Continuously disconnects when live streaming- Canon EOS 7D Mk II

[Videobuff]

Not sure where is best place to post this, so I’ll try here. I believe it’s a known issue but I’m just wondering if anyone can offer any advice on a solution that’s worked for them? I’m starting to think about replacing all my Canon gear because of this particular issue. Not including a log file as I don’t believe it’s OBS or Windows related, I’m just hoping this is the type of audience that might have good insight to this particular issue.

 

[qhobbes]

If you don't believe it's OBS or Windows related, then contact Canon. Otherwise

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[Videobuff]

Dont assume I haven’t contacted Canon support already. I asked the question to the OBS community as some users of OBS use this gear and therefore may have some insight to offer. Please don’t demean or devalue the use of these forums for such questions by simply replying to go somewhere else. If you have no insight on the specific issue, there’s no need to reply. Just read, ignore, and move on. There’s no value to be gained from posts for the sake of posting. It only expands threads needlessly.

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

I assume you are correct, none of this has anything to do with OBS Studio. The issue is getting the video feed from camera to the Operating System

Are you using HDMI output on the camera, with a HDMI capture card?
or
are you using (guessing from camera vintage and Canon's slow adaption of USB 3.0), EOS webcam via a USB 2.0 port on camera?

Canon's EOS webcam FAQ (at one time, haven't checked recently) notes resolution limitations on USB 2.0 connections, and actually recommends HDMI capture for best sensor fidelity. The challenge being getting a CLEAN HDMI output (varied by model)

As much as Canon has annoyed me of late (I have an 80D), this is NOT a reason to switch. DSLR cameras of this vintage (most makers) were all limited when trying to use them as USB connected webcams (due to USB 2.0 bandwidth limits, and the cameras NOT being designed to compress video over USB). More recent cameras (all mfgs) do so much better (clean output, etc)

 

[Videobuff]

I’m using the HDMI output on the camera [ EOS 7D Mk II] connected to OBS on PC and sometimes connected to a hardware encoder. This particular camera has a clean HDMI Out, so no issues with menu items on feed, etc. As I mentioned above, the issue is that the feed shuts off [as a result of the camera itself shutting down] after a relatively short period of time, which is pretty constant, irrespective of using OBS or a hardware encoder. This happens even when the auto shut-off on the camera is disabled. It also happens with any other Canon camera I’ve used, hence my frustration with Canon gear. So in summary, camera works great for live streaming (with OBS, stand alone encoders, etc) once the stream doesn’t go beyond about 25 mins. Otherwise stream shuts off as a result of the 7D Mk II auto shutting down, requiring me to restart it to get the stream going again. I know others have used this camera with OBS and some hardware encoders so I’m just hoping someone may have come across this issue and might have a suggestion on what’s happening and maybe how to resolve so I can use the camera for longer live streams. If I can’t solve this, then I’m afraid my Canon gear will need to be replaced, which is a cost I want to avoid if possible. I’m just really surprised that Canon gear could suffer from such a short sighted flaw. I know it’s primarily a camera used for stills rather than video but once video capability via HDMI is being marketed as supported by the camera by Canon without any mention of preconditions, then there’s no excuse acceptable as to why it can’t deliver on that promise. Otherwise it’s falsely being marketed. Hopefully that’s not the case and someone who is using this camera might have the solution :)

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

Fortunately, my 80D does not auto-turn off, when configured not to
I'm not familiar with the 7DII firmware bug regarding auto shutdown. Good luck finding someone in this forum with some insight.
As this isn't an OBS issue, but any long cycle video work with that camera, I suspect a Canon discussion board might be more helpful.

Did you read https://community.usa.canon.com/t5/...huts-off-then-on-every-30-minutes/td-p/331859
no workaround listed, but same issue and some things to check
https://www.dvxuser.com/forum/hdslr...-t-respect-auto-shutoff-disable-in-webcam-use
this seems to imply that it isn't the 30 minute video record limit, or the auto-power off setting, but the preview screen turning off that might be disabling HDMI out??

I've also saw (4 years ago ;^) lots of discussions on mimicking a webcam in Canon forums at DPreview.com

 

[Suslik V]

Just few my thoughts (I have no experience with Canon EOS 7D Mk II).

In about 25 minutes sensor of modern cameras (4K super+ ultra hyper fast stuff) can reach high temperatures. Noise level will grow, thus some cameras designed to auto-power off rather than deliver bad quality picture to user.

Something similar was mentioned here:

Does camera recording limit apply in OBS ?

Hello I'm looking to buy a new 4k DSLR or mirrorless camera for recording online courses. I'm then presented with most cameras only being able to record 30 min. Does that apply when connecting it to my PC and using OBS to record the camera ? It would be a lot easier AND cheaper to find a...

obsproject.com

You may try to ask Discord community of OBS. Chance that you'll meet owners of this camera here, on the forum, is low.

Help Portal | OBS

OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) is free and open source software for video recording and live streaming. Stream to Twitch, YouTube and many other providers or record your own videos with high quality H264 / AAC encoding.

obsproject.com

 

[Videobuff]

Thanks for your inputs. I’ve seen multiple suggested reasons for this issue at this point, from not disabling auto shut-down (which I had already done but camera still shut off), to sensor overheating, to duty considerations allowing Canon to avoid price increases by disabling some functionality to avoid paying “video camera” duty. This issue seems to be an issue with a lot of other Canon models as well from the research I’ve now done, even with more modern Canon camera models. This raises a lot of uncertainty for me with Canon equipment and a “hit-and-miss” on equipment is just not something I can risk anymore. Bottom line for me is to remove Canon equipment from the workflow, eliminate the uncertainty they bring and focus on using equipment that I know works reliably. Thanks for your inputs, I’ve now decided on path forward. :)

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

Thanks for your inputs. I’ve seen multiple suggested reasons for this issue at this point, from not disabling auto shut-down (which I had already done but camera still shut off), to sensor overheating, to duty considerations allowing Canon to avoid price increases by disabling some functionality to avoid paying “video camera” duty.

thankfully, that 29 min limit for camcorder tax is over now.

you used an AC dummy battery? and checked other camera detail settings of those who got auto-shutoff to NOT happen with 1-min shutdown setting? including firmware version. I suspect from those articles, it is NOT just the auto-shutdown setting, but that and a combination of other settings and firmware version that all come into play

Though personally, with others saying they got longer video out over HDMI working on 7DII, I'd be inclined to save my money and research further [but you may have already really deep and thoroughly down that path, and been frustrated beyond limit] until I figured out what the settings, firmware, etc combination enabled it to work.

This issue seems to be an issue with a lot of other Canon models as well from the research I’ve now done, even with more modern Canon camera models.

Not what I've heard/read/seen. Granted, even initial Canon mirrorless models still had same 29min limit (for INTERNAL recording), but even then, external recording was usually NOT time limited (some poorly designed thermal limits, since firmware addressed, for the most part), and lots of examples of multi-hour video recordings even with those cameras with 29m59s internal record limit. Granted, all cameras have to deal with heat, and some have better thermal designs than others, but overheating has been an issue for all mfgs, to some extent or another. Canon appears to have been more conservative in regards to thermal shutdown than other mfgs, unnecessarily in some cases, with some fixed by firmware updates after Canon received appropriate, vocal, criticism. Part of the issue is that Canon CPUs have been under-powered (at limit) for a long time. With R5/R6, Canon finally had a decent modern CPU, but failed to adequately deal with additional heat that CPU/system [CF express, etc] generated. And I don't think Canon has a good excuse for that specific design failure.

This raises a lot of uncertainty for me with Canon equipment and a “hit-and-miss” on equipment is just not something I can risk anymore. Bottom line for me is to remove Canon equipment from the workflow, eliminate the uncertainty they bring and focus on using equipment that I know works reliably. Thanks for your inputs, I’ve now decided on path forward. :)

This seems more like throwing the baby out with the bath water (or grass is greener on other side of fence). which, if that is what you want to do, it is your choice, go for it. just recognize it appears the issue is your emotional state, not the mfg, in this case. I say that as there are plenty of people using Canon DSLR/mirrorless cameras with either HDMI or USB-C output, and not having timeout issues. no uncertainty... just need to do your homework a bit better (it would appear... granted I could be wrong, but I actually follow a number of professional photography YouTube channels, with folks using Canon cameras for video and have talked about overcoming time-limit issues). Granted, if you want unlimited 8K video, then it gets a bit more complicated, but still doable

As much as I'd have liked Canon to be more forward thinking (and capability enabling), I get why there weren't, and why the cameras largely worked as designed (Canon not fixing the auto-time off bug seems odd, and I get being really annoyed by Canon not fixing it)... but the 7DII was released 10 years ago, with last firmware update close to 5 years ago... I suspect that bug impacted few people in the overall scheme of things, until pandemic lockdown... ugh... but each camera vendor has its own issues (ex. Sony's atrocious, user-unfriendly user interface)... so pick your poison. and this isn't the forum for such research/discussion

If you have a decent amount of quality EF lenses, seems wasteful to me to switch to another mfg unless there are other significant shortcomings of Canon that directly impact you, and you have plenty of money to spare. Regardless, you want to start with a modern camera body release, preferably designed post pandemic lockdown, with use of camera as camcorder, as a significant design criteria (vs an miniscule, side use before... and still, using a stills camera as a camcorder is rarely the right tool for the job... but sometimes works ok).
Getting a current Canon mirrorless with RF to EF adapter, will result in many hours of video output options. easy peasy. You just need to decide whether to stick with APS-C, or move to FF.. and that decision would have many factors, most not having to do with video out to a PC.

Good luck with whichever approach you decide.

 

[Videobuff]

Thanks for the input. After receiving a lot of feedback from professional photographers and videographers at this stage, the overwhelming feedback is to ditch Canon kit. Canon seem to have lost significant ground in the camera space to their competitors and my experience has born that out, not just with this camera but with more modern ones as well. Uncertainty is definitely a factor as many people have advised same model cameras behaving very differently and numerous videographers used the term “hit and miss” which is obviously very worrying. I’ll leave others to make up their own minds but I’m out based on my experience versus the experience I’ve had from other OEM’s in the same space.

 

[Videobuff]

Thanks to all those who gave input, I consider this closed now that I’ve got a path forward.