Hi all!
I’ve only used a couple of digital cameras before. While they both take nice photos, they both have a noticeable delay before the shutter closes once I’ve depressed the release button. This makes it really hard to take photos of anything that might move (like a fish), at least for me.
I don’t like to keep fish out of water or laying on the bank just so I can get a photo, so my attempts to photograph fish with a digital camera, while fishing alone, have been met with failure. I know, I know…I shouldn’t go fishing alone, but sometimes it just works out that way.
Anyway, to the point: Do all digital cameras have this noticeable shutter delay? I’ve thought of getting a nice waterproof/water resistant digital camera like the Pentax Optio WR series, but am reluctant to spend that kind of money on something that cannot take action shots due to the shutter delay issue.
If this is an inherant “feature” of digital cameras, maybe I’ll resort to just using a water resistant disposable camera for fishing. I’ve owned a couple of nice 35mm SLR’s years ago, with multple lenses and filters, etc., and became fairly accomplished with them, but they’re not what you’d call compact, and the ease of sharing photos is much nicer with a digital camera.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts and expertise related to digital cameras.
Thanks for the links Norman. That’s what I was starting to think as well, with the searching I’ve been doing. I’ve played around with pre-focusing, having the shutter button half way depressed, and so on, but these have only helped a little bit, and only some of the time.
This does seem to confirm for me that a full digital camera (not a digital SLR) is not a very good tool for one handed action shots of fish when there’s nobody else around to hold the fish steady.
I use an Olympus 850SW almost every time out fishing ( somewhere around 125 days plus a year ).
If I understand your question - NO, there is no noticeable shutter delay in taking a picture.
YES - there is a delay to take a second picture, but no so long that it will make any difference to a fish which has been hooked lightly, landed quickly, and handled gently and released ( with some revival if indicated ) after a pic or two or three.
And the delay is certainly not a problem in taking scenery, wildlife, flowers and foliage, etc. pictures. You might miss a second shot on fast moving wildlife, but the odds of getting a good one are remote, anyway, at least for me.
John
P.S. I think I’ve posted somewhere around 1400 pics on the BB in the past 18 months. Virtually all of them were taken with the 850SW, the exceptions being a few wildlife pics taken with a Canon Rebel Xsi.
The delay on most digital cameras is a small fraction of a second. If you hold still when you push the button, the picture should still work. Yes, a fish will wiggle once in a while, but most cameras, especially newer ones, will let you shoot another frame in a second or two.
I could be wrong BUT I’m under the impression the shutter delay has to do, to some degree, with the light available. Bright light= fast shutter, Low light=slow shutter. (?)(?)
If I Take a picture on the highest resolution I notice a little longer delay in the time between pictures. I also had to reset the time that the camera shows the last picture to 5 sec so I can take the next one sooner. As for the
actual time delay when yoiu press the button I think that’s due to the time the camera takes to focus on the object. You can try the Manual focus setting & see if that makes any difference…
I had a sonny Cyber Shot (6 mega pixels) and it took a long time for it to actually shoot, it broke and bought a Canon Power Shot A1100is and it is the quickest camera I have owned, one snap and it’s done, 12.1 megapixels and the price is not bad either. Target has it (not sure if they still do) for $150.
I’ve used it on my kids and they move pretty quick, no time for delays lol.
Good luck
One of the most frustrating problems some people run into with digital cameras is the characteristic known as shutter lag. How many times have you waited for the right moment to take a shot, only to spend the next second waiting for the camera to take the picture, if at all? Meanwhile, your perfect shot has vanished from view. This is shutter lag.
The time from when you press the shutter release button (ie. the trigger) until the camera actually takes the photo is known as total shutter lag. Total shutter lag is the combination of two processes at work: the autofocus lag and the shutter release lag.
[ul]
[li]Autofocus Lag - As soon you press the shutter button, the camera generally attempts to search for an appropriate focus point. This autofocus mechanism is often very slow, and contributes most to the overall lag. In point and shoot cameras, the physical lens is focused back and forth with a motor until the camera determines that the focus is correct. Obviously since we have to wait for a motor to move in both directions, the delay is going to be considerable. With digital SLR cameras, an advanced closed-loop control circuit allows a fast estimate of appropriate focus distance, without having to slowly move the lens back and forth. Note that all cameras will take longer to autofocus if the environment is dark or the photographed object exhibits poor contrast (which makes it harder for the camera to lock-on to).[/li][li]Shutter Release Lag - Once the camera has determined the appropriate focus distance, the camera triggers the electronic or physical shutter mechanism. On some cheaper cameras this process can take a moderate amount of time, but it is usually not as significant as the autofocus lag. The shutter release lag is the time it takes to take the photo if one has “pre-focused” (ie. held down the shutter button half-way) or used manual focus mode.[/li][li]Total Lag - The sum of Autofocus Lag and Shutter Release Lag. This is the delay most often seen when “pre-focusing” is not done, or in times when one is trying to take a picture quickly (ie. without setting it up).[/li][/ul]Obviously, the larger the total lag time for a camera, the more noticeable and frustrating the delay becomes. In purchasing a new camera, one should carefully compare the differences in total lag between different models, as some cameras are much faster than others in this respect. Make sure that you are comparing the time it takes to shoot the same object (as different objects will lead to different autofocus lag delays).
so, your Olympus 850SW doesnt do this?? i want one!
shutter lag vs recycle time (the time it takes the camera to take another photo) are 2 different things
The several digital cameras I have owned or used at work all focused with the shutter button halfway down, and the actual shutter lag when you finally took the shot was a very short one. It is still up to the photographer to take the photo.
It is not completely true that all digital cameras have shutter lag. All point and shoot digital cameras do have some form of shutter lag, how long it is however varies greatly by camera and by manufacturer. On the other hand DSLR cameras have no perceptible shutter lag.
For instance, my wife’s Canon PowerShot SX110 can take as much as 1 second to take a shot from the time the shutter is pressed. On the other hand my Canon EOS 50D in that same amount of time can take 5 shots. Now granted there is a more than 1k difference in price between these two cameras, but it does show the extreme difference between a point and shoot and a DSLR.
Many review websites have begun to post shutter lag data with their reviews as for many it is important. I know in my home my wife hates her SX110 simply due to the amount of shutter lag. So for the ultimate in lag less shooting the only real option is a DSLR.
I didn’t say the Olympus 850SW doesn’t have a lag. I said that there was no NOTICEABLE shutter delay, referring to that camera. Hmmmmmmmm … maybe my powers of observation and reflexes have slowed to the point I’m just not noticing something that would be terribly bothersome to others and cause them to lose magic shot after magic shot ???
Anyway, if you want one, go buy one. Technology aside, I’m sure you will like it and find it quite suitable for taking high quality pics in and around and under the water and when the temps are down in the teens, and when you drop it into the water or on streamside rocks and it keeps on shooting ( quickly, I might add ) you’ll be delighted.
Every “still” camera made…ever…has “shutter lag”. Some can make the camera useless ( for certain applications) whereas others are so fast the lag is measured in “mili-seconds” ( means pretty da** fast…:lol: )
Got mom a point and shoot for her 89th birthday last year. She’s a little tech challenged.
We now have 259 perfect images in our family album she took. OF HER FEET!
For my part, I use an Oly 1030 on the water. It does “lag” compared to my Nikon DSLR, then again, … I would be retty sad if I dropped the Nikon in the water trying to take a picture while I was by myself
To get over the tiny problem of lagging, I usually shoot in burst mode, … that is, I’ll take 3 or more images at a time.
IMHO, … today’s point 'n shoot compact digitals put lots of marketing in the megapixels. As we all know now, other considerations are probably more important once we get over 8 meg (for most applications). Total lag is one relatively important point to look at. Pre-focusing helps a lot too.
I own a studio and have used just about every camera you could imagine over the years. To make a long story somewhat short and easy to understand you will find that shutter lag is present on all digital cameras to some measurable degree…even the absolute best DSLR’s. However on a point and shoot camera the shutter lag is noticeable and on some point and shoots it is extremely noticeable so you really have to hold the camera steady while depressing the shutter button. One big advantage to using a DSLR is that while shutter lag is still present it is generally not noticeable and not an issue.
