card speeds...

we've just tested two different cards on my K10d.

One is an Ultra II 32GB; the other is a new Extreme HD 16GB / 30MB/s.

The K10 goes:

snap snap snap snap snap snap

and then the buffer is full (this is with RAW, remember).

The Ultra then goes

snap snap snap snap

the Extreme goes:
snap snap snap snap snap snap

Each pause is around 1/4s or so, the minis about half that. It's *really* obvious, teh difference; I'll test in the K5 and maybe then do a vid to show.

My colleague was "card speeds don't make a difference" - oh yes they do... he's convinced now

Bret

Just got my 45MB/s card and checked against my old 20MB/s card.

20MB/s buffer fills in under 2s and in 10 seconds I get 14 shots away. Buffer write light shuts off after 22 seconds.

Drum roll .......

Exactly the with the 45MB/s card. parp!

hmmmmmmm is the K-7 bound by its own card interface speed?
If there was a card bottleneck I'd expect the buffer to clear in half the time i.e. by 16 seconds. (guess)

Anyway K-7 users might like to check out their own cards and perhaps from my experiment don't bother with the 45MB/s cards. Buy bigger 16GB cards from the 20MB/s or 30MB/s ranges.

Hi,

that's fun, never though to try it. Just did!

My KR in Hi mode did 11 frames very very quickly before a fractional hesitation to 12

In the low mode I believe it will just go on and on until the card is full at about 3 frames a second. Too lazy to try!

I'm currently using the superb value Duracell Pro Photo brand cards from 7day shop. 200x SDHC rated at 10

I think there is a limit to how much the cards can deliver in any one camera. Do remember though that the USB tranfer to your PC is also much faster with the newer cards (often what they brag about rather than any camera speed which varies so much) and that the 4, 6 and 10 numbering is a very crude guide to speed.

I think we can safely say many cameras today are blisteringly quick and modern cards help avoid logjams!

The really interesting test is to fill the buffer - say with 5-6 shots - and then see how long it takes before the last image is shown on screen. That takes an *age* with the Ultra IIs.

I deliberately tried to see what happens when the buffer is full (I'm pretty sure it is 512MB on the K5) and then what write speeds are enabled.

Bret

This is a very interesting post..Thanks Brett. I usually use cards at the cheaper end of the market. 4gb Sandisk, series 10. Was doing some multiple shooting at a football match on Monday night. First time I have done this. My K-7 took four shots, Hi mode, then it had to have a think,,, Realised I need better cards.

K-r 11 frames hesitate then 12 followed by a few seconds writing to card with an Integral class 10 16Gb supposedly capable of 20Mb/s.

Same buffer with a class 2 Sandisk micro card in an adaptor, but the write to card to ages, I got bored and went to put the kettle on before it had finished

'They' do say class 6 is fast enough for most cameras, class 10 just gives you that little bit of an edge I reckon.

K-7 with PNY class 4 cards.

In 10 seconds took 9 pics then took 40 seconds to clear the buffer to the card.

There's quite a few card tests like this on Youtube using Canikon's.

15 seconds to empty buffer
buffer takes 24 shots, then slows to 2 shots / sec on the 30MB/s.

The U II:

23 shots in the buffer, 1 per sec after, 38 seconds to empty.

These are all RAW+JPG, mind (atm, I think it's also 16MP **** JPGs, too).

Bret

changing the parameters slightly:
- machinegun until full, then 5 shots
U II takes 52 seconds until buffer empty. Shots complete at 14 secs
Extreme takes 28 seconds until buffer empty. Shots complete at 12 secs

Changing the JPGs to 2MP *, I get the shots complete at 6 seconds (!!!).

K5, 28/3.5.

Bret

Phew, am I the only one whose head hurts now.

I went out to take some photos of butterflies in my garden. No idea how quickly.

I'm really surprised to see
a) the difference between big JPGs and small ones in RAW+
b) the difference between an extreme III and an ultra II in writing (nearly 30 seconds difference for 30 pictures!)

Moral? I'll stick with fast cards. Large, slow ones are fine for video but not much else, especially if you want to review quickly.

Bret