4K continuous recording to external device

[Paul Barnard]

I have a project that requires 8 hour continuous recording of 4K video. I'm looking for an action cam or small size camera that can provide a horizontal FOV somewhere between 90 and 130 degrees. The main requirement is to be able to get the signal out, preferably via HDMI, to an external recording device. I do not need image stabilisation. If the device has it then I will need to turn it off. I need fixed/manual focus rather than auto focus. Finally good auto exposure is a bonus. Different metering modes would be useful but not essential.

It's quite a specific list of requirements and the Sony RX0 seems to be a good candidate but I'm worried about the temperature problems it seems to have for continuous use and also it's not clear if it can be used with an external supply (I'd rather not get into making/sourcing dummy batteries).

Anyone have any recommendations? Money is not really an issue here so feel free to recommend high end kit but keep in mind I said small physical size. Something the size of the RX0 is perfect. Something as big as a A7 is really the top limit so keep that in mind.

I hope someone has some suggestions.

 

[Stan]

...as it comes delivered..

This is well below your stated range?

 

[Markr041]

I have a project that requires 8 hour continuous recording of 4K video. I'm looking for an action cam or small size camera that can provide a horizontal FOV somewhere between 90 and 130 degrees. The main requirement is to be able to get the signal out, preferably via HDMI, to an external recording device. I do not need image stabilisation. If the device has it then I will need to turn it off. I need fixed/manual focus rather than auto focus. Finally good auto exposure is a bonus. Different metering modes would be useful but not essential.

It's quite a specific list of requirements and the Sony RX0 seems to be a good candidate but I'm worried about the temperature problems it seems to have for continuous use and also it's not clear if it can be used with an external supply (I'd rather not get into making/sourcing dummy batteries).

Anyone have any recommendations? Money is not really an issue here so feel free to recommend high end kit but keep in mind I said small physical size. Something the size of the RX0 is perfect. Something as big as a A7 is really the top limit so keep that in mind.

I hope someone has some suggestions.

You can use an external power supply, via USB. If you are recording externally you merely are leaving the camera on, not doing any recording with it. It still gets warm. You can set the threshold for turning off due to heat at a high level because you are presumably not holding the camera with your hand (which is one reason the camera turns off, to protect hands, that is the changeable default).

Heating depends importantly on ambient conditions - if the camera is in direct sunlight and it is hot, overheating after a time is much more likely.

 

[Paul Barnard]

...as it comes delivered..

This is well below your stated range?

Yes but all things being equal it's less hard a requirement. Our current camera has 65 degree HFOV and our SW can handle images from 50 degrees out to 180 degrees.

Our primary need right now is for higher resolution than we currently have. We also concluded that with higher resolution we can crop to a lower resolution effectively mimicking narrower FOV.

 

[Paul Barnard]

I have a project that requires 8 hour continuous recording of 4K video. I'm looking for an action cam or small size camera that can provide a horizontal FOV somewhere between 90 and 130 degrees. The main requirement is to be able to get the signal out, preferably via HDMI, to an external recording device. I do not need image stabilisation. If the device has it then I will need to turn it off. I need fixed/manual focus rather than auto focus. Finally good auto exposure is a bonus. Different metering modes would be useful but not essential.

It's quite a specific list of requirements and the Sony RX0 seems to be a good candidate but I'm worried about the temperature problems it seems to have for continuous use and also it's not clear if it can be used with an external supply (I'd rather not get into making/sourcing dummy batteries).

Anyone have any recommendations? Money is not really an issue here so feel free to recommend high end kit but keep in mind I said small physical size. Something the size of the RX0 is perfect. Something as big as a A7 is really the top limit so keep that in mind.

I hope someone has some suggestions.

You can use an external power supply, via USB. If you are recording externally you merely are leaving the camera on, not doing any recording with it. It still gets warm. You can set the threshold for turning off due to heat at a high level because you are presumably not holding the camera with your hand (which is one reason the camera turns off, to protect hands, that is the changeable default).

Heating depends importantly on ambient conditions - if the camera is in direct sunlight and it is hot, overheating after a time is much more likely.

Mark, thank you. Thats just the sort of information I'm looking for. Being able to power from USB is ideal.

We can mount the camera with an aluminium heat sink and can even force cool it. User experience of long record times would be great to hear because I would expect the bulk of the heat to be self generated and I have no way of knowing how well it can dump that heat out to the environment.

You make an interesting observation about recording vs outputting on the HDMI. From my perspective I assumed the camera would be doing pretty much all the same functionality, reading sensor, transcoding raw to image etc, just not writing to the SD card. Am I perhaps missing something here?

Any ideas on other devices that might be worth a look?

 

[Markr041]

1. Paul Barnard wrote:

I have a project that requires 8 hour continuous recording of 4K video. I'm looking for an action cam or small size camera that can provide a horizontal FOV somewhere between 90 and 130 degrees. The main requirement is to be able to get the signal out, preferably via HDMI, to an external recording device. I do not need image stabilisation. If the device has it then I will need to turn it off. I need fixed/manual focus rather than auto focus. Finally good auto exposure is a bonus. Different metering modes would be useful but not essential.

It's quite a specific list of requirements and the Sony RX0 seems to be a good candidate but I'm worried about the temperature problems it seems to have for continuous use and also it's not clear if it can be used with an external supply (I'd rather not get into making/sourcing dummy batteries).

Anyone have any recommendations? Money is not really an issue here so feel free to recommend high end kit but keep in mind I said small physical size. Something the size of the RX0 is perfect. Something as big as a A7 is really the top limit so keep that in mind.

I hope someone has some suggestions.

You can use an external power supply, via USB. If you are recording externally you merely are leaving the camera on, not doing any recording with it. It still gets warm. You can set the threshold for turning off due to heat at a high level because you are presumably not holding the camera with your hand (which is one reason the camera turns off, to protect hands, that is the changeable default).

Heating depends importantly on ambient conditions - if the camera is in direct sunlight and it is hot, overheating after a time is much more likely.

Mark, thank you. Thats just the sort of information I'm looking for. Being able to power from USB is ideal.

We can mount the camera with an aluminium heat sink and can even force cool it. User experience of long record times would be great to hear because I would expect the bulk of the heat to be self generated and I have no way of knowing how well it can dump that heat out to the environment.

You make an interesting observation about recording vs outputting on the HDMI. From my perspective I assumed the camera would be doing pretty much all the same functionality, reading sensor, transcoding raw to image etc, just not writing to the SD card. Am I perhaps missing something here?

Any ideas on other devices that might be worth a look?

It is not compressing the image - the HDMI output is debayered but uncompressed. So that avoids a lot of processing, which generates heat.

 

[Stan]

nt

 

[Paul Barnard]

1. Paul Barnard wrote:

I have a project that requires 8 hour continuous recording of 4K video. I'm looking for an action cam or small size camera that can provide a horizontal FOV somewhere between 90 and 130 degrees. The main requirement is to be able to get the signal out, preferably via HDMI, to an external recording device. I do not need image stabilisation. If the device has it then I will need to turn it off. I need fixed/manual focus rather than auto focus. Finally good auto exposure is a bonus. Different metering modes would be useful but not essential.

It's quite a specific list of requirements and the Sony RX0 seems to be a good candidate but I'm worried about the temperature problems it seems to have for continuous use and also it's not clear if it can be used with an external supply (I'd rather not get into making/sourcing dummy batteries).

Anyone have any recommendations? Money is not really an issue here so feel free to recommend high end kit but keep in mind I said small physical size. Something the size of the RX0 is perfect. Something as big as a A7 is really the top limit so keep that in mind.

I hope someone has some suggestions.

You can use an external power supply, via USB. If you are recording externally you merely are leaving the camera on, not doing any recording with it. It still gets warm. You can set the threshold for turning off due to heat at a high level because you are presumably not holding the camera with your hand (which is one reason the camera turns off, to protect hands, that is the changeable default).

Heating depends importantly on ambient conditions - if the camera is in direct sunlight and it is hot, overheating after a time is much more likely.

Mark, thank you. Thats just the sort of information I'm looking for. Being able to power from USB is ideal.

We can mount the camera with an aluminium heat sink and can even force cool it. User experience of long record times would be great to hear because I would expect the bulk of the heat to be self generated and I have no way of knowing how well it can dump that heat out to the environment.

You make an interesting observation about recording vs outputting on the HDMI. From my perspective I assumed the camera would be doing pretty much all the same functionality, reading sensor, transcoding raw to image etc, just not writing to the SD card. Am I perhaps missing something here?

Any ideas on other devices that might be worth a look?

It is not compressing the image - the HDMI output is debayered but uncompressed. So that avoids a lot of processing, which generates heat.

Thats excellent news. I think I'll pick one up to try it.

 

[Paul Barnard]

nt

Yes this is part of that. Asking people who have experience is a good thing is it not?

 

[Stan]

..is what I am suggesting

 

[Paul Barnard]

..is what I am suggesting

Oh I got the inference first time but chose to ignore the rudeness. Seems some ‘action cam’ people are free with opinions but parsimonious with their help...

I posted this as a question not c&c. That implies I was looking for some help with answers not looking for criticism of my ‘technique’ or implications of my personal effectiveness.

To set the story straight we have already exhaustively researched and evaluated, including many miles of drive testing, twelve automotive and robotics cameras but none have proved optimal. Hence we are now looking at cameras from a different field of use. I’m a long time member of dpreview and have a lot of respect for the knowledge, experience and helpfulness of the forum members, one of which has already provided valuable insight on concerns I already had based on internet search and issues widely reported. Unfortunately you prefer to act like a curmudgeon.

 

[Stan]

..now do you?

You'll increase your odds with some actual research effort compared to hoping all possible options come up in the replies herein.

It's good advice really, plus you'll learn more. And possibly find better approaches, I do all the time. It is not that hard.

Cheers.

 

[Paul Barnard]

..now do you?

You'll increase your odds with some actual research effort compared to hoping all possible options come up in the replies herein.

It's good advice really, plus you'll learn more. And possibly find better approaches, I do all the time. It is not that hard.

Cheers.

Idiot

 

[Paul Barnard]

I have a project that requires 8 hour continuous recording of 4K video. I'm looking for an action cam or small size camera that can provide a horizontal FOV somewhere between 90 and 130 degrees. The main requirement is to be able to get the signal out, preferably via HDMI, to an external recording device. I do not need image stabilisation. If the device has it then I will need to turn it off. I need fixed/manual focus rather than auto focus. Finally good auto exposure is a bonus. Different metering modes would be useful but not essential.

It's quite a specific list of requirements and the Sony RX0 seems to be a good candidate but I'm worried about the temperature problems it seems to have for continuous use and also it's not clear if it can be used with an external supply (I'd rather not get into making/sourcing dummy batteries).

Anyone have any recommendations? Money is not really an issue here so feel free to recommend high end kit but keep in mind I said small physical size. Something the size of the RX0 is perfect. Something as big as a A7 is really the top limit so keep that in mind.

I hope someone has some suggestions.

Thanks to the helpful reply by Mark I took the plunge and purchased an RX0. I'm pleased to say that it is fully capable of supporting 4K HDMI external recording all day. I am using a USB supply to keep the battery topped up and an AV.io 4K HDMI to USB3 adaptor to get the signal into a computer for processing. Fortunately the idle timeout doesn't kick in if the external HDMI is plugged in.

The 85 degree FOV is OK for my application but I have also bought a Back-Bone Ribcage and external lens to give me a wider FOV. I'm going to run the RX0 as is for a couple of weeks and will convert it later if needed.