Shooting video on DSLR can damage your sensor

TonyMontanaSlot · Jun 28, 2013

Is it an urban legend? Because I use my D5100 to record my videos. I don't want to do any damage. I usually record a couple of songs ~5 min each for 30 minutes and yeah, yesterday it stopped recording by itself and turned off Live View. I forced it to record one more song anyway

. Is it dangerous?

cgipson1 · Jun 28, 2013

Hmmm.... haven't heard this, since I don't pay much attention to DSLR video. I do know that long term sensor use generates heat... but I would think that would be in the "specs" set for the sensor, up to a point anyway. If it overheats, and shuts down... I would let it cool before using it more.

Big Mike · Jun 28, 2013

The issue (at least the rumor of an issue) is that too much heat can damage the sensor. And while that's certainly true, I'm not sure how much heat it would take to damage a sensor.

Extended exposure to direct sunlight, with a large aperture...might be getting close...so I'd avoid that. But regular video shooting is more than likely OK. I do remember hearing that maximum file size can be an issue when shooting SLR video...so it may stop recording when the file gets to 1GB or 2GB etc...but that may be with older cameras...I'm not sure.

If it did shut down on it's own...it may be a response to heat building up...but I can't confirm that.

rexbobcat · Jun 28, 2013

It's a myth.

What can damage your sensor, though, is recording during a laser show.

brunerww · Jun 28, 2013

TonyMontanaSlot said:
Is it an urban legend? Because I use my D5100 to record my videos. I don't want to do any damage. I usually record a couple of songs ~5 min each for 30 minutes and yeah, yesterday it stopped recording by itself and turned off Live View. I forced it to record one more song anyway . Is it dangerous?

No, it is not dangerous. Your camera probably shut off after it reached its 20 minute maximum continuous recording limit, which is clearly noted as the "Movie Maximum Recording Time" in the Tech Specs: Nikon D5100 DSLR | The New Nikon DSLR | 1080p HD Digital Video Camera

You can remove this limit with the NTools patch, available from Vitaliy Kiselev here: Official Nikon Hacks, D7000, D7100, D3100, D3200, D5100, V1, V2, J1, D4, D800 and Nikon Tool - Personal View Talks

Good luck,

Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution