Working through the Canon EOS R7 and Canon EOS R10 reviews, I just crossed the buffer capacity testing line item off of the to-do list and thought I'd share the results here.
The question was: Does a fast memory card make a difference in Canon EOS R7 performance?
Let's create some datapoints.
The Canon EOS R7 15 and 30 fps continuous shooting modes were tested using manual mode (no AE time lag) using ISO 100, a 1/8000 (or 1/16000 electronic) shutter speed (no waiting for the shutter operation), a wide open aperture (no time lost due to aperture blades closing), and manual focus (no focus lock delay). The image was black for the smallest file size, the battery was near full charge, and the specified freshly-formatted fast memory card was loaded.
In the table below, the V90 and V60 indicate the minimum write speed specifications for the memory cards used in the test. You care about the minimum write speed when photographing (or during movie capture), and fast card reading is always associated with fast writing.
Specifically, these tests used the Lexar 256GB Professional 2000x V90 300 MB/s UHS-II SDXC (high performance option) and Lexar 256GB Professional 1667x V90 250 MB/s UHS-II SDXC (great value, still fast option) memory cards. The first two sets of tests were so fun that I added a reasonably fast UHS-I V30 card to the chart.
The numbers indicate the image count at buffer full — the first pause in continuous shooting.
Shutter/RAW Type | V90 | V60 | V30 |
Elec RAW | 69 | 61 | 61 |
Elec CRAW | 125 | 125 | 125 |
1st Curtain RAW | 152 | 101 | 80 |
1st Curtain CRAW | 237 | 235 | 232 |
Sec to write buffer | 8-12 | 12-15 | 12-32 |
Breaking it down — what do those numbers tell us?
First, those of us who need the camera fully ready as fast as possible or need to review the last-captured image immediately after shooting a long burst (and those of us who are impatient) will want a faster card for the considerably faster buffer clearing ability.
Photographers selecting the RAW file format will notice the performance benefit of a V90 card, but the V60 card benefit over V30 is limited to the 1st curtain RAW mode — and there is a noticeable difference.
Those shooting in CRAW format will not notice an increased continuous image capture count from the faster card.
The CRAW file format is made attractive by these numbers, and those shooting in JPG format will enjoy a considerably higher number of images captured before the buffer full condition.
A vast number of memory cards are available, and they have varying speeds, but these tests give us a look at this camera's performance.
What about the R10? Does a fast memory card make a difference in Canon EOS R10 performance? Here is the that chart:
Shutter/RAW Type | V90 | V60 | V30 |
Elec RAW | 39 | 25 | 25 |
Elec CRAW | 109 | 93 | 77 |
1st Curtain RAW | 65 | 35 | 30 |
1st Curtain CRAW | >780 | >340 | 165 |
Sec to write buffer | 2-3 | 5-6 | 4-10 |
With few exceptions, the faster card provides more images before the buffer full pause and a shorter time until the buffer is clear.
I became bored after capturing a huge number of V90 and V60 1st curtain electronic shutter CRAW format images and didn't complete those tests. The camera appeared to support that frame rate indefinitely.
Again, the CRAW file format appears attractive by these numbers, and those shooting in JPG format will enjoy a considerably higher number of images captured before the buffer full condition.
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