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Nikon D1 The D1 WonderCam! Select a topic Reference: Datasheet D1 Sample Images --------------------------------- 1. Intro and Highlights 2. Executive Overview 3. Design 4. Viewfinder 5. Optics 6. Exposure 7. Amazing Flash Unit! 8. Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests 9. Operation & User Interface 10. Camera Modes & Menus 11. Image Storage & Interface 12. Video, Power, Software 13. Test Results & Conclusion 14. The All-Nikon, All-Digital Studio Reference: Custom Settings Menu --------------------------------- Print-Friendly Review Version Additional Resources and Other Links Reader Comments --------------------------------- Digital Camera Comparometer (TM) --------------------------------- <-- Digital Cameras (Home) <-- Digital Camera Reviews Index <<Amazing Flash Unit! :(Previous) | (Next): Operation & User Interface>> Page 8:Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests Review First Posted: May 12, 2000

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 almost never reported on, and can significantly affect the picture taking experience, we now routinely measure it.

Almost a year ago when the D1 was first announced, we asked Richard LoPinto (VP of Nikon's Professional Division, and the "father" of the D1 in the US) what the D1's shutter lag was. He replied "58 milliseconds" (0.058 seconds). We have to confess we assumed there was some marketing hype involved in that spec, and that the actual camera couldn't possibly be *that* fast. Well, we were wrong: The D1 is phenomenally responsive to the shutter button, and very fast from shot to shot as well.

It turns out the D1 actually does have a shutter lag of only 58 milliseconds, as proven by our own measurements in the lab! This ultra-fast shutter response only occurs when the camera is manually focused or prefocused by half-pressing the shutter button before the exposure itself. Autofocus performance will be dependent on the lens you're using with the camera: We clocked the 17-35mm zoom we tested at only 0.40 seconds. (This is one of Nikon's latest "Silent Wave" lenses.) Needless to say, these shutter-delay times are enormously faster than anything we've encountered in the consumer digicam world. It's safe to say that the D1's reflexes are quite a bit quicker than yours!

Shot to shot cycle time was 3.34 seconds in single-frame mode, where the camera waits to write each image to the memory card before capturing the next one. This is still quite fast compared to many consumer digicams, but the real speed comes when you're working in continuous-shooting mode. in continuous mode, the D1 can grab up to 21 full-resolution images at up to 4.5 frames per second. This is fast for any camera, and particularly so for a digital one.

Finally, the D1 starts up and shuts down quite quickly, taking only about a half-second from power-on to the first image captured, and shutting down in effectively no time at all. (Not surprising, since there's no lens to retract, as in many consumer cameras.) It switches from record to play mode in 2.75 seconds, and from play to record mode almost instantly.

A tip for maximum cycle-time performance with the D1.
We're indebted to Nikon technical rep Fred Sisson for pointing out the following tip to us. As our shutter lag/cycle time tests showed, the D1 is much faster between shots in Continuous mode, since it doesn't wait to write image data to the memory card between shots, just letting it accumulate in the huge RAM buffer first. Thus, if you're concerned about maximum cycle-time performance, you'll want to leave the camera in Continuous mode even when you're shooting single frames. The only problem with this is that the very fast 4.5 fps performance of Continuous mode can frequently lead to multiple frames of the same shot, captured before you can manage to get your finger off the shutter button. An excellent solution to this dilemma is to use the custom settings menu option 25-2, which slows the Continuous-mode frame rate to 2 fps. This gives you enough time to get your finger off the shutter release after each shot, yet still gives you ultra-fast shot to shot times.

A related trick is to set the camera's "image status" operating mode to Capture-Preview mode, via custom settings menu option 1-1. This causes the camera to pause and display the results of each shot on the rear-panel LCD before writing it to the card. With this mode set, you can use the Single-Shot exposure mode for checking lighting, composition, and exposure, discarding test shots as you go. Then, when everything's set, switch to Continuous Mode for the actual shooting. This is a very useful configuration, combining the best of both worlds of on-the-fly image review and high speed shooting.