General Movie Recording Precautions

Caution

• Precautions for movie recording

• Do not point the camera toward an intense light source, such as the sun or an intense artificial light source. Doing so may damage the image sensor or the camera's internal components.
• If you record something that has fine detail, moire or false colors may result.
• White balance may change if the ISO speed or aperture value changes during movie recording when [] or [] is set.
• Recording movies under fluorescent or LED lighting may cause the screen to flicker.
• Autofocusing with a USM lens during movie recording under low light may cause horizontal banding to be recorded in movies. The same type of noise may occur if you focus manually () with certain lenses equipped with an electronic focusing ring.
• Recording a few test movies is recommended if you intend to perform zooming during movie recording. Zooming as you record movies may cause exposure changes or lens sounds to be recorded, an uneven audio level, or loss of focus.
• Large aperture values may delay or prevent accurate focusing.
• Performing AF during movie recording may cause the following kinds of issues: significant temporary loss of focus, recording of changes in movie brightness, temporary stopping of movie recording, or recording of mechanical lens sounds.
• Avoid covering the built-in microphones () with your fingers or other objects.
• Also see General Still Photo Shooting Precautions, as needed.
• The camera may become hot in movie recording while connected via Wi-Fi. Use a tripod or take other measures to avoid handheld recording.

• Red [] internal temperature warning icon

• If the camera's internal temperature increases due to prolonged movie recording or under a high ambient temperature, a red [] icon will appear.
• The red [] icon indicates that movie recording will soon end automatically. If this happens, you will not be able to record again until the camera's internal temperature decreases, so turn off the power and let the camera cool down a while. Note that the time until movie recording stops automatically when the red [] icon is displayed varies depending on shooting conditions.
• Recording a movie at a high temperature for a prolonged period will cause the red [] icon to appear earlier. When you are not recording, always turn off the camera.

• Recording and image quality

• If the attached lens has an Image Stabilizer and you set the Image Stabilizer switch to , the Image Stabilizer will operate at all times even if you do not press the shutter button halfway. This will consume battery power, and it may reduce the total movie recording time under some shooting conditions. When the Image Stabilizer is not necessary, such as when using a tripod, it is recommended that you set the Image Stabilizer switch to .
• If the brightness changes as you record a movie with auto exposure, the movie may appear to stop momentarily. In this case, record movies with manual exposure.
• If there is a very bright light source in the image, the bright area may appear black on the screen. Movies are recorded almost exactly as they appear on the screen.
• Image quality may be lower when recording movies under a combination of conditions such as high ISO speeds, high temperatures, low shutter speeds, and low light.
• Recording movies over an extended period may cause the camera's internal temperature to rise and affect image quality. Turn off the camera when possible if you are not recording movies.
• Video and audio quality of recorded movies may be worse on other devices, and playback may not be possible, even if the devices support MP4 formats.

• If you use a card with a slow writing speed, an indicator may appear on the right of the screen during movie recording. The indicator shows how much data has not yet been written to the card (remaining capacity of the internal buffer memory), and with slower cards, it increases more quickly. If the indicator (1) becomes full, movie recording will stop automatically.

  
• With cards that have fast writing speeds, the indicator will not appear, or the level (if displayed) will not increase much. First, record a few test movies to see if the card can write fast enough.
• If the indicator shows that the card is full, and movie recording stops automatically, sound near the end of the movie may not be recorded properly.
• If the card's writing speed is slow (due to fragmentation) and the indicator appears, formatting the card may make the writing speed faster.

• Audio restrictions

• Note that the following restrictions apply to audio in movie recording.

  • Sound will not be recorded for approx. the last two frames.
  • When you play back movies in Windows, movie images and sound may become slightly out of synchronization.