topic Re: Frame rate/burst speed problem with D60? in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

Frame rate/burst speed problem with D60?

Justin — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 16:35:52 GMT

Can anyone tell me if any settings would affect the frame rate of a D60? I recently purchased a D60 and I am only getting about 3.6 frames per second on high speed burst, and a little less than 3 on the low speed burst. I am testing it on manual with a high shutter speed. I tested a demo camera in the store and it seemed to fire much faster. I have no memory card in it right now, but when I tested the demo camera in the store it didn't have a memory card in it either. I have not changed any of the default settings since purchasing it other than the date and time.

Thanks

Re: Frame rate/burst speed problem with D60?

Skirball — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 16:59:43 GMT

I believe that the Nikon D60 has a burst rate spec of 3 fps.

Ok, I couldn't resist. Are you on silent shutter mode? That drops the burst, though I don't think it's that much. I'm not sure how it's going to work without a memory card, I'd stick one in before you spend too much time investigating.

Re: Frame rate/burst speed problem with D60?

Stephen — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 18:37:59 GMT

Hi Justin!
So that the Community can help you better, we will need to know exactly what equipment you're using (including the brand, and speed class of your memory card). Also, let us know what mode you're shooting in on the top dial. This should help everyone get a better grasp of what's going on, and help us get the right specifications to you!

Re: Frame rate/burst speed problem with D60?

Justin — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 19:30:17 GMT

I have a Canon EOS 60D (I think I posted the wrong model number earlier). According to the specs on Canon's website I should be shooting at approx. 5.3 shots/sec on High-Speed and 3.0 on low-speed Continuous Shooting. Right now I am shooting at about 3.6 shots per second on High Speed. I have not changed any of the settings since taking it out of the box, other than putting it on Manual and increasing the shutter speed to a high rate to test the Continuous Shooting Speed. Not sure what settings could slow it down that much.

Let me know if more info is needed.

Thanks

Re: Frame rate/burst speed problem with D60?

Skirball — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 19:46:10 GMT

I was just ribbing you for putting D60 (a Nikon camera) in the title; I assumed you have a 60D.

First and foremost, you should put in a memory card (a high speed one) in before any investigating. I have no idea how the camera works or doesn't work without a memory card in. I don't see any reason why that should slow it down, but it's an obvious deviation from standard protocol, so you might as well cross that off the list.

My second point would be: how are you measuring the fps?

Re: Frame rate/burst speed problem with D60?

diverhank — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 20:44:20 GMT

The specified frame rate is based on a certain testing parameters Canon used which Canon doesn't clearly say...the assumption is that the fastest card was used, low ISO, no noise filtering, high shutter speed, etc...designed to give favorable results. Having said that, the claimed frame rate can be achieved by consumers like us as long as you know what is expected...

The manual page 85-87 mentions the rate somewhat. It does say if you use high ISO filtering the rate will be greatly affected...It hinted also that picture style and other factors may affect the rate. If you record RAW + Jpeg, the burst rate is 7, meaning you can get about 5.3fps for a little more than a second before the built-in buffer fill up then the speed greatly depends on the write speed of your card.

Re: Frame rate/burst speed problem with D60?

Justin — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 22:19:56 GMT

I am trying to figure out why the camera in the store would fire at a faster frame rate than mine. I am not testing with a memory card because the camera in the store did not have one, yet it still fired faster. I am testing by using a stopwatch, and firing the shutter for 5 seconds, and then dividing that time by five. I am getting 18 shots in 5 seconds = 3.6 per second on the fast speed. The difference between 3.6 shots per second and the 5.3 seconds that is advertised in the specs is very noticeable.

Re: Frame rate/burst speed problem with D60?

Justin — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 22:22:39 GMT

I didn't notice I put D60 until after your post. I was a little confused...Are Nikon people even allowed to post in a Canon forum? =]

Re: Frame rate/burst speed problem with D60?

diverhank — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 23:41:00 GMT

Canon had a D60 also...back in 2002. What I'm trying to say is set everything to most simple setting - jpeg only, Tv 1/2000, or Program mode, disable all in camera filtering. Goto page 85 of the manual and determine the number of pictures it can take without filling up the buffer and take a bunch of shots not exceeding the maximum then calculate the rate. If you shoot more than the number of shots prescribed, it will be slower. To save you the trouble, I already did it on my 50D and 5DMk3 and it's as advertised...as long as it has enough buffer to do it.

Re: Frame rate/burst speed problem with D60?

Justin — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 02:08:34 GMT

6D, 60D, 650D (T5i) Canon sure does love coming out with confusing model numbers!

I re-tested my camera, and now it seems to have exceeded or at least matched the frame rate. All settings remain the same as when I tested it yesterday evening. The only difference is the amount of daylight. It is bright out right now, and was possibly bright in the store when I tested the store's camera.

Can the amount of light affect the frame rate? That seems strange to me. I thought the frame rate would be a fixed number and not a variable that is dependant on the amount of light.

Re: Frame rate/burst speed problem with D60?

diverhank — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 02:14:25 GMT

Yes. That's why I mentioned setting the Tv to something high. Imagine if the camera set itself to Tv of 1 sec (exaggerate for making a point) then it can only take one frame per second or less... Also, the default setting might be having the noise filtering for high ISO turned on (check it on the camera). The high ISO filtering is very very slow...it will bring the camera burst speed to a crawl. When there is low light, there is higher ISO and thus more filtering.

Re: Frame rate/burst speed problem with D60?

Justin — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 05:05:48 GMT

Thanks. The high ISO filtering setting was what I was looking for. I was not aware of this automatic noise reducing feature. After finally finding it in the instruction book (page 254) I found this quote: "With setting 2, the maximum burst for continuous shooting will greatly decrease." This must have been disabled in the store's demo model, which is a good idea since they didn't have a memory card in the camera to show the quality of photos, but it does show off the faster burst rate. Good job sales team! =]

Re: Frame rate/burst speed problem with D60?

Skirball — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 17:13:04 GMT

You had in your first post that you were shooting on manual with a high shutter speed, so I'm not sure what changed, but at least it's working.

Re: Frame rate/burst speed problem with D60?

diverhank — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 18:02:39 GMT

It was the high ISO filtering that slowed the frame rate down.

Re: Frame rate/burst speed problem with D60?

Funciona — Sun, 02 Feb 2014 22:05:22 GMT

In my case, the camera is in manual mode, no high ISO reduction or LE noise reduction. Still, high burst mode is faster in good light conditions than low light.

A simple test:

>Set the camera in manual mode (even focus in lens to prevent autofocus)

>Set shutter speed to something higher than 1/250

>Disable high ISO reduction

>Disable LE noise reduction

>Set drive to Burst High

Cover the lens, press and hold shutter button. Notice the speed.

Now uncover the lens, point to something bright and do it again. The speed is clearly faster.

With live view, burst mode speed has no difference at all. Weird.

The question is, why that happen? Why the amount of light influences in burst speed?

Re: Frame rate/burst speed problem with D60?

MikeSowsun — Tue, 04 Feb 2014 03:02:47 GMT

This only happens in very low light conditions. Similar to a dimly lit room in a house at night. Maybe a large room lit by one 60 watt bulb. By my own tests the lighting conditions where this fps reduction starts to appear is roughly equal to 1/100 f/2.8 at ISO 3200.

This slowed frame rate in low light is due to a new metering system called iFCL which was first introduced on the Canon 7D.

More info here: iFCL metering

To work with the iFCL metering sensor, cameras that use iFCL metering also feature a specific metering algorithm. These cameras always measure focus with all AF points, regardless of the selected AF mode. During the exposure reading the cameras look to see which points, in addition to the selected point, have achieved or almost achieved focus.

In Liveview the AF points are not being used and there is no low light slow down.

In addition to Liveview, another solution is to meter a brighter scene using Tv or Av and then press the * button for AE Lock. This stops the metering system and allows the camera to shoot at 7fps again. (the * button doesn't work in Manual mode so don't bother trying it in Manual)

Re: Frame rate/burst speed problem with D60?

Funciona — Tue, 04 Feb 2014 02:53:32 GMT

Thank you very much.

Re: Frame rate/burst speed problem with D60?

gjbpro1 — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 02:51:46 GMT

Check bottom of page 81 owners manual 60D.