• Home
  • Reviews Index
  • Best Gear
  • Inspiration
  • Learn
  • Disclaimer
  • Staff/Contact Info
  • Media Kit
  • Membership
Bridging Tech and Creative Photography
Bridging Tech and Creative Photography
Bridging Tech and Creative Photography
Education Learn

Is Your Camera Overheating? Chill Out! Try Some of These!

Chris Gampat
No Comments
07/31/2020
4 Mins read
Pauleth Ip The Phoblographer Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f2.8 S Build Quality

Last Updated on 07/31/2020 by Mark Beckenbach

To prevent your camera from overheating in the summer, try these tips.

It’s a fairly common problem with all sorts of cameras. You’re out shooting, and you suddenly feel the camera get pretty hot. We’ve had it happen with a lot of ones we test, and we always try different approaches. Some of these are tried and true methods for years now. While you can’t overcome all overheating issues with your camera, there are some you totally can. So we’ve rounded up a list of things every photographer should try. The next time your camera really starts heating up on you, give one of these a shot.

Faster Memory Cards

This has worked for us with various Canon cameras we’ve used, and we’ve wrote about it nearly a decade ago. Since we wrote that article, many cameras these days have heat sinks built-in for video shooting. The theory here is that the faster a memory’s write speed is, the less it will tax it the camera’s processor. So if it can write more quickly, then that little red blinking light that tells you that the camera is writing to the card will disappear sooner. A processor that’s working less hard means a better experience with less heat potential. Granted, your memory cards can get very hot, which ties into our next option.

Don’t Machine Gun Shoot

We’ve been on portrait shoots where someone is simply machine gun shooting at a poor model. Why? Why not shoot three or four great photos instead of trying to capture every single moment to rummage through later on? This applies to other things, too, like wildlife. Sometimes you really need the speed, but you don’t legitimately need it all the time. Some cameras will only let you track a moving subject in low continuous burst modes anyway. So, in general, try not to machine gun shoot. Or if you’re going to, shoot at a smaller RAW file with no JPEGs, so you don’t work the camera as much.

Turn Off Image Stabilization

I’ve seen this one very specifically with Panasonic S1 and Panasonic S1R cameras. Over the past year, these cameras have been on long term loan to me in one way or another. Sometimes they’ll get pretty warm, and I’ll need to turn them off. But no matter what, I’ve always found that turning off image stabilization works. This has also helped me with Olympus and Sony. It’s not always practical to turn off IS, so weigh this option with caution. But personally speaking, I think everyone could learn to shoot without relying on the crutches modern camera technology gives you.

#shootfilmstaybroke

Higher ISOs Use More Energy

What I’ve found is that lower ISO settings use less battery life. Higher ISO settings tend to work the processor more based on what the native ISO of your camera’s sensor is. This is especially the case if you have parameters like high ISO noise reduction on or anything else like that. So, if you want to prevent the camera from overheating, try shooting at lower ISO settings.

Long Exposures Use More Energy and Cause Heat

Similar to high ISOs, long exposures cause a lot of heat to build up in your camera. Ever shot an image at 30 seconds, and then five others and felt how warm your camera got? You’re cooking the processor! If you’re shooting long exposures out in an already hot/warm place, then you’re going to cause heat issues for sure. Of course, this won’t happen with film!

Don’t Keep Your Camera in Your Car

If you’ve got a more affordable camera with lesser build quality, don’t keep your camera in your car for too long. If you park your vehicle in the sun and leave something in there, it will get very hot. You wouldn’t leave a child or a pet in there. And if you left something else that’s plastic in there, it would probably become misshapen. It’s common with cheaper cameras, but I wouldn’t leave higher-end cameras in a car without protection (or even at all) either.

Keep Your Camera in Your Bag

Ideally, keep your camera in your camera bag and pull it out only when you need it. I know that’s not practical, but sometimes it can be if you’re on vacation with family.

Don’t Keep Your Camera in Your Hand: Use a Strap

Your body heat will heat up the camera. My favorite thing to do is to have a strap that slung from my shoulder to the opposite hip. Only when I need it will I grab the camera so that way the heat doesn’t transfer from your body to the camera.

camera camera bag car high iso memory cards Overheating tips
Shares
Written by

Chris Gampat

Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
Previous Post

Great for a Sony a7 Series Camera: Samyang 45mm F1.8 Review

Next Post

These Softbox Tips Will Take Your Photography Lighting to the Next Level

The Phoblographer © 2023 ——Bridging Tech and Creative Photography
Bridging Tech and Creative Photography
  • Home
  • Our Staff
  • Editorial Policies
  • Media Kit
  • Membership
  • App Debug