Memory Card Performance in Nikon D5100

[Champ]

Hi Guys,
Today I had a bit of free time in afternoon, so decided to do a small benchmark test for memory cards.


Objective
wanted to test Buffer depth and write speed of each card.

Equipments Used

• Nikon D5100
• Transcend 16GB Class 10 SDHC card
• SanDisk 4GB Class 2 SDHC Card
• Lexar 4GB Class 4 SDHC Card
• Samsung Galaxy S

Methodology Used

1. Formatted Card in camera.
2. Set Camera in Program Mode, Continuous Release Mode, Image Quality Fine Jpeg, Focus Mode AF-S, Other Settings Default.
3. Open Stop Watch on Galaxy S
4. Press Start on clock and press shutter on camera simultaneously.
5. Shoot till camera buffer is over and it stops/Shoots at very low rate.
6. Compute time by captured image of stop watch.

*img1.imagehousing.com/40/b49557500cb0fb19d6ad421cc453d5db.jpg


Results

• None of the card used was able to achieve promised 4FPS on Nikon D5100, Highest score was of 3.9
• Only class 10 Transcend card was able to shoot till 100 images as advertised by Nikon, other class 2/class 4 card started stalking around 22 images, can be seen by sudden drop in graph.
• I stopped test for 40 images and 60 images for Lexar and Sandisk card as rate at which images were being captured was too low and unusable for real world.
  

*img1.imagehousing.com/35/dc4a018e56a6ca7e46fce6449a3c6deb.jpg

Disclaimer
Although I tried to be as accurate and as rational as possible, but possibility of human error can not be ignored. I did this test for purely personal purpose, sharing it as it might be useful to others as well.

Comments/suggestions are welcome, Also it will be useful if some of you guys perform similar test with other camera models/cards and post results

 

[sujoyp]

nice comparison...ur data may be correct and may not be...
BTW y r u using a class 2 card on DSLR...it will take soo much of time to save low exposure shots and transfer pics to PC

 

[Champ]

@sujoyp My Primary Card in D5100 is Transcend 16Gb Class 10 card.
SanDisk 4GB Class 2 card is used with another point and shoot.
I got Lexar 4GB Class 4 Card free with D5100 and it acts as a backup card.

As far as data is concernd, I tried my level best, but yes for more professional results tests should have been performed 3-5 times and average should have been taken.

 

[sujoyp]

Atleast u gave ur efforts and time

I am using a sandisk ultra 8GB class 4 card as primary and a strontium 4gb class 4 card as backup which I got free