D750 Buffer limitation or Age factor?

ramnyc

New member
Hi,
I am trying to take quick photos (1photo/sec), after taking 8-10 Photos the cam stops taking photo for about 5-6secs. and then it's ready for the shoot. If I shoot at 1photo/5sec there is no issue. I used the same memory card for a long time without any issue. I changed different memory cards it's the same.
This started happening last few weeks. I did a full factory reset and also updated to the latest firmware (update the firmware after the issue popped up, still no use). It's really frustrating when key moments are missed especially birthday cake-cutting and other my kids' dances. I don't use the busting option as that's too fast, I don't need that fast.

Is this an issue that might pop up on a 6yr old camera? is it due to age it's starting to show its issues? or is there some setting that I might have accidentally changed causing this?
Here are my settings:
Shooting mode: Manual
ISO: Off
Shutter: 1/60
Aperture: f4
Autofocus: AF-A Auto
Lens: 24-120 (VR:eek:n , Normal, M/A)
Memory card: Lexar 128gb SDXC U3/II10 150MS/s
Shutter count: 37112
Note: I Shoot photos of my family/friends and as a hobby, not for commercial.
Appreciate any help! Thanks!
 

Bikerbrent

Senior Member
Welcome aboard. Enjoy the ride.
We look forward to seeing more posts and samples of your work.

I don't have a D750 so can't help you, but I am sure someone will be along shortly.
 

Dangerspouse

Senior Member
...after taking 8-10 Photos the cam stops taking photo for about 5-6secs. and then it's ready for the shoot. If I shoot at 1photo/5sec there is no issue.

Hi ramnyc, and welcome (from nj)!

Funny, I just started researching a few Nikon models as I look to upgrade, including the D750. Just read a bunch of stuff on them yesterday.

You didn't mention if you're shooting in RAW or JPEG. If you are shooting RAW, the D750 buffer in continuous shooting mode fills up at approx 12 images (see this video at the 12:40 mark). At that point the camera will not be able to take more shots for several seconds, which sounds like what you're experiencing. One picture every 5 seconds is enough of a gap that you don't have to worry about this, but faster than that and you will.

If you are shooting JPEG, this is not really an issue as less info is being sent to the card. That's even the case with my entry level D5500. I can hold the button down in continuous mode until my finger cramps if I'm in JPEG, and the buffer never fills. But in RAW, she stops shooting after only 4 or 5.

So it's my guess that if you were previously able to shoot a high number of frames per second for a long period of time, you were shooting in JPEG. But somehow you changed the setting to RAW, and so now you can only do that for about 12 shots before the camera has to pause. My initial thought is the camera is fine - a shutter count of 37k is nothing for that beast regardless how old it is. But is is only a guess as I say. Hopefully someone who actually owns a D750 here will chime in and correct me if I'm wrong.

I hope you get this sorted out, and I look forwards to seeing some of your pictures!
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
As Dangerspouse and Andy mentioned, it might have to do with the buffer speed. Keep watch on the back of the D750 when this happens. Is there a little green light showing up (possibly blinking)? If so, the body is writing to the card and hasn't yet finished.
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Are you saying that you are taking one shot every second, and after 8-10 shots over 8-10 seconds it stops and then starts again after another 5-6 seconds? Something ain't right. I've had the D750 and shooting one frame per second, even if you're shooting Raw+JPEG, you should be able to go on almost infinitely particular with that card. I sold the D750 but have a D610 which has the same sensor and buffer capacity and I'm going on minute #2 of on shot per second Raw+JPEG with a 30MB/s card, so something isn't working the way it should. So you have another card you can try? If the card is going bad that could be the problem.

Now, if I shoot in CH mode the buffer will fill up after 7-8 images, but that's not what you're describing.
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Following up, I stuck a 95MB/s card in there and got 30 raw shots off on CL at 3 fps before the buffer cleared. I changed that to 1 fps and watched the shots remaining ticker on the top LCD and it kept toggling back and forth between 14 and 13 shots remaining for a full minute, so there's no shot that it would ever fill the buffer at 1 fps. At 2 fps it slooooowly started to tick down from 14 to 13 to 12 etc. and might have filled after 60-90 seconds.

Let us know what file format your shooting, but if you've got a 128 MB/s card then that's likely what's not working correctly.
 

ramnyc

New member
Thanks you all for the quick valuable responses...
As mentioned earlier, I am not not shooting on CH(Busting) mode. I shoot in S(single) mode. But I take the shots at quick succession, eg: image a cake-cutting moments of my 4yr old niece...I shoot key moments every second or in two second gap... Again I used to shoot this way for the past few years, no issues. Now, when I shoot the same way (RAW+JEPG slot 1, slot 2 is no card) the camera pauses for few seconds and then gets ready for next shots. I tried with my another card (Lexar 65gb SDXC U3/II10 150MS/s) but result is the same.
I tried the following last night, sharing here the outcome:
Here are my settings:
Shooting mode: Manual (Single)
ISO: Off
Shutter: 1/60
Aperture: f1.8 and f4 (tried both)
Autofocus: AF-A Auto
Lens: Nikkor 50mm Prime (M/A)
Card: Lexar 65gb SDXC U3/II10 150MS/s

- With built-in Flash
Off Took 20+shots (at 1second gap) no issues, not in CH/Burst mode. Image Quality/Size: JPEG BASIC/Small - lowest
- With built-in Flash
ON was able to take only 8-10 shots (at 1second gap) , not in CH/Burst mode. Image Quality/Size: JPEG BASIC/Small - lowest
- With
built-in Flash Off Took 20+shots (at 1second gap) no issues, not in CH/Burst mode. This time changed the Image Quality/Size : RAW+JPEG/(Fine) highest

Here is my built in Flash setting:
- Flash sync speed : 1/200s (Auto FP)
- Flash shutter speed : 1/60s
- Flash cntrl for built-in flash : TTL

Any Idea/clue what could be the issue?

Appreciate any help! Thanks!


 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
Honestly I'm not sure but have a couple of thoughts. Since you are only using one card but have the body assigned to RAW+Jpeg Fine, both files should be written to one card. That will take a little extra time.

If you are using the built-in flash, it's possible the flash isn't having enough time to adequately recycle to fire at the necessary power. Does this happen when the flash is turned off? Please remember the built-in flash isn't all that powerful so it might be firing at full power. That would take the longest time for it to recycle before it's ready to fire again.
 

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
I just tried it on mine... It's the flash... you're trying to do basically, rapid fire with the flash, and between the power drain, and the heat, after about 10 or so shots, it needs time to recover. Just so you aren't freaked out about it, my D810 does the same thing... You're using the camera's battery to drive the camera, and adding the additional load of the flash in a rapid sequence... It wasn't designed for that. If you want rapid flash, like you're doing...then you'll need to get an external flash with its own power supply, and is designed for rapid recovery...
 

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
Further to my last... the reason you're not using Burst mode is because, when the flash is UP... Burst mode doesn't work because of the consequences of what you're seeing...
 

ramnyc

New member
Thank you all for the wonderful responses. As mentioned in my earlier post and confirmed by @Fredkinston its the Flash that's causing the intermediate pause. But, in the past I had shot such circumstances and never faced this issue...now with Flash On it goes up to certain numbers 8 or 10 or 14 and takes the pause. Though using D750 since 2014 still learning on these fine bits.

Thank you all once again!
 

BF Hammer

Senior Member
I'm not sure if this applies at 1/60 sec but check in the menu system to see if you have Long Exposure Noise Reduction on. That really slows down buffering a lot. I do use it for certain dark exposures as it will clean up the image, but will turn it off for astrophotography as the noise can be fixed by other means and the buffering can be 40 seconds between long-exposure shots when it is on.
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Yes, it's the flash. And remember, a flash is not a flash is not a flash. And by that I mean that when it fires it's going to give you what you need to light the situation, so the darker the frame the more energy it needs to expend and the longer it will take before it's ready again. This could explain why you are experiencing something you haven't before.

As for my shooting in continuous, I only did this so that I could replicate specific intervals and determine at which frequency the buffer would or would not fill.
 

Woodyg3

Senior Member
Contributor
If you are talking about shooting with the built-in flash, the flash will need to recycle and that is the reason for your slow down.
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
Thanks for all your wonderful responses!
Now I am better prepared to take timely shorts knowing my limits. Got to look for a good external flash...
...the one I got now is heavier and gets heated up quickly, https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1352817-REG/yongnuo_yn_568exiii_flash_for_slr_cameras.html

will search in other relevant discussion threads here for d750 Flash...

any link pointers would greatly help! Thanks!

Just a little info on flashes/speedlights - when looking to purchase a flash, keep watch of the guide number. The higher the guide number, the further the light will reach and the more light output available. If you are interested in knowing more about that, here's a Nikon article that explains it.

So when comparing the guide number of your flash with a Nikon flash, you are pretty much in the ballpark of the SB5000 which is Nikon's most powerful flash. Godox makes a couple that are comparable plus the Godox is a step up in terms of overall quality.

Godox TT685N Thinklite TTL Flash is a TTL/Manual flash for Nikon that uses 4AA batteries. Godox VING V860IIN TTL Li-Ion Flash is a TTL/Manual flash that uses a rechargeable battery. Both of these are pretty much comparable in power to yours and the Nikon SB5000.

No matter what flash you choose, if you are firing at full power in relatively quick succession, the flash unit will heat up. Eventually it should stop temporarily if it reaches its limit until it cools down. If the flash is constantly pushed to that extreme, eventually it will fail completely. So no matter what flash you choose, if firing at a high output in quick succession, any flash will reach its limit.

There are a few options to consider. You can get 2 flashes and mount them side-by-side. There are off camera flash brackets made just for that purpose. That will double your light output allowing you to lower the flash power on each individual flash unit. When it's lowered, the flash isn't pushed to its extreme limit and will work for longer periods of time. Keep in mind, you still need to allow enough time for batteries to recycle between images.

Or you could move up to a strobe such as the Godox AD200 - but these have to be used off camera. Although strobes tend to measure their light output in watts, the 200 watts of the Godox AD200 is roughly 2-3x more than any one of the flashes mentioned above. With a stronger light source, you shouldn't be taxing the limits of the strobe's output. There are other types of flash/strobe options that fall between the light output of your flash and the AD200. However, I am not that familiar with what is available. So you should be able to find something more powerful than the flashes mentioned above without having the price tag of the AD200.

Or there is the option of constant light. These stay on rather than fire and recycle. However, I'm not sure what's available or knowledgeable about their pros/cons. Since they don't have to recycle like flashes and strobes, you wouldn't run into the issue you are experiencing right now.

Anyway - these are just some options for you to consider. :)
 

Needa

Senior Member
Challenge Team
One other thing to consider when comparing external flashes is recycle time. This specification is usually given at full power and fresh batteries.
 

STM

Senior Member
The D750 is a great camera, and I use it as a FF back up to the D850 but the buffer is not all that large so it will get jammed up pretty quickly if you are shooting on Ch and RAW. It was never intended to be a sports or fast action type body, it was designed more as a entry level FF.
 
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