What SD card speed is worth buying for a Nikon D5000 shooting RAW?
Asked 9/19/2011
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I shoot RAW only on a Nikon D5000 and want to buy a faster SD card. RAW files are about 10MB each, and the camera tops out around 4 fps until the buffer fills. Is burst shooting on the D5000 mainly limited by the camera’s internal buffer, or will a faster SD card make a meaningful difference once the buffer is full? What speed/class card is sufficient for this camera?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
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Burst mode with RAW format will always be bottle-necked by standard SD-cards. I use a class 10 16GB card in my D5000 and I really don't see a noticeable different in the burst speed once the buffer is full compared to the old class 4 card I had. That's why pro cameras still use compact-flash and have larger buffers, it's much faster.
Edit to clarify SD card classes:
The class number is the minimum write speed in megabytes/second when the data on the card is fragmented. So a class 10 card will always be faster in the worst case than a class 4. The class number has nothing to do with the maximum write speed or the latency of the card however. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Digital#Speed_Class_Rating
Originally by user3410. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user3410
14y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
For a Nikon D5000, burst shooting is mainly limited by the camera’s buffer at first, and then by SD card write speed once the buffer fills. In practice, moving from a slower card to a Class 10 SD card may not produce a dramatic real-world improvement in sustained RAW bursts on this camera.
A Class 10 card is generally a sensible upper target: it guarantees at least 10MB/s minimum sustained write speed under worst-case conditions. That said, the SD “class” rating does not tell you the maximum write speed or card latency, so higher advertised speeds do not always translate into noticeably better performance in a D5000.
So yes: buying an extremely fast card is usually not worth it for this body. A decent Class 10 SD card is a reasonable choice, while your existing 4GB card can serve as backup.
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