# D7100 buffer slows down after 3 raws



## hamlet (Sep 19, 2014)

I'm having a go with the d7100 and i have turned most of the auto corrections and things off and now my buffer can take 3 fast shots, then after that it grinds to near a complete halt. I'm using the same cards i used with my d3200 that gave me 13 shots before it filled, but now with the d7100 it slows down after 3 raws. here is the sd Card


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## runnah (Sep 19, 2014)

What is your point?


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## 480sparky (Sep 19, 2014)

Did you turn on ADL and lens correction?  That sort of stuff bogs the buffer down.


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## PaulWog (Sep 19, 2014)

1) Format the SD card to the D7100. If you formatted it to the D3200 and moved it to the D7100, do a new format in the camera.

2) Are you shooting only in RAW? If you're shooting in RAW + Jpeg, switch to just RAW.

3) Turn off all extra corrections that would normally be for Jpeg, as stated above. Active D-Lighting off, lens corrections off, everything off. You actually would want those things off anyways, since they can mess with the way your RAW files are read by 3rd party programs (ex. Lightroom).


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## hamlet (Sep 19, 2014)

Yes i turned off all the above mentioned things, i can only get 3 fast shots.


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## Braineack (Sep 19, 2014)

that card only writes at 40 mb/sec max, just fwiw.

what does the R[xxx] show on the lower right of the LCD panel?  that will show how many shots remain in the buffer.

For example, my D600 will display 15 when set to RAW.  I can go through 15 images before I'm up against the write speed of the card.

real life:


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## SCraig (Sep 19, 2014)

You have to use fast (as in 95 mb/sec read and write speed) SD cards or it will do that every single time.


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## hamlet (Sep 19, 2014)

Braineack said:


> that card only writes at 40 mb/sec max, just fwiw.
> 
> what does the R[xxx] show on the lower right of the LCD panel?  that will show how many shots remain in the buffer.
> 
> ...


So its the card. That little display shows 3 where yours says 15.

What card do you recommend to get the most out of the buffer?


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## 480sparky (Sep 19, 2014)

hamlet said:


> ......What card do you recommend to get the most out of the buffer?



SanDisk Extreme Pro 95 Mb/s.


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## hamlet (Sep 19, 2014)

480sparky said:


> hamlet said:
> 
> 
> > ......What card do you recommend to get the most out of the buffer?
> ...


There is a card that is fast than that. Does it make sense to buy cards that are faster than the sandisk extreme pro 95 mb/s?


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## friz1983 (Sep 19, 2014)

hamlet said:


> Braineack said:
> 
> 
> > that card only writes at 40 mb/sec max, just fwiw.
> ...


mmm strange shooting raw with the d7100 and the little number for me says 6 with, in teory, the same config as you..


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## hamlet (Sep 19, 2014)

Do you also use the same card as i do currently?


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## SCraig (Sep 19, 2014)

I use These.  Im VERY partial to SanDisk memory.http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...DXPA_064G_A75_Extreme_Pro_64GB_SDHC_SDXC.html


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## hamlet (Sep 19, 2014)

SCraig said:


> I use These.  Im VERY partial to SanDisk memory.


Thanks Scraig, that seems to be the one Sparky also recommends. Did you look into this card?


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## 480sparky (Sep 19, 2014)

12-bit v. 14-bit can also make a big difference.


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## hamlet (Sep 19, 2014)

480sparky said:


> 12-bit v. 14-bit can also make a big difference.


It becomes 4.


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## 480sparky (Sep 19, 2014)

hamlet said:


> Thanks Scraig, that seems to be the one Sparky also recommends. Did you look into this card?



The numbers tossed out by manufacturers are usually _read_ speeds and do not reflect the _write _speed.  Sad to say, camera manufacturers don't specify what the maximum write speed is for their products.  It sure would be nice if they did so we don't go buying $800 cards only to find out that a $50 card is fast enough.


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## 480sparky (Sep 19, 2014)

hamlet said:


> 480sparky said:
> 
> 
> > 12-bit v. 14-bit can also make a big difference.
> ...



Since you've never said, are you shooting 14- or 12-bit?  See what the 'r' number changes to if you change the bit depth.


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## ruifo (Sep 19, 2014)

Have you seen this?
D7100 : How to maximize the RAW shooting buffer - Here is what I see - How about you? - Nikon D90/D7000/D7100 Discussions on Nikon Rumors Forum


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## hamlet (Sep 19, 2014)

480sparky said:


> hamlet said:
> 
> 
> > 480sparky said:
> ...


Yes, sorry. It becomes 4 at 12 bit and becomes 3 again at 14 bit.


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## hamlet (Sep 19, 2014)

ruifo said:


> Have you seen this?
> D7100 : How to maximize the RAW shooting buffer - Here is what I see - How about you? - Nikon D90/D7000/D7100 Discussions on Nikon Rumors Forum


I just did have a look, but i've already turned off all the auto stuff.


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## robbins.photo (Sep 19, 2014)

480sparky said:


> hamlet said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks Scraig, that seems to be the one Sparky also recommends. Did you look into this card?
> ...



The research I did lead me to believe that the max write speed on most camera SD slots at the moment is 104 mps or something very close to that neighborhood.  I can't confirm that with 100% accuracy but it's most likely a pretty good estimate.


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## Braineack (Sep 19, 2014)

hamlet said:


> So its the card. That little display shows 3 where yours says 15.
> 
> What card do you recommend to get the most out of the buffer?


Buffer is internal. Not due to card.


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## D-B-J (Sep 19, 2014)

Just get a Sandisk extreme pro card. They work well, and I think have a 95mb/s read speed and 90mb/s write.


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## ruifo (Sep 19, 2014)

This new one, USD $65, is:

Max. Read Speed: 280 MB/s

Max. Write Speed: 250 MB/s

SanDisk 16GB Extreme PRO SDHC UHS-II Memory Card


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## D-B-J (Sep 19, 2014)

ruifo said:


> Orget this new one:
> 
> SanDisk 16GB Extreme PRO SDHC UHS-II Memory Card
> 
> ...



I'm pretty sure that the camera can't even write close to that. So it'd be a waste of money.


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## hamlet (Sep 19, 2014)

Anyhow, thanks for the help folks. Hopefully i'll figure out what i'm doing wrong down the line, i'll focus on getting shots for now. I was actually planning to go today, but this problem took up all my time before i knew it . I'm a bit rusty, time to get back on that horse.


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## D-B-J (Sep 19, 2014)

hamlet said:


> Anyhow, thanks for the help folks. Hopefully i'll figure out what i'm doing wrong down the line, i'll focus on getting shots for now. I was actually planning to go today, but this problem took up all my time before i knew it . I'm a bit rusty, time to get back on that horse.



It's like riding a bike. You'll have it back in no time.


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## 480sparky (Sep 19, 2014)

Technically, your buffer doesn't slow down.  It just gets full.  What slowed down was your frame rate.


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## hamlet (Sep 19, 2014)

D-B-J said:


> hamlet said:
> 
> 
> > Anyhow, thanks for the help folks. Hopefully i'll figure out what i'm doing wrong down the line, i'll focus on getting shots for now. I was actually planning to go today, but this problem took up all my time before i knew it . I'm a bit rusty, time to get back on that horse.
> ...


What if i never learned how to ride a bike? Do i put my camera up for sale?


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## PaulWog (Sep 19, 2014)

hamlet said:


> D-B-J said:
> 
> 
> > hamlet said:
> ...



Idk you did that last time. Hopefully you don't this time? Hahahaha...


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## hamlet (Sep 19, 2014)

I think i have to, should give this to someone who knows how to ride bikes.


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## 480sparky (Sep 19, 2014)

Maybe you should get training wheels for your D7100 for the time being.


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## hamlet (Sep 19, 2014)

Can we do that? I don't wanna get laughed at by the other photographers though, get me one with flames on.


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## D-B-J (Sep 19, 2014)

hamlet said:


> Can we do that? I don't wanna get laughed at by the other photographers though, get me one with flames on.




We can install a card on the shutter to make it sound really cool too.


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## friz1983 (Sep 20, 2014)

hamlet said:


> Do you also use the same card as i do currently?


I founded the only way to take the buffer to 3, take a look at the iso, if you put ISO over 6400 the buffer drop from 6 to 3.. probably was this, let me know if I was right


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## hamlet (Sep 20, 2014)

friz1983 said:


> hamlet said:
> 
> 
> > Do you also use the same card as i do currently?
> ...


Godver! i cant believe that was it.


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## JacaRanda (Sep 20, 2014)

Really.  Interesting


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## ruifo (Sep 20, 2014)

Everytime you set ISO to the "high" artifitial levels (above your maximun native high ISO), you loose buffer capacity. That is a  real issue.


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## Braineack (Sep 20, 2014)

If you go over native its boosted with software so that makes sense.


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## SpikeyJohnson (Sep 20, 2014)

I upgraded my SD card to the Samsung 64 GB UHS1 card for about $50 and I don't have buffer issues with my D7100 anymore.  It made a HUGE difference having a card that writes at 90MB/s.  I would look into getting one and then also be watching for the right moments to take a photo and timing just right.

This is the card I am using Amazon.com: Samsung Electronics 64GB PRO SDXC Upto 90MB/s Class 10 Memory Card (MB-SG64D/AM): Computers & Accessories


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## JacaRanda (Sep 21, 2014)

If you trust it, here is a list of this sports photographers tests.

D7100 RAW Burst Test &#8211; Reloaded | The Sports Photo Guy

Just a little curious.  Approx. how many bursts are you guys getting with the faster SD cards before the buffer begins to lag?  ((D7100)) users.


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## hamlet (Sep 21, 2014)

My d7100 only starts to write the images when it becomes nearly full. I think that all that a faster card does, is shorten the recovery time between fast bursts.


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## 480sparky (Sep 21, 2014)

hamlet said:


> My d7100 only starts to write the images when it becomes nearly full. ...



Say what?  If you only take _one_ photo today, it won't write it to the card until you take some more?



hamlet said:


> .....I think that all that a faster card does, is shorten the recovery time between fast bursts.



A faster card will accept data from the camera faster..... up to the point it reaches the write speed of the camera.


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## hamlet (Sep 21, 2014)

I'm talking about it within the context of burst mode. The little light that indicates that the camera is writing only turns on when the buffer is nearly full. Furthermore, on crop mode the buffer seems to recover faster. I have not done any real tests, so it could be confirmation bias.


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## 480sparky (Sep 21, 2014)

The little green light is not about the buffer.... it's for indicating that the camera is writing data to the card.  If it's not coming on when you take just one image, there's something wrong.

And of course the buffer clears faster in crop mode..... you've got less data per image to record.


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## Tinderbox (UK) (Sep 22, 2014)

Have you speed tested you SDHC card? if not try the ATTO Benchmark, also are you certain your card is genuine as there are a lot of fake out there.

Download ATTO Disk Benchmark  - MajorGeeks

John.


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## astroNikon (Sep 22, 2014)

hamlet said:


> I'm talking about it within the context of burst mode. The little light that indicates that the camera is writing only turns on when the buffer is nearly full. Furthermore, on crop mode the buffer seems to recover faster. I have not done any real tests, so it could be confirmation bias.


In your viewfinder in the lower right should be the buffer count.  You can watch this as you take shots of how much buffer is left or it's recovery.  There may be an option to turn this on, so read your manual.

As a test put your camera in Continuous High, and put the Quality to Small/Small.
Then put your eye up to the viewfinder and shoot away and watch what happens to the buffer and how fast it may recover.

Also do this test in Medium and High Qualities before going to RAW and testing it.

You may also want to read this and turn off certain options that keep it slow. --> D7100 : How to maximize the RAW shooting buffer - Here is what I see - How about you? - Nikon D90/D7000/D7100 Discussions on Nikon Rumors Forum

Also make sure you only have *one* format selected.  NOT RAW + JPEG which means the camera is going to have to store 2 files in buffer then save them. This may be why you see "3"


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## Braineack (Sep 22, 2014)

The buffer of the D750 can take (25) 24MP 12-bit RAW files before filling.   Still unimpressed?


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## astroNikon (Sep 22, 2014)

Braineack said:


> The buffer of the D750 can take (25) 24MP 12-bit RAW files before filling.   Still unimpressed?


baa- hum-bug
I need at least 26 in the buffer   LMAO


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## lambertpix (Sep 22, 2014)

Really interesting thread.  Would this whole problem have gone away if the camera had a little bigger buffer?  I have to admit it's really rare that I need more than three shots at a time, but I can see where this would bug me no end, and it seems like a silly limitation for the price of a little more buffer space.


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## goodguy (Sep 22, 2014)

Glad your fuffer issue was resulved, enjoy your new camera my friend!


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## hamlet (Sep 22, 2014)

Thank you, i am really loving the new camera. The amount of features that are in it are a bit much, i didn't expect the d7100 to open this many doors for me.


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## astroNikon (Sep 22, 2014)

hamlet said:


> Thank you, i am really loving the new camera. The amount of features that are in it are a bit much, i didn't expect the d7100 to open this many doors for me.


If I had bought a 5x00 series and especially a 3x00 series, I probably would not have liked photography much.  The features of the 7x00 did not limit me in the way the user interacts with the features and I really enjoyed learning it.


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## Braineack (Sep 22, 2014)

I learned my camera has a time lapse feature on it this weekend.

you set the intervals, and it will capture them until you press "ok" and put them into a .mov file.


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## astroNikon (Sep 22, 2014)

Braineack said:


> I learned my camera has a time lapse feature on it this weekend.
> 
> you set the intervals, and it will capture them until you press "ok" and put them into a .mov file.


I know about the TimeLapse - Intervalometer.
But I didn't know about it putting it into a .mov file ?
I've used Window's Movie Maker for that .. to get the optimum time between photos.


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## astroNikon (Sep 22, 2014)

Braineack said:


> I learned my camera has a time lapse feature on it this weekend.
> 
> you set the intervals, and it will capture them until you press "ok" and put them into a .mov file.


page 168 ... I see now
okay, I've used my d7000 for all TimeLapse stuff which doesn't seem to have the save as a movie option.


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## Braineack (Sep 22, 2014)

I was just looking for the timer.


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## hamlet (Sep 23, 2014)

JacaRanda said:


> If you trust it, here is a list of this sports photographers tests.
> 
> D7100 RAW Burst Test &#8211; Reloaded | The Sports Photo Guy
> 
> Just a little curious.  Approx. how many bursts are you guys getting with the faster SD cards before the buffer begins to lag?  ((D7100)) users.


My new sandisk extreme card just arrived. The rate at wich my fast burst rate fills back up is so quick that the problem of a small buffer virtually disappears.


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## astroNikon (Sep 23, 2014)

hamlet said:


> JacaRanda said:
> 
> 
> > If you trust it, here is a list of this sports photographers tests.
> ...


So what does that mean?
Does it work faster & better now or the same as before ?


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## hamlet (Sep 23, 2014)

It's like your basement is flooding with water. Now instead of one bucket, you've got two buckets.


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## Braineack (Sep 23, 2014)

or...

it's like your camera's buffer filling up, and then still being able to shoot somewhat fast fps because the card can write images fast enough.


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## astroNikon (Sep 23, 2014)

hamlet said:


> It's like your basement is flooding with water. Now instead of one bucket, you've got two buckets.


Well my basement flooded recently and two buckets were of no help.  I still had to carry them up the stairs and outside to empty them.

Now my new water pump will help if it ever happens again.  That's like a super fast card!!


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