July 29, 2004: The D1X section of the database is no longer being updated, as we no longer have access to this camera.

CompactFlash Write Speed - Nikon D1X (Firmware Version 5.01)

The data in the table below was derived by timing how long it took the Nikon D1X to write out 9 JPEG Fine and 6 RAW .NEF photos to the card. Timing commenced when the camera's card status light illuminated, and stopped when the light went out. Each test cycle was performed 3 times (if the card's capacity allowed for that) to ensure accurate results.

Card-to-card speed variation within the same brand and model, photographing scenes of varying detail and at different ISO settings - these and other factors may slightly alter write speed performance. As a result, write speed differences of 5% or less from card to card in the table below should be considered insignificant. If one card's write speed is within 5% of another's, the two cards are likely to offer effectively the same performance in the real world. Similarly, it's unlikely that most photographers would notice a difference between the fastest card and one that was up to 10% slower.

Note: We've tested both an original D1X with firmware version 1.10 and a buffer-upgraded D1X with firmware version 5.01. We found no difference in write speed to the card between the two variants of this model. In addition, because the D1X isn't capable of writing to cards that have been FAT32-formatted, only cards whose capacity is 2GB or less have been tested in this camera.

The results are arranged in the table from fastest to slowest (based on JPEG write speed). The top 10% (based on JPEG write speed) are marked in blue.

Note: Be sure to examine the wake-from-sleep test data also; the Nikon D1X is one of the cameras affected by the lengthy wakeup time of certain CompactFlash cards.