Canon may have known cameras like its R5 have a tendency to overheat, and a new design patent suggests the company has created a unique external heatsink design to help keep them cool.
More dedicated video cameras like the Panasonic S1H or even Canon’s R5 C have built-in active cooling to help keep the processor and other camera chips cool while recording film. These fans are usually designed to operate quietly so that they won’t be caught by microphones on set.
But with a smaller, leaner mirrorless camera setup, like the R5 or even a pocket camera, it becomes more difficult to cool down an overheating sensor. Essentially, manufacturers are forced to choose between small and compact or cool and efficient.
When users find that they can’t shoot at the R5’s highest resolution for a long time before the camera overheats, a number of third-party and DIY solutions emerge to help prolong the shooting time, such as the Tilta Cooling System, which is essentially a fan that drains the camera’s internal battery over a USB connection.
Third-party solutions have their merits, but Canon has thought about solving the problem itself through designing for an external heatsink.
In a patent application in Japan in 2015 but published earlier this year, the company designed an external cooler designed for use with smaller mirrorless cameras. The design seems to take advantage of the USB-C port on the side of the camera and use it to act as some kind of conduit to remove the heat generated by the processor and sensor and transfer it to a side heatsink. external is attached to the back of the camera.
The design that will work best with a camera with this specific purpose, Canon News report. Theoretically, Canon’s design could also be used to protect other devices from overheating including smartphones, tablets and even laptops, although there is a possibility that the The device’s firmware would have to support such an accessory and the USB ports would have to be designed to accommodate thermal transfers.
While the accessory will certainly increase the size and weight of the camera, it will help reduce overheating problems on camera designs that are plagued by their small size. When the desire for a camera that is smaller and more compact than one that can dissipate heat well, it can only be eliminated.
The only real issue might be how to move around the vari-angle LCDs, and Canon may have to redesign it or expect the user to flip the screen out before attaching the side sink. outside. It’s also possible that Canon could consider designing a heatsink to mount under the camera like a battery grip, which would allow for a more secure connection using a tripod.
Whatever it is, it’s clear Canon is giving serious thought to how to address overheating issues in its cameras without sacrificing performance.
