NEX-5n overheating (non-)issue video on youtube!
I still didn’t get my NEX-5n so I cannot test it for myself. But it looks like the camera has an overheating issue when recording videos! But the good news first. It takes over 20 minutes in an ambient temperature of 30 deg. Celsius before you notice the problem. Probably a more serious issue is the clicking noise when moving around or panning (See discussion on Dpreview). See the video below to hear it:
Beside those problems that hopefully can be solved via firmware upgrade as soon as possible the image quality of the NEX-5n is stunning. See the comparison with the Nikon D700 fullframe camera at Kayakphoto (Click here).
The NEX-5n is in Stock in most stores like Amazon, B&H, Adorama, J&R, eBay (Click on shop names to check the availability).
All other new camera and lens preorders:
A77 at Amazon, B&H, Adorama, J&R, eBay.
A65 at Amazon, B&H, Adorama, J&R, eBay.
Sony NEX-7 Amazon, B&H, Adorama, J&R, eBay.
Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 Amazon, B&H, Adorama, J&R, eBay.
Sony 50mm f/1.8 Amazon, B&H, Adorama, J&R, eBay.
Sony 55-210mm Amazon, B&H, Adorama, J&R, eBay.
Alfonso Cuitiño
2 years ago |Oh come ON! 20 minutes recording HD video, in a 30°C room, with no airflow!
rony
2 years ago |on the nex 5, I moved the display away from the body, and that took much longer to overheat. The processor is too hot. Move through the displays, is more air to the outside and is able to cool better.
Almazar80
2 years ago |When I had by 5n sitting on a table with an ambient temperature of 76F, the recording lasterd 28:34 before the camera overheated. About the clicking noise. My 5n has it (barely perceptible), but so does by NEX-5. With the 5n, my camera strap may be more responsible for the clicking noise. The NEX-5 may actually be louder, but I never noticed it under normal recordings (had to move the camera around quickly to get the clicking noise).
lifeispixels
2 years ago |that’s really annoying clicking noise!!! O_o hope the A65 and A77 don’t have any annoying issue like this. Hope sony acknowledge soon and do something about.
loverhd
2 years ago |The clicking noise – could 5N owners confirm if it exists in your camera as well? If yes, where it come from – from the body or from the lens?
Charlie Pumarejo
2 years ago |My NEX-5N does not make the clicking noice- also I recorded video for 70 minutes this past Saturday Off and on but for long periods of time 10 minutes plus each in 98 f weather and did not have overheating issues.
ScottD
2 years ago |I can confirm it truly does exist. I removed the lens and turned off the camera. If I rotated the camera body up and down, I can hear a click. It’s something mechanical inside the camera body moving. I don’t have any issues hearing it during a pan action with videos like the above example as long as I keep the camera level. Tilting the camera forward and down or up doesn’t result in the click, just when you rotate the camera to the portrait position and back.
I don’t think a firmware update can solve this issue. It seems purely mechanical.
jmc
2 years ago |Any sensor could heat up.even sensor of medium format cameras once it is exposed..any knowledgeable user of nex will not capture video for 20 mins straight! lol.. you cant expect a 600 dollar camera to outperform or even match a full blown sony Videocam, Red camera or Arri Alexa.
Nick T
2 years ago |I was supposed to pick up my nex5n today from my retailer but was postponed to friday due to some logistics issue.
Now that i see this clicking noise issue, i really have to use these 2 days to ponder over my buying decision.
Sign…why such things happen Sony. This is supposed to be my dream small camera…
OTTO
2 years ago |Not only to Sony. The same story with my Lumix LX5 – the clicking noise comes here when the aperture is being changed (e.g. when zooming from wide to long at open aperture, then it changes from 2.0 at 24 mm to 3.3 at 90 mm). Don’t know if this could be also the source in the NEX.
Snapperbox
2 years ago |Any kind souls with nex5n can share some videos to further illustrate the clicking noise?
c.d.embrey
2 years ago |Sorry, I can’t do that, because my Sony NEX 5n Doesn’t Click.
Also, sad to say, it Doesn’t Overheat. Shot a paying job, for Five Hours, indoors at 22°C – no problems, the NEX 5n performed flawlessly.
pancanikonpus
2 years ago |I thought if the 5n recording motion object will create more heat in the processor processing… not sure true or not..
NEXfive
2 years ago |You’re right. When checking the NEX-5N Video Crop Factor (1.61) I realised that it uses the full sensor width now instead of formerly 2×2 sensor pixels for one FullHD pixel, which caused the NEX-5′s bigger Video Crop Factor (1.8). So the 5N is doing quite some additional calculating to scale every single 60p frame here, while the NEX-5 only did up to 25/30p anyway.
NEXfive
2 years ago |Well, overheating while recording 60p at 30°C after 22 minutes does not sound like a big issue at all. Your European NEX-5N will record up to 50p only anyway and therefore might make the remaining 8 recording minutes without problems.
BTW what happened to this extremely beautiful white NEX-5N option I’d seen here: http://www.f-paper.com/?i829696-Photo:-spring-rolls-blog:-Sony-NEX-5N/NEX-7-trial
Gunnar
2 years ago |The white nex 5n i found only available as kit in the us-sony store
i really wanted one,but there is no way they ship outside the us…
NEXfive
2 years ago |Thanx, found it now:
http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921666375227
Please, Sony, sell this white 5N in Europe bundled with the 50mm lens
c.d.embrey
2 years ago |When I picked-up my NEX 5n from the Sony Store in Costa Mesa, CA they asked me if I wanted a Black or a White. So at least one store has White.
Will
2 years ago |Cool, but chances are they meant to ask Black or Silver.
Aldo
2 years ago |I’m pretty sure (and hope) that these two problems are easily solved with a firmware update, but … Andrea can confirm with your sources if this is true? .. I live in Peru and send me for the NEX 5N from amazon when it goes on sale and I feel so much worth it processed
Doraemon
2 years ago |It is still better than my A55 for video…
Gunnar
2 years ago |At 30°celsius i would overheat faster then the nex
…btw. i left my nex5 on the dashboard on holydays and when i took it out to take pics it was so damn hot i could barely hold it..it still took quite a number of pics before turning of, that was the only time i had it overheat ever
pancanikonpus
2 years ago |admin, sony a77 effect video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcPOSyUnPys
Renato M.
2 years ago |this “clicking” noise doesn’t make sense, what would produce that issue?
Steve
2 years ago |The clicking is coming from the aperture changing in the lens. Maybe the aperture didn’t change much in the previous NEX3/3 and the greater flexibility of these new bodies show the limitations of the lens.
NEXfive
2 years ago |Makes sense, since I’d never heard this clicking filming with my NEX-5 using manual lenses, but it could also be Speedy’s ball suggestion below, since I’m not shaking my camera while filming like the example from YouTube
Additionally the sound is much better with the ECM-SST1 microphone anyway, which should bring a massive reduction of noises coming from the lens and also noises from touching the body as Laurens said below.
ScottD
2 years ago |Not true. The clicking noise is present inside the camera body, with the lens removed. It’s something inside the body clicking ie something is moving inside the camera body when tilted a certain way. It has nothing to do with the lens.
Will
2 years ago |Orientation sensor, which may be a ball bearing which rolls to make connections that reveal the orientation. Click, click, click. Not the lens (not the aperture), because people say tests with the lens off still makes the click sound.
Laurens
2 years ago |As far as my experience goes (with NEX-5, so has nothing to do with 5n, I guess) these clicking and related sounds are caused by touching the body or the lens while recording, due to the high sensitivity of the microphone.
To avoid it, you will have to practice a little to find out where to put your fingers while recording.
mab
2 years ago |I have checked my 5N and my old 5 for clicking. It is hearable on both cameras. Just put the camera (on or off) without a lens beside your ear and move your head up and down: both cameras are clicking…
Maybe the 5N is a bit louder and tends to click more if you move the camera horizontally. But this was no issue on the 5 so i hope it will not be an issue with the 5n.
That said moving the camera with a speed that generates a click will probably not produce oscar-worthy movies
Nevertheless i would love to hear a statement from Sony. And i don’t think this can be fixed via an update because it sounds like a mechanical issue.
Peter
2 years ago |It might be possible to resolve clicking noise problem with external mic, maybe?! If not that then external recording device I guess.
Anyway sound quality of internal mic have always been bad.
speedy
2 years ago |Have the NEX-5N too and i’m very satisfied with it. The clicking noise comes from the little ball inside the camera. It’s probably for orientation measurement. The iPhone 3Gs for example also had such a ball which jumps around when you move the phone.
So buyers have to deal with it. The chance of a firmware update is near 0%.
Prasad
2 years ago |I don’t think the problem has anything to do with the mic. Its something internal. Can the users hear the sound while recording? Because I don’t think there are any physically moving parts in the camera itself. The only source of sound due to physical movement can be the IS system in the lens but then this problem should also be seen in the previous NEX cameras. Also what is the other sound in the video which sounds like the auto focus motor trying to focus? If it is actually the motor, isn’t this supposed to be a silent lens? SONY are you actually listening to these problems? I hope Sony quickly makes a press release acknowledging these problems if they really do exist. Otherwise it would do potential harm to the sales of NEX-5N and the upcoming cameras.
Findo Gask
2 years ago |sounds right to me…
what?
2 years ago |I would hardly call 23 minutes an “issue”.
As for the noise, could that be corrected with an external mic? If not, most people are filming their cats or they end up putting a soundtrack to the video so who cares.
Aldo
2 years ago |Talk with Paul Genge (from facebook), and tells me that will give a solution
Bobby
2 years ago |5min is all I need. The best clips are no longer than that.
noobidoo
2 years ago |oh oh….overheating and mechanical issues again for SONY. Will these two issues happen on the A77 and NEX 7???
Craig Lester
2 years ago |OK for those of you thinking this is a lens issue, its not. The noise is coming from something inside the camera. How can I tell this? Well with NO lens, camera off, and holding just the body only, almost any change in movement of the camera, results in an audible clicking noise from within the camera.
This MAY be an orientation sensor, but mostly those are solid state these days, it’d be awful cheap of sony to use a tilt switch nowadays. I’m more inclined to think its the shutter itself, but there’s no real way to tell for sure. No other camera I have rattles like this when shaken (even gently).
I’m in the process of trying to return mine but the Amazon Vendor i bought from said it was normal and there is no fault. I don’t think it is normal, IS it?
Aldo
2 years ago |I have a theory, is that Sony had already tested the camera before leaving NEX-5N market, but with a “beta” version of its firmware, which had no such problems (do not think Sony would risk remove defective products) and when they released the camera with the FINAL firmware is where all this happened, I think that is just a firmware problem.
mwl
2 years ago |THe point is, why are companies coming out with crappy firmware before release? Only for their stocks to go up? Well, based on the crowd on this site, as well as other sites, it’s not looking good. Get your shit right Sony before releasing stuff. If you come out with stuff that’s reliable (earlier Mac OS vs current crappy OSX) then you wont have people being the guinea pig and being pissed off and going to another brand. What ever happened to product loyalty? This is why people jump ship so much.
Carnicero
2 years ago |Craig, it happens on the GF2 and GF3 as well. It’s normal and they’re right, it’s not a fault unless Sony says there’s something off. But so far I’ve seen the same “shake click” in several other cameras.
CineSLR
2 years ago |Could it be a sensor for the sweep panos?
andy
2 years ago |The 5N is not in stock at any of those UK links (except ebay)
Nex UK
2 years ago |No 5N in UK until mid october now…UK last again.
Ive ordered mine from digitalrev and they’re turning out to be crap (ordered a week back and STILL no dispatch everyday a different excuse/lie)…so bit annoyed about it all really
andy
2 years ago |Hmm… Park cameras have it but in store only.
andy
2 years ago |I wonder why this is always the case. Could it be that it requires some extra certification before they can sell it in the UK. I would have thought the european CE mark would be enough?
blunz
2 years ago |I did some serious panning with my new 5N – only clicking noise I get is when I move the camera from portrait to landscape – totally quiet otherwise. I’ll do a heat test tonight.
David
2 years ago |rofl who films over 20 minutes in one continuous take anyway?
Nobody is going to watch something that long unless it’s TRULY amazing. And if you’re editing together, do shorter clips.
andy
2 years ago |Maybe you’d want to leave the camera running continuously for a long time in order to catch something interesting and then edit out everything else. NEX-5N wouldn’t be much good in this situation.
e.g.
- filming badgers coming out of their burrow
- Catching a rare sighting of a giraffe feasting on the fruit of the ungabunga tree.
- pervert spy camera in ladies changing room (just kidding)
Snapperbox
2 years ago |OK, I was initially quite disappointed in this clicking sound news for NEX5N but after trying out my GF3, it also has the same clicking noise during video in a quiet environment and when I try to move faster or shake the camera.
Its not the shoulder strap lug since GF3 doesnt have them.
It also can’t be the orientation sensor noise since GF3 also doesnt have it.
So what could it be? My guess probably is the noise coming from the movement of the dust removing mechanism…..
So in summary, the clicking noise in Nex5N is NO issue since it happens to other camera as well.
Here’s a video I took this morning with GF3 and 14m lens.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnK1hGIkuSw
Aldo
2 years ago |Well, that proves that it is not physical damage, much less a manufacturing defect .. as I said before, it’s just a firmware problem (panasonic days ago released a firmware update for your lenses to solve such problems, so hopefully Sony will do the same)
Craig Lester
2 years ago |Aldo, It’s NOT the lenses. It makes the noise with the 16MM Prime and ALSO with NO lens at all. Oh and it makes the noise with the camera off and no lens attached. No firmware will fix this, unless they forgot to electronically lock whatever it is thats loose, which is highly doubtful.
Aldo
2 years ago |There are way you can upload a video proving that the camera makes that noise even when turned off?
disco
2 years ago |the clicking is from the aperture blades as the camera compensates for exposure, shoot in aperture priority or manual and there should be no clicking sound… i get the same thing shooting video in shutter priority with a gf13.
Fiveform
2 years ago |No, no, no. I switched mine to both manual mode and aperature priority mode and the clicking is still there – click – click – clickety click….
Aiden
2 years ago |Yes, sony holding a press conference and announcing to the world its brand new cameras have an issue will have less of an effect on sales than staying quiet about it…..
Really???……. No, REALLY?!?
Gian Carlo
2 years ago |The clicking noise can be induced whether the camera is turned on or off. If you shake the camera (even powered off) and hold it to your ear you will hear it go click-click. There is some mechanism tapping inside the body. It doesn’t happen smoothly panning, but when shooting while walking or jiggling the camera. Firmware will not fix it. There is some looseness in some internal mechanical components tapping against each other etc.