Quote Originally Posted by Dr Croubie
RAW has no in-camera processing so they go faster compared to JPEGs with all the processing, even though the RAW filesizes are bigger.

Shooting RAW is like shooting RAW+JPG but only saving a small JPG instead of the full size version. As Daniel points out, even with RAW the camera is still doing the JPG conversion, and scaling that converted image down for inclusion as a preview image in the RAW file container. Thus, even if you're shooting RAW only, your burst rate is still affected by the JPG settings (e.g. high ISO NR), because the camera is doing an in-camera JPG conversion for every shot you take. So, it really all boils down to the file size being the limiting factor.


Incidentally, the JPG is what you see on the LCD during review, and more importantly (and something many people don't know), the histogram you see when you review an image on-camera is based on the JPG preview, even when shooting RAW. I see many people write that they they shoot RAW only, so things like white balance and picture style (which affects color saturation, contrast, etc.) don't affect their shots, and they just ignore those settings. But if you use the histogram to make exposure decisions, those setting can affect your RAW image (indirectly), if your exposure changes result in lost detail on either end of the dynamic range.