M8 write speed question

[Ororaro]

what I dislike about the M8 is the slow card write speed. It sometimes drive me mad.

My question is, I am using a slow basic 2 gig card. Would a new faster card (ala sandisk extremeIII or similar) improve the write and review speeds or not?
If there's an improvement, how much?

Thanks...

 

[tmfabian]

A faster card will improve write times a wee bit and raw writes faster than jpeg on the m8.
As to how much, raw is ALOT faster than jpeg, and i don't have another card to compare the extreme III to.

edit/update:I use extreme III 2gig and jpeg full buffer clear is 50 seconds raw is 17 seconds

 

[Ororaro]

I'm trying to find some comparative times but can't... I know faster cards are worth it but on some cameras they're just not worth it. I'm wondering if the culprit is the card or simply the M8 itself...

 

[jky]

I was shooting dng+jpg which resulted in slow write times with my el-cheapo PNY 2gig SD card. Write times improved however when shooting dng only (or jpg only). I'm not sure re. faster cards as my fastest is a ATP 60X card, but if I recall correctly most of the post on the net suggest to use a fast card. Between the ATP & el-cheapo I don't notice a difference. Then again, I treat this thing like a film M & try to keep from being too trigger happy & have only filled the buffer once or twice.

what I dislike about the M8 is the slow card write speed. It sometimes drive me mad.

My question is, I am using a slow basic 2 gig card. Would a new faster card (ala sandisk extremeIII or similar) improve the write and review speeds or not?
If there's an improvement, how much?

Thanks...

 

[Joshua]

Pricey? I just grabbed a 2GB (the max the M8 will take) off of Amazon for $22 last week. That doesn't seem pricey to me ... especially compared to how much SD storage used to cost just 3 years ago.

EDIT: Here's the link. Looks like they're currently $23.85.

 

[Ororaro]

Thanks for the infos and thoughts, guys...

 

[Doug]

I'll agree with jky in post#4. I do DNG+JPG and generally don't even notice how long the write time is because I don't stare at the back of my camera after making a shot. If a follow-up shot or two are called for, the buffer handles it fine. Whatever card I have in there, a cheap 1Gb or Extreme III, is fast enough.

My concern has been that a shot might not be written at all if I turn off the main switch right after the exposure... I have noticed a few gaps in the shot number sequence.

 

[jasoncohen]

Anyone know the actual write speed on the camera? I actually just bought a bunch of 4gb 45x transcend cards and I don't really notice much of a difference between that and my extreme III cards... maybe 1 second per file...

 

[jky]

My concern has been that a shot might not be written at all if I turn off the main switch right after the exposure... I have noticed a few gaps in the shot number sequence.

This is precisely the reason I've been shooting with only dng the past few days. Once you take 2-3 shots in succession, the red light blinks (writing) for several seconds and I have a tendency to just turn the main switch off.... some shots don't even get written onto the card. Shooting dng only drastically decreases the write time... so it may depend on your workflow if you do use jpg.

 

[kbg32]

Write time with the M8 does not interfere with picture taking. The M8 does not prevent you from taking a picture while the camera is writing to the card. There is a built in buffer that stores the images as it is writing while you can take up to at least 5 images. I might be wrong about that number, but the buffer is still there. For example you can't take a picture with the original GRD, as there is no buffer and one has to wait as the image is written to the card before you can take another image.

I have turned off the camera while the camera is writing and have experienced no problems.

 

[Philippe D.]

Hi,

Write time with the M8 does not interfere with picture taking.

It could, if you're using the "C" mode and overrun the buffer, then it freeze your M8 (mostly).

Yes, the Sandisk Extreme III 2Gb is excellent. It is also the largest you can use, as the firmware (and maybe hardware ?) doesn't accept SDHC cards those days.
I only take pictures as DNG. It writes fast. I observe that JPGs takes much more time to be written, so avoid absolutely DNG + JPG.

 

[Philippe D.]

Just out of curiosity, how many DNG shots can you get onto a 2Gb card?

187 @ 10 327k each

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Sorry, I was thinking of 8 and even 16GB (260 USD)

I didn't realise the M8 was limited to only 2GB.😱

It isn't. I have a 4MB Patriot Memory card which writes pretty fast which is 95% on my M8; I did not experience any slow write times and occasional hiccups until I tried something cheap. Ever since then, I've tried not to unrespect myself or my camera.

Try to avoid anything that is not made in Taiwan or the U.S.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Just out of curiosity, how many DNG shots can you get onto a 2Gb card?

About 120, if I recall correctly.

Unfortunately, with hard drives and memory cards, a gigabyte isn't a true gigabyte (1024MB); they marketed to the "Who Cares!" people and decided that they would get away with setting 1MB = 1000 bytes (not 1024, as it should be), and 1GB = 1000 MB (not 1024 MB, as it should be). Since they're the majority, it's mainstream now.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Is the maximum sized card marked somewhere in the manual Gabriel?

I know that with some cameras, even if you put a bigger one in, the camera will only recognise it as a smaller one.

There is an "official" list available at Leica's site; some strictly-compliant 4GB cards are in that list. My card is not on that list, but it works (Patriot Memory, in my experience --of 9 years using them-- is very reliable)

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

And even when you do. They drain in time whether they are put to use or not.
I've been frustrated when one battery dies, put in the spare and there's hardly anything left in it!!

That's why I usually have at least three batteries of each kind in hand (meaning, at home). If you store a reasonably well-engineered battery properly, it keeps most of its charge for a month or so.

If after a month or so you haven't checked the batteries, well...that's not the batteries' fault. 😀

 

[Doug]

True, the AA would in many ways be preferable. But as a reluctant defense I think the M8's battery is more compact than a group of AA's with equal power. Also I hear there are other camera models that use this same battery. I have four of the batteries, but have not yet drained one in a day's use.

 

[tmfabian]

True, the AA would in many ways be preferable. But as a reluctant defense I think the M8's battery is more compact than a group of AA's with equal power. Also I hear there are other camera models that use this same battery. I have four of the batteries, but have not yet drained one in a day's use.

Yeah, the battery seems good enough for most uses, I go through 1 to 1 and a half a day, but my day consists of 12 hours of shooting with the camera left on(no auto off either).

 

[bottley1]

I use the Leica recommended Hama 4GB cards, and have not had any problems.

 

[Joshua]

Just to clarify, the reason most 4GB and above cards don't work is because the M8 doesn't support SDHC (SD High Capacity) which includes SD cards in the range of 4GB to 32GB. Some manufactures figured out how to get 4GB out of the SD standard format before SDHC hit the market in full swing and those particular cards WILL be compliant with the M8. But in *general* 2GB is the max.