[M_Six]

I can now state with authority that the 6D is *not* a good body for BIF shots. That buffer is lame. I was shooting some bald eagles today (pics in a bit, hopefully) and I was missing shots because the buffer took so long to clear. I was even being judicious with the number of shots. I switched over to the 7D and was again amazed at how it can pump out 8FPS and just keep going. I throttled back to 4FPS and never once hit the buffer limit. That expanded AF point is nice, too.

On the downside, I was reviewing some of the last shots I took when the 7D screen went black. No power, no lights, no nothing. I'm hoping it's just dead batteries, but it had two in it and when I first fired it up the battery meter looked to be on full. I didn't bother to swap them out with the 6D's because I was heading home anyway. Fingers crossed.

EDIT: Whew, just dead batteries.

[M_Six]

Ok, so maybe I was a little harsh on the 6D. It certainly does take decent images. These are nearly 100% crops.

I saw this guy coming over the treetops and was psyched when I looked through the lens and saw it was a bald eagle. First one I've ever seen in the wild.







Then his mate joined in.







I switched to the 7D, but it just doesn't lend itself to major crops like the 6D. Right as I was leaving, though, the male eagle came flying across in front of me with a fish in his talons. I had already started to pack up, but I grabbed the 7D and shot away. Somehow I had managed to crank the shutter speed up to 1/8000, probably as I was pulling it out of my bag. So these are all badly underexposed. But he was this damn close and I missed some decent shots by not paying attention to the settings.

[dcstep]

Great shots, but that's an adult and a juvenile. You can't tell a male and female apart based on the feathers.

You pretty well nailed the exposures with these eagles.

[M_Six]

Thanks, Dave. I stand corrected. I thought they were like cardinals with the females having less fancy plumage. I just wish I hadn't screwed up the settings on those last two.

[Weebl]

Mark, at least they are in focus and you now have checked something off your photo bucket list.
Congrats.
I still have an empty box.

[Itsed65]

Yeah, great shots. That must have been quite a sight. We don't get many ealges out here. I'm hoping to get some when I go to Wyoming and Montana next year.

All this talk of the 400 5.6 made me slap mine on my 1D this afternoon and head out. I didn't get this guy flying, but he was watching over a highway onramp, so i grabbed a quick shot from the shoulder. I love how fast this lens focuses!


20130309-AQ4E2072 by lennycarl08, on Flickr

[M_Six]

Maybe someone here will have an answer to this. I'm considering getting a 95MB/s SanDisk SD card for the 6D. I'm hoping it will speed up the transfer of buffered images to the SD card and clear the buffer faster. Canon's own site claims a buffer fill of ~14 RAW images for an SDHC card and ~17 for a UHS-1 card. I'm thinking that's because the buffer will transfer a couple of images out to the card while more images are coming in (faster output). So that to me suggests the buffer would clear completely much faster with a UHS-1 card. But some sites I've been reading claim DSLR data transfer rates are already slower than even Class 6 cards, so having a faster card won't clear the buffer any faster.

Anyone know the real deal here?

[Weebl]

Mark,
Do you want to buy two or three of them? If you are just blasting away hitting the buffer all the time then you will have a big problem at a air show or on a serious bird hunt. You will end up filling the card in no time so you will need a bunch of extra cards. I've seen some data on the buffer clearing times for various cards but don't recall exactly where. I do know it wasn't worth it to me as there is no return on investment. Unless you start selling prints, the cats go hungry.

[M_Six]

I never had an an issue with the buffer on the 7D. It's not like I go out and hold the shutter button down. But with the 6D even judicious use of the shutter results in a full buffer very quickly. And it's *so slow* to clear.

I'm seeing now why the 5D MkIII demands such a premium. Best of with worlds with the IQ of the 6D, a large buffer and CF card speed (as long as you don't also use an SD card), and a class-leading AF system.

Just now I set the 6D to ISO 100 and fired off in continuous mode until the buffer was full. 17 shots and it took 35 seconds to clear. Even shooting in 3-4 shot bursts with a second or two in between bursts fills the buffer almost as fast as continuous shooting (21 shots vs 17). And it takes just as long to clear. I'm using a 30MB/s SD card in it, so I'm wondering if that's a data transfer bottleneck.

[Weebl]

try a "low level format" it should help

[Rowdy]

Originally Posted by dcstep

The 7D won't AF at f/8. The 300mm + a 1.4X TC and a 7D should be enough, then crop a bit in post. The 7D tracks pretty good at f/5.6, but take plenty of insurance shots because it DOES wander way more than the 1D (all versions) and 5D MkIII.

Dave

I knew that going into it and was in MF and trying to prefocus. Catch the dash 8 and track him through my ideal point so I could get the focus bang on and then wait for something more interesting. As I said, only a couple turned out as my focusing skills need some work or maybe it's just my eyes

Looking forward to the next sunny day off to try out the MkIII with the same setup and just crop.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by M_Six

I never had an an issue with the buffer on the 7D. It's not like I go out and hold the shutter button down. But with the 6D even judicious use of the shutter results in a full buffer very quickly. And it's *so slow* to clear.

I'm seeing now why the 5D MkIII demands such a premium. Best of with worlds with the IQ of the 6D, a large buffer and CF card speed (as long as you don't also use an SD card), and a class-leading AF system.

Just now I set the 6D to ISO 100 and fired off in continuous mode until the buffer was full. 17 shots and it took 35 seconds to clear. Even shooting in 3-4 shot bursts with a second or two in between bursts fills the buffer almost as fast as continuous shooting (21 shots vs 17). And it takes just as long to clear. I'm using a 30MB/s SD card in it, so I'm wondering if that's a data transfer bottleneck.

I use only a CF card in my 5D3, to avoid the SD card slowing things down. The write speed of the CF is the critical factor, caused by the large file size.

When you fill the buffer on the 5D3, it'll start shooting again in a few seconds, but slowly, like one every 1.5-sec.

Dave

[MaximusJ]

Mark I concur what Dave said. I pulled the trigger on the Lexar 1000X and never worried about my buffer ever since. We already have enough things to worry about when shooting; Its pretty easy to avoid this one.

The 95mbs are NOTHING compared to that. But if you really want to, I have two sitting here in 32gb; almost new. Buy them from me so I can buy some more 1000X :P

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by MaximusJ

Mark I concur what Dave said. I pulled the trigger on the Lexar 1000X and never worried about my buffer ever since. We already have enough things to worry about when shooting; Its pretty easy to avoid this one.

The 95mbs are NOTHING compared to that. But if you really want to, I have two sitting here in 32gb; almost new. Buy them from me so I can buy some more 1000X :P

My CF cards in the 7D work superbly. I never run out of buffer. It's the SD cards in the 6D that slow things down. Too bad they didn't go with CF cards in the 6D.

I just ordered a 32GB SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/s card for the 6D. If it makes a difference in speed, I'll get a larger capacity one. I don't want to blow $130 for a 64GB card if it isn't going to help with write speeds, though.

BTW, Amazon Lightning Deals is featuring the Lexar CF cards today at 4PM PDT. Might be a good chance to grab another one if you're in the market.

[MaximusJ]

Ah sorry; my mistake; I presumed that the 6D got a CF slot.

As for the CF; I already got three; but if I ever sell my SD; I would replace them for sure; but right now, i'm not out of storage.

Anyways, the good deals on amazon are NEVER available in Canada. I never shop there; its frustrating more then anything.

[M_Six]

So I got my SanDisk 32Gb UHS-I (95MB/s) SD card today. The difference is astounding. As I posted before, with the SanDisk 30MB/s card I was using the buffer would fill at about 17 images and pretty much freeze. It took 35 seconds to clear. With the new 95MB/s card, it runs to 25 images before slowing to about 1 FPS (maybe a bit slower). But it keeps on shooting. The buffer clears completely in less than 10 seconds. I'd call that a significant difference. I'm psyched because this means I can use this body for birding after all.

[MaximusJ]

Originally Posted by M_Six

So I got my SanDisk 32Gb UHS-I (95MB/s) SD card today. The difference is astounding. As I posted before, with the SanDisk 30MB/s card I was using the buffer would fill at about 17 images and pretty much freeze. It took 35 seconds to clear. With the new 95MB/s card, it runs to 25 images before slowing to about 1 FPS (maybe a bit slower). But it keeps on shooting. The buffer clears completely in less than 10 seconds. I'd call that a significant difference. I'm psyched because this means I can use this body for birding after all.

Not too shabby! Glad to hear. Got the same issue with my D7000 30mbs vs. 95mbs; they literally saved the day. Sadly, they didnt cut it for my D800 considering 40mb raw files!

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by M_Six

So I got my SanDisk 32Gb UHS-I (95MB/s) SD card today. The difference is astounding. As I posted before, with the SanDisk 30MB/s card I was using the buffer would fill at about 17 images and pretty much freeze. It took 35 seconds to clear. With the new 95MB/s card, it runs to 25 images before slowing to about 1 FPS (maybe a bit slower). But it keeps on shooting. The buffer clears completely in less than 10 seconds. I'd call that a significant difference. I'm psyched because this means I can use this body for birding after all.

Good news.

[MaximusJ]

Out of curiosity, how much did you pay?

[Weebl]

I'm glad it worked for you Mark!
I think B&H is having a sale right now.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by MaximusJ

Out of curiosity, how much did you pay?

$67 for the 32GB card through Amazon.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by Weebl

I'm glad it worked for you Mark!
I think B&H is having a sale right now.

I'm tempted to buy more, but I have several slower cards that work fine for any non-continuous shooting. I just have to remember to swap out the card before I go birding. I may get one more fast card just to have a backup.