davtesouro Loc: Madrid

Hi everyone, I´m new at this forum, I hope there´s someone out there that can give me a hand with my problem.

I have a Nikon D800 that has been with me for quite a while. I have a work to do that´s very demanding in terms of continuous shooting. My camera seems to have a buffer limit of 12 pics (I can see the r12 message in the viewfinder when I half press the shutter, and it counts down as I take the pictures). The thing is, no matter what I do, there is no way I can increase that number up!

The continuous shooting limit option in the menu only seems to work to reduce the number but not to increase it (it makes no difference if I put 12 or 99 pics).

It also doesn´t matter if I shoot uncompressed RAW+fine JPEG or if I downgrade it all the way down to just basic JPEG; the same applies if I change the memory card, having tried with class 4 and 10 SD cards, and a 45mb/s CF card. Those two factors (picture quality and card speed) only seem to affect the speed at which the buffer recovers to the original 12 pics. But there´s no way to increase that limit.

This makes no sense to me, and I can´t tell if this is something that happened to me before, since I never had the need.

I´ve read many forums where some people mention highger limits in their D800s, such as r16 or even r22, so I gather it´s not limited by fabric. Firmware is also updated (A 1.10, B1.10. L1.006).

I´m really running out of options here! does anyone have any clue what the problem could be?
Thank you very much!

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Dav, welcome to the Hog!
Hmmmm, if that job is THAT important, I suggest you rent a Canon! :lol: :lol:
Hey, just kidding.....NOT!! :lol:
Again, welcome. ;-)
SS

davtesouro Loc: Madrid

Sounds good... let´s keep it as a B plan for the moment though :)

Any other suggestion?

OddJobber Loc: Portland, OR

The D800 is not the best choice where shooting bursts is important. However, refer to page 436 of your (read the) manual. Number of shots before the buffer fills depends on what image quality you're shooting, and can go as high as 100 when shooting JPEG fine medium or JPEG normal large. If you have to have higher resolution, bigger files fill the buffer faster.

f8lee Loc: New Mexico

As I understand it, the buffer is "locked into" the camera by the manufacturer by virtue of the internal built-in RAM and I guess some other criteria. The memory cards you insert have no impact on the maximum size of the internal buffer since it is the buffer that is a temporary buckt that holds the image files and passes them along to the card. Sure, a faster card will fill the buffer faster, but I think your problem is based on an internal "speed limit" that is likely a hardware based limitation.

Obviously the firmware updates you've done haven't helped, maybe a future one will. But you might want to see what the buffer is on a D810 just to compare; the newer model may have newer (read: faster) hardware inside

OddJobber Loc: Portland, OR

I think you meant to say a faster card will empty the buffer faster.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

You may want to read the google results displayed here

OddJobber Loc: Portland, OR

According to this article the D810 buffer is twice the size of the D800's. But camera replacement is a radical solution. More effective to turn RAW off.

davtesouro Loc: Madrid

See, there´s the thing, my camera won´t go higher than 12 pics, no matter what resolution I´m shooting... wheter I pick uncompressed RAW or basic jpeg, it remains 12 shots :(

davtesouro Loc: Madrid

Thanks, this info did help me on having a notion on what my shooting capacity should be like... I´m guessing there´s something wrong with my camera, since it doesn´t shoot anywhere near as many shots as it´s supposed to, according to the chart I saw here:

https://photographylife.com/nikon-dslr-buffer-capacity-comparison

It should shot at least 17 shots with the most demanding resolution, and up to 56 in JPEG... while I´m stuck in 12 no matter what :(

Does anyone have the same problem?

OddJobber Loc: Portland, OR

Then it sounds like a camera problem.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

45mb/s card is slow. You can get a Sandisk HC I Extreme Pro that is rated at 95 mb/sec and you should be able to get close to 17 before you fill the buffer. Switching to jpeg is more radical than replacing the camera with an 810 - after all, why would you buy a camera like this and toss out 75% of your image buy settling for jpeg images. An even better solution is a D3S which has a huge buffer and does 9 fps if memory serves me right. It is only 12 mp, but it is fast and a whole lot cheaper than a D4S.

DaveHam Loc: Reading UK

The D800 series produce large file sizes which the cameras internal processor and storage buffer has to process and send to the storage cards.
Due to this it is not a body for burst shooting no matter what the file type you are selecting. Having both RAW/JPG set increases the amount of data the camera has to process and therefore reduces burst capacity. Shooting low resolution JPG will increase throughput because the file sizes are reduced, but what is the point of having a D800 and shooting low quality?
The only step you can take to improve throughput is to have a relatively small but as fast as possible memory card. Small because the camera processor management parks data on a small card slightly more quickly than a large one (so 16 gig rather than 64gig) and as fast a read write speed as possible to reduce the time taken for the camera buffer to output the data to the card. The effect of this though is only marginal in the overall scale of things.
If you have a job where fast throughput is necessary you may want to consider rent or borrowing a faster camera like a D4.

DaveHam Loc: Reading UK

We use a number of D800 bodies, no one has ever got 17 shots before the buffer closed down. 12 or 13 maximum.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

You might want to consider getting faster memory cards - I just blasted off 19 on each of my D800s before the buffer filled.