Raw Image Recording Time?

[Flybye]

I can't believe I just Googled "digital camera raw image recording time," went through 5 pages, and saw no reference of this! I then figured it's time to ask you guys. :wink5:

What are your average raw image recording times with a new digital camera?

With my prehistoric Sony F717, it takes about 30-35s to record one. I am sure the new cameras are far faster an am curious to their times.

[BlueRob]

My Oly E420 with an XD card 3-4 seconds I guess, with a Cf card is faster... half the time maybe.

WOW! 35 secs its an eternity!

[Franglais]

I just tried with my D300 and a Transcend 266x (UDMA) card. It's very difficult to tell because when I press the button:

- the camera makes the usual noise
- there is a brief pause while it treats the image
- the card-active green light comes on and goes off meaning the image is saved

The whole cycle takes less than two seconds for a 12Mpix RAW + JPEG.

Note that the camera says that it's internal buffer has enough space to hold 15 images with the current settings so unless I do a very long burst at maximum speed it's unlikely to get stuck writing out the RAW files

[Flybye]

LOL...wow. You guys are recording these things in what I would consider near instant times.

Well, at least I know when I upgrade to a digital SLR, I won't have to sit and watch paint dry while recording RAW images.

[Franglais]

LOL...wow. You guys are recording these things in what I would consider near instant times.

Well, at least I know when I upgrade to a digital SLR, I won't have to sit and watch paint dry while recording RAW images.

I just did the same test with the D60 fitted with a Transcend 16GB Class 6 SDHC card.

- It took a little less than 4 seconds to do the whole cycle.
- Image is 10MPix RAW + JPG.
- The part with the green light on while it writes to the card is noticably longer
- The camera says it has enough space in it's buffer to hold 5 images.

The processor on the D60 and the D300 are very similar. I think that the extra time taken by the D60 is the difference in write speed between the UDMA Compact Flash card and the SDHC card.

Most of today's consumer DSLR's take SDHC cards, not Compact Flash, and Class 6 was the fastest up till recently. If you really want to go faster than that then you need to get a recent semi-pro model that supports UDMA Compact Flash.