EDIT : I was wrong about UHS-II certification, must have confused with another system. The K-1 has UHS-1 certification only.
I have a gripe with my otherwise beloved K-1 ii, I am interested in knowing how you guys are managing it.
The writing of images to SD card on K-1 ii is painfully slow. Sure the RAW files are large, but even compared to my friends Nikon D810 with similar megapixel sensor the writing speed is slow. My 2013 model of Nikon D5300 writes SD card Raw + JPEG files in 2 - 3 seconds after filling up a buffer of 5 RAW shots. My Pentax K1 takes over 10-11 seconds to write 11 RAW shots! Essentially this means both are writing at around 30 MB/s speed, despite having been built half a decade apart, with the D5300 taking the lead at times. I purchased the D5300 with 18-55 mm and 70-300 mm lens for $250 locally, which is evidence that the tech used to make the Nikon is quite cheap by now. Surely a premium camera deserves better SD card write hardware?
And if I wish to also copy the images onto SD card slot 2 as a safety measure against sudden card failure, that adds 30-40% more wait time because there is simply no parallel write between two slots. This was silly. Today I missed a shot of the bird flying because it took an unexpected turn, and by the time camera was done writing but bird was out of view.
As in 2016 the SD card write speed of of k1 was already considered one of its weaker points, I really wish pentax had heard and engineered a faster write speed for the K-1 ii refresh. It is a limiting aspect of this camera in high activity situations. The UHS-II certification of SD card slot 1 is also a gimmick - the writing is nowhere near UHS-II write speeds. Such a delight to use otherwise, why do this Ricoh!
I have resorted to shooting JPEG only in high action situations (programmed as a user mode) to keep the buffer length longer, and miss fewer shots.
- How are you guys managing the long write times to SD card?
- Are there any particular SD cards that offer better experience?
- Would you shoot 15 MP RAW or 36 MP JPEG, to increase the buffer depth and reduce the writing time of the K-1 beyond what it offers for 36 MP raw?
Any tips are welcome, and thanks for your response in advance!
Last edited by brainwave; 07-10-2020 at 01:00 PM.