Olympus Camedia C-60 ZoomOlympus packs a 6.1-megapixel CCD into an ultra-compact body, with a host of advanced features too.<<Exposure & Flash :(Previous) | (Next): Operation & User Interface>> Page 7:Shutter Lag & Cycle Time TestsReview First Posted: 06/10/2004 |
Shutter Lag/Cycle Times
When you press the shutter release on a camera, there's usually a lag time
or delay before the shutter actually fires. This corresponds to the time 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 rarely
reported on (and even more rarely reported accurately), and can significantly
affect the picture taking experience, I routinely measure both shutter delay
and shot to shot cycle times for all cameras I test, using a test system I designed
and built for the purpose. (Crystal-controlled, with a resolution of 0.001 second.)
Here are the numbers I collected for the Olympus C-60:
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(secs) |
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| Power On -> First shot |
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LCD turns on and lens extends forward. The startup time seems to vary widely, depending on what the camera happens to be pointing at. When it's facing nearby subjects, it seems to start up about twice as fast as when it's pointed at faraway objects. I've never seen this behavior before, can only conclude that the passive autofocus system tries to rough-focus the lens on power up to give better shutter lag when the first shot is taken. The shorter end of this delay range is about average, the longer end is a good bit slower than average.
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| Shutdown |
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First time is time to retract lens, second time is worst-case buffer-clearing time. Average for lens retraction, very long for buffer clearing (but then, the worst-case buffer clearing is for TIFF files, and very few consumer digicams, regardless of size, offer any buffering of uncompressed file formats).
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| 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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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. Slow for the first time, fairly fast for the second.
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| Shutter lag, full autofocus |
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First time is at full wide-angle, second is full telephoto. Very fast, one of the best shutter responses of any consumer model on the market. |
| Shutter lag, prefocus |
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Time to capture, after half-pressing shutter button. Also very fast.
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| Cycle Time, max/min resolution |
1.48 / 1.88 /1.48 |
First number is for TIFF files, second number is for large/fine files, third number is time for "TV" mode (640x480) images. Times are averages. In TIFF mode, shoots three shots this fast, then slows to 30 seconds per shot and clears the buffer in 92 seconds. In large/fine mode, shoots five shots this fast, then slows to 5.9 seconds per shot, and clears the buffer in 24 seconds. In TV mode, the buffer never fills, and clears in a second. Pretty fast cycle times, a generous buffer memory, and very surprising to find a compact digicam buffering TIFF files at all. |
| Cycle Time, continuous High mode, max/min resolution | 0.61 / 0.61 (1.64 fps) |
Times are the same for large/fine files and "TV" size images. Times are averages. Shooting stops when the buffer fills with four large/fine files, and it clears in 25 seconds. The buffer never fills with TV size files, and clears in a second. Very fast, particularly for a compact digicam. |
| Cycle Time, Continuous AF mode, max/min resolution | 1.13 / 0.94 (0.88 / 1.07 fps) |
In this mode, the camera focuses for each frame. First number is for large/fine files, second number is time for small/basic images. Times are averages. Shooting stops when the buffer fills with four large/fine files, and it clears in 20 seconds. The buffer never fills with TV size files, and clears in a second. Still quite fast, considering that the camera is adjusting focus before each shot. |
I have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised by the C-60's shutter response. Poor autofocus speed and the slow shutter response that results are the bane of the entire digicam market, and are areas in which compact digicams generally lag behind their larger brethren. Thanks to a "hybrid" autofocus system though, the C-60 is very responsive to the shutter button. Its shutter lag times of 0.30 - 0.36 seconds put it in the top rank of all consumer-level digicams currently on the market, whether compact or full-sized. It's also quite fast from shot to shot, with cycle times on the order of 1.5-1.9 seconds, and a buffer memory that can hold five or more large/fine JPEG images. Not only that, but the C-60's buffer memory even works when shooting in TIFF mode, a very rare capability, regardless of a camera's price range. Very impressive!
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