- Hey guys, my name is Matt Johnson,
whoismatt.com
and today I want to answer the question
will the Sony A7 S3 overheat
when you use it to film a wedding?
So if you are a wedding videographer like me,
where you need a camera that can work all day
recording B-roll off and on
followed by long continuous recording
like a wedding ceremony followed by even more B-roll
of a wedding reception.
I've been putting the A7 S3 through wide range
of tests to tell you if it's capable of doing that.
There's also one big way that this overheating test
is going to be different from other overheating tests
you may have already seen online for this camera.
My friends at Sony have some an advanced copy
of the A7 S3
but this is the exact same hardware and firmware
as the final model that will be available in stores.
Earlier overheating tests weren't done
with this final production model.
So the test you're about to see
will hopefully be more accurate and tell you exactly
what you can expect when you're filming with this camera.
In the interest of ethics,
I also want you to know that this video isn't paid
or sponsored by Sony.
They literally loaned me this camera and said,
"Do whatever the heck you want with it, just don't sell it."
Now, just like my Canon R5 overheating tests video,
I'm gonna spoil it conclusion to this video
in case you don't watch all of it.
Will the Sony A7 S3 overheat
if you use it to film a wedding?
No, not at all.
I actually cannot think of any typical filmmaking scenario
on a wedding day where it would be possible
to make this camera overheat.
It's that good.
How am I so confident?
In case you haven't seen my wedding filmmaking
behind the scenes video
I've actually already filmed a wedding with this camera
in the Texas heat
and it's not even come close to overheating.
And after filming that wedding
and doing the tests I'm about to show you in this video,
I am confident that I will never have to deal
with an overheating A7 S3 on a wedding day
and I highly doubt that you will either.
Onto the tests.
Most filmmakers I know shoot video in two ways
so that's how I've structured these tests.
First way, filmmakers shoot long 30 minutes
or longer takes of people talking
like an interview, conference speaker or wedding ceremony.
These are usually shot in 24 frames per second
because why would you want slow motion
and somebody's lips are moving as they're talking.
But I do know that some filmmakers prefer to shoot
everything in 60 frames per second
so I've tested that as well.
B-roll is the second way filmmakers shoot
and it is arguably more important
than shooting long continuous takes.
For me, the majority of my time on the wedding day
is spent filming B-roll.
I turn the camera on, film for anywhere
from five to 30 seconds then I turn the camera off.
I'm in the menus switching frame rates
and settings constantly.
with the A7 S3, I know there are some shots
I want to film in 4K 24 frames per second, some at 4K 60
and occasionally at 4K 120.
To sum up my testing philosophy,
a wedding day is very taxing on any camera.
Most wedding videographers at minimum are filming
for eight hours
but I film wedding days as long as 19 hours.
You need to have a reliable camera
that will enable you to film in a variety of scenarios
over an entire day.
I have simulated that with the A7 S3.
Let's start by talking about filming a wedding ceremony
with this camera.
I've tested recording both indoors and air conditioning
and outdoors under direct sunlight.
When I tested the Canon R5, I also tested it in shade
but I figured if the A7 S3 can survive in the sun
without overheating, it can survive in the shade as well.
You should also know that I filmed these tests
at the end of August,
the hottest month in the state of Texas.
Temperatures this week got up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit
but I can assure you the A7 S3 got much hotter.
For all my ceremony overheating tests,
I used a very similar setup
to what I would use at a real wedding.
The A7 S3 was on a tripod
with a 70 to 200 millimeters lens mounted to the lens ring
so the camera had free air flow all around it.
IBIS was turned off
because you don't need that on a stationary tripod shot
and autofocus was turned off as well.
I also filmed all these tests in 4K
in the ALL-I at the highest bit rate possible
to generate the most heat.
Lastly, unless otherwise noted
all of these tests were performed from a cold start
meaning I gave the A7 S3 enough time to cool down
between each test.
Looking at the results of the indoor tests
the A7 S3 recorded in 4K 24 frames per second
for two hours and 14 minutes until the battery died
without ever overheating.
This corroborates with what I saw
at the real wedding I filmed with the A7 S3.
That indoor ceremony lasted about 15 minutes
from the bride walking down the aisle to the exit
and the A7 S3 didn't overheat
even with me recording the entire time.
But what about an outdoor ceremony?
That is something that I needed to simulate.
I took the outside on an afternoon
that the weather report said was 97 degrees Fahrenheit
to simulate filming a sunny wedding ceremony
with scattered clouds.
And the A7 S3 recorded 4K 24 frames per second, ALL-I
for two hours and 17 minutes
before the battery died.
Even with an ambient temperature of 117 degrees Fahrenheit
and the back of the camera reaching 140 degrees
It never overheated.
This is great news and I feel very confident telling you
that you should be able to film a wedding ceremony
and 4K at 24 frames per second.
Either indoors and air conditioning
or outdoors in direct sunlight at very high temperatures
no matter the length of the ceremony.
If it can survive this Texas heat,
it should be able to survive pretty much anything
you throw at it.
Now even with that good news,
I know there are some of you out there,
you know who you are,
who would prefer to shoot an entire wedding day
in 4K 60 even the ceremony
so of course I've simulated that.
Simulating filming a wedding ceremony indoors
in 4K 60 frames per second, All-I
the camera recorded for one hour and 44 minutes
before the battery died, zero overheating.
Impressive but that's not what you wanna see.
How does this camera handle filming outdoors,
in the sun in 4K 60 for entire wedding ceremony.
Taking the A7 F3 outside on a partly cloudy day
with a weather report saying 99 degrees Fahrenheit
and an ambient temperature that got up to 106 Fahrenheit,
the A7 S3 recorded for one hour and 42 minutes
until the battery died.
The back of the camera body behind the sensor
reached a temperature of 141 degrees Fahrenheit
and it still kept going.
There was no sign of overheating with this camera,
not even an overheat warning.
Because of this, I feel confident telling you filmmakers
that wanna shoot the entire day in 4K 60, even the ceremony,
you will be able to do that with the A7 S3.
Is that it for testing? Hold on.
Okay, I know this camera cords
in 4K at 120 frames per second
but I would never recommend shooting a wedding ceremony
at that frame rate, it's ridiculous
of course, I tested it though.
I do have one caveat you need to know
about this specific test,
to record 4K 120 frames per second
in the highest quality ALL-I format,
you need to have CF express type A cards
and those aren't available for sale yet.
So I was only able to record in the lower quality
X ABC S 4K at 120 frames per second.
With that caveat out of the way
are you finally ready to see the A7 S3 overheat?
Because it finally overheated
filming indoors in 4K at 120 frames per second,
the A7 S3 recorded for 55 minutes
before finally overheating and shutting down.
I'm honestly impressed to camera this size
without a fan lasted that long.
Moving outdoors with partly cloudy skies
and a 100 degree Fahrenheit ambient temperature,
the A7 S3 continuously recorded in 4K 120
for 13 minutes before overheating.
Like I said earlier,
I would never shoot a full wedding ceremony
at 120 frames per second
and I would highly encourage you to not do that either.
Here's the main takeaway for you
from all this ceremony testing.
If you film your wedding ceremonies
in 4K at 24 frames per second
or even up to 4K at 60 frames per second,
I would expect to be able to record
an unlimited amount of time
indoors or outdoors at any temperature without overheating.
But how does the handle recording B-roll?
As I said, at the start of this video,
I filmed a few hours of B-roll of the couple getting ready
then up to an hour long ceremony
then immediately I'm back to filming more B-roll
for sometimes six hours or more of the reception.
We've already established the A7 S3 should be able to handle
continuously recording a wedding ceremony.
What about B-roll
where you turn the camera on,
film for less than 30 seconds
turn it off then repeat that process
after a bit of t6ime has passed.
Well, I have good news
I didn't need to simulate filming B-roll with this camera
because I've already filmed a wedding with it
the ultimate simulation a real world test.
This B-roll was a mix of handheld and on a gimbal
indoors and outdoors with IBIS turned on
and auto-focus occasionally turned on.
I filmed some in 4K 24, 4K 30, 4K 60 and even 4K 120
if I thought the shot warranted it.
I should also mention that the high that day
was 98 degrees Fahrenheit
but with the humidity it felt much hotter.
Throughout the entire wedding day though
the A7 S3 never even showed a hint of overheating
even when I was filming 10 minutes
worth of almost nonstop 4K 120 frames per second
B-roll of the couple, it handled it like a champ.
We should also talk about the time
it takes this camera to recover from overheating.
When I tested the Canon R5,
I discovered that when filming B-roll
it would build up heat over time
eventually leading to overheating
even if I filmed shorter clips
and turned it off in between shots
because the camera didn't have enough time to cool.
You should also know that since making my R5
overheating video,
new discoveries seem to point that
Canon has actually implemented
an artificial overheating timer
so that way they do not cannibalize sales
of their cinema line with the R5
but that's a story for another day.
In contrast to the R5 overheating debacle,
the A7 S3 did not exhibit any buildup of heat over time
leading to overheating
or any sign of an artificial overheating timer.
I'm confident you can film B-roll clips with the A7 S3
in any frame rate or resolution
without worrying about overheating.
Let's say you somehow managed to make the A7 S3
overheat though.
How long will it take this camera to recover
before you can film with it again?
I simulated this by first making the A7 F3 overheat
by recording 4K 120 frames per second
for 15 minutes in the hot sun.
And then I found that after keeping the camera off
for two minute while it's still set out in the hot sun,
I was able to turn the camera back on
and record for two more minutes and 4K 120
before it overheated again.
I then let the camera rest for two more minutes
and when I powered it back on
and switched to 4K 60 frames per second,
I was able to record in 4K 60 for one hour and 16 minutes
until the battery died.
As long as you weren't filming your ceremonies
in 4K 120, you should be fine.
But even if the camera does overheat,
it will recover within two minutes
and you can immediately record again.
Wrapping things up
What have we learned from all these overheating tests?
Will the A7 S3 overheat if you use it to film a wedding?
With the way I film, shooting shorter B-roll clips
in 4K at a variety of frame rates
from 24 to 120 frames per second
and filming wedding ceremonies
in 4K at 24 frames per second,
I am confident that even on the hottest day,
I will never have to deal with this camera overheating
at a wedding.
And even if you're a wedding filmmaker
that shoots primarily 4K at 60 frames per second all day,
including a long outdoor wedding ceremony,
I can confidently say
I do not believe you will have any overheating issues
either.
Like I said at the start of this video,
I cannot think of any typical wedding day scenario
that would cause this camera to overheat.
The only way I've found it overheat
is if you shoot in 4K 120 for a long extended period
and I do not know of any wedding filmmakers
that film wedding ceremonies at 120 frames per second.
Now if you're filming a wedding couple
that has chosen to elope in Death Valley
and you're filming many 4K 120fps shots back to back
because for some reason 60fps isn't slow enough,
sure, you may deal with some over heating then.
But I literally have to envision that extreme of a scenario
to think of a way that the A7 S3 could overheat
it's that good.
When Sony first announced this camera
and said it didn't have a fan, I was nervous
recording 4K at high frame rates generates a lot of heat
but the cooling system they've included in the A7 S3
is very impressive
and I'm glad they've clearly put so much work into it.
In conclusion, weddings are a one time event
you don't get any do overs if your camera overheats.
I believe the A7 S3 is a reliable tool
for professional filmmakers
that will not overheat
and I intend on this to be my camera
that I use to film weddings for the foreseeable future.
With that, thank you so much for watching
this A7 S3 overheating test video.
I have a lot more videos planned
with the A7 S3 in the future
and I would greatly appreciate if you would consider
liking this video and subscribing
if you wanna see those videos.
Also, if you happen to be a wedding filmmaker
this is a video about the camera overheating
filming weddings
you probably want to book more couples
and fill more weddings.
To help you out with that I've created a free guide
That's gonna walk you through some practical steps
you can take right now in business
to book more couples and film more weddings.
It's a completely free gift to you
you can download it the link down
in the video description.
Thanks so much for watching and have a great day.