Hello John, Here is a very simple example. You are shooting a wedding - the party is coming up the aisle two by two - there are 8-10 groups coming through in short order. You are shooting raw. You shoot one, wait about 2-3 seconds, shoot the next, etc. The problem is that the buffer fills after 5 shots and it takes about 10 seconds or more to clear the buffer for just one more shot. So you miss the last couple or two.
Here's another. Shooting baseball - runner on 3rd, pitcher throws a wild pitch - you take a shot of the catcher, then one of the runner coming down, then the start of the slide, then the pitcher coming in for the tag, then the end of the slide, then the ump signalling out! Your buffer is full. Then during that action, the runner on first is coming around for a dramatic slide into 3rd. All you can do is watch. Buffer full. Here's another - taking candid portraits of a young kid who is moving around and you are catching some great facial expressions. Click, click, click as you go. Suddenly you he puts on the cutest grin and the BUFFER is FULL. When shooting RAW on the *istD, the fastest cards take about 7-9 seconds per shot to write out. Slower cards can take up to 15 seconds per shot. With a full buffer, that is quite a bit of time to elapse. The *istDS by my tests takes about 4-5 seconds per raw shot. The Nikon D70 takes about 1-2 seconds per raw shot. It is not really the rapid fire burst that is the problem here, it is the ongoing shooting that can occur with many events that are not really considered sports. People getting awards, one after the other would be just another example. -- Best regards, Bruce Thursday, June 2, 2005, 1:30:00 PM, you wrote: JD> In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED] JD> (Shel Belinkoff) wrote: >> Higher resolution and a faster, bigger buffer make sense, shouldn't add >> bulk or weight to a camera. JD> Higher resolution is fine, but I'm baffled by the need for a faster JD> buffer. I spot the potential picture, get ready, and take it. If it's a JD> moving or changing subject I wait for the right moment, near as I can JD> guess, and press the button. JD> I guess having learned my photography on a twin-lens reflex with JD> twelve shots per roll, where you had to wind on with several turns of a JD> knob, and cock the shutter by hand[1] explains this. I've never used a JD> camera with any kind of power wind or motor drive; I just don't feel any JD> need to shoot in bursts. JD> [1] Microcord II, post-war British copy of a pre-war Rolleicord.

