Nikon D5

[Ilkka Nissilä]

"I doubt the value of 14fps with mirror up"

My AW1 does 60 frames per sec. in raw, so why not?

The main issue is that since there is  no viewfinder at 14fps, it is harder to support the lens and camera and follow the movement of the subject during the sequence. Also because the live view image isn't real time the subject may not be fully included in any/some of the frames captured, unless one uses a short focal length to make sure there is plenty of room for error.

However, for some situations the 14fps feature could be used e.g. to capture a subject that moves in a larger setting and is not likely to exit the frame during the sequence, and where the camera is fixed on a tripod. I have a pair of studio flashes that can do 14fps easily, and this could be used for e.g. dance moves or acrobatics in the studio.

However, I doubt it can be used for bird in flight photos with tight framing.

[MILLIREHM]

The main issue is that since there is  no viewfinder at 14fps, it is harder to support the lens and camera and follow the movement of the subject during the sequence. Also because the live view image isn't real time the subject may not be fully included in any/some of the frames captured, unless one uses a short focal length to make sure there is plenty of room for error.

However, for some situations the 14fps feature could be used e.g. to capture a subject that moves in a larger setting and is not likely to exit the frame during the sequence, and where the camera is fixed on a tripod. I have a pair of studio flashes that can do 14fps easily, and this could be used for e.g. dance moves or acrobatics in the studio.

However, I doubt it can be used for bird in flight photos with tight framing.

The latter was what I had in mind

But there are indeed uses described here where it might have its value
Does not affect my approach so far

[Bjørn Rørslett]

how did you measure it?

Mississippi one - Mississippi two ... Mississippi ten and checking that I got 120 frames

The viewfinder blackout for each frame is very short, but the overall effect was similar to watching a badly tuned TV station. Not very pleasant for long periods of time.

Using Q (quiet) mode I got around 3 fps.

[Ilkka Nissilä]

Is it published somewhere, how many shots you can get in a burst with CF cards?

The price for both versions is the same but XQD cards are pricey and it does add up. I have sufficient CF cards for my needs. However I think mechanically the XQD is superior because there are no pins.

[MILLIREHM]

Wonder if these versions can be adapted from one to another by Nikon service, should be modular I guess

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Nikon Nordic (and by implication, also Nikon Europe as they supply the actual cameras) aim to sell D5 in its basic XQD configuration. A modification to CF *only* is possible at the appointed Nikon repair facilities. However, Nikon recommends against that as the full potential of the camera cannot be realised.

CF will have around 1/4 of the buffer capacity, 1/3 of the writing speed, and data transfer to the PC/Mac will take many times longer compared to XQD. Nikon considered modification to get CF storage slots a "degradation" of the D5 (their words, actually).

[MILLIREHM]

degradation is an interesting wording

[Andrea B.]

I'm going for XQD. Why not? A card is a card. And a faster card is better. Given that CF have to be replaced periodically anyway, I see no reason to avoid XQD purchases.

[Jørgen Ramskov]

The CF format is old and fragile compared to XQD. Looking at various speed tests from when Nikon started supporting it shows a pretty decent speed difference in favour of XQD. Hardly surprising, there would be no reason to switch if it wasn't better. I could imagine cards today are even faster.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

I'm just happy they didn't put something like an Ultra-Mini-micro SD card into the camera by following the stupid engineering stance regarding miniaturisation while ignoring human physiognomy.

CF cards fragile? Compared to SD they are rock solid. I have had SD cards break just by picking them up.

XQD goes one further in robustness though. My main worry is that they have been slow in being accepted by other camera makes thus keeping up their premium price.

[MILLIREHM]

I'm going for XQD. Why not? A card is a card. And a faster card is better. Given that CF have to be replaced periodically anyway, I see no reason to avoid XQD purchases.

Going to Equip my D4S with a XQD soon, currently it is running on CF, with the D500 running on XQD this will be the first step for a switch on the long run

[Jørgen Ramskov]

I didn't compare them to SD cards

I agree that it would be a good thing if more devices started to use them.

[stenrasmussen]

I am always puzzled when people argue against the fastest/best. Here we are, salivating and getting hard ons over these new cameras and yet we complain over the cards... I don't get it...but I still get a ... on 😁

[stenrasmussen]

D5-a is the XQD version
D5-b is the CF version
The 3 minute 4K limit is by choice. Nikon may/may not expand the max time in future firmware upgrade.
Viewfinder magnification of 0.72x is slightly increased over the D4s. (The D500 has a 0.67x magnification if viewed as a FX camera).

[Bjørn Rørslett]

The 3 minute limit actually is caused by hitting the 4 GB file size limit.

Nikon Nordic claimed they will only sell the XQD model.