5DS 5DSR memory card question

Feb 19, 2016
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I know there has been a lot of discussion about memory cards with the 5DS/5DSR and that the top compact flash cards can take more photos continuously before slowing down.

However I have a slightly different question. About the only thing I dislike about the camera is the delay after taking an image before getting the image review on the screen. I suppose it's not a huge length of time really but it's clearly slower than the 5DIII and I am sure part of it is down to the huge files but suspect part of it is down to me using slower cards.

The fastest SD cards I have are Sandisk Extreme 90MB/s and my fastest compact flash is another sandisk rated at 60MB/s.

So I wonder if anyone here who has this camera and some fast cards could tell me if things improve in this regard with the newer fast 160MB/s compact flash cards? I believe the camera only has the slower SD card slot so that's likely a no go. But I need a new memory card and trying to work out whether to spend the extra on a faster compact flash - if it makes image review come up quicker (I realise it will if I shoot 50 frames in a row, I'm meaning more in the day to day, shooting one or maybe 3 or 4 shots at a time) then I'll go for the latest SanDisk CF which is 160MB/s.

I feel this is an absurdly specific question for me to ask so I'm sorry but I can't find the answer online and would prefer to know before spending the money as the fast CF cards are expensive - I guess the format has been given another lease of life by the 5DIV sticking with CF so maybe demand is high for fast cards for 4K etc.
 
Nov 3, 2012
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Set the first tab of the yellow setup menu to:
- record to both cards at the same time; and
- to play back from card 2 (SD).
Then set the quality for the second card to S2 (1980x1020) - enough for the screen.
Then switch off all the in-camera jpg image processing that might slow playback, e.g. auto-lighting optimiser, highlight tone priority, lens aberration control. You can always do this to the Raw file stored on the CF card.

It might be wishful thinking, but I feel that playback is a little quicker.
Still not as fast as other Canon DSLRs, though.
 
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Feb 19, 2016
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JP4DESIGNZ said:
I know exactly what you are talking about. From the 70D, 7D2, 6D, and 5D4, the 5DSR has the longest delay of all of them from my experience however, I think it has to do with pushing out 50MP with over 2 year old technology.

I use the following Scandisk memory cards for my 5D4 and 5DSR:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1277038-REG/sandisk_64gb_extreme_pro_compactflash.html/_64GB

Even though both cameras are compatible with UDMA 7 (CF) and UHS-I (SD) cards, I still have that extremely long blackout period (compared to the 5D4) and I wanted to ask someone about it. Since the 5DSR is my back-up camera for everything but certain commercial shoots, it's slightly annoying for fast paced events however, I'll probably get used to it.

Bryan from the-digital-picture.com goes over this a bit in the following articles:
https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EOS-5Ds.aspx
https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EOS-5D-Mark-IV.aspx

Check out the Frame Rate, Buffer Depth, Shutter Sound section from both articles and compare it with other cameras.

Thanks for the response. That CF card you have is actually the one I was considering getting, was hoping someone would say they have it and it makes image review instant! Oh well, as you say, maybe just the reality of 50mp images. I might still get it anyway, it can't hurt to have the fastest possible and maybe one day it can serve in a 5DIV.
 
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Feb 19, 2016
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Memdroid said:
I have a Lexar 160mb/s CF card with my 5DSR, but I did not notice a faster read speed when reviewing images. I gave up and accepted the fact that it is a slightly slower camera (while operating) than its other 5D brothers.

Thanks - it really appears the memory card doesn't eliminate the slow image review as I was thinking of buying a SanDisk 160mb/s CF card and failing that the lear one but now not so sure.

In 99% of situations it's a non-issue but there are times when it can help to keep seeing what the camera is doing.

Some years ago I stopped buying CF cards as everyone kept saying "its a dead format" and then here we are with the 1DX II, the 5DIV and the 5DS/5DSR all using CF cards! I think Canon are to be applauded really for doing something useful for customers and not chasing tech for it's own sake but it still surprises me and means my decision to not buy any faster cards has come back to haunt me.
 
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Feb 19, 2016
174
108
Frodo said:
Set the first tab of the yellow setup menu to:
- record to both cards at the same time; and
- to play back from card 2 (SD).
Then set the quality for the second card to S2 (1980x1020) - enough for the screen.
Then switch off all the in-camera jpg image processing that might slow playback, e.g. auto-lighting optimiser, highlight tone priority, lens aberration control. You can always do this to the Raw file stored on the CF card.

It might be wishful thinking, but I feel that playback is a little quicker.
Still not as fast as other Canon DSLRs, though.

Interesting and worth a try. Actually when I was searching online about this issue the question of the auto-lighting optimiser kept coming up with people saying it slows things down but then an equal number of people would claim it made no difference.

I guess we must accept no camera is 100% perfect!
 
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Hector1970

CR Pro
Mar 22, 2012
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I use pretty fast cards on my 5DSR and its still slow to bring back the picture.
In a way its a minor annoyance but at times its very annoying.
It makes less than ideal in a situation like a wedding where you need to check the photos you are taking are okay.
That delay then seems like an age.
I think it was a camera rushed to the market to be first to 50mp and Canon hadn't ironed out kinks in it.
The file size is large if you are shooting raw so it was probably beyond the real capability of the camera.
 
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Feb 19, 2016
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Thanks for the other follow ups. It appears I'm really not the only person who has faced this and that spending on expensive CF cards won't solve it.

I know everyone says it's a landscape camera but I find the auto focus to be great for action (I believe it is officially the same as the 5DIII but in my entirely subjective opinion it seems a slight bit quicker than my 5DIII) and the resolution means cropping can be used for birding and in those sort of situations fast image review sometimes has its uses but I suppose nothing is perfect in life!
 
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