[JP_Seattle]

The K-x advertises 4.7 frames per second up to 17 frames on continuous HI mode shooting JPEGs. I cannot get anywhere near this speed with my brand new K-x. I get 3 shots in either continuous HI or continuous LOW followed by maybe 1 frame per 2 seconds. I have this without flash, dropped the quality to 2MP, and down to 1 star quality and it is still this slow.

What am I missing? Why am I not getting anywhere near the advertised 4.7 frames per second?

Thanks!

It's possible the batteries may have something to do with it. Which ones are you using?

[luke0622]

which lens are you using? turn off the lens correction thing and try that...

[JP_Seattle]

Tried several different batteries... Lithium, Eneloops, other batteries.


Just found this blog about the same issue:

Eolake Stobblehouse thoughts: Shooting in continuous mode

Apparently, it is caused by the automatic Lens Correction settings being on. The camera can only shoot 3 frames with these settings on before it has to apply the processing to the frames. By turning these off, I am able to get 8 continual shots with no slowing at all at high speed and then the speed drops off to the lower continual shooting speed indefinitely.

If I release the shutter at or before 8 shots, and press the shutter again after waiting a second or 2, I can get 8 more HI speed continual shots before it will drop off again.

Can any other K-x owners verify that this is normal operation for all K-x cameras.

I have tested it with Eneloops, Sony 2500 maH rechargeables, and Energizer Lithium batteries. As for SD cards, I tested it with an 8gb Class 6 card and 2 seperate 2gb Class 4 cards... same results with all battery/SD card combinations.

[JP_Seattle]

Lowering the MP and quality of the jpeg down to 2MP and 1 star with all in-camera processing turned off, batteries fully charged, new class 6 SD card will fetch me 12 images at high speed and then drop off to low speed. In RAW, I can only get 4 or 5.

I would really like to know if anyone is getting the advertised 4.7 fps up to 17 frames and how they are doing so.

I'm curious as to what are you using continuous frame shooting for? Pentax has never been the choice for those who have that as a priority.

Now that Pentax has got the FPS rate up (supposedly) I'm interested in how it's being utilised.

[JP_Seattle]

I mainly use continual shooting for shooting motorcycle or car racing at high speeds. I have also found it to be useful photographing airplanes, wildlife, and runway fashion.

[hcc]

The K-x advertises 4.7 frames per second up to 17 frames on continuous HI mode shooting JPEGs. I cannot get anywhere near this speed with my brand new K-x. I get 3 shots in either continuous HI or continuous LOW followed by maybe 1 frame per 2 seconds. I have this without flash, dropped the quality to 2MP, and down to 1 star quality and it is still this slow.

What am I missing? Why am I not getting anywhere near the advertised 4.7 frames per second?

Thanks!

JP,
I do a lot of continuous shooting with my a K-7. I found that the best settings for continuous shooting (Hi) are:

- remove all post-processing (especially lens correction) in your camera settings; extremely important because the PP slows down the writing speed; Do check that lens correction is Off

- use a good SD card; for example a Class 10 30 Mb/s; in continuous shooting [Hi], you will need have 5 files per seconds to transfer to your card;

- do not saturate the buffer: select a file format (and size) that allows you some continuous shooting without saturating the buffer; for example, with a class 10 SD card, ensure that the file size is less than 6 Mb to achieve 5 fps; I use myself JPEG 6Mp [***] file format with my Sandisk SD class 10 card;

- do not use RAW in continuous shooting [Hi]: you will fill up the buffer after a couple of shots.

- you must set the camera in AF.S or Manual focus during continuous shooting [Hi]. Do not use AF.C.


Using continuous shooting [Hi] with JPEG 6 Mp [***], I can shot more than 20 s at 5 fps with my K-7 and I am sure that I can go for 60 s easily. You should be able to do the same with your K-x.

Please do check that the Lens Correction and AF settings, these are common errors from many Pentax dSLR users.

I hope that the comments will help. Good shooting...

[sir.b]

thank you for this post and all the answers
i was getting frustrated
even a Class 6 SD card would do 1 frame every 2 seconds
turned lens correction off and now I get the advertised frame rates

I mainly use continual shooting for shooting motorcycle or car racing at high speeds. I have also found it to be useful photographing airplanes, wildlife, and runway fashion.

Thanks.

[JP_Seattle]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge on the matter. I am pretty satisfied with the results I am getting now that I have turned all the in-camera post processing off.