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11-22-2010, 04:05 AM   #1
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Pentax K-5 - buffer limit problem !!!

This is the fastest and most accurately focusing camera Pentax has ever built, easily in line with Canon and Nikon's offerings in the price range. One small disappointment is that the fast focus and 7 fps capture rate makes the camera suitable for sports and wildlife photography, but the camera has a somewhat limited buffer. The 40 frames of JPEG is reasonable (the example is in video review: Videoclips about Pentax K-5 Digital Camera ) but the 15 image RAW buffer is a bit cramped. But then Pentax doesn't make the long lenses for that kind of photography anyway. Though Sigma does make some with Pentax mounts. With the few ballgame or bird photos I take, I haven't found the buffer limit to be a problem.

11-22-2010, 04:22 AM   #2
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Hi gubak,

I don't know why you created a thread with 3 exclaimation marks when new (or a rare guest) on the forum and without researching the topic first. Anyway, I welcome you to the forum

As for your thread's topic: This was fully addressed by Pentax in a firmware release last week (1.01) and now the K-5 has the largest buffer limit among the direct competition.

I.e., it now bursts about 25 raw images or 35 JPG images (up to 44 actually) before slowing down at 7 fps.

That's actually beating both D7000 and 7D which only burst up to about 15 raw images in full speed (6 and 8 fps resp.).


The corresponding threads can be accessed via this link:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-k-5-forum/123033-quick-test-contin...re-1-01-a.html

P.S.
I don't think the poster is actually a K-5 owner as otherwise, he would have known. The thread should be closed maybe as it is a duplicate and the title is misleading.

Last edited by falconeye; 11-22-2010 at 04:41 AM.
11-22-2010, 04:22 AM   #3
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upgrade your firmware? ...
11-22-2010, 04:43 AM   #4
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QuoteOriginally posted by falconeye Quote
Hi gubak,
P.S.
I don't think the poster is actually a K-5 owner as otherwise, he would have known. The thread should be closed maybe as it is a duplicate.
Give him a break !!!
Have someone tested how many raw's you can take before it slows down on a slow class 2 card?

11-22-2010, 05:12 AM   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by StigVidar Quote
Give him a break !!!
Have someone tested how many raw's you can take before it slows down on a slow class 2 card?
I was kinda wondering what point the OP is trying to make?
All one needs to do is read the specs, and if this isn't the camera or system for you, move on to something that is.
11-22-2010, 05:49 AM   #6
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I have dumb question i guess. If the problem has been solved. In a firmware update for the k-5. Then the algorithms are there for the update of the k-x and k-7. Is this correct. If so when can we expect to get the update. Or is it already there? I haven't checked lately?
I think the engin is the same in the dslr series. Isn't it?
11-22-2010, 05:49 AM   #7
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Is there a question in the opening post?

11-22-2010, 05:56 AM   #8
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garyk: we don't really know how it was done. personally i would bet on the pentax coders doing a slight screwup with the initial firmware, and not using the buffer at it's full capacity, but i might be wrong and it might be some sort of "magic" after all. point is, it might not apply to the other models. however, kudos for fixing it so quickly, and not "swiping it under the rug" (it was, as it was, up to spec with the others in it's class, after all)
11-22-2010, 06:14 AM   #9
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Just wondering. when it first came out I thought i read it was the same engine as the k-7. And since the file sizes were bigger it was a linier decrease due to the bigger file size with a 16 mb sensor.
It just makes sense it is a software fix.
I guess i do not really care. but if it is then the k-7 and the k-x would be better than the k-5 in burst shooting. It would mean the k-x and the k-7 would best the k-5?
For some reason I see this as the main reason I will not see it.
Just thinking about it some.
11-22-2010, 06:27 AM   #10
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Haha. Ok, well it is the camera buffer that will hold the 20+ files, card write speed has nothing to do with the initial max number of burst frames. I think on a class 2 card you would probably be waiting a few minutes for the buffer to actually finish writing to the card.
11-22-2010, 09:53 AM   #11
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I still think the thread should die or be closed. Look at the thread title ...
11-22-2010, 10:35 AM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by falconeye Quote
Hi gubak,

I don't know why you created a thread with 3 exclaimation marks when new (or a rare guest) on the forum and without researching the topic first. Anyway, I welcome you to the forum

As for your thread's topic: This was fully addressed by Pentax in a firmware release last week (1.01) and now the K-5 has the largest buffer limit among the direct competition.

I.e., it now bursts about 25 raw images or 35 JPG images (up to 44 actually) before slowing down at 7 fps.

That's actually beating both D7000 and 7D which only burst up to about 15 raw images in full speed (6 and 8 fps resp.).


The corresponding threads can be accessed via this link:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-k-5-forum/123033-quick-test-contin...re-1-01-a.html

P.S.
I don't think the poster is actually a K-5 owner as otherwise, he would have known. The thread should be closed maybe as it is a duplicate and the title is misleading.
Hey, Falconeye, If a person used a SanDisk Class 10 Card, wouldn't the K-5 be able to shoot for a longer time then the above mentioned?
11-22-2010, 10:52 AM   #13
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QuoteOriginally posted by Pentax Lover Quote
Hey, Falconeye, If a person used a SanDisk Class 10 Card, wouldn't the K-5 be able to shoot for a longer time then the above mentioned?
No, it is dependent on the camera's buffer. The speed of the card will only determine how fast the buffer clears once it is full.
11-22-2010, 11:08 AM   #14
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the gap between the speed of a modern memory chip and "permanent storage" (solid state, like flash disks, hard disks, you name it) is so imense that it doesn't really matter in this case how fast the card is. as mentioned, that only comes into play when you are flushing the buffer. we are talking orders of one to a million or worse. this is also why your computer becomes so slow when it's starting to swap heavily (migrating from memory to disk, when out of memory; in this case along with throughput, access times gaps make the problem even worse)
11-22-2010, 11:08 AM   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by pxpaulx Quote
No, it is dependent on the camera's buffer. The speed of the card will only determine how fast the buffer clears once it is full.
Since the camera writes(streaming) data while taking images theoretically... faster card can affect the total no. of shots in some way or another.

Now whether or not the difference is enough to squeeze in one or more images in the fray is subjective. Though on the K20D, I've found aprox. 3 frames between the slowest and fastest cards.
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