How long does it take to clear the buffer when shooting stills?

[Blacksmith]

I do a lot of image stacking to get better results from the Mavic camera, shooting bursts of 5 or 7 RAW stills at a time. Shooting repeat multiples one after the other seems to exceed the buffer capacity, and I only retain the first multiple. I'd like to know if anyone has experience with buffer clearing times before I spend flying time experimenting.

TIA

 

[lisadoc]

Are you speaking about retaining shots on your device or your SD card? On your device, the buffer is related to the performance of your signal and your device capabilities. On the SD card, the buffer is related to the write speed of your micro SD card.

 

[Blacksmith]

I know that. I'm assuming anyone wanting to stack multiples will be using the fastest microSD card available (mine supposedly writes at 90Mb/s); asking for user experiences.

 

[lisadoc]

I shoot at 5 burst shots (AEB) routinely for HDR photos and I never have an issue with repeated sequential shots (i.e. only retaining the first sequence). Granted I tend not to shoot six or so HDR 5-burst shots one right after another, so I'm not sure how bursts of 7 shots in sequence would affect your buffer. My experience shows that in the DJI Go app, it doesn't even allow me to attempt the next multiple shot until the previous burst has concluded. So if I attempted to mash the AEB shot repeatedly, it wouldn't allow for that to happen, irrespective of my input. As a result, I don't "miss" the next sequence, as it doesn't allow for input until it parses the command. Even my professional cameras do the same (though I can get many more burst shots in succession).

 

[Blacksmith]

I shoot at 5 burst shots (AEB) routinely for HDR photos and I never have an issue with repeated sequential shots (i.e. only retaining the first sequence). Granted I tend not to shoot six or so HDR 5-burst shots one right after another, so I'm not sure how bursts of 7 shots in sequence would affect your buffer. My experience shows that in the DJI Go app, it doesn't even allow me to attempt the next multiple shot until the previous burst has concluded. So if I attempted to mash the AEB shot repeatedly, it wouldn't allow for that to happen, irrespective of my input. As a result, I don't "miss" the next sequence, as it doesn't allow for input until it parses the command. Even my professional cameras do the same (though I can get many more burst shots in succession).

Interesting. DJI Go on an iPhone lets me shoot several sequential RAW bursts, one right after the other, but only the first burst gets written to the card. As you point out, DSLRs lock up until the buffer is cleared but it looks like the Mavic discards anything that can't be buffered internally. May be why it limits bursts to 7. I'll try different intervals between bursts to see if I can get a longer sequence.

 

[lisadoc]

Interesting. DJI Go on an iPhone lets me shoot several sequential RAW bursts, one right after the other, but only the first burst gets written to the card. As you point out, DSLRs lock up until the buffer is cleared but it looks like the Mavic discards anything that can't be buffered internally. May be why it limits bursts to 7. I'll try different intervals between bursts to see if I can get a longer sequence.

Out of curiosity, I fired up my MP inside the house to test burst shots. When I tried with multiple burst shots, as you described, though the MP acted like it was taking multiple bursts, it did not, in fact, take anything but the first sequence. If I slowed it down to wait for the outer ring to finish circling (it circles when it appears that it's clearing the cache), the subsequent burst is recorded. And I too have a fast write speed card.

So it appears that the Mavic isn't an "action cam". From what I can tell, the next sequence (3, 5, or 7, it doesn't seem to matter) caching occurs while the outer circle is moving and the next sequence can't be captured until it resets. Despite the fact that the Mavic allows for multiple subsequent "shots" in burst mode (making the cool clicking sound and blinking as if the command was captured), nothing actually happens. It even allows you to button mash and shows infinite burst captures but nothing else transpires. Why they allow this to happen, is beyond me.

 

[Blacksmith]

Darn! I didn't notice the circle. Looks like I don't have to experiment to find the clearing time. Thanks!

 

[Blacksmith]

Darn! I didn't notice the circle. Looks like I don't have to experiment to find the clearing time. Thanks!

I found that my Mavic is ready to shoot again after a burst of 7 RAW shots in about 15 seconds, answering my own question.