Canon 5D Mark III “busy” error?

[troywach]

Hello - new to the forums. I’ve been having an issue with my 5D Mark III camera recently when shooting events. When I shoot continuously, after about 10-14 shots, my camera will say “Busy” & not let me shoot anymore for about 5-10 seconds. And if I continue to shoot after that pause it’ll keep pausing. It’s making me miss a lot of shots. I was wondering if anyone knew why this could be happening & how to fix it? I’m using a Sandisk Ultra 32GB card, is this too slow? I’ve tried reformatting the card & nothing’s worked. Any help is appreciated. Let me know if you need more info. Thanks!

[Peter]

SD, 21MB/s. CF, 120MB/s as maximum write speed. Which card slot do you use? The slow SD slot or the fast CF slot?

[troywach]

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@Peter wrote:
SD, 21MB/s. CF, 120MB/s as maximum write speed. Which card slot do you use? The slow SD slot or the fast CF slot?

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I use an SD card, I’m assuming a CF would help speed up the buffer? I’m not real educated on the difference between the two—never used a CF before.

[Peter · Accepted solution]

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@troywach wrote:

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@Peter wrote:
SD, 21MB/s. CF, 120MB/s as maximum write speed. Which card slot do you use? The slow SD slot or the fast CF slot?

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I use an SD card, I’m assuming a CF would help speed up the buffer? I’m not real educated on the difference between the two—never used a CF before.

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Yes, a high speed CF will solve your issue.

[MikeSowsun]

You seem to imply that this is a new issue. Have you recently changed anything in the way you shoot?

Shooting RAW instead of JPEG?

Using SD card instead of CF card?

Using a new, slower memory card?  

Enabled lens aberration correction?  

Enabled White Balance Auto Bracketing? 

Any of these can cause symptoms like you are experiencing.

[troywach]

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@MikeSowsun wrote:

You seem to imply that this is a new issue. Have you recently changed anything in the way you shoot?

Shooting RAW instead of JPEG?

Using SD card instead of CF card?

Using a new, slower memory card?  

Enabled lens aberration correction?  

Enabled White Balance Auto Bracketing? 

Any of these can cause symptoms like you are experiencing.

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It’s probably not a new issue as the events I’ve done before didnt require such high speed continuous shooting, so I just never noticed it before. Now that I’m trying to shoot as fast as possible, I’ve noticed the lag. 

I shoot in RAW.

I use an SD instead of CF. Never used a CF before. Would this help?

Lens Abberation Correction & White Balance Bracketing are NOT enabled.

Do you think it just has to do with shooting RAW & on an SD?

[ebiggs1]

"I use an SD instead of CF. Never used a CF before. Would this help?"

Yes!

I would still do a complete reset. You have nothing to lose and a lot to gain. You may have something set wrong by accident or don't remember doing it.  Reset it.

[ebiggs1]

Reset your camera first off. ANytime things do not go as you think they should and you don't know why, always reset the camera. If you don't know how to reset it, check your manual. It is in the Menus,

Now set the camera to shoot jpg only, P mode, ISO 200. Use the CF slot not the SD slot. Try it on a nice daylight setting.  If it works, then it works. Other settings you made cause it to slow down, like Raw vs jpg. SD vs CF, etc.

[troywach]

Thank you all so much!