[dpn]

Hi all,

I have a K-7 that I adore. I purchased it new in February 2010, and it has been an absolute delight to use. I've been experiencing something troubling with the camera recently, however.

Over the last month or so, I've noticed that the camera seems like it's writing to the SD card more slowly. I used to be able to shoot a burst of ~ 3-7 shots, hit the play button, and almost immediately see the last picture I took. Now, the camera takes much longer in order to display my shots; the little orange light blinks for a few seconds before showing me my pictures. It feels like there's a slowdown in writing to the SD card, or the camera's on-board cache got smaller.

I shoot DNG without JPG previews. I've noticed this problem with several fast SD cards (Sandisk Extreme IIIs or better). I always format my cards in-camera after I download my shots into Lightroom.

Image quality hasn't changed; it's still wonderful!

This feels like it'd be darn near impossible for a tech to diagnose, let alone fix. I also wonder whether it'd be cost efficient to fix.

Any ideas? The shutter has roughly 30,000 actuations, and the camera has been a faithful, rugged companion while shooting wildlife in the Mojave desert and brides at weddings. I didn't think it was possible for a modern camera to develop patina, but the "battle damage" on my K-7's magnesium-steel body tickles me.

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[hcc]

There are two likely culprits:

*Assuming that your card is still OK, it is most likely that some in-camera post-processign take place: eg lens distortion correction, jigh ISO noise reduction .... I suggest that you check your settings and switch off all in-camera processing. In-camera PP takes typicaly 1-3 s per shot!

*The other possilbity is your card, being damaged and slower.

The first point is the most common issue and very easy to fix.

Hope that the comment will help.

[dpn]

No in-camera processing, other than high-ISO noise reduction, was on. I've turned it off, and hopefully that'll help.

It's not the SD cards; I experienced the slowness with three different SD cards, including a brand new class 10 Sandisk.

Thanks for the reply!

*crossing my fingers that the high-ISO noise reduction will do the trick*

[baro-nite]

*crossing my fingers that the high-ISO noise reduction will do the trick*

For longer exposures that can make quite a difference. (In-camera NR time equal to exposure time plus a little.)

[HEEGZ]

you might have accidentally enabled one of the processing options, i would triple check those. about a year ago i accidentally turned one on or forgot that i had done so. you could always try resetting all of the settings as well. these are easy things to check quickly.

[dpn]

@baro-nite: Well understood. I just shot a (very well lit) wedding on the 4th, and had this problem with ISO 400, 1/30th exposures.

@HEEGZ: Just triple-checked last night after posting the thread. Everything that can be turned off has been turned off. *grin*

Thanks all for the replies!

[HEEGZ]

I just double checked on my K7 and the two culprits were Distortion Correction and Lat-Chromatic-Ab Adj under Lens Correction. Barring those I would Reset everything to default settings. It doesn't sound like a card problem, so if those things don't work you might consider sending it in.

[dpn]

Now I'm sheepish -- Distortion Correction and Lat-Chromatic-Ab Adj were both checked. I have no recollection of turning them on. I went through all of the menus again, and I'm confident (Ha! I was before!) that everything is turned off.

Thanks for the troubleshooting assistance.

[mtansley]

I just double checked on my K7 and the two culprits were Distortion Correction and Lat-Chromatic-Ab Adj under Lens Correction. Barring those I would Reset everything to default settings. It doesn't sound like a card problem, so if those things don't work you might consider sending it in.

Thank you. You have JUST solved a problem I was having with my new K-5.

I wondered WHY my K-5 suddenly started to take a LONG time to write to even a very fast Sandisk card whereas when it was new it was faster.

Suddenly, a day or two ago it speeded up. This was VERY puzzling.

I had activated the Distortion Correction and Lat-Chromatic-Ab adjustments soon after I got it and it worked very well, it then slowed down a few days later.

Why?

I at first had my Tamron 28-300 on it, I expect there is NO lens profile so the in-camera adjustment can't do anything.

I then switched to my 18-55 WR lens, of course it HAS a profile and the camera slowed down.

I switched back to my Tamron and of course it sped up again.

I've just carried out a test and of course that is the culprit. Now ALL my memory cards work fast.

Maybe this will help the Original Poster as it has helped me understand some mysteries of my new K-5.

Thanks

[RossCo]

Thank-you
I made some changes to the settings on my K7 a while ago. I was teaching a course and needed some jpegs. I went through all of the settings and changed a number of them. All of a sudden the write speed slowed a way down. The first four pictures were OK but the 5th was 3-5 seconds later - and now I know why. I shoot mainly with my 16-50.

Paul

[HEEGZ]

Now I'm sheepish -- Distortion Correction and Lat-Chromatic-Ab Adj were both checked. I have no recollection of turning them on. I went through all of the menus again, and I'm confident (Ha! I was before!) that everything is turned off.

Thanks for the troubleshooting assistance.

For your sake, I am glad you quadruple checked, and that I posted again with the details. It just sounded too much like the issue I had, and the main reason I remember so vividly was because of the panic I felt at the sudden (and extreme) loss in performance. I'm glad that this also helped the rest of you, and maybe you will be reminding someone else, next year, who will be having the same problem!