Leica SL2 overheats after 33min / Battery issue (2022, Firmware 4.1)

[Nico1700]

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Intro:

I just recently bought a Leica SL2 (with the 24-70 f2.8 Vario-Elmarit) because i was convinced that this is the perfect hybrid camera for me. One of the things that made me pick up the SL2, aside from his beautiful colorrendition on pictures, is his 4k60 in 10 bit colordepth. It also has some pretty advanced features in videomode, like waveform, L-Log, shutterangle etc.

After some tests i found out that the camera has two major flaws for video. The first being his overheating issue and the second is the battery life with no satisfying solution. 

Overheating issue:

With the actual firmware 4.1, i choose the highest Cine4k internal recording, which is: 

Cine 4k 60fps / 10 bit / 4:2:0 / 200Mbps / L-GOP/ L-Log / h265 |  Gives me 33 minutes of recording before overheating

Note that the 10 bit internal recording is only available in h265, which is very difficult to handle for todays computers and forces to create proxies for smooth rendering.

 

I then tried: Cine 4k 60fps / 8 Bit / 4:2:0 / 150Mbps / L-GOP / NAT / h264 | Gives me 40 minutes before overheating

Note that in 8bit the camera doesn't allow to record in L-Log which is understandable. Battery-life about 1h

 

I then tried: 1080p 60fps / 10 bit / All-I / 4:2:2 / 200Mbps / L-Log / h264 | No overheating 

Very pleased by the FullHD performance. A full battery lasted about 1h45. 64GB SD Full in 40 min.

 

I don't really understand why it overheats with the same or even slower write speeds in 4k, but i guess it is the way it has to encode the files in L-GOP. Should be fixable by software, because others can do it.

Does someone has found a workaround that works, like recording externally for example? 

Battery issue:

My second problem is that there is no possibility to run the camera by external power. For a "professional" rig there needs to be a solution to run the camera by external power.

I mean, for almost every other camera there is a solution to power the camera by V-Mount batteries. Or via an internal dummy battery, or by USB-C. This camera seems to have neither of that. 

In the manual it is written that the USB-C port charges the battery only when the camera is turned off and i couldn't found a dummy battery for the Leica SL2. 

After my tests Battery life seems not improved when a USB-C is plugged on, only if the camera is turned off, it charges slowly^^ Note that i was on a wall plug 5V / 2 Amps, so maybe another solution like an FXLion Nano Battery (USB-C Out) could work? Or at least charge faster, when the camera is off? 

 

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[Photoworks]

battery :

It is not a perfect solution but you can use the handgrip that adds another battery.

and or you can use a Powerbank battery that is rated for fast charging . If you look a little on this forum other people experiences with recommendations.

Un external recorder should allow you to save battery power and get longer recording time.

the quicker and most affordable way is to use powerbank USB-C externally. If you use it at the same time as a charge battery the internal battery keeps working much longer. I will not perform the same as charging only on power off, but still better.

I have used the camera for streaming, HDMI to laptop, anker USB-C battery, and I was be able to sustain 3 hour no problem.

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[Photoworks]

SL2 for video

Overheating is an issue that can cause problems. Before the latest update the recording limit was 30min.

Most of my productions I don't do long takes so I have limited experience.

an atomos recorder would improve your image quality, battery life, and recording duration. the issue of overheating is ofter the processor in combination with the SD card.

In any case I was able to get 50 min internal recording in C4K before the battery needed changing.

[Nico1700]

Sounds interesting. Actually the 4k is limited to 30min but i just start it again when it stops.

Yes i saw others speaking about battery life but seems to be contradictory to the SL2 manual and the tests i did with USB-C phonecharger.

If it is possible to run the camera without loosing power on the internal battery, it would solve my problem, but i didn't saw any comparaison between camera internal battery and USB-C attached power delivery, runtimes.

They speak about how much voltage and amperes the camera is demanding but i just want to know how long my camera is able to work (with a 98Wh FXLion Nano V-Mount Battery for example) without changing batteries. 

Would also be interesting to know if it is not overheating with the atomos. 

Maybe someone has this things and could make little tests and share the differences between cofigurations, would be appreciated. 

 

[Photoworks]

the PDF manual don't get updated when a firmware is updated. 

In any case using power banks has not been documented much in details.

I don't have V-Lock with USB port, but just did a test recording in C4K with other battery.

It recorded for 110min to SD card in C4K L-LOG. The body got warm but it never stoped for overheating. The internal battery got too low to keep recording.

 

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[Nico1700]

How much bitdepht and framerate did you made 110 min? 

[Photoworks]

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1 hour ago, Nico1700 said:

How much bitdepht and framerate did you made 110 min? 

all-I 400Mbps

[Nico1700]

I don't have 400 Mbps, i have max. 200 Mbps. Firmware 4.1 on the SL2. 

Do you have the SL2-S or another firmware`?

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[Slender]

Never had overheating, but I don't do 30mn long take (interview? Stage performance?)

For battery I use whatever can plug into usb-C port and it helps a lot. Here its a V-lock that powers (supplement) camera. Atomos and Teradek.

Atomos is wonderful to monitor your Log and get rid of h264 if needed. H265 is easier to open on my machine (nothing fancy: intel MBP 13inch from late 2017). ProRes is a charm.

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[Slender]

2 minutes ago, Nico1700 said:

I don't have 400 Mbps, i have max. 200 Mbps. Firmware 4.1 on the SL2. 

Do you have the SL2-S or another firmware`?

All-I only available up to 30fps on both cameras.

Only SL2 can do the 4K60 in both s35 or FF. SL2s can do only above 30fps in s35.

For true cine 24P, that's where all the candy is

[Slender]

There is no time limit on SL2.

THERE IS A FILE SIZE LIMIT of 96gb per take however, on both cameras.

Use the segmented clip option if you are doing hour long takes anyway, because you are most likely filming interview, or performances?

[Nico1700]

@Slender Oh yes i see 400Mbps in 4k 24 but not in FullHD (funny). 

I mostly work with 60fps for speedramps or slowmotion. In this case i prepare for a wedding in mallorca, so it will be very hot and the camera will run for hours, 5 min clips one after another, without much breaks. 

I put it on segmented clip now, i think it's a good idea. (I just had a corrupted file, at the most important moment, yesterday with a sony camera.)

@Photoworks Seems that the ALL-I runs much smoother on the camera than the L-GOP. 

Edited June 26, 2022 by Nico1700

[BernardC]

On 6/24/2022 at 8:22 PM, Nico1700 said:

In the manual it is written that the USB-C port charges the battery only when the camera is turned off and i couldn't found a dummy battery for the Leica SL2.

I though that was fixed in a later firmware version. You can search for relevant treads here, the important thing is that your power source and cable must be USB-PD compliant.

[Photoworks]

3 hours ago, Nico1700 said:

I don't have 400 Mbps, i have max. 200 Mbps. Firmware 4.1 on the SL2. 

Do you have the SL2-S or another firmware`?

 

I had it at 30p

but you should not take my word for it and fully tested in your conditions.

try different SD cards.

[caissa]

Of course you can run the camera on external power. I use a Anker Powercore plus 26800 usb device (battery bank). Usually this gives me enough power for several days. And for very bad weather conditions I have also a second device (another two days).

I am never so far away from civilization that I need more than that. (So I have 3 batteries  and 2 power banks for 2 cameras.)

The USB connector allows this, so no need for a dummy battery device. It is just important to choose a device with USB PD. (Not police department, but power delivery).

I use this successfully since more than two years. This is the main difference to the SL that did not support USB power delivery.

The Anker 26800 powercore plus costs less than an internal battery, so this is a very inexpensive solution.

Overheating was never an issue for me, but usually I use the devices in a rather cold climate (not in the desert or tropics).

The handgrip is terribly expensive and gives very little extra power. So I would not recommend to spend so much money on so little time gained.

Edited June 26, 2022 by caissa

[Nico1700]

4 minutes ago, BernardC said:

I though that was fixed in a later firmware version. You can search for relevant treads here, the important thing is that your power source and cable must be USB-PD compliant.

Sounds good,  I didn't knew the difference about USB-C and USB-PD (just read somethings about). 

I have tried with a phonecharger so maybe that's why it was not working. 

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[Nico1700]

28 minutes ago, caissa said:

Of course you can run the camera on external power. I use a Anker Powercore plus 26800 usb device (battery bank). Usually this gives me enough power for several days. And for very bad weather conditions I have also a second device (another two days).

I am never so far away from civilization that I need more than that. (So I have 3 batteries  and 2 power banks for 2 cameras.)

The USB connector allows this, so no need for a dummy battery device. It is just important to choose a device with USB PD. (Not police department, but power delivery).

I use this successfully since more than two years. This is the main difference to the SL that did not support USB power delivery.

The Anker 26800 powercore plus costs less than an internal battery, so this is a very inexpensive solution.

Overheating was never an issue for me, but usually I use the devices in a rather cold climate (not in the desert or tropics).

The handgrip is terribly expensive and gives very little extra power. So I would not recommend to spend so much money on so little time gained.

Thank you for confirming! That's good news! So i can buy just 1 style of batteries for the camera and all accessories. 

[caissa]

A typical phone charger is too weak to run the camera from. (And often has no PD).   

I use one from Anker with about 35 W and PD, and it seems to work, but better is probably more power like 60 W. A device for an iPad or MB could be strong enough.

[beewee]

The SL2-S doesn’t support PD. I’ve tested it at many PD compatible chargers (ones that support all standard voltages and up to 5A @ 20v) while measuring current and voltage and it maxes out around 1A @ 5v. So just about any standard USB charger (USB-A and USB-C) will be sufficient.

I have also come across the odd PD charger that causes the camera to lock up so I would actually recommend against using a USB-C cable and stick with a USB-A cable to avoid problematic chargers.

Edited June 26, 2022 by beewee

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[Nico1700]

With the standard USB-C phonecharger the battery doesn't last longer than without USB-C.

I let the camera record with and without standard USB-C and the battery dies after same times, Always somewhere between 50min and 1h45min, depending on Resolution, Bit depth and Framerates. 

When i have the USB-C plugged in and i shut down the camera the LED flashes green. Which to me it indicates, Green = Battery charges 

The little Cable indicator against the Battery on the Display is just to say that the cable is connected, in case of data transfer for example, but doesn't mean it is charging, from what i tested. The Red LED means Data Transfer, don't remove SD Card, but it is then also not charging, even though the cable indicator.

Thats why it would be nice to have someone let the camera record with a USB-PD in and mesure the time it takes for the battery to discharge. Then compare it with no USB-PD in. If possible with the indication of what powerbank, what Resolution, Framerate and Bit depth recorded and the time differences between with and without cable until the battery dies. 

So that we would have a nice proof once and for all that it is working, or not. ^^

 

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Edited June 26, 2022 by Nico1700