Olympus C-5050 ZoomTheir best camera yet? - Olympus introduces a top-of-the-line five-megapixel model with noise reduction technology, optimum image enlargement, an improved interface, and support for three memory formats.<<Exposure & Flash :(Previous) | (Next): Operation & User Interface>> Page 7:Shutter Lag & Cycle Time TestsReview First Posted: 01/09/2003 |
Shutter Lag/Cycle Times
When you press the shutter release on a camera, there's usually a lag time before
the shutter actually fires. This time is to allow the autofocus and autoexposure
mechanisms time to do their work, and can amount to a fairly long delay in some
situations. Since this number is almost never reported on, and can significantly
affect the picture taking experience, we now routinely measure it using Imaging
Resource proprietary testing. The results are listed in the following chart.
NOTE: My qualitative characterizations of camera performance below (that is, "reasonably fast," "about average," etc.) are meant to be relative to other cameras of similar price and general capabilities. Thus, the same shutter lag that's "very fast" for a low-end consumer camera might be characterized as "quite slow" if I encountered it on a professional model. The comments are also intended as only a quick reference: If performance specs are critical for you, rely on the absolute numbers to compare cameras, rather than my purely qualitative comments.
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(secs) |
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| Power On -> First shot |
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Camera has to extend lens first. About average.
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| Shutdown |
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Time to retract camera lens. About average. |
| Play to Record, first shot |
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Time until first shot is captured. Pretty fast.
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| Record to play |
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Time to display a large/fine file after capture. About average.
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| Shutter lag, full autofocus |
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First number is for wide-angle, second is for telephoto. |
| Shutter lag, manual focus | 0.72 | A fair bit slower than average. |
| Shutter lag, prefocus |
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Time to capture, after half-pressing Shutter button. Very fast.
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| Cycle Time, max/min resolution |
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First number is for large/fine files, second number is time for small/basic images. I tested both a fast and slow CompactFlash cards, both of which produced similar cycle times. The primary difference between faster and slower cards is the buffer clear times, which can vary widely.(For instance, it takes about 30 seconds for the buffer to clear after five large/fine "SHQ" shots, but as long as 60 seconds with a slower card.) Very large buffer memory, 13+ SHQ-quality shots without waiting for buffer to clear. |
| Cycle Time, normal continuous mode, max/min resolution |
(1.3 / 1.9 fps) |
First numbers are for large/fine files, second number is time for small/basic images. Again, cycle times were the same regardless of card speed, but faster cards were able to capture slightly longer sequence lengths, and buffer clearing times varied as noted above. As I've found in a number of cameras, the time between the first two shots is consistently longer than that between subsequent ones. In SHQ mode, the second shot comes about 1 second after the first, and then subsequent ones come at the intervals shown at left. In the lowest resolution SQ mode, the initial interval is 0.59 seconds. Burst lengths range from about 40 maximum-resolution SHQ frames to over 200 lowest-resolution SQ ones. |
| Cycle Time, high-speed continuous mode, max/min resolution | 0.33 s (3 fps) |
The frame rate increases to 3 frames/second in high-speed continuous mode, regardless of card speed, but the maximum sequence length is reduced to only 5 frames. |
| Cycle Time, TIFF images |
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First time is for the slower memory card, and second is for the faster card. SmartMedia cycle time was 16.41 seconds, and xD-Picture Card was about 20.75 seconds. |
Overall, the 5050 is a pretty fast camera. Its cycle time and continuous-mode
performance is excellent, and it has a really huge buffer memory, able to
shoot a dozen or more shots in SHQ mode without forcing you to wait for the
buffer memory to clear. It's only average in terms of shutter lag though,
with a shutter delay of 0.9-1.0 second in autofocus mode. (This is average
to slightly slower than average among competing models.) In manual focus mode,
it's delay of 0.7 seconds is a good bit slower than the roughly 0.5 second
average, although it redeems itself somewhat in prefocus mode with a very
fast 0.14 second lag time. I'd really like to see a shutter response, but
kudos to Olympus for the excellent cycle time and deep buffer memory.
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