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Minolta Dimage S404

Dimage technology and optics in a compact, stylish four megapixel design

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Page 7:Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests
Review First Posted: 1/30/2002

Shutter Lag/Cycle Times
When you press the shutter release on a camera, there's usually a delay or lag time before the shutter actually fires. This time is required for 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, I now routinely measure it with a custom test system of my own design.

Dimage S404 Timings

Operation Time (secs) Notes

Power On -> First shot 4.84 About average for cameras with telescoping lenses.

Shutdown 4.5 Also about average.

Play to Record, first shot 1.67 Time between switching from play to record mode and capture of first image. Fairly fast.

Record to play 1.9 Time to display maximum res/quality image when switching from record to play mode.

Shutter lag, full autofocus 0.76 Faster than average

Shutter lag, continuous autofocus 0.75 Little benefit for using continuous autofocus mode.

Shutter lag, manual focus 0.17 Quite a bit faster than average. (Average is close to 0.5 seconds.)

Shutter lag, prefocus 0.09 VERY fast - Most cameras have a lag in this mode of 0.3 seconds or so.

Cycle Time, normal mode 1.14 Quite fast. Buffer memory holds ~9 large/fine shots, then cycle time stretches to ~5 seconds. Buffer takes about 19 seconds to clear completely.

Cycle Time, continuous mode 0.80
(1.25 fps) Quite fast. The buffer is quite large, holding 11 large/fine images, then cycle time stretches to ~4.4 seconds. Buffer takes 22.5 seconds to clear completely with a fast memory card (Lexar 12x), 38 seconds with a slow one (Mr. Flash).

The production model S404 performed almost identically to the prototype unit I originally tested, with the sole exception that the buffer memory on the production unit was almost twice as large. In my testing, the S404 appeared quite fast in all its operations. Shutter lag was noticeably shorter than most competing models, and shot to shot cycle times were quite fast as well. The S404 also appears to have an unusually large buffer memory, offering fast cycle times for up to 11 large/fine shots in sequence. (50 or more shots in small/basic resolution mode.) Overall, a pretty impressive performance, speed-wise.

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Dimage S404 Timings
Operation	Time (secs)	Notes
Power On -> First shot	4.84	About average for cameras with telescoping lenses.
Shutdown	4.5	Also about average.
Play to Record, first shot	1.67	Time between switching from play to record mode and capture of first image. Fairly fast.
Record to play	1.9	Time to display maximum res/quality image when switching from record to play mode.
Shutter lag, full autofocus	0.76	Faster than average
Shutter lag, continuous autofocus	0.75	Little benefit for using continuous autofocus mode.
Shutter lag, manual focus	0.17	Quite a bit faster than average. (Average is close to 0.5 seconds.)
Shutter lag, prefocus	0.09	VERY fast - Most cameras have a lag in this mode of 0.3 seconds or so.
Cycle Time, normal mode	1.14	Quite fast. Buffer memory holds ~9 large/fine shots, then cycle time stretches to ~5 seconds. Buffer takes about 19 seconds to clear completely.
Cycle Time, continuous mode	0.80 (1.25 fps)	Quite fast. The buffer is quite large, holding 11 large/fine images, then cycle time stretches to ~4.4 seconds. Buffer takes 22.5 seconds to clear completely with a fast memory card (Lexar 12x), 38 seconds with a slow one (Mr. Flash).