Nikon D50By: Dave Etchells and Shawn BarnettNikon develops an "entry-level" SLR loaded with features for less than $750. (Body only) <<Flash :(Previous) | (Next): Operation & User Interface>> Page 11:Shutter Lag & Cycle Time TestsReview First Posted: 05/20/2005, Updated: 08/10/2005 |
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 allows 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 rarely reported on (and even less often reported accurately), and can significantly affect the picture taking experience, I now routinely measure it, using a custom test system I built for the purpose, accurate to 0.001 second. Here are the numbers I measured for the Nikon D50. (These results have now been updated based on tests of a production model of the D50. As it turns out, the updated figures are almost identical to those from the prototype sample.)
| (Data from a final production model) |
||
| |
(secs) |
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| Power On -> First shot | |
Hold the shutter button down and turn power on - pow! (Very fast.) |
| Shutdown | |
First time is simple shutdown, second time is worst-case buffer-clearing time. (Also very fast.) |
| Play to Record, first shot | |
Nearly instantaneous. |
| Record to play | |
First time is that required to display a large/fine file immediately after capture, second time is that needed to display a large/fine file that has already been processed and stored on the memory card. Both times are quite fast. |
| Shutter lag, full autofocus | |
Very fast. (Measured with 18-55mm "Kit" lens at telephoto setting) |
| Shutter lag, manual focus | 0.134 |
Quite fast. |
| Shutter lag, prefocus | 0.114 |
Time to capture, after half-pressing shutter button. Quite fast. |
| Cycle Time, RAW/max/min resolution | 0.49 |
Times are averages. Shoots at this pace regardless of resolution. In RAW mode, shoots 4 frames this fast, then slows to about 1.4 seconds per shot. In large/fine mode, shoots 23 frames this fast, then slows to about 0.66 seconds per shot. Continues at this pace indefinitely in TV (640x480) mode. Buffer takes 5 seconds to clear in RAW or large/fine mode, clears after each shot in TV mode. Very good, particularly for an "entry level" SLR. |
| Cycle Time, Continuous RAW/max/min resolution | 0.41 (2.47 fps) |
Times are averages. Shoots at this pace regardless of resolution. In RAW mode, shoots 4 frames this fast, then slows to about 1.4 seconds per shot. In large/fine mode, shoots 16 frames this fast, then slows to about 0.67 seconds per shot. Continues at this pace seemingly indefinitely in TV mode. Buffer takes 5 seconds to clear in RAW or large/fine mode, about a second in TV mode. Very good. |
Very good performance, particularly for an "entry level" digital camera. Even though the D50 is intended to be an "entry level" SLR, it's no slouch in the performance department. It's slightly slower in continuous mode than the D70 or D70S (2.5 frames/second, vs 3.0), but its buffer depth is very good, and its autofocus speed is excellent. - Shutter lag in full-autofocus mode with the 18-55mm "Kit" lens is a very good 0.265 second, noticeably faster than the 0.342-0.486 second we measured for the original D70 and its 18-70mm kit lens. Shutter lag is perhaps one of the biggest issues that will lead amateur photographers to step up from all-in-one "prosumer" digital cameras to SLR models, and the Nikon D50 does very well in this respect. - This should be an extremely enticing camera for people with young families and lots of fast-paced action to capture. (Or for amateurs looking for a camera to shoot sports photos with, etc, etc.)
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