Memory cards

jonritter

Senior Member
I currently have a PNY Elite Performance 64GB card and I was playing with some photo stacking using arsenal and it appeared the camera was maxing the card out. What cards are you guys using and whatever write speeds?
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
I currently have a PNY Elite Performance 64GB card and I was playing with some photo stacking using arsenal and it appeared the camera was maxing the card out. What cards are you guys using and whatever write speeds?
A lot of us around here use SanDisk Extreme Pro SD cards. They have maximum write speed of 95MB/s for UHS-I rated cards. Your D7200 is rated for UHS-II cards, however, so you should look for cards that support that spec if you want/need maximum throughput. The SanDisk Extreme Pro UHS-II will have a write speed somewhere around 260MB/s.

You might want to prepare yourself for a wee bit of "sticker shock" however... These premium cards don't come cheap.


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Michael J.

Senior Member
I tested it and it is great. It is in Slot1

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I also have a SanDisk Extreme Pro SD card 32 GB in Slot2

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jonritter

Senior Member
My current card has a write speed of 80-90. I was looking at those 260-300. Would that be beneficial when just shooting photos and no video?
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
My current card has a write speed of 80-90. I was looking at those 260-300. Would that be beneficial when just shooting photos and no video?
Well I mentioned UHS-II because your camera supports it, and because you said your Arsenal was, "maxing out" your current SD card; I took that to mean you were out-stripping the camera's buffer. Higher speed cards will definitely help with that.

If you don't need all that extra speed I can't really recommend paying for it.
 
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jonritter

Senior Member
You read it better than I explained it. I meant the buffer, but thats the only time and its more me being impatient so I think you guys answered my question! Thank you.
 

jonritter

Senior Member
I'm back and want to ask one more dumb question because I think I understand my problem now. I was shooting some 9 shot bursts RAW format. I did 4 rounds of 9 shots remote trigger. I brought my camera back in the house and pulled the card and loaded to my computer and the camera had only written 18 of the shots. Is that the gap between the buffer speed and the card write speed? I'm guessing I left it out there a minute after the last shot was fired. If so would the 260-300 write speed card make that big of difference?
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
I'm back and want to ask one more dumb question because I think I understand my problem now. I was shooting some 9 shot bursts RAW format. I did 4 rounds of 9 shots remote trigger. I brought my camera back in the house and pulled the card and loaded to my computer and the camera had only written 18 of the shots. Is that the gap between the buffer speed and the card write speed? I'm guessing I left it out there a minute after the last shot was fired. If so would the 260-300 write speed card make that big of difference?
In diving into this a little deeper it turns out your D7200 does NOT support UHS-II as I stated it did previously. My apologies for the error; I would have bet money on that but I was clearly incorrect. That being the case, take UHS-II rated cards off your list of options. Looking at this site: Memory Card Speed Tests should answer most of your questions. In short, it appears the D7200 buffer maxes out at a write speed of roughly 75MB/s so you're going to want cards that support, or exceed, that write speed.

More specifically, and in regards to your last shooting session with the lost photos, are you sure you allowed the buffer to clear the first nine shots you took before shooting the next nine? If the green light on the back of the camera is illuminated, that means the buffer is still transferring data/writing to the SD card. If you took additional shots while the buffer was still clearing it might explain why you didn't come home with all the shots you were expecting.
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
If you took additional shots while the buffer was still clearing it might explain why you didn't come home with all the shots you were expecting.

Paul, when I took drama photos, I encountered one instance where the green light stayed lit on the back...forever, it seemed. Yet I wasn't taking bursts. Because the light was on, I couldn't actuate the shutter. And I also couldn't turn off the body. Not sure if my issue is related to the write speed, or if the OP's body will act the same way my D7100 did. Since I don't shoot in bursts, I don't know if what I encountered is the same as a filled buffer. Just throwing this out there....

In other words, I'm not he could have written new images without the old ones finishing writing first.
 

Woodyg3

Senior Member
Contributor
The D7200 will take another shot as soon as there is room for one shot in the buffer, but then it will stop again until the buffer has cleared enough for another shot, etc. This will slow you to one shot every secondor so, IME. Of course, the card used will make a difference in how fast the buffer can clear room.

Sandisk Extreme Pro cards like this:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod..._sdsdxxg_064g_gn4in_extremepro_sdhc_64gb.html

seem to be the fastest.
 

jonritter

Senior Member
I've found 260-300 write speeds on up. Do you have an idea of how much of a difference that would have over a 95 for clearing the buffer?
 

Bengan

Senior Member
There is a limit to how fast the camera can clear the buffer and I don't think cards with a speed over 95 will have any effect.
 

Woodyg3

Senior Member
Contributor
I've found 260-300 write speeds on up. Do you have an idea of how much of a difference that would have over a 95 for clearing the buffer?

Those are UHS-II cards, which are not supported in the D7200. The fastest you'll get using any card in the D7200 will be about 95.
 
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