Camera not shooting fast enough, help

[sactown024]

I have a T2i and a lot of times i want to snap phots really fast one after another but my camera will only do like 3 or 4 shots fast then slow down and say "busy" in between shots. Is this because of my sd card? I have a 32GB performance card, cost me $80 for it. do I really need a faster card or is it my camera?

 

[cgipson1]

If you have a fast SD card... and it does that, then you are probably filling the buffer up, and it takes a while to dump to the card. I don't know Canons too well, but that is true of any Digital camera system. You can try minimizing any processing options you have going on in the camera... that can help. You can also reduce your image size.. as smaller images take less time to transfer. If you are shooting RAW.. change it to JPEG when needing to shoot fast, that will also decrease the size of the file.

 

[SCraig]

I'm not familiar with the Canon line but in general function they are mostly the same.

Simplified, digital cameras have a section of high-speed memory designated as the image buffer. As soon as a photograph is taken it is immediately written to the buffer before being moved to SD-card storage. How much memory is designated as an image buffer is up to the camera manufacturer, and it can't be changed. That memory buffer is also much faster than SD-card memory, so once it fills up the camera has to wait for the buffer to be flushed enough to allow another shot to be written there before it can continue. This is the "Busy" message that you see.

About all you can do about it is use a lower resolution on your images which will allow more to fit in the buffer. Your owner's manual should list how many shots will fit in the buffer at varying resolutions. Faster SD-cards will help but may not eliminate the problem entirely.

 

[SCraig]

If you have a fast SD card... and it does that, then you are probably filling the buffer up, and it takes a while to dump to the card. I don't know Canons too well, but that is true of any Digital camera system. You can try minimizing any processing options you have going on in the camera... that can help. You can also reduce your image size.. as smaller images take less time to transfer. If you are shooting RAW.. change it to JPEG when needing to shoot fast, that will also decrease the size of the file.

We were writing the same thing at the same time. You just beat me to the [Submit] button

 

[sactown024]

why does it work fine on continuous mode? i can hold the button down and shoot rapidly as many times as i want... does this mode work differently than single shot somehow?

 

[MLeeK]

Um, yeah, That would have A LOT to do with it. That's what those settings do. Single shot is a SINGLE SHOT. High speed continuous is high speed continuous shooting. That is what those settings are for. They either slow down the shooting so if you don't have the quickest finger you aren't firing off a dozen shots or allow you to capture a dozen shots very quickly.

 

[table1349]

why does it work fine on continuous mode? i can hold the button down and shoot rapidly as many times as i want... does this mode work differently than single shot somehow?

Face Palm

Um, yeah, That would have A LOT to do with it. That's what those settings do. Single shot is a SINGLE SHOT. High speed continuous is high speed continuous shooting. That is what those settings are for. They either slow down the shooting so if you don't have the quickest finger you aren't firing off a dozen shots or allow you to capture a dozen shots very quickly.

 

[sactown024]

why does it work fine on continuous mode? i can hold the button down and shoot rapidly as many times as i want... does this mode work differently than single shot somehow?

yes but why can it handle it in continuous mode but cant keep up with my finger in non continuous? arew the photos less quality in continuous?

 

[rokvi]

why does it work fine on continuous mode? i can hold the button down and shoot rapidly as many times as i want... does this mode work differently than single shot somehow?

yes but why can it handle it in continuous mode but cant keep up with my finger in non continuous? arew the photos less quality in continuous?

Why would you want to click that fast causing unnecessary camera movement when you can leave your finger on the button? How slow is it in single shot?

 

[MLeeK]

why does it work fine on continuous mode? i can hold the button down and shoot rapidly as many times as i want... does this mode work differently than single shot somehow?

yes but why can it handle it in continuous mode but cant keep up with my finger in non continuous? arew the photos less quality in continuous?

BECAUSE CONTINUOUS MODE IS CONTINUOUS. ONE SHOT IS FOR ONE SHOT. You turn OFF the continuous mode shooting when you switch to one shot. Some people do not want to be in continuous mode because it fires off too fast. When I hand my cam to someone else to use I have to switch it or they end up with a dozen of the same shot.

 

[KmH]

When you let off the shutter release between shots in single shot mode, the camera has to re-meter and re-focus, both of which take time.

Read your cameras user's manual.