Finally, and officially, there’s no more overheating issue/limitation when shooting 8K RAW on the Canon EOS R5. Why? Because all the heat is absorbed by the Ninja V+ recorder, and that’s confirmed by Atomos. Of course, for that privilege, you’ll need the Ninja V+ that costs about 40% of the camera itself. All the footnotes are below.

ProRes RAW on the EOS R5

In April, Atomos has announced that its most recent recorder, the Ninja V+, will be able to record full-frame 8K 30FPS ProRes RAW when connected to the Canon EOS R5 mirrorless camera (external recording). Today, the company confirmed that the relevant firmware is available to download (for free). That means a lot for EOS R5 owners, which now can record Apple’s ProRes RAW on 8K full-frame mode. However, for that mission, they will have to purchase the expensive recorder which costs $1,500. 

Triggering the recording from the Ninja V+’s touch screen will bypass the 29:59 minute record time limit, allowing continuous RAW recording to the media in the Ninja V+.

Atomos

Release Notes

Please find the PDF below which describes the Release Notes of this update, plus full instructions and settings:

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What about overheating?

There’s a 29:59 minute record time limit imposed by the EOS R5 if you trigger the recording via the camera’s record button. You can immediately restart the recording by pressing the record button again once the timer runs out. For extended RAW recording, users should enable the “Standby: Low res” mode on the R5 and trigger recordings by touching the record button on the screen of the Ninja V+ and not the main shutter button or movie record button on the EOS R5. Triggering the recording from the Ninja V+’s touch screen will bypass the 29:59 minute record time limit, allowing continuous RAW recording to the media in the Ninja V+.

Ninja V+ absorbs the heat instead of the R5

Atomos emphasizes that the Ninja V+’s screen and enclosure will get very warm during the 8K & 5K RAW recording. However, Atomos explains that this is completely normal and expected behavior. The Ninja V+ has various safety features designed to manage the thermal performance of the unit. Nevertheless, Atomos would advise being cautious when using the product in high ambient temperatures and high screen brightness. Particularly when touching the product to swap the battery or SSD media. Make sure that the product is well ventilated at all times and do not obstruct or block the Ninja V+’s air vents.

The Ninja V+’s screen and enclosure will get very warm during the 8K & 5K RAW recording.

Atomos

Final thoughts

As explained, thanks to the Ninja V+ with the most recent firmware update, the overheating issues when shooting 8K RAW on the Canon EOS R5 are things of the past, just as we anticipated. The recorder absorbs all the heat derived from the 8K RAW recording efforts, instead of the camera. That means EOS R5 owners won’t need to implement any copper plate for heat dissipation 🙂 However, they will have to purchase a $1,500 recorder.

Product list

Here’re the products mentioned in the article, and the links to purchase them from authorized dealers. 

• Canon EOS R5 Mirrorless Digital Camera (Body Only)
  • BUY on B&H
  • BUY on ADORAMA
• Atomos Ninja V+ 5.2″ 8K HDMI H.265 Raw Recording Monitor
  • BUY on B&H
  • BUY on ADORAMA