Shutter-lag time in manufacturer specs
2005/06/17 16:51:02
As a longtime film photographer, the biggest annoyance in digital cameras for me is the shutter-lag time. I shoot people doing what they do. In this work, near-instant shutter firing is very important. My film Canons are quick. My digital Canon is just OK, which means I lose a lot of good images, so when it really counts, I go back to film. So my question is, why isn't focus and shutter-lag time one of the items listed in camera specs?
-- Submitted by: Bob Brown
Answer by:
Aimee Baldridge, CNET.com
If you're serious about getting rid of shutter lag, the sure way to go is with a digital SLR. Most current dSLRs have almost no shutter lag--in other words, they'll respond as quickly to the press of the shutter release as a film camera. Unfortunately, shutter lag--the time between when you press the shutter-release button and the point when the image is actually captured--is still an unfortunate feature of most point-and-shoot digital cameras. The good news is that manufacturers are making the lag shorter and shorter.
There's no standard for testing shutter lag, which is why you won't find it on a spec sheet. Some manufacturers make claims about their shutter-lag times in product information, but there's no industry-standard means of obtaining the data they provide.
One of the major factors in shutter lag is autofocus time, which often varies with the ambient light level, since many cameras' autofocus systems depend on light to focus. To cut shutter lag, try to anticipate action and prefocus your image by depressing the shutter-release button halfway.
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Sasha
07/08/2006 03:58 AM
I compleatly agree shutter lag times shouldbe an easy measurment in daylight after setting the focus, I did find this table although it does not have a comprenhesive list. http://www.cameras.co.uk/html/shutter-lag-comparisons.cfm?sort=ShutterLag
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