I have deleted everything on my camera and it's not recording longer?

I have a Nikon 14.0 megapixel camera and I deleted everything because I wanted to save up memory to record longer. I went to "format card" and it still can't record longer. What is wrong with it?

How long is "longer"?

There are some things you need to know

* the largest video file is limited to 4 gb or 17-20 minutes
* the cameras sensor starts getting hot as soon as you turn on the video feature of the camera. If the sensor stays on while you compose your shots, the actual shooting time will be reduced.

For clarity, telling us you have a Nikon with a 14 mp sensor does not give us the information we need to fully answer your question.

In the future just tell us the brand and model number so our answers can be more complete

Did you format the card in the camera?
What camera?
Most cameras have a time limit of about 12-minutes - that is those cameras that are not camcorders.
If it's a standard digital camera the sensor will over heat beyond 12-minutes and destroy itself and the camera… Thus the safety limit.

You should have read your owner's manual, you'd know this already.

Describe---the card?

First and foremost, no camera in existence today can record more than 29 minutes, 59 seconds. This is due to an international trade treaty (WTO/ITA - World Trade Organization/International Technology Agreement). This treaty stipulates that cameras that have their primary function as video (i.e. Camcorders) be tariffed at a VAT of around 4.7% tax at the country of import.

Cameras having video as a second function is not subject to the tariff, but must be limited to less than 30 minutes record time.

So, the primary roadblock for camera record time is not technical, it is political.

However, this point is rather moot as cameras with a video function are not really that good for video - which includes your camera. These cameras are designed for photos first, so their sensors are optimized for photos. When you take such a camera and use it for video, the sensor tends to heat up.

When the sensor gets to the point it overheats, then the camera shuts down the recording so the sensor is not damaged. This can occur from 2 minutes to 20 minutes, depending on the camera model. The best cameras can do up to around 20 minutes, but inexpensive cameras are closer to the 2 minute mark.

One of the disadvantages of a high megapixel count camera is shorter video recording, as a 14 Megapixel sensor will overheat faster than a lower one. This is why virtually all consumer grade video cameras have sensors that are under 10Megapixels.

And camera manufacturers have little incentive to extend video record time as they are limited to 29 minutes 59 seconds anyway. However, Nikon has just filed a patent for a Peltier device to keep the sensor cool. Whether or not this ever comes to market is uncertain with the current political roadblock.

The only way to increase the record time is to reduce the camera's video resolution (which heats the sensor less), and ensure you have a class 10 memory card. However, even these changes may not make a significant difference.

If you want to do video - you will either have to learn how to edit small segments of the video together (which is how professionals do it), or buy a video camera.