Olympus Camedia C-770 Zoom4.0 megapixels, a sharp 10x zoom lens, a unique flash head, and loads more features!<<Exposure & Flash :(Previous) | (Next): Operation & User Interface>> Page 7:Shutter Lag & Cycle Time TestsReview First Posted: 07/06/2004 |
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-770:
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(secs) |
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| Power On -> First shot |
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LCD turns on and lens extends forward. Longer 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, before you can remove the memory card. Lens-retract time is about average. Worst-case buffer-clearing time is very long, but that's because the camera can hold so many small/basic resolution shots in its buffer in continuous shooting mode. Buffer-clearing time in normal shooting mode is quite fast.
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| Play to Record, first shot |
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Time until first shot is captured. Not as fast as I'd like.
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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. Average to a bit slower than average.
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| Shutter lag, full autofocus |
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First time is at full wide-angle, second is full telephoto. On the slow side of average, but long zooms generally have longer shutter-lag times. |
| Shutter lag, manual focus | 0.71 | Quite a 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 |
2.56 / |
First number is for large/fine files, second number is time for "TV" mode (640x480) images. Times are averages. In large/fine mode, rate slows to 3.9 seconds per shot after 11 shots, and the buffer clears in 18 seconds. In TV mode, the buffer never fills and clears almost immediately. The cycle time is competitive with its competitors, but the C770 wins in terms of buffer depth, which is excellent for a camera of its class. (Buffer capacity is one area in which the C-770 does much better than its lower-priced sibling the C-765. The C-765 can only buffer a couple of large/fine shots at a time, a limitation that I felt was a significant one when I reviewed it.) |
| Cycle Time, continuous High mode | 0.43 (2.3 fps) |
Shoots 5 frames this fast regardless of resolution. In large/fine mode, it slows to about 4 seconds per frame after the buffer is full. After the buffer fills in TV mode, it shoots pairs of frames in rapid succession with each other, with about 4.7 seconds between pairs of shots. Buffer clears in 9 seconds for large/fine images, 6 seconds for TV mode. Very good speed, and a useful buffer capacity. |
| Cycle Time, continuous Low mode | 0.63 (1.60 fps) |
In large/fine mode, shoots this fast for 9 frames , then slows to one frame about every 4 seconds, and clears the buffer in 14 seconds. In TV mode, continues this fast for over 100 shots, but takes 34 seconds to clear the buffer. |
| Cycle Time, continuous AF mode | 1.13 (.88 fps) | In large/fine mode, shoots this fast for 9 frames , then slows to one frame about every 4 seconds, and clears the buffer in 18 seconds. In TV mode, continues this fast for over 100 shots, but takes 44 seconds to clear the buffer. |
| Cycle Time, TIFF mode | 12.46 | No continuous mode available for TIFFs, and no buffering, the camera writes the images to the card after each shot, and you have to wait until it's done processing the previous shot before you can capture the next one. That said though, even this rather leisurely pace is a fair bit faster than most cameras manage to process TIFF-format image files. |
While I wouldn't by any stretch call the C-770 a speed demon, it isn't as horribly slow as some long-zoom digicams, has pretty good buffer capacity, and is reasonably fast in its high-speed continuous shooting mode. While its shutter lag is on the long side of average, it does better than some long-zoom models, and is actually quite fast when prefocused by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button prior to the exposure itself. So overall, not a first choice for sports shooting, but if you can learn to prefocus before critical shots, it should do quite nicely.
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