I don’t have a tool to take reading of the temperature. The camera doesn’t provide it. The word “warm” is very subjective. I’m planning a hop over to a zoo and see how it behaves.
The Z8 is getting real warm
- Thread starter JoelKlein
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I’m curious if lenses attached to the Z8 is helping dissipate the heat
Takatanaka
Well-known member
A camera getting hot is definitely different than getting warm... I think we all agree on this 
If the body gets hot that means the electronics inside are even hotter so, turning it off and let it cool down for a while might be a wise decision!
If it gets warm (pending on the continuous usage for a while, how it is being used, keeping the camera in hands, if it is in a warm/hot environment, if the battery is being charged during camera usage, etc...) shouldn't be a major concern.
However, just by chance I found two situations that heavily contribute for the camera body getting a bit warmer than warm (call it warm++) but less than hot:
1 - I put my camera on the sofa for some time (5 - 10 min doing nothing) and when I picked it up it was warm++. The reason was that it was to close to the back of the sofa which caused the EVF being on all the time. A thick kinda piece of dust on the EVF sensor can cause the same... (I have it set to prioritize viewfinder).
2 - After setting up the i menu and returned to "normal mode out of the menu", I realized that the EVF stayed on all the time. Had to press a button (i.e. AF-ON or shutter button) for the EVF return to its normal functioning (ON with my eye and OFF when away from it). - DISREGARD THIS ONE!
One more thing, I have it set to AF-C and focus peak ON. I have a Z lens attached but covered. When I grab it from the lens, I unintentionally move the focus ring and it enters into manual focus mode which causes some red dots floating around in the EVF (caused by M focus and focus peak - lens is covered so everything is dark black). For the moment I´m not sure if this is enough to keep the EVF alive or not.
If the body gets hot that means the electronics inside are even hotter so, turning it off and let it cool down for a while might be a wise decision!
If it gets warm (pending on the continuous usage for a while, how it is being used, keeping the camera in hands, if it is in a warm/hot environment, if the battery is being charged during camera usage, etc...) shouldn't be a major concern.
However, just by chance I found two situations that heavily contribute for the camera body getting a bit warmer than warm (call it warm++) but less than hot:
1 - I put my camera on the sofa for some time (5 - 10 min doing nothing) and when I picked it up it was warm++. The reason was that it was to close to the back of the sofa which caused the EVF being on all the time. A thick kinda piece of dust on the EVF sensor can cause the same... (I have it set to prioritize viewfinder).
2 - After setting up the i menu and returned to "normal mode out of the menu", I realized that the EVF stayed on all the time. Had to press a button (i.e. AF-ON or shutter button) for the EVF return to its normal functioning (ON with my eye and OFF when away from it). - DISREGARD THIS ONE!
One more thing, I have it set to AF-C and focus peak ON. I have a Z lens attached but covered. When I grab it from the lens, I unintentionally move the focus ring and it enters into manual focus mode which causes some red dots floating around in the EVF (caused by M focus and focus peak - lens is covered so everything is dark black). For the moment I´m not sure if this is enough to keep the EVF alive or not.
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Takatanaka
Well-known member
We can also take it on a positive point of view... a warm camera body helps us to keep our hands warm during winter shooting wildlife outside
Unless the lens is largely metal it likely won't dissipate a lot of heat, just a metal lens mount alone won't add a lot of heat sinking. An L bracket on the other hand could dissipate quite a bit of excess heat depending on how well the 1/4x20 mounting socket is thermally bonded to the rest of the camera's chassis.I’m curious if lenses attached to the Z8 is helping dissipate the heat
Joel - you're over reacting. You've made five separate posts about this in the past few hours.
Lets see what happens with other memory cards and a little more time. My Z8 just arrived and I'm working on setup now.
Yes - every Nikon camera has an internal battery that is charged from the external battery. The internal battery powers the clock and the operating system of the camera.
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I thought again about last night’s Warmth.
I was not expecting the entire body to be real warm just by setting stuff up for about 1.5 hours. The LCD was set to 0 brightness.
The battery was even warmer, Call it warm+
I don’t like warm batteries, I’m scared of warm+ batteries. Is it that tasking just for saving menus?
Then the Delkin black card was Warm+++. No SD, That raised my alarm.
The lens attached was the smallest DX I have borrowed from the Z30.
If this camera gets warm, Battery warm+, Card warm+++ when I didn’t shoot with it, I got concerned. Unless someone with knowledge can tell me that running the LCD for over an hour can be a heat source. Or, maybe setting up menu banks is tasking for the CPU just like actually shooting.
I will take it out to a zoo during the day.
I was not expecting the entire body to be real warm just by setting stuff up for about 1.5 hours. The LCD was set to 0 brightness.
The battery was even warmer, Call it warm+
I don’t like warm batteries, I’m scared of warm+ batteries. Is it that tasking just for saving menus?
Then the Delkin black card was Warm+++. No SD, That raised my alarm.
The lens attached was the smallest DX I have borrowed from the Z30.
If this camera gets warm, Battery warm+, Card warm+++ when I didn’t shoot with it, I got concerned. Unless someone with knowledge can tell me that running the LCD for over an hour can be a heat source. Or, maybe setting up menu banks is tasking for the CPU just like actually shooting.
I will take it out to a zoo during the day.
If I leave my Delkin card in my Delkin Card Reader after downloading images, the card and reader get distinctly warm.
This might have something to do with your set-up problem
This might have something to do with your set-up problem
arbitrage
Well-known member
Of course there is a temp where the internals are damaged.
All I'm saying is that the temp warnings we are privy to from the Nikon software are not to protect the internals. They are regulated to protect humans.
Because the human warning occurs at a lower temp than whatever the internal damage warning would be (if they had one) we aren't being warned about those heat levels as the camera has already shut down to protect the delicate human hands
Alistair
Well-known member
Doesn't sound right. Hot battery and hot card just running LCD for an hour.
Did you format the card in camera when you installed it?
I just set up my Z8. I used a Delkin Power 128GB card and an older EN-EL15B battery. It did not warm up at all and has been on for about an hour.
Just a thought - if the camera is in silent mode and the shutter is not moving, it would be very easy to hit the shutter and generate hundreds of images in seconds.
Just a thought - if the camera is in silent mode and the shutter is not moving, it would be very easy to hit the shutter and generate hundreds of images in seconds.
Good point - using a card formatted for another camera definitely causes performance issues.
Eric, I'd like to see some data on that statement. In all my years of using digital cameras, I've never worried about whether I format a card on my computer or in a camera. And I've never had an issue with a corrupt format that wasn't due to a faulty card...and that's been extremely rare. Which is not to say one shouldn't do it if you like, but I think using the word "definitely" without substantial proof is over the top. I'd have no issue with could, might...because anything is possible, right?
All the latest cameras use the exFAT format for cards of the size we use. It's an industry standard format that must be written to accordingly to be read by a device expecting to read the exFAT format. Image files are all stored in the DCIM folder and cameras add their subdirectory structure to it, if different than what is already there. If there is no DCIM folder, the camera will create one when you first use the card, no matter what device it was formatted in...as long as it's in an exFAT format.
Typically, cameras also add individual "housekeeping" files in the root directory. One of my older XQD cards that I haven't formatted in a long while has directories for D850, D500, Z9 and now Z8. I can swap cards between my Z8 and Z9 and they'll happily add the unique subdirectory names I use for the different cameras.
Of course you can't go using cards formatted in NFS or other formats...has to be exFAT.
Cheers!
JoPoV
Active member
Do you manage cluster size when formatting cards from your computer ?
I'm wondering when formatting from camera if cluster size is adapted to each specific camera's image format (so it could be different from one camera to an other in the same brand and could be optimised for speed and/or size for this format).
Did you had a look at this ?
Yes. Quick format. First step.
Actually, in doing a little refresh just now, my Z9 seems to format larger cards in exFAT with 2048 logical bytes per sector and smaller cards might be formatted with 512 logical bytes per sector in FAT32 format. Seems the cameras will use either exFAT or FAT32...exFAT being the newer file system. Looks like I'll have to do some tests...and see if there is a rhyme or reason to this behaviour and if there is any performance impact. I certainly haven't seen one in any of my usage, especially with video. I'll share what I learn in a new thread, so as not to distract this one any further.
Robert S
Well-known member
If possible get a replacement.
That's awesome, I won't need gloves in the winter a new feature! 
Seriously no issues here, got mine today and I didn't notice any heat issues at all.
Seriously no issues here, got mine today and I didn't notice any heat issues at all.
Snapshot2020
Well-known member
Setting up the Z8 last week to match my Z9 I did a full format of a spare Delkin Black 128 Card. Set up took about an hour and I noted the battery used up two bars. The next day in testing the Z8 I went thru one battery with a lot of Chimping of photos and focus / tracking testing for C1 & C2, plus a few minutes of video to the SD Card.
Zero heating issues or concerning warm to the feel.
Zero heating issues or concerning warm to the feel.
Thinking in deeper.
I kept the Z8 on my lap, holding it with both hands. Maybe my body temperature acted like its on a sofa.
Still no reason for a almost hot card.
Until I get to the zoo, I’m going to try different things and see the results.
I kept the Z8 on my lap, holding it with both hands. Maybe my body temperature acted like its on a sofa.
Still no reason for a almost hot card.
Until I get to the zoo, I’m going to try different things and see the results.
JP Onstwedder
Well-known member
Used mine for a three hour shoot in Singapore‘s heat and humidity without a problem. Delkin Power card which wasn’t particularly hit when I tested that once or twice.
I picked up my Z8 on Sunday and set it up today. I put a fully charged EN EL 15c in it on Sunday and put the battery that was in the Z8 box on a charger.
I did not initially put a card in the Z8 while setting it up. I had the Z8 turned on, along with my Z9 and Steve’s and Thom’s books. I wanted to set the Z8 up as close to the setup of my Z9 as possible (did change a couple of Z9 settings too). Part way through the set up process I put in a Delkin Black 325 gb CFe card and a Sandisk Extreme Pro 64 gb SD card (V90 and says 300 mb/sec on the card) and formatted them (quick format for the CFe card). After I finished my initial set up, I took out these cards and put in a Sony 64 gb XQD card, copying my settings to that card.
I did not notice the Z8 camera body, the battery, or any of the cards get warm. I worked at the kitchen table and the room temperature was about 70 degrees F. It was in the 80s outside. I have not done any material shooting with the Z8 yet. Busy tomorrow, but will then try shooting outdoors in the heat.
I did not initially put a card in the Z8 while setting it up. I had the Z8 turned on, along with my Z9 and Steve’s and Thom’s books. I wanted to set the Z8 up as close to the setup of my Z9 as possible (did change a couple of Z9 settings too). Part way through the set up process I put in a Delkin Black 325 gb CFe card and a Sandisk Extreme Pro 64 gb SD card (V90 and says 300 mb/sec on the card) and formatted them (quick format for the CFe card). After I finished my initial set up, I took out these cards and put in a Sony 64 gb XQD card, copying my settings to that card.
I did not notice the Z8 camera body, the battery, or any of the cards get warm. I worked at the kitchen table and the room temperature was about 70 degrees F. It was in the 80s outside. I have not done any material shooting with the Z8 yet. Busy tomorrow, but will then try shooting outdoors in the heat.
Quick format is only to delete files. Full format should be done.
It's interesting that the Z8 does not offer the "Full Format" option that was recently added to the Z9. Color me surprised by that. To do a full format, you'll have to perform that on a PC or in a Z9. Given how fast formatting is "in camera", it's obviously just a "Quick Format" as would be done on your computer.