[clickclick]

As a musician with very extended tastes in music, nothing could take me by surprise...ever been to a performance of 4'33"?

just checked it out - had to replace the battery in my hearing aid - pretty cool after I did

[photoptimist]

The goal is to mimic a larger format sensor while using the same lens. How many images you use will determine the size of the sensor you mimic. 2 images or 800, it's a matter of degrees to decide how many is enough. 20 images out of your k1 should get you pretty close to a 4x5" camera*, you can go a little bigger before the buffer hits (or with more overlap for safety) shooting in jpeg. Many of the examples I've seen on the web fall from 20 to 50 images, how much is enough is personal taste.

*in sensor/film size only. You don't have the movements these large format cameras have, nor the instant credibility you'd get for pulling one out (and being proficient with it), along with the instant doubling (or more) of your fees.

Exactly!

And if you want a stronger Brenizer effect without resorting to large numbers of tiles, then buying a better brighter lens might be much much cheaper than replacing an entire system with a high-end, deep-buffer, fast-card camera. A lens that can be used at f/2 needs only 1/4th as many tiles as a lens that must be stopped down to f/4.

[UncleVanya]

According to B&H, SD card performance has surpassed CompactFlash:

Traditionally, SD cards were always a few steps behind CompactFlash cards when it came to performance, but since CompactFlash cards haven’t been updated in a while, SD cards have recently passed them with UHS-II cards. UHS-II SD cards offer read speeds up to 312 MB/s, almost twice the speed of UDMA 7 CompactFlash cards. However, because they are so new, not many cameras and card readers support UHS-II cards, and while UHS-II cards are backward compatible, they won’t work at full speed with older card readers. In fact, most high-end DSLR cameras are still unable to write at UHS-II speeds.

The Numbers on Your Memory Card Explained | B&H Explora

The linked page also has a diagram and explanation of the numbers and symbols on SD cards.

XQD <> compact flash, performance of 440 MB/s claimed.

[Alex645]

Another anecdote and different interpretation of Bruce's title: If you do Professional work, you might need two bodies... (because of buffering)

The last wedding that I shot, I "buffered" with two bodies; one in my hands and one in the hands of an assistant photographer. I did all the formal, classic shots and my assistant (paid mostly in gaining experience) shot all the candid spontaneous moments (cinema verité style).

That way I didn't have to where two hats, the client got two photographers for the price of one, and my assistant and I agreed to split the fee 80/20. Full disclosure: I did bring a third camera that was never used, just in case Murphy's Law became an issue.

[audiobomber]

XQD <> compact flash, performance of 440 MB/s claimed.

Thanks for the update. Hopefully the K-3 III will be able to take advantage of UHS-II cards.

[UncleVanya]

Thanks for the update. Hopefully the K-3 III will be able to take advantage of UHS-II cards.

Sure. And from what I read 800-900MB/s is theoretically possible due to the bus speeds. They are larger cards and they aren't nearly as easy to carry.

[BigMackCam]

Sure. And from what I read 800-900MB/s is theoretically possible due to the bus speeds. They are larger cards and they aren't nearly as easy to carry.

Finally, I can unlock the performance of my *ist DL !!! (I did the firmware upgrade, so it has to work, right?)...

[UncleVanya]

Finally, I can unlock the performance of my *ist DL !!! (I did the firmware upgrade, so it has to work, right?)...

Absolutely. It comes with the firmware to take three pictures before you even think them up.

[clackers]

Add me to the list of be selective with shooting, don't spray and pray, I'm afraid.

I do carry two cameras when I go to an event, but it's not because of buffer, it's because one will have a zoom covering the wide focal lengths, the second the longer. The current situation dictates which is in my hand, but if an opportunity arises, such as an interesting looking dude in the crowd or something spontaneously happens in a stall I'm walking past, out comes the other one.

I'm with Wheatfield ... bursts of two or three at the right time are what you need at most. If you're again and again going through ten virtually identical frames on your laptop, the situation didn't call for it.

This motorbike skill rider had a very predictable motion, whether he has eyes shut in a frame or not is irrelevant, I just took single shots through the sequence using back button focus. Nine in-between shots where the limbs are in transition and not properly extended simply aren't keepers.

I used just one shot, the final one here, as my keeper on social media, so it's been post-processed, the others are to be thrown away.

K-1, Tamron 70-200mm f2.8.

[clackers]

Exceptions where you do want more than single shot are where the action or expression comes and goes. Wildlife is a good example of this, I'll do a burst of four or five especially when the bird's noticed me and looks up from what it's doing ... it can be two seconds and it takes off, not to be seen again.

In a sports shot you want the ball in proximity to a player, so again, a burst is handy. A baseball pitch has certain poses embedded in the action and you want to get those. In a play where you sense there's going to be action at one of the bases, it pays not to fill that buffer, don't take as many shots as you could, because you might need to swing to third base to get the result of the steal or the sacrifice fly or whatever.

K-S2, Tamron 70-200mm f2.8:

[Culture]

I shoot weddings too and I use a K-3. I have always been using I SD card.
Then during my last wedding, I thought I should buy a second SD card for back up.
You couldnt have imagine how surprised I was at how slow the camera was. The second card is supposedly faster than first one.
I had to change my shooting still. I thought several times about removing the card. But this wedding was a high stake wedding and I didnt want anything to go wrong.

I did create a thread to ask about that. But didnt get the problem solved.

[BruceBanner]

Add me to the list of be selective with shooting, don't spray and pray, I'm afraid.

I do carry two cameras when I go to an event, but it's not because of buffer, it's because one will have a zoom covering the wide focal lengths, the second the longer. The current situation dictates which is in my hand, but if an opportunity arises, such as an interesting looking dude in the crowd or something spontaneously happens in a stall I'm walking past, out comes the other one.

I'm with Wheatfield ... bursts of two or three at the right time are what you need at most. If you're again and again going through ten virtually identical frames on your laptop, the situation didn't call for it.

This motorbike skill rider had a very predictable motion, whether he has eyes shut in a frame or not is irrelevant, I just took single shots through the sequence using back button focus. Nine in-between shots where the limbs are in transition and not properly extended simply aren't keepers.

I used just one shot, the final one here, as my keeper on social media, so it's been post-processed, the others are to be thrown away.

K-1, Tamron 70-200mm f2.8.

I think people are misunderstanding the event and situation here. The scenarios and situations others are using as examples or suggesting are not the same as what I encountered recently. Remember, I stated from the outset I have been snapping for quite some time, 2 yrs with Pentax alone and never actually encountered buffering issues, and I put that down to two things; writing/saving content to two sd cards at once (as I tend not to do that as standard but only important events), and the actual specificity of event/situation itself.

What you have shown here clackers, I would have shot in exactly the same manner. Unless after that bike jumped in the air, another followed right behind, and another, and another, and you have 12mins to take pics then that was it for the day... then maybe also you would have hit a buffer issue.
I was in a concert photo pit, 3 songs, take a burst pic of the singer, chimp quickly, damn, no good, try again, ok... there looks to be a couple there that capture the moment better and in focus, time to move, someone else wants this spot, time to snap the guitarist>repeat through 5 different band members for the 12mins continuously. It's accumulative buffer issue, and until now I never encountered it, not even at the community public speaking thing I cover, where if you've ever tried to snap people talking to an audience, it's harder than singers as there are no prolonged moments, it's very tricky photography indeed. Difference there tho I had 30mins to snap and some Q&A time as well.

At the wedding I didn't encounter the buffer problem from 11-9, it was only on the very odd occasion, typically at the end when folk are plastered and wanting shot after shot after shot (to get their monies worth I guess...)

So please, this thread wasn't supposed to be about technique per se, each situation is different, I could see another wedding with a different caliber of clients going another way, I also snapped PVT earlier in the year but because I could have my camera out for the whole concert, buffer issue never occurred (ie the pressure was completely different and time was on my side).

EDIT: Oh and nice shots clackers

I shoot weddings too and I use a K-3. I have always been using I SD card.
Then during my last wedding, I thought I should buy a second SD card for back up.
You couldnt have imagine how surprised I was at how slow the camera was. The second card is supposedly faster than first one.
I had to change my shooting still. I thought several times about removing the card. But this wedding was a high stake wedding and I didnt want anything to go wrong.

I did create a thread to ask about that. But didnt get the problem solved.

Well I notice the difference too, coming from also more often than not being a 1 card at a time shooter. I don't think I'll go back to that habit however, I think 2 cards at once is a sound idea, I just need to gain better awareness of when buffer walls are coming and how to handle them. Having two cameras is a great strategy and one I intend to keep up with, unless the event is low key and the pressure less.

[beachgardener]

I think people are misunderstanding the event and situation here

we have all been in fast paced, action is on, limited time, have to get the shot scenario.
I remember a time when I asked to photograph an Iron man contest at Coolum. Thing was there was one vest available, someone had not turned up, my lucky day, fantastic view point to watch the races being out on the sand with the competitors. I had a ball getting all sorts of nice shots, and decided that I needed a finish line shot of one of the major races, no way most of the other photographers were just standing in front of each other to get the shots, they knew their positions. In an instance I had no view to get the shot, blocked by photographers, man I had to work fast and hard to get it. All this on film, no screen to look at, we had to know that we had the shots, recorded on film confidently.
At one (there were several) of the Nude In's in Byron Bay (suggesting/protesting for clothes optional beach at Belongil), man what a day Until the spiral of bodies happened, photographers everywhere, same thing, had to fight for a view point, this was only going to happen once and once only, had to get the shot, black and white film with manual film advance, manual focus Nikon FM with three fast lenses (I used that day), had to fight for it (blocked by others), moved maybe three or four times, I got it, a really good shot, sand everywhere though
So yeah I think we know

[Culture]

The thing about wedding photographers is they all come in different shapes and sizes. Some photographers cost $10,000 or more, some don't even cost $1,000 (<<< me lol). There will always be weddings where they hire the photographer they can afford. As long as you offer a service at a price that reflects the ability of your work then I think that's fair and also serves a market that is in need of some semi decent shots of the day. I think it's terribly restrictive for families on lower incomes to have nowhere to turn because all their local photographers are out of their budget.

This is one thing that a lot of professional photographers dont understand. And I dont get it. Maybe when we do become real pros, we might not under either.

I dont charge more than I can produce. I know my editing skill is not what I want it to be. I dont even use Photoshop (industry standard?).

But last summer I got a gig because the couple could not afford the "pro". Next summer this same couple is planning on referring me to three people they know who are getting married. I charge €600 for a full day.

[photoptimist]

This is one thing that a lot of professional photographers dont understand. And I dont get it. Maybe when we do become real pros, we might not under either.

I dont charge more than I can produce. I know my editing skill is not what I want it to be. I dont even use Photoshop (industry standard?).

But last summer I got a gig because the couple could not afford the "pro". Next summer this same couple is planning on referring me to three people they know who are getting married. I charge €600 for a full day.

The cost of a "pro" arises from the math of turning pro and depending on photography for 100% of income. If a pro wants a living wage, they have to consider the costs of vehicle & equipment, the hours they spend meeting with prospective clients, the hours they spend editing, curating, and delivering final images, and the fact that weddings tend to only happen on weekends and mostly in the summer.

And when they do that math, they'll probably realize that they must charge €1000-€2000 per wedding to avoid becoming one of the low-income families that can't afford a pro. And if the "pro" wants to buy/rent a studio for a more professional service, hire a second photographer, and spend more time per client coordinating the photoshoot, then the cost per wedding will be even higher.