Frame rate/burst speed problem with D60?

[Justin]

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

[Skirball]

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.

[Stephen]

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!

[Justin]

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

[Skirball]

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?

[Justin]

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? =]

[diverhank]

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.

[Justin]

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.

[diverhank · Accepted solution]

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.

[Justin]

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! =]