There is no two ways about it, the Sony rx100 range of point and shoot cameras is probably the most popular vlogging camera body on the market right now. Although the Canon g7x is a close second and Sony’s own ZV-1 is quickly gaining traction as it is the best vlogging camera made to date in our opinion, the rx100 still holds the majority market share.
Due to being such a popular camera body amongst both the vlogging and beginner videographer communities, we constantly see large numbers of people reaching out and asking how they are able to remove the Sony rx100 recording limit. Although this may change in future releases to the rx100 range, the current camera bodies have a video recording limit of 30 minutes making it a pain for anyone wanting to capture longer vlogs or videos.
That said though, Sony have added this video recording limit to many of their cameras for good reason, they were predominantly designed to be used as either a stills camera for photography or in the case of the rx100, a more entry level, budget friendly camera. Due to this, the rx100 does not have the overheating protection built into it that the professional level camera bodies from Sony offer.
When Sony realised that their cameras without overheating protection would tend to overheat after around 30 minutes of recording video (potentially even less if you are capturing high resolution or high frame rate footage) they simply added a maximum recording limit to their cameras to reduce the chance of long term damage from capturing long videos.
Stopping Your Sony RX100 From Overheating When Capturing Longer Videos
We will go over how you are able to quickly and easily remove the recording limit for your rx100 below but we would highly recommend that you take steps to prevent it from overheating too. The most popular method seems to be to make your own, custom fan-based cooling rig out of decent, cheap Raspberry Pi fans. Although this make seem like a ton of work, it usually takes less than 30 minutes and it is very simple with plenty of guides on YouTube on how to do it.
The second most popular option and one that we don’t recommend as it is much less effective and although it sounds easier, can be surprisingly difficult is to apply thermal paste to your rx100. Although this is a popular option, you have to open your rx100 up to apply the thermal paste to the required areas potentially voiding your warranty.
How To Get Around The Sony RX100 Recording Limit!
With all of that out of the way, there are two main ways that you are able to get around the Sony rx100 30 minute recording limit. The first and one we don’t recommend is to do your own hardware modifications but this will definitely void your camera warranty while also being difficult to do correctly.
The second and much easier option is to instal a third party app to your rx100 that offers the option to disable the video recording limit. Although there are a number of different options on the market, we always recommend that our readers who use Sony cameras go with the Open Memories app as it is very easy to use, has an excellent reputation amongst the Sony community, and has a great development team behind it.
We know that many of our readers may never have actually added a third-party app to their rx100 before so we have our full guide on exactly what to do below. The process should take less than ten minutes and then you will be free to go around and capture your videos or vlogs for as long as you need without the Sony rx100 30 minute limit kicking in.
How To Install Open Memories On Your Sony RX100 To Remove The Recording Limit
So, first things first, to remove your Sony rx100 recording limit you are going to actually have to download the Open Memories software to your computer. The tool is available for both windows and mac but they are not interchangeable with each other so be sure to download the correct version for the operating system on your computer.
Once you have the software downloaded to your computer, you need to prep your camera. Although not essential, we usually recommend that our readers remove the memory card from their rx100 at this point. This is because an older firmware build for Sony cameras had a bug that could cause the camera to wipe the data on the memory card when you install a third party app.
Although Sony have corrected this issue with a firmware update, we know that many photographers, videographers, and vloggers don’t keep up to date with the firmware that they are using with their cameras. Due to this, rather than take the risk, we find it easier to just remove the memory card as it is not required for this initial stage anyway.
So now that you have your memory card removed from your camera, you have to turn it on. Once your rx100 is booted up, open your camera settings option and then navigate to the USB connection tab in the camera settings, this is the tab on the right hand side of the default camera settings screen. Most people will have their USB settings set to auto as this is what the rx100 comes shipped with, for this process, you will have to change it to MTP and save the settings update.
Once you have switched your USB connection mode to MTP and saved it, turn your rx100 off as it needs to do its initial boot with the MTP setting selected to allow you to install a third-party app. Before turning your rx100 back on though, plug it in to your computer with a USB cable, once connected turn your camera on and let it boot up.
Once your camera has powered up, open the Open Memories software on your computer and let it load. The “Get Camera Info” button should be at the top of the main screen, press it to let Open Memories run its diagnostic to make sure that your rx100 is set up and connected correctly for the process, this should take less than thirty seconds but can sometimes take longer.
Once the initial diagnostic has completed its initial run, you should see a little box on the Open Memories software letting you know that everything has been completed so far and that your rx100 is setup correctly. At this stage, select the actions tab in the Open Memories software on your computer and then click on the “Install Open Memories Tweak” button. This should take less than a minute to install but it can sometimes take a little longer depending on the firmware on your rx100.
Once complete, you will have a message box on your Open Memories software on your computer letting you know that the app has been installed to your rx100 correctly. At this stage, unplug the USB from your camera, open your camera settings, and select the USB tab again. This time, you are switching your rx100 back to Auto from MTP mode but there is no need to re-boot your camera for the changes to take effect.
While in your camera settings, select the fourth tab from the left, this is your third-party applications tab where you can see all of the apps installed on your RX100. The majority of people should see the Open Memories Tweak app at this stage, if you have a large number of other third-party apps installed on your rx100, you may have to scroll down a little to find it.
Once found, open the Open Memories Tweak app on your rx100 and select the second tab from the left, this is the video settings tab of the app. Right at the top of the video settings tab, you should see the “Disable Video Recording Limit” option. Simply click it and it will remove the 30 minute video recording limit on your Sony rx100.
The process is now complete but we would recommend that you put your memory card back into your camera and do an initial test to make sure the process was completed correctly. Set your rx100 to record video and leave it for thirty minutes and come back to make sure the limit has not kicked in. Although rare, there are two main common problems that we will cover below.
Common Problems
The first problem is that your rx100 may simply overheat at or before the thirty minute of recording window and stop the recording. This is why we stressed the importance of taking measure to prevent overheating in your rx100 earlier in the article. Although there are a few apps out there that can prevent the auto shutdown due to overheating, we do not recommend that you use them as they can end up causing long term damage to your rx100 when it overheats.
If you are having this issue, try to capture your video in a lower video resolution or frame rate as this can drastically reduce the amount of heat that the camera generates. Ideally, you want to make your own little cooling rig using some Raspberry Pi fans that you sit your rx100 on to keep it cool when recording longer videos it’s easier to do than most people think.
The second reason that installing the Open Memories app may not work is due to your using an older firmware build on your rx100. Although Open Memories can work with these older firmware builds, it is usually recommended that you install the 3.2.1 firmware release or anything after that for optimal performance.
