Yes, the Canon VIXIA HF R800 has a recording limit based on time.
This post tells you what this is and also addresses another unexpected way the camera might turn off…
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How Long Does The Canon VIXIA HF R800 Record Before Stopping?
The maximum continuous recording time for a single video on the Canon VIXIA HF R800 is 12 hours.
When the recording reaches 12 hours the camcorder will automatically stop for about 3 seconds then restart recording as a separate scene.
So be aware that there is a momentary pause in recording around the 12 hour mark.
Of course if you run out of space in the SD card you are using then the camera will also stop recording.
Are there File Size Limits For Videos on The VIXIA HF R800?
There aren’t file size limits on the Canon R800 itself, but there may be situations where other devices impose a file size limit (more on this further below).
Below are some approximate amounts of recording time you can achieve for different resolutions when using a 32 GB SD card (this assumes you are recording in MP4):
- 1280 X 720 4 Mbps: 17 hrs. 20 min.
- 1920 x 1080 17 Mbps: 4 hrs. 10 min.
- 1920 x 1080 24 Mbps: 2 hrs. 55 min.
- 1920 x 1080 35Mbps: 2 hrs.
As you can see, you can fill a 32 GB SD card on all resolutions apart from 1280 x 720, before reaching the 12 hour recording limit for a single file.
Even though you can continuously record up to 12 hours, there are some situations where movie files will be recognised as separate files on a computer or other device.
These situations include:
- When scenes exceed 4 GB, the large files will be separated into smaller files of about 4 GB in file size.
- When scenes recorded at 35 Mbps exceed 30 minutes, the files will be separated into smaller files of about 30 minutes in length.
- When scenes recorded at any other quality apart from 35 Mbps exceed 1 hour, the files will be separated into smaller files of about 1 hour in length.
My Canon VIXIA HF R800 Automatically Turns Off Unexpectedly
If your Canon VIXIA HF R800 is turning off unexpectedly you might have the ‘Auto Power Off’ function set to a short time limit.
The ‘Auto Power Off’ setting automatically turns the camera off after 3 minutes of it being idle to save battery power.
This only happens when the camera is being powered by a battery pack.
You can turn the camcorder back on by using the ‘power switch’.
To change the ‘Auto Power Off’ setting do the following:
- In your ‘Menu’ go ‘system setup’ (this is the one with the wrench icon).
- Find and select the ‘Auto Power Off’ option.
- Select whether you would like to set the ‘Auto Power Off’ function to ON or OFF.
Conclusion
You should now know the recording limits on the Canon VIXIA HF R800.
The maximum continuous recording time is 12 hours then the camera will pause recording for about 3 seconds before resuming as a new recording.
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