Nikon Z8 vs Z9 overheating

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BlackHorsePhotos

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This is quite interesting since this isn't even 8K:

4K60 :

TLDW:
Z8 overheats 10 minutes in. Memory card warning.
Then initial camera temperature warning (which appears to be a battery icon).
Then camera red high heat warning of the same icon.

Ironically, the Z9 doesn't show any warnings aside from "memory card hot" on a couple of these tests that aren't Delkin Black or similar low thermal cards.

The purpose of this post is that this is the lithium battery overheating in the camera, and not the processor/controller chips in the camera.
This is the thermal shut off of a lithium battery right before it explodes.

Matt Irwin made a rather disingenuous video showing that the Z8 doesn't overheat. Except that he had it connected to an external USB power supply the entire time.
 
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abc123brian said:
I’m assuming you mean Matt’s video he worked with Ricci. Matt performed test on external power while Ricci did test on internal power. Might be worth checking out his video as well.
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I generally only watch about 2 minutes of these 30 minute videos, so if they're working together I completely missed that.

In Ricci's video the Z8 overheats within about ten minutes.

The point I'm clarifying for people is that it's the internal battery that is overheating.
 
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BlackHorsePhotos said:
I generally only watch about 2 minutes of these 30 minute videos, so if they're working together I completely missed that.

In Ricci's video the Z8 overheats within about ten minutes.

The point I'm clarifying for people is that it's the internal battery that is overheating.
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I’ve only watched Ricci’s video so far and he mentioned Matt’s video and how they collaborated to ensure they covered as many scenarios as possible by testing different things. The results Ricci got were quite different when I used a cool running card versus a hot running card. Unfortunately, the video was one that requires you watch in entirely or at a minimum the last summary bit to get an understanding of performance.

adding link to Ricci’s video
 
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BlackHorsePhotos said:
I generally only watch about 2 minutes of these 30 minute videos, so if they're working together I completely missed that.

In Ricci's video the Z8 overheats within about ten minutes.

The point I'm clarifying for people is that it's the internal battery that is overheating.
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Using a cooler card will also mean less heat dumped into the system, and will allow longer times.

This is the major issue I have with heat tests, they usually don't mention brands of cards (or do proper tests on the cards in general).
 
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as @abc123brian notes, Matt's video is supposed to be used WITH Ricci's video. Ricci covers with battery, Matt covers external power.

I watched Ricci's and I thought he gave a very good feel for expectations using a battery and the impact of different cards on the results.

likewise, i think it's clear if you needed to do long form, high bit video and you already had a z8, then you would totally want to look seriously at the external power options as Matt illustrated.

personally, i don't see why there is so much gnashing of teeth over this. the z8 performance seems reasonable, and if that doesn't suit what you want to do, you can pick the z9.
 
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John Navitsky said:
sorry, i can’t quite let this go 🤣

also, do we think any serious videographer is going to be doing long form video on an en-el15c anyway?
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Really -- search battery life and Canon R5C used in video mode.

A "serious videographer" is going to d-tap a v or gold battery -- unless using a gimbal. When the small form factor using the internal battery is better.
 
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John Navitsky said:
sorry, i can’t quite let this go 🤣

also, do we think any serious videographer is going to be doing long form video on an en-el15c anyway?
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Andy Miller Photo UK said:
Really -- search battery life and Canon R5C used in video mode.

A "serious videographer" is going to d-tap a v or gold battery -- unless using a gimbal. When the small form factor using the internal battery is better.
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It's a question of perception. The debacle of the overheating R5 at introduction convinced pros like me to skip it. In my case to Sony FX6 and Nikon Z9. The R5C is now among the most popular "under $10,000" cinema cameras and professionals shooting Canon (probably 50% of professional photographers) are buying it or the very good C70.

Commercial short-form video takes a day to shoot. I shot one for Toyota yesterday, in the tropics. Six hours of shooting for what will be a 30 second reel for socials.

I think we're in an era of transition when hybrid cameras have graduated from MFT (think Lumix which I loved) to FF and many of us who do both are a little conflicted what to get to maximize usage of our lenses. Body, any body is a small percentage of our system cost. I sold my FX6 and picked up an extra Z9 - the files are that good.

I, after seeing a session shut down due to overheating R5, am deathly afraid of stopping production for any reason. So I have two bodies (Z9s), extra batteries and an external power source, the right cards and a Yeti full of ice (fine, beer too) in the back of my truck. I wasn't in the market for a Z8 for other reasons, but this perception alone would have dissuaded me.
 
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100% -- not every camera works best (or at all) in every situation.

I believe the Z8/Z9 are both rated to 40 degrees C -- well add in 8.3k 60p HQ N-RAW or 4.1k 120p HQ N-RAW or or or and that puppy is going to get HOT!!!

Every camera gets hot - - CINE bodies now tend to have large heat sinks and active cooling including R5C and C70 and others.
Do you remember the HOT RED wars and the sales of Ice/Cool packs -- Komodos covered in cold gel packs.. Red just launched a new Komodo with bigger cooling, which they seem to have introduced across their lineup.

So if you are in a hot climate and shooting in the heat of the day then you are going to have to take mitigating steps -- multiple bodies, cooling, more cards and batteries (external power) etc.. and even then .. 100% production stops when one or more critical elements overheats and shuts down.

All non-cine bodies suffer worse with heat when recording high rest fps video -- few have external fans fitted (2 from memory and neither are particularly high end) -- it is all about picking the right tools for the job -- and some kind of cooling solution for a Z8/Z9 may be needed if this does not cause its own problems.
Matt Irwin thought that using a Power Delivery for power (D-TAP or power bank) would help -- "it might a bit.
But then so might a small ultra quiet fan blowing air on to the rear of the body.
Depends on how the camera is mounted -- if in a tripod rig a fan has got to be better than a gel pack.
If in a gimbal then it will be about not planning to shoot continuously for a long time and cooling gear between use. I am sure you had to be inventive yesterday.
 
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Andy Miller Photo UK said:
100% -- not every camera works best (or at all) in every situation.

I believe the Z8/Z9 are both rated to 40 degrees C -- well add in 8.3k 60p HQ N-RAW or 4.1k 120p HQ N-RAW or or or and that puppy is going to get HOT!!!

Every camera gets hot - - CINE bodies now tend to have large heat sinks and active cooling including R5C and C70 and others.
Do you remember the HOT RED wars and the sales of Ice/Cool packs -- Komodos covered in cold gel packs.. Red just launched a new Komodo with bigger cooling, which they seem to have introduced across their lineup.

So if you are in a hot climate and shooting in the heat of the day then you are going to have to take mitigating steps -- multiple bodies, cooling, more cards and batteries (external power) etc.. and even then .. 100% production stops when one or more critical elements overheats and shuts down.

All non-cine bodies suffer worse with heat when recording high rest fps video -- few have external fans fitted (2 from memory and neither are particularly high end) -- it is all about picking the right tools for the job -- and some kind of cooling solution for a Z8/Z9 may be needed if this does not cause its own problems.
Matt Irwin thought that using a Power Delivery for power (D-TAP or power bank) would help -- "it might a bit.
But then so might a small ultra quiet fan blowing air on to the rear of the body.
Depends on how the camera is mounted -- if in a tripod rig a fan has got to be better than a gel pack.
If in a gimbal then it will be about not planning to shoot continuously for a long time and cooling gear between use. I am sure you had to be inventive yesterday.
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It worked flawlessly, never resorted to a second body and never had to place it in the Yeti. I also had a peace of mind and was able to concentrate on the shoot, which is what the precautions got me. And beers were drunk.
 
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Nimi said:
I, after seeing a session shut down due to overheating R5, am deathly afraid of stopping production for any reason. So I have two bodies (Z9s), extra batteries and an external power source, the right cards and a Yeti full of ice (fine, beer too) in the back of my truck. I wasn't in the market for a Z8 for other reasons, but this perception alone would have dissuaded me.
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i wouldn't say that was a "perception" issue. you have valid reasons to consider that the z9 would probably be a better choice based on what you are doing
 
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I don't do video at all…so like many of us it's a non issue for me. For stills…I haven't seen any videos that claimed overheating was an issue and I'm pretty sure that at least Steve shoots a lot more frames per hour than I do…and if he's reported no issue then I'm not concerned there either. Granger did the same thing in a new video as well…and while the title and TL:DR at the beginning of the video slam the Z8 as having an over heating issue…it isn't until about 3/4 of the way through that he said that it's not a problem at all for stills and doesn't change his recommendation on using it a bit…but I guess he needed a little clickbait in the video title.
 
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