My 500d keeps saying "busy" and long delay between shots

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Herethere

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Hi...am having problems with my DSLR. I was taking a few shots at home - all fine, taking lots of shots etc. Then it keeps saying "busy" and makes me wait about 10 seconds to take another shot. Doing this in all modes.

Battery is charged - 200+ pictures left on memory card shooting at 15mp. Therefore any idea why this is? Seems to be the flash isnt ready, but not sure why. Am using the onboard flash. Was fine then started to delay
 
Are you shooting long exposures? It does sound like the flash recycle time though.
 
If you are shooting with long exposures (over 1 second I think) and have "Long Exposure Noise Reduction" enabled then the camera will quietly record a second "dark frame" image after each exposure in order to subtract noise from the original. Thus if you are shooting with 5 second exposures, for example, it will actually take 10 seconds to complete each one.
 
sounds to me like the buffers filling up, what memory card are you using?
if you haven't got one i'd recomend an extreme card for it.
 
Have you got high ISO noise reduction enabled? I think it's Custom Function II-2. Dramatically cuts the number of shots you can do in a burst - all quite normal.

Edit: look in the viewfinder and check the number in the bottom right corner, which is the number of shots you have available in a continuous burst. Then switch off the high ISO noise reduction, and if the number goes up, that's probably your problem solved. It's unlikely to be anything to do with the card.
 
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How often do you format the card? Could be worth copying off and reformating, I know my memory stick slows down after lots of add and deletes in bits and a full format fixes it.
 
Yep everything has already been said what it could be. in the order of what is probably causeing the problem

slow memory card
shooting raw + jpeg burst rate is 3 frames then a delay while the buffer empties even then frame rate is reduced as you fill it again.
long esposure noise reduction
Flash recharge time, if the flash needs full power recharging is longer.

If you have a slow card and are shooting raw and bursts your pretty much screwed
 
:thumbs:
HoppyUK said:
Have you got high ISO noise reduction enabled? I think it's Custom Function II-2. Dramatically cuts the number of shots you can do in a burst - all quite normal.

Edit: look in the viewfinder and check the number in the bottom right corner, which is the number of shots you have available in a continuous burst. Then switch off the high ISO noise reduction, and if the number goes up, that's probably your problem solved. It's unlikely to be anything to do with the card.
Click to expand...
 
I thought one of the benefits of flash memory was that being fragmented doesn't affect performance..?
 
It's nothing to do with the Memory card,the speeds on the card just dictate how fast it will write to your pc.
Sounds like it could be long exposure noise reduction is active. it did this with me when i shot on Raw+fine Jpeg. also does it when im using Obf.
 
Is it on the 10 shot mode? My friends one did the same and this is what it was
 
tdodd said:
Do you mean the 10 second self timer mode? If so, that sounds like a good call. :thumbs:
Click to expand...

Been there! done that!
I've put it down to old age........
 
No, it can be set to take a load of shots at once with one press of the shutter
 
I dont beleive a faster Card will burn images to the card faster.
It will transfer to the computer faster however.
 
A faster card will allow the buffer to clear more quickly, assuming that (a) the buffer ever gets filled; (b) the camera has the write speed to fully use the potential of a fast card.

For many people, myself included, there is no need for an especially fast card. For others it may mean the difference between getting "THE" shot or missing it altogether.
 
Agree with Tim. My money is still with high ISO noise reduction being on ;)
 
Herethere said:
Hi...am having problems with my DSLR. I was taking a few shots at home - all fine, taking lots of shots etc. Then it keeps saying "busy" and makes me wait about 10 seconds to take another shot. Doing this in all modes.

Battery is charged - 200+ pictures left on memory card shooting at 15mp. Therefore any idea why this is? Seems to be the flash isnt ready, but not sure why. Am using the onboard flash. Was fine then started to delay
Click to expand...

Is it only me that sees the answer right here.

I've never seen a CF card so slow as to expect 10 second write times (except during long exposures with auto NR. But note this is for ordinary length exposures indoors with the onboard flash Now I'm very familiar with long flash recycle times - and the recycle times getting progressively longer (as the battery dies some more?). But then maybe I'm looking for the obvious here - rather than the weird.
 
It could be that the battery is on the way out even though it may show full.

In such a case the voltage may still show good but the capacity (it's "stamina") can be much reduced.

Try shooting off a burst of continuous JPEGS (without the flash) and see how many you get.

On my 450D with a good battery I can get about 20 but as the battery wears out the number starts to come down.

.
 
Phil V said:
Is it only me that sees the answer right here.

I've never seen a CF card so slow as to expect 10 second write times (except during long exposures with auto NR. But note this is for ordinary length exposures indoors with the onboard flash Now I'm very familiar with long flash recycle times - and the recycle times getting progressively longer (as the battery dies some more?). But then maybe I'm looking for the obvious here - rather than the weird.
Click to expand...

It's the 'busy' notice that seems to preclude that, and that the camera is busy processing something.

I'm pretty sure it's got nothing to do with the card, but one of the 'image' custom functions.
 
I get this on my 450d. If I take shots as fast as possible using the onboard flash, after about 15 the camera goes into slow mode and just sits there for 10 seconds with the busy light on.
Then it will take another picture and make me wait another 10 seconds until the busy light goes out.
The battery is fully charged and I am using a fast 30mb/sec card. Also high ISO noise reduction is disabled
It has been suggested on another forum that this is caused a safety feature on the camera designed to stop the flash mechanism overheating.
Any comments??

It is also suggested that using an external flash will solve the problem. (I don't have one so can't test this)

I have, however, discovered a "work around" in that if I close the flash after each shot it will open when I press the shutter button and take a photo immediately.
 
Without sounding stupid, it's either because the camera/flash is too hot or it's recharging.

I hope that helps, i've walked over this bridge before!
 
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