July 29, 2004: The D100 section of the database is no longer being updated, as we no longer have access to this camera.

Nikon engineers carried over some of the best image playback characteristics from the D1X and D1H when they designed the D100. As a result, it's possible to begin reviewing photos immediately after they're taken, even before all frames have been written to the card. In fact, the efficiency with which photos can be reviewed is almost completely independent of card speed.

But then there's the buffer, or lack thereof. The D100 has the dubious distinction of shooting the fewest RAW format frames in a burst of any digital SLR in this database (a title it shares with several other older Canon and Nikon entry-level models). To return to shooting as soon as possible after the buffer fills, then, look only at the fastest cards.

CompactFlash Write Speed - Nikon D100 (Firmware Version 2.00)

The data in the table below was derived by timing how long it took the Nikon D100 to write out 6 JPEG Fine and 4 uncompressed 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.

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.