Nikon D50 - Continuous shooting mode

[dieterich]

I just got my new D50 and I'm loving it! It's a wonderful camera and has impressed me greatly over the past few weeks that I've had it. Anyway, I've been screwing around with different settings and all that. I'm trying to get a grasp on continuouse shooting mode. The Nikon website touts that it will take 2.5 fps up to 137 continuous shots. Is that on the lowest quality mode or what? I get no where near that. I have a Sandisk Ultra II SD card and got it primarily because of its speed so that I could use the camera to its fullest. But anyway, in continuous shooting mode, I get maybe 1 fps and it will only run for about 12-15 pictures until the buffer gets full. Is there some setting or mode that I need to use to get that 2.5fps shooting speed? I'd like to do some sports photography and I can see where this mode would be very useful.

[Monkeh]

137? The D50 supports up to 12 continuous shots.

Do you shoot in RAW? The 2.5fps might stand true for the middle quality setting in D50, w/e it's called.

[Pink Floyd Veteran]

on their website, it says 137 but I would guess it's on the basic quality pic

Read your manual and you will find the number you can reach

Yo8u should be able to get it with the SD model card you have

[dieterich]

Yeah, even on the lowest resolution I can still only squeak out maybe 1fps(continuous shooting/sport mode). I *think* I've tried just about every setting in almost every situation(bright sun, low light, indoor, etc.). If anyone has ANY idea, please let me know. I've been all over the manual and online message boards and have yet to figure out where Nikon got their spec sheet from. It's apparent that they obviously didn't read it themselves.... :|

[Brandon]

Your not using flash right? What shutter speed? I can get about 2FPS on my D50 with a 50x 1GB kingston with JPEG high

[dieterich]

No flash. I've been using a pretty high shutter speed, using the sport mode most frequently(since that sets the shutter pretty high). I have also tried using shutter priority, set at just about every setting, ISO 400, 800, 1600. Still no go. Maybe I'm just expecting too much or still just not getting all the settings right.... :blush:

[Explicative]

If your camera isn't shooting at 2.5 FPS for at least the first 4 shots then there is something wrong with it. The camera sends the image data to the buffer before writing to your memory card, and at the largest file size (RAW) the buffer can store 4 shots. I think you just don't have a good sense of what 2.5 FPS really is. To verify the frame rate take a dozen or so shots in continuous mode and then examine them on the camera LCD. Hit the up cursor button to bring up the EXIF data, then scroll through the files and look at the seconds in the time field.

[Pink Floyd Veteran]

I'd call Nikon and ask. They will answer your question

and if your camera isnt able to do what is expected, you can ask for a new one

[dieterich]

If your camera isn't shooting at 2.5 FPS for at least the first 4 shots then there is something wrong with it. The camera sends the image data to the buffer before writing to your memory card, and at the largest file size (RAW) the buffer can store 4 shots. I think you just don't have a good sense of what 2.5 FPS really is. To verify the frame rate take a dozen or so shots in continuous mode and then examine them on the camera LCD. Hit the up cursor button to bring up the EXIF data, then scroll through the files and look at the seconds in the time field.

i will do that. I had totally forgotten about the EXIF data that's recorded with each shot....duh. :blink: And if it turns out to be screwy, you can bet that Nikon will be receiving a call from me to get a replacement. thanks for all your help!!!