Ice packs on EPIC?

[Brandon Fraley]

I've been shooting a movie in Yuba City, and as we've started going more to exterior scenes, I've had to be more conscious about keeping the camera cool. I keep it shaded at all times and power down whenever possible, but during long takes when the fan slows down, occasionally the fan will pop back into high gear.

I've got some ice packs on stand-by, but I'm curious where the best place to put them would be. Also, should I be worried about condensation inside the camera or anything else like that?

THANKS!

-B

 

[Ethan Knight]

wrap the ice pack with a thin towel and strap it to the side of the SSD or bottom if you're shooting handheld. It worked well for me shooting a long interview in a very hot room. it helped to keep the core temp at 48/49 celsius. didn't get any condensations problem.
Also if your top area (where the REDMOTE antenne is) is available i'd have another one there (without blocking the top cooling vent)

 

[Mike P.]

Ice packs shouldn't be necessary to operate the camera in under 40c/105f weather under any realistic conditions (and a $450 "upgrade" to solve the problem is ridiculous). Just get a flag (or umbrella) and you shouldn't have any problems.

 

[Adam S]

If you have problems with over heating turn the fans to manual mode and set them to 100% in standby and atleast 50% while recording. Since you're outside sound probably won't pickup the extra noise coming from the fans unless you're right next to the actor.

If you're camera still runs hot (50C +) while recording at those settings you might have a bunch of dust on the heat sinks in the camera. Cover the lens and use a can of air to blow air into the front intake fan of the camera, a good amount of dust should fly out of the top of the camera.

If that still doesn't solve your problems try increasing the recording fan speed as much as you can get away with until sound starts complaining.

If none of those solutions solve your problems that's when you slap on the ice packs and spend $1000 on the new fan upgrade.

 

[Patrick Tresch]

There are solutions out there. Ice is not realistic.
Please make you a favor get RED's front fan and the FanPlate ;-)

Pat

Adam, I don't understand your heat settings. Overheating is 75c for the Core and 45c for the sensor.

 

[Rob Anderson]

We filmed for continuous days along the Colorado River in 108+ desert temps (Southern Nevada) and all we used were large white (top) and silver (underneath) golf umbrellas from Amazon. We're still getting the fan upgrade for interview-type work, but golf umbrellas are the way to go for any hot exterior stuff.

Personally, I wouldn't stick ice packs or anything else with moisture near our cams.

 

[Stirling Bancroft]

I've strapped dry ice in a ziplock and diaper to studio rods ahead of the fan in hot climates. We didn't do it for overheating though. We did it to run the fan at slower settings for the sound department. We never placed the packs on the camera itself, we just cooled the air entering the fans. No ill effect to camera but its possible to hurt your operator if their neck comes in contact with the pack. We strapped ours to the right side for handheld work. I don't advise it. But it does work pretty well as long as you take precaution to protect those handling the camera from freeze burns.