indicates that the image quality of still photos will decline." This is a definitive statement: not may or might or could, but will decline. 

[Cyrano]

How many hours?  That sounds like shooting conditions that could cause overheating, to me. It’s similar to video capture. You are writing almost continuously to the card.

I've seen this behavior after as little as 5 minutes.

If such usage can indeed cause overheating, the R1's performance in this regard is significantly inferior to my 1DX bodies, and below my expectations for Canon's flagship sports/action camera. 

If you can save images to a computer, instead, then I recommend trying it. 

That's a very interesting idea which I never would have thought to do. 🙏 Which Windows-compatible software would you recommend for this? 

[Waddizzle]

“ If such usage can indeed cause overheating, the R1's performance in this regard is significantly inferior to my 1DX bodies, and below my expectations for Canon's flagship sports/action camera. “

Are the DSLRs writing to the same or similar type of memory card?  

I would think that Canon apps could save to a computer while Remote Shooting. It would depend on how you are currently firing the shutter. 

[Cyrano]

Are the DSLRs writing to the same or similar type of memory card?  

No, it's not possible. The 1DX uses CF cards, and the R1 uses CFexpress cards. 

As this overheating behavior has been reported by photogs using a variety of CFexpress cards, I'm doubtful that the type of card is at or near root cause.

If I'm mistaken, and the type of card is seen to have a significant effect on the likelihood of overheating, then I suspect Canon has some homework to do. I don't believe Canon would release their flagship camera with a known critical sensitivity to memory card parameters which are neither mentioned nor specified anywhere in the product documentation.

If such a sensitivity is determined to exist, I would expect Canon to respond in a manner commensurate with the risk to its customers:

• If overheating is associated with a relatively small proportion of the population of CFexpress cards in use, and that proportion is readily identifiable by customers, then I would expect Canon to issue a product advisory notification. 
• If overheating is associated with a relatively large proportion of the population of CFexpress cards in use, OR if overheating is associated with any proportion which is not readily identifiable by customers, then I would expect Canon to address the problem by a field action on the camera's hardware or firmware or both. 

[Waddizzle]

How many hours?  That sounds like shooting conditions that could cause overheating, to me. It’s similar to video capture. You are writing almost continuously to the card.

I've seen this behavior after as little as 5 minutes.

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How many hours?  

[kvbarkley]

"This is a definitive statement: not may or might or could, but will decline. "

This is from noise. If you have plenty of light, it is not an issue. Are your images too noisy?

[wq9nsc]

No, it's not possible. The 1DX uses CF cards, and the R1 uses CFexpress cards.

I have a pair of 1DX III bodies that use CFexpress cards and I have shot in all sorts of conditions including hours of baseball in direct sunlight when ambient is in the 90s and never an issue.  CFexpress cards aren't the issue.

Rodger