I did some tests yesterday following the realization that I was not getting as deep a buffer with my Z9 as is reported by most testers. I hadn't noticed until now because I rarely shoot bursts at 20 fps lasting more than a couple of seconds.
I noticed the issue with Delkin Black 256 GB cards but it's also present with Prograde Cobalt 325 GB cards.
Jumping to the conclusion: my Black cards may be defective and at least one setting impacts significantly the buffer depth of the Z9 with both lossless and H* raw formats. By far the most impacting one I found is the usage of backup mode instead of sequential flow . It seems also that heavy usage may reduce slightly the buffer depth, possible due to mild heating. More tests needed.
1. Settings reset with 2xPrograde Cobalt 325 GB cards
- Raw lossless: 75 images
- Raw H*: around 180 images (measured after having captured many images during various tests)
2. Settings reset with 2xDelkin Black 256 GB cards
- Raw lossless: 60 images
- Raw H*: not measured
3. Full settings applied (including backup mode) with 2xPrograde Cobalt 325 GB cards
- Raw lossless: 47 images
- Raw H*: 110 images
4. Same as #3 but in flow mode instead of backup mode with 2xPrograde Cobalt 325 GB cards
- Raw lossless: 79 images
- Raw H*: more than 200 images (the setting I set for max burst length)
bernardl wrote:
One card and 2 cards in overflow mode seems very close.
Cheers,
Bernard
I think only the 5D3 had that issue...where just having an SD card in the camera and not even using it caused the buffer to drop to the CF....engineering at its best
arbitrage wrote:
I think only the 5D3 had that issue...where just having an SD card in the camera and not even using it caused the buffer to drop to the CF....engineering at its best
At least the Z9 doesn't seem to suffer from that issue.
I would personally prefer the buffer depth of the z9 to be less impacted by the back up mode because that to me is the main value of a double card slot. But the buffer is still very respectable and clears up almost instantaneously. So Burst of 2 sec in lossless compressed can be taken one after the other with only a very short wait time in between.
I still hope that Nikon further improves this with firmware updates.
bernardl wrote:
Surprisingly no a1 users have commented here.
What is the buffer depth of the a1 when using the back up mode?
I do shoot an a1. However, I can't answer your question on buffer depth in different configurations because I have never tested it. I usually shoot RAW on slot 1 and JPEG as a backup in slot 2. So that is all I can report my experiences about.
I can say that my dealer included some CF Express Type A cards when I bought the camera. I used them and never hit the buffer. I then used some of my existing 299MB/S SD Cards and never hit the buffer either. I guess it is just not my style to shoot that long of bursts. So now I mostly shoot the SD cards.
From what I have read, I think that the Z9 combined with the CF Express Type B likely has the bigger buffer. In many cases it seems to be until the card is full.
bernardl wrote:
Surprisingly no a1 users have commented here.
What is the buffer depth of the a1 when using the back up mode?
Did you ask A1 users to comment?
If you want I can test writing to dual V90 SD cards but I don't own ripoff CFe-A cards so can't really test in a fair comparison to what you are testing as my cards are not nearly as fast as CFe-A.
I also normally shoot in Compressed (lossy) and not in Lossless Compressed. Sony has a large internal buffer so the card speed doesn't affect the buffer as early as a camera relying on fast cards but low internal buffer. In Compressed I get about 150 shots before the buffer stutters and that is just to SD cards (and that is 30FPS, not 20FPS).
Let me know if you really want to know how the A1 does in Lossless Compressed shooting to V90 SD card (Delkin Power 128GB) when shot in backup and I will do it but not sure how it is relevant to your tests about the Z9?? If so, do you want a 30FPS or 20FPS test?
OK, I had some time this afternoon so decided to test my a1 buffer depth as Bernard requested. I only have 1 CFEXPRESS-A card so could not do a test with that type in both slots.
Cards used were Sony G v90 299gb/sec SD and Sony Tough 700mb/sec CFEXPESS TYPE - A
Camera set to MF, M exposure, 20 FPS. I ran each test twice and reported the lower number. They were never more than a couple of frames different.
Here is what I got:
Slot1 = SD Card Uncompressed RAW
Slot2 =SD Card JPEG
73 frames in buffer
Slot1 = SD Card Lossless compressed RAW
Slot2 =SD Card JPEG
80 frames in buffer
Slot1 = SD Card compressed RAW
Slot2 =SD Card JPEG
162 frames in buffer
Slot1 = CFEXPRESS-A Uncompressed RAW
Slot2 =SD Card JPEG
80 frames in buffer
Slot1 = CFEXPRESS-A Lossless compressed RAW
Slot2 =SD Card JPEG
101 frames in buffer
Slot1 = CFEXPRESS-A compressed RAW
Slot2 =SD Card JPEG
215 frames in buffer
------------------------------------
Slot1 = CFEXPRESS-A Uncompressed RAW
Slot2 =Nothing
84 frames in buffer
Slot1 = CFEXPRESS-A Lossless compressed RAW
Slot2 =Nothing
104 frames in buffer
Slot1 = CFEXPRESS-A compressed RAW
Slot2 =Nothing
283 frames in buffer
----------------------------------------
Slot1 = SD Card Uncompressed RAW
Slot2 =Nothing
75 frames in buffer
Slot1 = SD Card Lossless compressed RAW
Slot2 =Nothing
86 frames in buffer
Slot1 = SD Card compressed RAW
Slot2 =Nothing
167 frames in buffer
For the Sony a1 it looks to me like the biggest impact on buffer size is the RAW format chosen, followed by the card type, with very little impact from writing a backup JPEG to slot 2.
I am surprised that writing the backup JPEG doesn't have a bigger impact on buffer. I thought it would.
I will also note that after stopping shooting when the buffer fills writing to the cards and clearing the buffer back to zero cannot be described as instantaneous as I read that the Z9 is. It takes a few seconds to do.
If you are a sports shooter just shooting JPEG Standard to a CFEXPESS - A card in slot 1 at 20fps it looks like you may be able to just fill the card.
For the way I shoot when shooting action which is compressed RAW in Slot 1 and JPEG in slot 2 the difference in buffer is not worth the big price difference for the CFEXPRESS TYPE-A cards. I don't think I ever exceed 8 secs in a burst. The effect of frequent long burst that need to be facilitated by rapid buffer clearing is not something I have run into or tested at this point however.
Hope this information is useful to this threads readers.
Quick test with dual CFE-A cards, writing to both simultaneously, 20fps bursts:
lossy compressed: ca 125 images till speed drops
lossless compressed: ca 100 images till speed drops
