Nikon D3100 Burst mode a little dissapointed

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Hi Guys

I took my brand new camera on it's first outing today to shoot some fast action shots so I thought burst mode would be ideal.

Knowing that the camera gives me 3fps I wasn't worried about missing any of the action.

ummmm how wrong was I, now this might be my understanding & if I'm wrong someone will surely correct me.

I thought 3fps meant 1-2-3 shots= 1sec of time go by

but my camera seemed to take 3-4 shots then lag a few seconds then burst another 1-2 then lag some more.

I was using a class 10 card which I was told is a must have so I'm confused

Is it the camera, the card, me or all the above?

Thanks in advance
Rob
 
I'm not very familiar with your camera but theres a few things that can slow you down a bit in terms of fps. Check you are shooting in burst high and not low (prob in custom functions), do you have the option to change between 12 and 14bit raw in that model?, try an experiment and shoot jpg (if you are trying raw) to see if its due to the bigger files, try with low iso, try with just spot focus or even manual focus to see if the focus system is the cause. It could be you are expecting a bit much from 3fps too :shrug:
 
The camera has a 9 picture buffer in RAW + JPG, 13 with just RAW and 100 in JPG.

What file type were you shooting?

Also, what subjects were you shooting, it could be that the camera was waiting for a focus lock?
 
Thanks for the quick replies

I'll have a good look through the settings now

I was shooting in RAW at a new skate park
 
you've hit the nail on the head :bonk:

It's the buffer size RAW is 7 shots

JPG is 13 shots

I've always been told RAW is better so I either shoot in JPG or put up with the slow writing times :-(

Also looking at the screen it does take a while to charge back up to 7 shots again

I think I'm expecting to much
 
Also if shooting in JPG, turn off Active D lighting as that slows the buffer down too.

3FPS really isnt that fast anyway, even though it sounds like it should be.
 
I've got the D3100 so gave the issue a shot myself as I've sometimes noticed this myself.

Basically it seems as though the camera is making small adjustments to the focus between shots whilst you're doing burst shooting.

So if your attempting to burst shoot a moving object or if you're using Auto-Area AF you may get this slight delay between bursts when the focus changes. To avoid this hold the 'AE-L AF-L' button next to the command wheel on the back.

This should lock the focus whilst you're shooting and allow you to use the full buffer (shown next to the r in the viewfinder) when you're shooting in JPEG this buffer should stay quite high maybe even not decreasing at all. Just testing mine started at [r 15] but continued burst shooting even though the buffer indicator stayed stuck at 12. Just remember it takes a bit of time to write that buffer to the card once you're done shooting though.

Hope that helps.
 
I've looked at a few videos on YouTube (DigitalRev TV) and have seen the 10fps burst which just looks insanely quick.

Makes my D3100 3fps look very inadequate...
 
It's a burst, after all - not a continuous 3fps. There are always going to be limiting factors from a hardware point of view, even the pro cameras hit a buffer limit eventually.
 
Thanks guys some really good advice there & I'll be sure to try them & keep you all updated

Thanks
Rob
 
TCR4x4 said:
Also if shooting in JPG, turn off Active D lighting as that slows the buffer down too.

3FPS really isnt that fast anyway, even though it sounds like it should be.
Click to expand...

And turn off noise reduction - it kills burst rate. See handbook.
 
There is no point buying a cheap (ish) entry level DSLR and expect it to do what top level spec cameras will do,you paid your money, you live with the product.

Nothing wrong with the entry level stuff, we have all had them, just don`t expect miracles.


:)
 
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