D7000 backup mode questions

[levinest]

Been playing around with my brand-spankin'-new D7000 and have run into some questions I cannot find answers for regarding one of the features I was most looking forward to taking advantage of - the second memory card slot.

I've got it currently set up in backup mode, where it places the new images on card #1 and backs them up automatically to card #2. First, I've found it to be quite slow getting the image onto the second card. I can see the green access light lit long after I've taken a series of pictures. I know I've got it set to RAW+JPEG Normal but this seems rather excessive. I'm using Class 6 cards at the moment. Waiting for my Class 10 Sandisk Extremes to come in the mail, which should help a bit, but should it really be this slow?

Next question - when I'm previewing the photos I've taken, as I scroll through them I invariably end up on the second card looking at all of the photos all over again. Can I "hide" the second card from the preview screen? This becomes that much more of a problem as I start deleting photos I don't want. I often will end up on the second card without realizing it and now I'm deleting photos from the "wrong" card so now I don't have a complete set on either card. That becomes a major issue for me as I now need to sync down both cards or I may end up with more photos than I really wanted or may miss in-camera edits I made on one card or the other. It would *really* be helpful to just never show me any of the photos on card 2 but I have not found a setting for that as of yet. Anyone?

Lastly, regarding this same subject, does anyone know if there is a way to get it to do the backups as a low-priority? I've found, especially when I set it up in multi-shot mode and I take 5-10 photos at once, that I cannot preview the photos I've taken because it's so busy doing all of that writing to the cards. The preview just basically freezes up while it's flushing the buffer and copying to the second card. If the backup job could take "last precedence" somehow, the camera would be a heck of a lot snappier in its responsiveness.

 

[480sparky67 67]

It takes longer to write the image since it has to perform the job twice. Perhaps it takes longer on the card in slot 2 because it's write speed isn't as fast as the one in slot 1.

As for your other question, there's no way to alter the process. You either get back-up or you choose not to. I don't bother doing any in-camera edits, and I rarely scroll through a bunch of images. I take a shot, check the histo and move on.

 

[levinest]

Got my Sandisk Extreme Pro 45Mb/sec cards in the mail yesterday. What a difference! BTW, I was mistaken, I had Class 4 cards, not Class 6. Let me tell you, it was amazing how much faster they were. I took photos on Continuous High with RAW+JPEG Normal until the camera stopped and it took 90 (yes 90!) seconds for the "writing data" light to turn off with the Class 4 cards with Backup Mode enabled. Once I loaded up and formatted my Class 10 45Mb/sec cards I was getting in the 17 second range with the same test and the same settings! Almost could live with that if I really really needed Backup Mode enabled, depending on how extensively I intended on using Continuous High.

Regarding the preview mode, I just do not understand why they set it up where you could end up on the backup card by mistake. Makes no sense. Especially since my wife sometimes uses the camera when she's out with the kids, she's definitely going to be more likely than I to not realize what is going on and delete/edit photos from the wrong card. It just makes everything incredibly difficult to manage when you no longer can trust that everything you want is on card #1.

 

[480sparky67 67]

Simple solution: Don't delete using the camera. Problem solved.

 

[levinest]

OMG, why didn't I think of that?!?! Genius!

Seriously, I was hoping for something a bit more constructive in the conversation around here instead of "Doctor, doctor, it hurts when I do this" "So don't do that."

I'm going to give Nikon a direct call and report back here if I get anything helpful from them.