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I need Canon 7D camera, to never power off.

adkaros
Apprentice

Hi guys,

 

I'm using the canon 7d for a project and I need it to stay on as long as possible, I set the auto power to off and it seems like after a while 20-30 minutes or so- a bunch of settings display on screen over the camera feed and don't go away until I manually go in and press the "Q" button on the camera.

 

All I need is for it to stay on with just the feed from the camera, nothing else. 

 

What are the optimal settings for this, and how do I ensure that the camera settings never overlay the feed? Is this possible with certain firmware? I downloaded the Magic Lantern firmware not sure if that's what I will need.

 

Thanks guys!

6 REPLIES 6

Ray-uk
Whiz

There's not really enough information in your post, is this with live view enabled or in video mode or what.

 

Are you aware of the built in video time limit and the fact that it can shut down if the sensor gets too warm or the battery gets too low.

Ray-uk is correct.

 

The 70D (and all Canon DSLRs) are digital still cameras with video capability. They are not video cameras; wrong tool for the job you seem to want.

John Hoffman
Conway, NH

1D X Mark III, Many lenses, Pixma PRO-100, Pixma TR8620a, LR Classic

TCampbell
Elite
Elite

Assuming this is for video and not still shots, then Ray & John nailed it.

 

The issue (I've looked into this because I was confused as well) is that _some_ countries impose import tariffs on "video cameras" at a different rate then they are imposed for still cameras.  The catch is that virtually all "still" photographic cameras can also shoot video these days.  So the international agreement is that as long as the camera cannot record continuous video for more 30 minutes or more, then it wont have to be tariffed as a video camera.

 

The US doesn't have such rules, but since these cameras are built for international rules, the firmware is designed to stay within these rules.

 

Consequently, virtually every photographic camera you can find on the market that can also shoot video (regardless of vendor or model) put the limit at 29 minutes and 59 seconds... and then they end the clip.  You can restart it... but it wont record continuously for more than that amount of time.

 

True "video" cameras are already tariffed as video cameras, they don't have to play the game of staying under the 30 minute rule.  Again, so far as I'm aware, the US doesn't import these tariffs, but many other countries do.

 

It's not a technical limit or a model or manufacturer issue... it's a political issue imposed by governments.

 

Tim Campbell
5D III, 5D IV, 60Da

Interesting... I just need it to feed the video feed into an app I'm building. I don't actually want to record anything from the camera itself.

 

Similar to how a webcam could just stay on forever, that's what I need.

 

I've been using the canon in video mode (as opposed to the picture mode). Yeah, it seems every 30 minutes it does some sort of reset, then that's when it has all the UI and text displayed over the feed.

Could you recommend any other cameras that would be able to do what I describe?

why not just buy a webcam?

John Hoffman
Conway, NH

1D X Mark III, Many lenses, Pixma PRO-100, Pixma TR8620a, LR Classic
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