A shorter buffer release time is critical in enabling professionals to shoot comfortably. The speed at which a full buffer opens new space is directly related to the amount of time it takes to write content to a memory card. The Nikon D3 and D300 support the high-speed, next-generation UDMA card that dramatically reduces buffer release time. Our comprehensive strategy for more comfortable shooting includes high-speed processing with the image-processing engine, large buffer memory capacity, increased transfer width to the buffer, and increased speed of memory access. Furthermore, with the D3, a card interface is located within the image-processing engine to maximize UDMA performance. All of these features allow use of an Extreme IV memory card, continuous shooting for up to 20 frames in RAW and up to 70 frames in JPEG (Large, Normal). With an Extreme IV writing speed of 35 MB/sec., when shooting in RAW (11 MB), the buffer for one frame is ready within approximately 0.3 second, or three frames per second. This short buffer release time becomes increasingly important as the number of shots in continuous shooting increases. Nine frames per second in Nikon FX format and 11 frames per second in Nikon DX format take on greater meaning in actual shooting situations with the short buffer release time.
