canon buffer, is it sd card or inbult memory?

[damien666]

hi all i have a question regarding my camera gear and memory, i have a canon 500D and Transcend 8GB SD Card (SDHC) - Class 10 memory card which has served me very well for a good two year, this is that card

Transcend 8GB SD
http://www.mymemory.co.uk/SDHC/Trans...29---Class-10-

im about to go on a holiday and require more space so i plan to buy a 32gb or 64gb memory card, now so far ive came across these i like

SanDisk 32GB Ultra 30MB/s SD Card (SDHC) - Class 10
http://www.mymemory.co.uk/SDHC/SanDi...%29---Class-10

SanDisk 32GB Extreme SD Card (SDHC) 45MB/s - Class 10
http://www.mymemory.co.uk/SDHC/SanDi...B_s---Class-10

my question is, i like wildlife photography and continues / burst shooting, now i can only snap six pictures before my buffer is full and it struggles to keep its pace, now im not sure if its the camera that controls the buffer or the memory card i use but if it turns out to be the memory card will buying the SanDisk 32GB Extreme SD Card (SDHC) 45MB/s - Class 10 offer more shots in a continues burst over a slower card?

thankyou all

[damien666]

ok all ive been reading that the camera it self can only transfer 5mb per-second fromt he internal buffer to the card now im confused as hell,

so basically if i get a card that can be written to equal or faster to 5mb/s then buy a card that is capable of 45mb/s it will not help my continues burst at all as the camera will still freeze before it can write it to the card and clear its self


thats pure ****, i think its time i got a new camera then




can someone with more knowledge help me please

[Glidefan]

I guess you are using RAW then. Its really not bull, you'd be paying a hell of a lot more if the camera could transfer RAW images as fast as JPEG images.

If you are using JPEG, then you should be getting around 30 photos before the buffer is full.

The camera does write to the buffer first, process and then transfer to the SD. If there was no buffer you'd be getting 1 fps probably.
Keep in mind that ISO effects the file size. The higher the ISO the higher the file size (due to the noise) and if you have iso noise reduction set to on in camera, then its going to take a bit longer to process.

[damien666]

hi yes i shoot raw. as for the two noise option i have both turned off. so i assume im correct in thinking that a 45mbps read/write wont offer me more than 6raw photos before i have to play the waiting game for it to catch up?

thankyou

[Andrew LB]

All digital cameras have some sort of built-in RAM which acts as a frame buffer during fast shooting and for all the run of the mill tasks an operating system will require. I have never seen a camera where you can upgrade it, and SD cards would be useless to use as RAM because they're too slow to even come remotely close, just like when disk caching is enabled on PC's. That new Canon 1D-X does 14 photographs per second with a buffer large enough to snap off 300+ without slowing down a bit.

[Glidefan]

Damien, try using it in JPG. Getting a faster card won't help you for this.
Seriously, if the exposure is good then JPG is more than enough. It still has a lot of dynamic range.
Even the 1D MK4 can hold up to 28 RAW in its buffer before it needs to rest.

[Finchwizard]

Yep.

Canon are like that with their SDHC cards for some reason.

I know with the 5D Mark III which I have the CF card is MILES faster than the SDHC card.
And unfortunately if you shoot with both in there. It will revert to the lower SDHC speeds.

Which is a bit mental. Only real way is to go JPEG, or live with the buffer. Or get a new camera that has CF so you can shoot faster.

[damien666]

thankyou all for comments. ok then ill order the SanDisk 32GB Ultra 30MB/s SD Card (SDHC) - Class 10 card then as no point in getting Extreme just to transfer from camera to pc faster, i get around 300raw on 8gb so 1200raws on a 32 will do for the holiday and the 8gb can be backup.

i dont like jpeg after all the raw features im use to so ill have to deal with raw limits unless i need picture quantity over quality

thanks

[PCthug]

On a slightly different note, getting a large card is like putting all your eggs in one basket.
In other words if it becomes corrupt you will lose all your holiday photos.
I would personally use a few smaller cards.
I actually use 8gig cards, although i think 4gig might be better as you will be able to use it at the ratio of one card per DVD when you come to back it up.