20d buffer

[HOMEYJAMES]

Does anyone know how big the buffer is RAW????....Homey

[Morden]

6 Raw or Raw+JPEG shots will fit into the buffer. But if this sounds unpleasantly low, bear in mind that the 20D writes to the CF card very, very quickly - whether or not the shutter button is depressed - so the buffer is only likely to fill if you keep the shutter button fully depressed for 6 shots.

I very seldom do. :)

[CyberDyneSystems]

What morden says about the actual use Vs. the "spec" of 6 frames is right on the money.

The 20D is MUCH faster than the 10D in "all matters buffer"... despite the lower 6 frame spec Vs. the 10D's 9 frames. The fact is that given only a split seconds respite.. by the time you shoot 6 frames half of them are allready written to the CF card making room for more.. and more.. and more..

[Torcidas]

I didn't try to shot in RAW format, but with normal JPG i was very surpiresed. It say he have buffer of 23 pictures, and 1st time i shot 46 pictures before he stop to put them on CF (normal not Ultra CF) and on second time i take 42 shoots.

Bloody probably i will never fill all buffer with jpg again :)

[tommykjensen]

Yep and that is because of the highly improve write speed to the CF card. So be sure to have fast CF cards...

[RDKirk]

It writes fast, but in RAW it's not so fast that you won't run into the wall if you're shooting quickly, even in single shot mode. It's certainly not as bad as the 300D. If you're the type that hit the wall with the 10D, it will be a bit better--you'll be back shooting quicker. But if you're in between, you'll still hit the wall on occasion.

The problem is that they increased the file size over the 10D, but they didn't increase the buffer size.

[drisley]

It writes fast, but in RAW it's not so fast that you won't run into the wall if you're shooting quickly, even in single shot mode. It's certainly not as bad as the 300D. If you're the type that hit the wall with the 10D, it will be a bit better--you'll be back shooting quicker. But if you're in between, you'll still hit the wall on occasion.

The problem is that they increased the file size over the 10D, but they didn't increase the buffer size.

I disagree. I've never had to stop shooting to wait for the buffer, even when using a burst of shots. And I always shoot Raw. And I only use a 12x card. The 20D writes ridiculously fast to the CF card, much faster than even the MKII. In addition, unlike the 300D or 10D, the 20D continues to write to the CF card, even when you have the shutter button half pressed. Since it only takes about 1-2 seconds to write a raw file, by the time I fill the buffer in a burst, then recompose to take another shot, there is room for another 2 shots. I actually can't keep up with the Raw buffer no matter how hard I try. I worry more about filling up the CF card, because it writes so fast. I'm sure there are some real pros who might have a problem, but for most that wont be the case.
I was shooting some soccer last weekend. I had a 512mb 12x card in.
I was quickly shooting, click, click, then look over there, click, click, click... then I turned to catch some more action, and fired off a few more in burst. I NEVER hit the buffer wall. However, I quickly filled the CF card with raw images and had to change the card.

[RDKirk]

>>Since it only takes about 1-2 seconds to write a raw file, by the time I fill the buffer in a burst, then recompose to take another shot, there is room for another 2 shots. I actually can't keep up with the Raw buffer no matter how hard I try. <<

Well, I must be quicker on the trigger (and I'm using Sandisk Ultra II cards).

[Torcidas]

I think that we all will pass over that "problem" OK he write only 6 RAW pictures in buffer, but price of camera is realy good for everything you god.

If you wanna have something faster you must buy 1D MarkII and for price of it you can buy 20D + 2 good lens and accesories...

[drisley]

I think so.
Perhaps with time I will be able to keep up with the buffer.
But currently I dont even come close.
If I kept shooting that fast, I would fill up a 512MB card in a matter of minutes.
Even once the buffer is full, the 20D can still fire off about 1 shot per second. So I'm not sure how to run into a full buffer in single shot mode.
You must have a "heavy finger". :lol:

And most say that ,even if they mostly shoot raw, when they are firing off that many consecutive shots, they usually switch to jpg anyway, even with the MKII. That's just too much post-processing.

[tommykjensen]

I agree with drisley. The jpg's You can get directly out of the camera is so good that I think most photogs that shot action with 20D will use JPG and then the buffer is definately not a problem. The biggest problem is how fast the card is filled which actually is kind of a pleasant problem to have :D

I don't thnk the raw buffer limit is such a big deal as people thought it would be before the camera came out. It is possible to shoot 20 RAW's in 20 seconds when keeping the shutter release down (I just tested for 20 seconds). But ofcourse it does require fast cards.