How to keep your Nikon Z8 cool : Longer recordings and faster recovery
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 มิ.ย. 2024
- I used a thermal imaging camera to discover not only where the heat is coming from in your Nikon Z8 but also how to keep your Z8 running cool and avoid the hot card warnings as well as the dreaded thermal shutdown for as long as possible.
As I mentioned in the video a good Cf Express card is incredibly important here as and I used a gen 4.0 CF Express Card as they are generally far more efficient which means you will get better battery life and also longer run times in your recording as they don't radiate as much heat due to their extra efficiency. They are also very reasonably priced considering how good they are they have to be the best perfomaning cards for their price rights now.
The card I personally use if the PrgoGrade Gold Gen 4.0 512GB CF Express type B card I have a full video review on it here... • ProGrade Gold 512GB CF...
You can get the Prograde Gold gen 4.0 512gb card via Amazon here... tinyurl.com/ProGrade-gen-4-512gb
I also know people that have used the Delkin G4 cards and they have had similiar results but I have not tested them myself.
You can get the Delkin G4 cards on Amazon here... tinyurl.com/Delkin-G4-CF-Expre...
The Neewer CA041 Nikon Z8 camera cage is awesome for a number of reasons and I put up a video on the cage here if you want to check that out... • Neewer CA041 Nikon Z8 ...
You can buy the Neewer CA041 cage on the Neewer Website here... tinyurl.com/Neewer-CA041
Don't forget my Neewer Discount code HAYES21 and save 21% off via the official Neewer website.
Or you can also buy the Neewer CA041 on Amazon here... tinyurl.com/Neewer-CA041-Cage
0:00 Intro
0:43 For Photography and Videography
0:54 How I tested the Nikon Z8 for over heating.
1:17 The CF Express card I used.
1:33 Why use a gen 4.0 card?
1:58 What people suggest to cool your Nikon Z8
2:56 Standard recording on the Z8 to get a baseline for overheating.
3:10 The recording setup
3:30 Thermal images of the camera as it starts to heat up.
3:54 Is the LCD display the Issue?
4:09 Heat issue number 2
4:35 HDMI and USB port temperatures.
5:00 Battery temperatures and the battery compartment issue.
5:27 Card Slot Temperatures.
6:01 Standard recording time.
6:12 How the recording was done.
6:38 Retesting with 45 mins cool down time.
7:19 The heat issue we need to solve.
7:33 The internal heatsinks on the Nikon Z8 and where they are positioned.
8:33 The second Heatsink
8:55 Why the HDMI nad USB ports are getting hot
9:25 The Tripod mount is connected to the internal heatsinks.
9:54 Recording with the back LCD pulled out from the back.
10:40 The heat behind the LCD display.
10:50 Results from the LCD being pulled out.
11:04 USB PD Test
11:21 USB PD Results
11:50 Side by side temps on the battery before and after USB PD.
12:20 L Bracket and Camera Cage test results.
12:44 Best Idea yet.
13:35 Camera cage with cable locking or strain relief bracket.
14:08 Thermal images of the camera cag and cable bracket removing heat.
15:32 New tests to the cooling.
15:59 3rd tests : Default condition results.
16:16 3rd tests : Test with the LCD pulled out
16:52 3rd Test : USB PD test.
17:03 3rd test : Best heat loss results yet.
17:59 Have you found something that helps cool the Nikon Z8?
Why this is important for cooling the Nikon Z8.
This is the only one test that covers heating problems with z8. Thanks a lot for tis review
A lot of people don't have an issue with overheating so it might not be that much of an issue for most Z8 users. I had slight issues from time to time and started to investigate so I thought it might benefit others then too. Fantastic camera though and love it to bits.
Brilliant Video!!! Your channel should have a lot more subscribers by now...!!!
Thanks a lot for the kind words. I have only been really posting properly over the last 12 months or so I have taken a few breaks in between so it's my own fault the channel isn't a bit bigger.
Also the fact that I am not going for the really big viewing videos , like this video was never going to be a really popular one and it looks ages to make.
I do this for the love of it and for a bit of fun also. Loads of subscribers would be nice but I am not too worried about it either.
Thanks again 👍
You indeed fell down the overheating rabbit hole! Thanks for the video, your experiments helped us all.
Hi, thanks for watching and glad it helped a bit, I am steering clear of rabbit holes like that now for a bit :-)
I put CPU Thermal pad/heatsink cooling silicone behind the screen pulled out. I also put a strip of it on the bottom covering the plate. I no longer run into hot card warnings.
Great to hear that helped cure your overheating issues, what video settings are you using? The tests I tried in this video really push the camera to the extreme. Curious to hear what you are using and I have an even better way to cool the camera which I hopefully will be sharing in the next few weeks.
You should change your thumbnail to a half and half image of the thermal picture and the interior tear down photo and then a portrait popup of Kieran Hayes with a suprised face.
Don't get me started on thumbnails 😂😂😂
I would probably be given out to as I was misleading people.
Great idea though and hey now I have someone to blame for it 😉
Thanks again for the feedback and for watching 👍
brilliant video! I have no idea how yo figured this all out! If i had to do a test like this I would not know where to start! Nikon should hire you ! Thanks for putting this video together!
Thanks Carey, it feels more like a documentary than a video.... How Kieran fell down the rabbit hole 😂😂😂. This was a nightmare to edit, so much footage just deleted 😂
I hope People at Nikon watch this. It would be great if they brought some connection points out of the body for connecting the cages to so we could take greater advantage of cooling the heat sink in the body with the cage.
Thanks Dan, appreciate that. Fingers crossed we all learned a bit more about keeping the Z8 coool now. I know someone that is replacing a few plastic parts on the Z8 to make it more thermally conductive to the camera cage. Early testing shows it does help a good bit. I will pop up another video on that one of these days maybe.
@@kieranhayesphotography Please do ASAP!!
Excellent video. Very informative.
Hi Greg, thanks for watching and glad you enjoyed it 👍
Merci Beaucoup pour ces test fastidieux qui vont aider la communauté Nikon.
You are very welcome and thank you for watching :-)
Use the SD slot with just 4k LOG and it’ll never get too hot. But use a CFx with that same setting, it’ll shut down in minutes. Strange.
A lot of CF Express cards run hot even when they are idle crazily.
Most of the Gen 4.0 cards seem to have solved that issue though.
Replacing the thermal pads with others with high thermal conductivity would transfer the heat better to the heat sink and faster from the hot zone.
It would be interesting to know which thermal pads Nikon uses here (size / thickness) and whether it makes sense to replace them with "better" ones.
(Maybe also in combination with your base plate heat sink invention.)
Edit: Looks like "Fujipoly Ultra/extreme" are even better with 17 W/mk but very expensive. Also other options for good pads are Gelid Solutions GP-Ultimate, Kritical, Airhut, Thermalright Valor Odin, Extreme Odyssey II, Nab. All pads have about 15 W/mk.
From what I can see the big issue is the heat actually getting out of the body so I am eager to try the modified base to see how that goes. I will try the thermal pads after that then and see how that goes.
Hopefully the new base plate will be enough to keep it cool. If not I will be looking at your suggestion to see how that goes.
Pulling out the monitor and opening the battery hatch and the card door helps. Trying to figure out of the Ulanzi cooling fan can be attached to the camera with the monitor pulled out. If it can, that should work to allow 2 hours or more of 4K 60 recording which would be practical.
Hi James, Yes it does help a bit alright. The cooling fan should help another bit too, there is someone I know that's working on a way to help dissapate the heat from inside the camera more to the cage, hopefully there will be more of an update on that soon.
@@kieranhayesphotography Ulanzi replied that their fan will not fit on the Z8. I have an idea myself for a cooling device by making a dummy battery out of thermal materials like silver and steel, and putting a fan in it blowing down from inside the dummy and-or a screw for a heat sync wire to a cage or a glass of ice water for that matter. The camera then runs on a PD power bank through the dummy.
This would really work and would add enough recording time to make the camera a lot more practical for the field and for those shooting paid actors etc. I have no idea how to get something like this made. But if you do, maybe pitch the idea. I'll even buy one if it gets made.
Hey James, I was originally looking at something similar, the issue was that most of the dummy batteries didn't work with the Z8 but the Neewer dummy battery does now I am told.
I then considered using the USB PD power option and popping the fan over the open battery door.
I stopped there though as someone else has designed and physically made a new metal base plate (only the part around the tripod mount) that replaces the original plastic piece, it simply unscrews and you fit the metal piece then.
The importance of this is it's connected to the internal heatsink in the camera so it helps to suck heat away from the processor via either an l bracket or camera cage.
His initial results were very promising and there was a market improvement in recording times.
I must ask him over the weekend how he has gotten on since as the real beauty is this is a very neat fix and it looks really well.
I must try and get one off him if he has made more and try it out.
@@kieranhayesphotography Thanks! I want one of those myself if you can get some. Also I was considering this. One problem I have had is the monopod mount always slides around. I fixed that by using a piece of foam from filter packaging that acts like a gasget sort of, and holds the little monopod mount, Arca Swiss, better.
Yesterday after watching your video, I wondered if you could get a piece of a thermal pad and use it as a gasget between the camera and the tripod/monopod mount and maybe it would help transfer more heat to the monopod. Or even put a piece of thermal pad against the camera behind the monitor. If one has a cage I suppose you could mount a small PD powered computer fan on it and point it behind the monitor or up into the battery compartment.
i think the replacement plate is going to be the best option really and if you use a cage or an L bracket it will really transfer the heat then to that and suck it out of the camera body. Hope to get an update on that replacement base plate soon.
Do you think the ZITAY Cf express B to external M.2 adapter would help with the cooling?
My thinking is it will run cooler since the camera is writing to the m.2 externally ( and the door has to be left open anyway)
I haven't used it on the Z8 or know anyone that has used it yet but this could help alright.
I would have slight concerns about having the door open and the wire then too of course but if you use it in a rig it could work well alright.
I know someone that is testing a few cooling plates for the Z8 that seem to work well.
I hope to get a bit more of an update on that soon.
I love your accent, especially words starting with "th"
Thanks Matthew, I try not to pronounce the "th" at all 😀.
My German wife was not taught to speak English the way I talk it 😂
Intersting findings. I am wondering though. If you put on a cage, connect cables, use an external PD and pull out the screen, wouldn't it make the camera harder to handle? At that point, why not use an external screen and recorder? That would probably eliminate most heat issues. If you are using the Z8 for extensive video shoots, you would probably want an external recorder anyway. Conversly, if you only do a few short clips for B roll, you won't have any excessive heat issues.
TBH heat hasn't really been an issue for me as I do a lot of shorter recording and while the Hot Card warning does come up the Z8 continues to record with no issues. This video is mainly educational I suppose you would say as I also have an external recorder/monitor but not everyone is in the same position hence the video and the hope is it helps a few people out :-) Thanks for watching and have a great week.
Great video, must have taken quite some of your time.
Since a lot of the temperature is going to the baseplate of the camera, wouldn't it be fair to not have it sit on a table, on some fabric which probably does not remove much of the heat? Having the camera in your hand during all these test is undoable... but maybe a tiny tripod? Of a large tripod, to suck out the heat from the baseplate?
Honestly when I started this video I didn't think there would be that much heat coming out of the base. I kept it the same then though so every test would be in the same conditions, for me it became more about understanding the cooling and trying to find a way to keep it running cooler consistently towars the end.
It's a very fair point though and would of course effect the run time before the hot card warning came on and I would never do that in real life. Anyway I hope it helped a bit and thanks for watching and for the feedback also.
Tell me what memory card you used for the shoot.
Hi I used the ProGrade Gold Generation 4.0 512GB CF Express type B card. The trick here is to go for the Generation 4 card as it's more efficient and has a higher bandwidth also.
Whats the consensus on Lexus Professional 2tb
For photography it should be really good but for video I am not too sure as I haven't tested it, so I can't really answer that one for you.
Just add s tiny blower attached to a usb pd brick snd direct the air towards the back of the camera with lcd popped out. It makes a big difference to have active cooling if you need long recordings and dont want to spring for a z9.
You are the second person to suggest that now, thanks for the input.
I must try that and see how it works. I have a few cooling fans hanging around.
Are there no over heating issues then in 8K for long recording then?
I recorded a live panel for the mayor of my city. 4k 30fps roughly about 60min. Not a single issue with heat
Ya 4k30p, is a walk in the park compared to 8k 60p in N-Raw in high quality mode at ISO 4000 with a constantly moving subject .
4k 30p should be no issue at all to the Z8 thankfully 👍
I have a fx6 but just ordered my z8 for photos but would like to do a long 4k 30p in a hot kitchen, no AC, about 100degrees temp. Will this be fine?
@@user-uh7bw4jo4c That is something I have never tried but those temps might be an issue alright.
Having a good card is going to be key here. The Delkin Blacks or Prograde Cobalt cards are really good or the new ProGrade Gold gen 4.0 card is really good also.
They don't run as hot so your camera doesn't heat up as much.
I know at lower temps you can run for long times no problem at all in 4k30p in N Raw in high quality mode.
The high temp here is the only thing I would be worried about.
@@kieranhayesphotography I have a lot of restaurant clients and spend a lot of time in hot kitchens some very hot. Never had issues with 4k/30 -120 and I’ve recorded for long periods.
@@skurt2752 That's interesting, are you recording in N Raw in high quality mode or what codec are you using? I have always had slight issues with N Raw in HQ mode in warm environments.
FYI ProGrade Digital Memory Card - CFexpress 4.0 Type B for Cameras | Optimized for Express Transfer of Files & Large Storage | 512GB Gold Series $179.00 Sus. Sustained Write 2400 MB/s - Read 3400 and 2TB Gold Series $799.00 Amazon. FYI Harder to over heat Nikon Z8
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Yes, that's exactly the card I used 👍
I removed the rubber from my L bracket and add a big thermal pad between it and the bottom of the camera. The L bracket got as hot as the exterior of the camera. In my case 35deg Celsius.
I was seriously thinking about doing that, its one of the things I noticed on the Neewer Z8 cage is that the rubber pad is a lot smaller then on my SmallRig Z8 cage, I haven't tried it yet to see if that makes any difference though. Really good idea about the thermal pad though.
@@kieranhayesphotography one thing regarding the hdmi cable. The outside metal part of the hdmi cable is over a thick plastic part. While the hdmi male connector makes contact there is not much heat conducted to the outside.
@@MadManTnT that was my initial concern so I checked the temp of the HDMI connector was at 41.5 degrees and the external metal shield on the HDMI plug was at 38 degrees, I tried a plastic connector and it was hopeless obviously. There is no electrical conduction between the HDMI earth and the metal shroud but there seems to be reasonable thermal conductivity. It could be better of course though. That's why I am wondering if someone has found something better. More curiousity then anything else.
@@kieranhayesphotography I will try and sacrifice a hdmi cable and solder a big metal plate on the male hdmi connector
@@MadManTnT I was seriously considering doing that to see if it helped, or do a HDMI and USBC cable with the surface area of the HDMI port that would obviously be the better option though.
Man… prograde is a very hot card. I’d say second hot after lexar. Tried it only once and will never use it again, really. SE and MK2 are way better and for example, I do a full 2 tb on 8/60 without the overheat. Never used 4tb but people say it’s even better.
I am presuming the Prograde card you tried wasn't the Gen 4.0 card which is the one I am using and talking about here.
When you say you can fill a 2tb card with no hot card warning is that in NRaw in high detail mode and with a constantly moving subject at ISO 4000 like I was doing in these tests.
That will really stress the camera and cause it to overheat.
In all the tests I have done I have found the Prograde Gold 4.0 card to be a very cool card. Maybe you had a faulty one? What capacity was the card that you used?
@@kieranhayesphotography prograde was 4.0 from amazon. It was a real disappointment. But I can say that for angelbird (mine are also from amazon) I never used such a high iso, for my needs, 100-400 maximum is the best… I can also add, that after the first few tests of the long videos, I never did such a long recordings, for me, 1-5 minutes of video is enough, than a few seconds (up to a minute) of changing a shooting plan and continuing. And never open the card and battery slots during the video🤷🏻♂️. In total, I tried 4 brands of cards - third and fourth were Delkin and lexar. I can say that lexar is a garbage, Delkin green is not working, Delkin black is fine but terribly expensive and has no 2 tb
I would say the card you got was either faulty or not a genuine 4.0 card. I know several people using the Gen 4.0 cards and they have had nearly exactly the same experiences as me with them.
Regarding the ISO the reason for using ISO 4000 is that it's the second base ISO for NRaw and it works the camera hard and causes it to overheat more.
Incidentally the first base ISO for NRaw on the Z8 is ISO 800, so ISO 800 is the lowest ISO I would ever use for the best results you can get from the Z8.
In your tests were you using NRaw also and recording in high detail mode?
@@kieranhayesphotography Well, 4k120 was easily written to the card without any problems, but at 8k60 glitches began. I wrote to you the basic ISO with which I work at different resolutions - I shoot cats and here everything is very different - at high ISO values problems begin with transmitting video of fur, especially if the color is silver. Everything on my pages was shot on an iPhone for now, since I have assembled a grip that involves use on large areas, and am still waiting for the new rooms to be ready. But while I’m shooting for myself, testing the possibilities of camera, I basically already understand everything. I’ll send you the settings I’m working with later, when it’s next time to shoot.