Maximum transfer speed of nikon D5000

<p>I use the continuous release mode of my D5000 a lot because I like images of people in motion. For a while, I have been using Sandisk Extreme cards (Class 10) with a nominal speed of 30Mb/sec. </p>

<p>A little while ago, I bought a Sandisk Extreme Pro UHS-1 card with a nominal speed of 45Mb/sec.</p>

<p>Somewhat to my surprise, I find that I can shoot 100 frames faster with the Extreme card than with the Extreme Pro card. The difference is not great, but it is consistently there and it is there with both of my Sandisk Extreme cards (I did not feel like wasting money on a second Extreme Pro to complete the comparison). I replicated the tests under a range of conditions, so I am confident that no factors other than the card and transfer rate are involved.</p>

<p>I checked with Sandisk and the serial number is genuine, so I don't think I was sold a counterfeit card.</p>

<p>So this raises two questions for me. </p>

<p>First, is the rate limiting step the Nikon's ability to transfer data to the SDHC card, so that there is no benefit to be had from a card faster than the Sandisk Extreme?</p>

<p>Second, why does the nominally faster Extreme Pro perform more poorly than the Extreme? Is it some design feature or have I just had the misfortune to buy a lemon?</p>

<p> </p>

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<p>I use the continuous release mode of my D5000 a lot because I like images of people in motion.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I have no idea regarding your two questions but have you thought about video making?</p>

<p>Robert, perhaps you can perform a more accurate comparison test of the two cards by shooting under identical conditions, continuous RAW images until the frame rate slows down, then shoot an additional number of images under these conditions followed by observing how long it takes for the "write" lamp to extinguish. Record the two sequences on video while comparing the timeline on playback and you should have your answer. </p>

<p> </p>

<p>I choose the absolute fastest card I can find because it's not just the camera speed I want, it's also the speed copying to the computer hard drive. In my case I use a Firewire 800 UDMA reader to a MacBook Pro, which is damn fast transferring from the Delkin Combat Flash cards I bought for my D300s bodies. I'm looking forward to getting a new MacBook Pro with Thunderbolt and devices that work with it.</p>

<p>Michael, that is pretty much what I did.</p>

<p>Robert, thinking out loud: </p>

<p>Shooting at 4288x2848 JPEG (Fine) will result in file sizes ~5.9MB, and ~11MB for NEF, ~17MB if you shoot NEF +JPEG FIne. Multiply this by the frame rate and it would appear that only NEF + JPEG at low compression (Fine) will exceed the card speed of either two types, so I suspect the bottleneck to be in the camera's processing and buffer. </p>

<p>Sorry, I meant to say " I suspect the bottleneck to be in the camera's processing, buffer, and write speed". </p>

<p>Michael, Yes, I had made a similar calculation and I lean towards your conclusion. </p>

<p>I shoot only NEF files these days, so, on your calculation, there should not be too much of a gap between the rate at which the card can write and the rate at which the camera can capture data. However, the card specifications all seem to say "up to X Mb/sec" so one is always left wondering how big a shortfall in transfer rate the card actually achieves. I guess I was really wondering if anyone knew for sure what rate the D5000 can transfer data - if it is less than 30Mb/sec, the camera is the obvious bottleneck.</p>

<p>However, that still leaves the question of why the supposedly faster card performs a little slower.</p>

<p>Other 'hidden' factors may be at play here too. It may be the camera, but it still might be the card per se.</p>

<p>Each generation of card and each manufacturer addresses things like longevity and reliability differently, as I understand. Software within the card does background stuff like wear leveling, etc. to promote a longer life but may compromise ultimate 'speed'. I would think most manufacturers aren't too ultra-precise/specific about R/W speeds.</p>

<p>Speeds are likely to vary depending on fragmentation and smart wear leveling. You will note most specs say something akin to "... up to 30Mb/s ...".</p>

<p>There is a ton of black magic technique that is buried in the reliability of a data system that I'll never fathom. A lot may be proprietary too.</p>

<p>Jim</p>

<p>The difference is in the card - the Extreme Pro series is designed to read and write quickly in a UHS-1 device (the D5000 is not a UHS-1 device). The Extreme Series is designed for fast read/writes in a SDHC (Version 2.0 of the SD specification) device. </p>

<p>Now, if you put both those cards in a D7000 or a UHS-1 card reader - I would expect that the Extreme Pro would be noticably quicker. The D7000 was the first camera to use the UHS-1 bus interface.</p>