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Canon PowerShot S50

A sleek design, a hot custom processing chip, new-look user interface, direct support for a Canon inkjet printer, and *five* megapixels of resolution!

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Page 7:Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests
Review First Posted: 02/27/2003

Shutter Lag/Cycle Times
When you press the shutter release on a digital camera, there's usually a lag time before the shutter actually fires. This time allows the autofocus and autoexposure mechanisms to do their work and can amount to a significant delay in some situations. Since this number is rarely reported by manufacturers or reviewers, and can significantly affect the picture-taking experience, I now measures shutter lag and cycle times using an electronic test setup I designed and constructed for the purpose. (Crystal-controlled, accurate to 0.001 second.)

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.

PowerShot S50 Timings

Operation Time
(secs) Notes

Power On -> First shot 4.69 Time for lens to extend and take the first shot.

Shutdown 2.13 Time for lens to retract. About average.

Play to Record, first shot 1.96 Time from playback mode to first shot captured.

Record to play 1.05/2.31
Longer time is for max res JPEG, immediate switch to quick review. Middle time is for quick review, with camera already done saving image to card.

Shutter lag, full autofocus 1.07/1.10 First time is for lens at wide angle zoom position, second time is for lens at telephoto. On the slow side of average.

Shutter lag, manual focus 0.56 A bit slower than average.

Shutter lag, prefocus 0.13 Quite a bit faster than average.

Cycle time, large/fine files ~1.70 Quite fast, especially for a five megapixel camera. Buffer holds ~five frames at maximum JPEG quality before you have to wait for the memory card, and then the shot to shot time is about four seconds. Very impressive.

Cycle time, small/basic files 1.71 Not a lot of difference with small/basic quality images, but I found no limit due to buffer capacity. (At least no limit up to ~150 shots which was the number I snapped without pausing before I gave up with a tired finger. ;-)

Cycle time, RAW files 2.51 Very fast cycle time for RAW format files. Camera can capture up to two frames this quickly, then slows to between six and seven seconds between shots. (Which is still very fast for five-megapixel RAW files.)

Continuous mode
(Large/Fine file size) 1.25
(0.80 fps) In this mode, the camera briefly flashes a "review" glimpse of the just-captured image onthe viewfinder after each shot. The camera can capture ~9 frames in large/fine mode before pausing. When the buffer fills in large/fine mode, you have to wait for about 17.4 seconds for it to clear before you can resume shooting. As I've observed with many cameras in continuous mode, the interval between the first two shots (1.52 seconds) is longer than that between subsequent ones.

Continuous mode
(Small/Basic file size) 0.97
(1.03 fps) Frame rates are slightly higher for small/basic file sizes, but the run length is very long - I got tired of holding down the shutter button after 120 frames, after which it took about 28 seconds to clear the buffer. First-shot cycle time is 1.2 seconds, then drops to 0.97 for subsequent ones.

Continuous mode, "H" mode
(Large/Fine file size) 0.51
(1.95 fps) In this mode, there's no "review" display after each picture, letting the camera cycle more quickly. The camera could capture five frames at large/fine size before taking 18.6 seconds to fully clear the buffer. First-shot cycle time is 0.59 seconds, then drops to 0.51 for subsequent ones.

Continuous mode, "H" mode
(Small/Basic file size) 0.46
(2.13 fps) In "H" continuous mode, shooting at small/basic size results in slightly higher frame rates. The camera can capture ~100+ frames before having to pause for the buffer to empty, taking 32.5 seconds before it's ready to grab another long sequence of shots again. First-shot cycle time is 0.59 seconds, then drops to 0.46 for subsequent ones.

Overall, the S50 is a surprisingly fast camera, particularly so considering its five-megapixel resolution. It has a generous buffer capacity, letting you snap five full-resolution/quality pictures in rapid succession before having to wait for the memory card to catch up. Shutter lag times are a bit on the slow side of average in both full autofocus and manual focus modes, but the prefocus shutter release is very fast. Continuous-mode cycle times are quite fast at nearly 2fps in "Hi" mode.

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PowerShot S50 Timings
Operation	Time (secs)	Notes
Power On -> First shot	4.69	Time for lens to extend and take the first shot.
Shutdown	2.13	Time for lens to retract. About average.
Play to Record, first shot	1.96	Time from playback mode to first shot captured.
Record to play	1.05/2.31	Longer time is for max res JPEG, immediate switch to quick review. Middle time is for quick review, with camera already done saving image to card.
Shutter lag, full autofocus	1.07/1.10	First time is for lens at wide angle zoom position, second time is for lens at telephoto. On the slow side of average.
Shutter lag, manual focus	0.56	A bit slower than average.
Shutter lag, prefocus	0.13	Quite a bit faster than average.
Cycle time, large/fine files	~1.70	Quite fast, especially for a five megapixel camera. Buffer holds ~five frames at maximum JPEG quality before you have to wait for the memory card, and then the shot to shot time is about four seconds. Very impressive.
Cycle time, small/basic files	1.71	Not a lot of difference with small/basic quality images, but I found no limit due to buffer capacity. (At least no limit up to ~150 shots which was the number I snapped without pausing before I gave up with a tired finger. ;-)
Cycle time, RAW files	2.51	Very fast cycle time for RAW format files. Camera can capture up to two frames this quickly, then slows to between six and seven seconds between shots. (Which is still very fast for five-megapixel RAW files.)
Continuous mode (Large/Fine file size)	1.25 (0.80 fps)	In this mode, the camera briefly flashes a "review" glimpse of the just-captured image onthe viewfinder after each shot. The camera can capture ~9 frames in large/fine mode before pausing. When the buffer fills in large/fine mode, you have to wait for about 17.4 seconds for it to clear before you can resume shooting. As I've observed with many cameras in continuous mode, the interval between the first two shots (1.52 seconds) is longer than that between subsequent ones.
Continuous mode (Small/Basic file size)	0.97 (1.03 fps)	Frame rates are slightly higher for small/basic file sizes, but the run length is very long - I got tired of holding down the shutter button after 120 frames, after which it took about 28 seconds to clear the buffer. First-shot cycle time is 1.2 seconds, then drops to 0.97 for subsequent ones.
Continuous mode, "H" mode (Large/Fine file size)	0.51 (1.95 fps)	In this mode, there's no "review" display after each picture, letting the camera cycle more quickly. The camera could capture five frames at large/fine size before taking 18.6 seconds to fully clear the buffer. First-shot cycle time is 0.59 seconds, then drops to 0.51 for subsequent ones.
Continuous mode, "H" mode (Small/Basic file size)	0.46 (2.13 fps)	In "H" continuous mode, shooting at small/basic size results in slightly higher frame rates. The camera can capture ~100+ frames before having to pause for the buffer to empty, taking 32.5 seconds before it's ready to grab another long sequence of shots again. First-shot cycle time is 0.59 seconds, then drops to 0.46 for subsequent ones.