Does a faster memory card improve burst shooting or video recording?
Asked 9/5/2012
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When using a DSLR in continuous shooting, I noticed it could take about 8 photos before slowing down to save them. Would using a faster memory card let the camera capture more images in one burst, or does it only help the camera clear its buffer faster afterward?
Also, for video recording on a phone or camera, can a faster card prevent dropped frames or increase the recorded frame rate, or is the frame rate determined by the device itself?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
13y ago
2 Answers
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Mostly, no. Let me clarify. There are three speed limits:
- The speed limit of your camera
- The write speed limit of your card.
- The read speed of your card.
When speed #2 is greater or equal to speed #1, the camera operates at its maximum performance. It will shoot at its highest frame rate until the internal buffer gets full and then slows down while offload to memory which lets you get back to full speed the fastest.
When speed #2 is slower than speed #1, the camera still shoots at its full speed until the internal buffer gets full and then slows down. In this case it slows down more and takes longer to offload before getting back to full-speed.
Speed #3 has no impact on camera use but makes things faster when you view and transfer images from the camera. Notably this will depend on the speed of the transferring device like flash card reader.
Video works pretty much the same. The camera is designed to shoot at a certain bit-rate with a certain resolution and frame-rate. It records all frames it is supposed to.
If speed #2 of your card is faster than is needed, then no problem and you get the maximum performance which records video for the longest duration supported by the camera and card file-system.
If speed #2 is too slow, recording still starts exactly the same way except that it is interrupted and stops. Technically a camera could slow down or compress more but that would make for weird videos and I have never seen a digital camera do that. Mobile phones most likely work the same way but I have not tested.
Therefore the benefits of a faster memory card, up to the maximum supported by the camera or reading device are:
- Faster time to returning to full-speed continuous shooting.
- Long video recording duration.
- Faster viewing of images.
- Faster offloading of images.
You may note that memory card manufacturers have a number of ways to define their speeds: MB/s (Should be specified for both read and write but not always), Speed Class (Has an official definition which guarantees write-speeds), X (1X = 150 KB/s, usually specified for read-speed).
On the other hands, camera makers extremely rarely say anything about the write speeds of the camera. They sometimes mention that they support a certain UDMA or Class speed.
Originally by user1620. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1620
13y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
A faster card usually does not increase the camera’s maximum burst rate or frame rate by itself. Most cameras first write images to an internal buffer, so you can often shoot at full speed until that buffer fills. After that, card write speed matters: a faster card helps the buffer clear sooner, so the camera recovers faster and may sustain shooting better once the buffer is full.
So for stills:
- It typically won’t increase the initial burst count much if the buffer is the main limit.
- It can reduce how long the camera stays slowed down after the buffer fills.
For video:
- The device determines the recording frame rate.
- A card that is too slow can cause recording problems or force lower quality modes on some devices.
- A faster card won’t make the camera record at a higher fps than it supports, but it can help ensure the required data rate is met.
Card read speed is separate: it mainly affects how quickly you transfer files to a computer or view them from the card.
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