Clear up the 30d Burst question for me ...

[DevinL.]

On Burst H mode ...what exactly is the camera doing ...My 20D shot 5 fps ...30D Says this ..

Continuous high-speed: 5 fps
Continuous low-speed: 3 fps
up to 30 frames JPEG (Large/Fine), up to 11 frames RAW, and up to 9 frames RAW+JPEG

In RAW the 11 Frames sound the exact same as the 5 fps just that many more ....Anyone exaplain all this complex stuff to me ?? Also how hard on the camera is this to shoot 30 frames in jpeg vs. 11 frames in raw. Thank you!!

I feel like a total newb after shooting for publications and etc and still asking dumb questions to this date : p

[KevC]

Hm. I don't understand what there's not to understand (sorry for sounding harsh). The camera and shoot 30 jpg frames or 11 RAW frames without stopping to buffer. It's because RAW is much larger than jpg, and the buffer fills up faster.

[ScottE]

5 fps means that the camera will fire at a rate of 5 pictures per second until the buffer memory is full.

3o frames JPEG, 11 frames RAW and 9 frames RAW + JPEG is the number of continuous pictures that can be taken at 5 fps until the buffer memory is full.

Example

Set your camera on continous mode, 5 fps and set your image quality to RAW. Now pick a subject, point your camera at it and hold down the shutter. The camera will take 11 pictures in quick succession. At 5 fps this will take about 2 seconds. If you keep the shutter held down, there will now be about a 1 second spacing between pictures because the camera has to wait until an image is moved from the buffer memor to the CF card before it can put another image in the buffer.

To the best of my knowledge, the camera is designed to fire 5 fps, so it should not damage it to do so. I often fill the buffer when shooting sports and have never had a problem with it damaging my old 20D or D60. Eventually everything, even a 1D, will wear out.

[DevinL.]

Hm ..makes more sense ...I just dont understand why the 20d didnt do the same thing ...Newer updates etc though I guess .....11frames sounds the exact same as 5fps on the 20d ...the in second spacing doesn't seem to change. I'll take yours and canon's word for it though

[zakabog]

I'm so confused by your understanding.

The 20D and the 30D both have the same 5fps, the 30D has a larger buffer that can hold 11 RAW images taken in one burst.

[DevinL.]

..I understand it ..I NEVER was very keen on the buffer thing ...understand fps sure ...buffer ..somewhat ..Thanks for the help.

[Plan9]

Hm ..makes more sense ...I just dont understand why the 20d didnt do the same thing ...Newer updates etc though I guess .....11frames sounds the exact same as 5fps on the 20d ...the in second spacing doesn't seem to change. I'll take yours and canon's word for it though

Yes. They are the same speed. I think you are confused as to what a buffer actually is.

8.Computers: a storage device for temporarily holding data until the computer is ready to receive or process the data, as when a receiving unit has an operating speed lower than that of the unit feeding data to it.

[DevinL.]

exactly ..somewhat like comparing firewire to usb in a sence eh ?

[zakabog]

Hehe, the buffer is like an ultra fast (and small) CF card that's only temporary, when you take a picture it's saved to the buffer while the camera copies the picture to the actual CF card. A buffer can't hold the picture after the camera's off either (which is why the cameras lose the buffer when you remove the battery.)

[Permagrin]

just think of buffer as a glass...

30x pouring water in (or something else ;) ) to fill the glass (for jpeg)

or 11x to fill it for raw. Raw is a lot bigger so it fills faster.

what you hear is the fps...not the buffer. That's why it sounds the same.

[Jon]

11 frames just means it can shoot at 5 fps for about 2 sec. Then the buffer will be filled up and it'll have to pause while it writes out some of the shots.

[cdifoto]

Frames Per Second or FPS is how fast the shutter can recycle. It has NOTHING to do with the buffer.

Buffer is how many shots can be fired before the camera needs to pause and say "wait wait hold on bro I'm still writing!" It has NOTHING to do with FPS.

[Rehuel]

Nobody's mentioned this yet so I will. On the 30D you can choose the rate of pics it takes in a second (you can only choose between 3 and 5). Continuous low speed (three rectangles with out the H) will shoot at 3 fps and continuous high speed (three rectangles with the H next to it) will shoot at 5 fps. I'm not trying to be a smart ass or anything but I wasn't sure by your post that you understood that.

[Glenn NK]

Think of the buffer like this:

You have a bucket with a small hole. If you fill the bucket slowly, it may never fill up (it runs out the hole). This is what the buffer does, it stores the large amount of data as it is being stored to the CF card.

If you try to fill the bucket very fast, it will fill up, even though the water is running out of the hole (data to the CF card).

The buffer will only hold 11 images if you shoot continuously at 5 fps, it will fill up.

If you shoot one shot per second, it may never fill up because the data is being transferred to the CF card while you are shooting.