D850 Buffer

kanuck

Sports said:

Sony M series is fast for reading but not for writing, I'm afraid. It could easily explain the problem.
I'm using Lexar's fastest cards for the D500, and have never tested the buffer depth.

This is correct, the Lexar is faster especially for writing. KillerBob I can confirm that you are right, mine also slows down at 23 then goes down to maybe 2-3 fps it seems like. I am just using a Sandisk 64GB 300mb/s SDXC II card though. This can't be a card limitation could it? I do not have the battery grip though.

Sports

It's something more like the average performance of the card that counts.
If you compare an XQD card to an SD card, and both have 300MB/s peak write speed, the XQD card will most often have a higher average write speed. (I don't know the reason for this.)

Killerbob

It’s not because of the card speed, at least that was what Nikon support said.

The new Sony G series XQD card is rated 440/400MB/s. The older M series is rated 440/150MB/s.

The card Nikon tests with is supposedly the Sony M series. Which means the card they test with is actually slower than the new Sony G series UHS-II SDXC card, which is rated at 300/299MB/s.

CEBlueclouds

Did a quick test with mine. Shooting just raw only with NR, distortion control, vignette control, etc turned off, I get 51 shots before it starts to slow... With my regular shooting settings Raw+jpeg fine and most of the other options on, I get about 25 shots before it starts to slow.... I am using Lexar 2933x XQD (440MB/s) card and Lexae 2000 SDII (300MB/s) cards. I also notice that shooting conditions such as f-stop, shutter speed, etc also affects no of shots before buffer fills

Killerbob

Interesting! Nikon support had a Sony XQD card, and I have only tested using Sony cards, so perhaps there is a small incompatibility there.

My workflow has always included RAW and JPG, but perhaps it is time to change to a RAW only setup...

spraynpray

I agree Killer. Maybe there should be a setting on the menu to create a .jpeg in-camera if you really want to post something before you get near a PC or Mac?

Killerbob

I actually think that SnapBridge copy a JPG across to the SmartPhone, if selected. That JOG could be used for an upload to FB etc.

autofocus

CEBlueclouds said:

Did a quick test with mine. Shooting just raw only with NR, distortion control, vignette control, etc turned off, I get 51 shots before it starts to slow... With my regular shooting settings Raw+jpeg fine and most of the other options on, I get about 25 shots before it starts to slow.... I am using Lexar 2933x XQD (440MB/s) card and Lexae 2000 SDII (300MB/s) cards. I also notice that shooting conditions such as f-stop, shutter speed, etc also affects no of shots before buffer fills

Just tested mine and find the same results. I'm using the same cards you used by the way. I can live with those numbers and this is why the D500 and D5 are still relevant. Different platforms for different subjects. The D850 will do it all in a pinch though.

kanuck

CEBlueclouds said:

Did a quick test with mine. Shooting just raw only with NR, distortion control, vignette control, etc turned off, I get 51 shots before it starts to slow... With my regular shooting settings Raw+jpeg fine and most of the other options on, I get about 25 shots before it starts to slow.... I am using Lexar 2933x XQD (440MB/s) card and Lexae 2000 SDII (300MB/s) cards. I also notice that shooting conditions such as f-stop, shutter speed, etc also affects no of shots before buffer fills

RAW only okay that's interesting, I would try but need to wait for my XQD card to arrive. I get around 30 with the SD in RAW only and in Fine obviously it blasts away 50 plus. I really wanted a Lexar 128 GB but had to order a Sony as Lexars were sold out...

WestEndFoto

I ordered a half dozen Lexars from B&H three weeks ago and am still waiting. I am patient.

Killerbob

If you get Lexars you’ll probably be one the luvky last few. Lexar sold out to Micron, who immediatly announced the end of Lexar memory cards...

kanuck

I ordered a 64GB Lexar this morning to go with the 128 GB Sony. Both should arrive in 2-3 weeks I have been told. I didn't know about Lexar being sold until my local shop informed me last month. It's a shame because they made great cards along with Sandisk...

Killerbob

The Sonys actually rated pretty fast as well. According to several sites they are faster in write speed, at least the XQD cards. The SDXC, UHS-II, cards from Sony are also very fast.

PB_PM

Killerbob said:

If you get Lexars you’ll probably be one the luvky last few. Lexar sold out to Micron, who immediatly announced the end of Lexar memory cards...

Who promptly sold the brand name to a Chinese memeory manufacture, who will no doubt use it in the American market.

Killerbob

lol - business as usual. Who was that memory card maker that produced cheaply and their cards failed left, right, and center?

PB_PM

There's been just one of those...? There's been at least 6-7 no name start up brands in the memory business in the last 10 years that have appeared and disappeared just as quickly for various reasons.

Killerbob

...and that’s just what I mean. I can appreciate that Lexar makes great memory cards, but the second those cheap-ass Chinese manufactures gets their hands on a great product it goes down the drain...

Sports

PB_PM said:

Who promptly sold the brand name to a Chinese memeory manufacture

Longsys

kanuck

Are you giving up RAW + Fine then Killerbob?

Killerbob

Yep, deleted 60K JPGs of my primary NAS yesterday, resynced my LR catalogs, and optimised them as well. Now I'm RAW only. If I didn't do it like that, I'd eventually go back - I know myself.

Now the only problem is that my wife sometimes checks the folders for pictures for her to edit in PicMonkey, and I will have to figure out a workflow for that as well.

kanuck

Maybe Nikon's Capture NX software? I hate it and refuse to use it even while waiting for Lightroom to update. So far RAW 9.1 in Bridge and Photoshop CC are handling the RAW files. I am not familiar with PicMonkey. Is it very basic like Picassa was/is?

Killerbob

Yep, a piece of s... software, but one that the wife likes...

I found out that Finder in MacOS (Preview) actually converts to JPG, and set up a smal workflow for her. As long as she can upload a JPG to PicMonkey she is happy - and if she is happy, I am happy.

kanuck

Killerbob said:

Yep, a piece of s... software, but one that the wife likes...

I found out that Finder in MacOS (Preview) actually converts to JPG, and set up a smal workflow for her. As long as she can upload a JPG to PicMonkey she is happy - and if she is happy, I am happy.

Sounds good to me. I am going to make the switch to mac soon actually after a long decision process....

Killerbob

I have been on the horn with Nikon today, and by resetting the D850 to complete standard, I am finally getting the expected performance numbers.

Without the battery grip, at 7fps, RAW only onto XQD, large, lossless compression, 14-bit, I get 50/51 shots in the buffer. D-Lighting and Long Exposure NR is OFF, ISO has to be under 3200, and no distortion control. All of these things affect the buffer size. They confirmed this is true with all the XQD cards they have tested with, and that the Sony G series is amongst the absolute fastest available.

The second you add the battery grip and EN-EL18, the 9fps means the buffer fills up faster and hence it only holds around 36/37 shots, before it starts slowing down. It is like someone said, pure math.

They are working on getting better performance on the faster cards, but that'll be in a future FW.

WestEndFoto

I took 90 shots earlier before I filled up the buffer. I have since not been able to duplicate that. I get 50ish now. Not sure why. Perhaps a focus setting.

I tried a different experiment. My D800 gave me 17 shots at 4 fps before the buffer filed up. I turned the D850 to 4fps and got 200.

In normal shooting I will never again complain about the buffer.