Nikon DSLR Buffer Capacity Comparison

The buffer of a camera is part of the camera’s memory that holds shots that you’ve taken before they are written to the memory card. The buffer capacity is simply how many shots you can take before the camera must slow down and start writing to the memory card. Since the camera can read and write to the buffer very fast compared to writing to the memory card, a higher buffer allows you to shoot longer bursts.

In this article, we gathered and compiled the available information on buffer capacity of all current Nikon DSLRs. The below table outlines many of the current and discontinued Nikon DSLR models, along with such information as sensor resolution, continuous shooting speed (fps) and RAW / JPEG buffer capacities. While most of the RAW buffer information is included, we decided not to bother with smaller JPEG sizes, since most cameras presented below can accommodate 100 or more of smaller JPEG images in their buffers.

Please keep in mind that the table below is taken from Nikon product manuals, which were published roughly at the same time when the cameras were announced. Since Nikon uses the fastest available cards for measuring buffer capacity at the time when a product is announced, the data might look different when newer and faster cards are used (as long as they are supported by the camera hardware and firmware). For example, the published buffer capacity information for the Nikon D4 indicates that Nikon used the Sony H-series QD-H32 XQD card for the measurements, which has a transfer rate of up to 125 MB/s. If one were to use newer XQD cards that can transfer up to 180 MB/sec, then buffer capacity would obviously change, since the camera buffer is emptied faster with faster cards.

To compute the length of continuous shooting, simply take the buffer capacity number from the appropriate column and divide it by camera FPS. For example, if you shoot 14-bit Lossless compressed RAW on the Nikon D850, you can shoot continuously for approximately 7.3 seconds (51 / 7 fps), while the Nikon D7500 will last 6.3 seconds (50 / 8 fps) before the buffer fills up. Please note that some cameras like the Nikon D500, D850 and D5 require an XQD card to be able to reach the above-mentioned buffer speeds. Using a CompactFlash card in such cameras will reduce the buffer significantly.

We hope you will find the above information useful. If you would like to find buffer capacity information for older Nikon DSLRs, you can refer to this page at NikonUSA that lists manuals for many other discontinued camera bodies. Information on supported memory cards and buffer capacities can usually be found on last pages of product manuals. Please note that some newer memory cards might be supported on your camera with the latest firmware update, so it is always a good idea to check if you are running the latest version.