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Nikon D1H All the color and image-quality enhancements from the D1x, but 2.7 megapixels and 5 frames/second, and 1,000 lower price! Select a topic Reference: Datasheet D1H SAMPLE IMAGES! --------------------------------- 1. Intro and Highlights 2. Executive Overview 3. Design 4. Viewfinder 5. Optics 6. Exposure & Flash 7. Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests 8. Operation & User Interface 9. Camera Modes & Menus 10. Image Storage & Interface 11. Video, Power, Software 12. Test Results & Conclusion --------------------------------- Print-Friendly Review Version Additional Resources and Other Links Reader Comments on D1H Review --------------------------------- Digital Camera Comparometer (TM) --------------------------------- <-- Digital Cameras (Home) <-- Digital Camera Reviews Index <<Exposure & Flash :(Previous) | (Next): Operation & User Interface>> Page 7:Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests Review First Posted: 11/16/2001

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 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, I now routinely measure it.

Almost a year ago when the D1 was first announced, I 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). I have to confess I assumed there was some marketing hype involved in that spec, and that the actual camera couldn't possibly be *that* fast. Well, I was wrong: The D1 was phenomenally responsive to the shutter button, and very fast from shot to shot as well. I'm happy to report that this same performance has carried over to the D1h. The table below summarizes my test results:

Nikon D1h Timings
Operation	Time (secs)	Notes
Power On -> First shot	0.635	Very fast.
Shutdown	0/1.43	No lens to retract, so zero time to put-away. 1.43 seconds is time to finish saving one large/fine file after capture.
Play to Record, first shot	0.101	Camera is always "live" for shooting. This time is time to capture when shutter release is pressed while an image is being displayed on the LCD monitor.
Record to play (max res)	0.61	Time to display a large/fine image after pressing the "monitor" button.
Shutter lag, full autofocus	0.130	AF time will be very lens- and subject-dependent. This time is likely best-case, with 24-85mm lens having been previously focused on a stationary target.
Shutter lag, manual focus	0.070	Very fast, although I could never get to Nikon's stated time of 58 msec.
Shutter lag, prefocus	0.070	Ditto.
Cycle time, large/fine files	0.22	Very fast. Minimum time appears to be 0.2 seconds, but camera "penalizes" you if you re-press shutter in single-shot mode before it's ready. Figure at left is the best average I could manage without using continuous mode. For fastest shooting, put camera in continuous mode - you can still fire off single frames, but no penalty for holding down the shutter button.
Cycle time, small/basic files	0.22	No difference between fine or basic JPEG compression. Minimum cycle time remains 0.2 seconds, buffer length is about 40 frames.
Cycle time, TIFF/NEF files	0.23	TIFF and NEF (RAW) files have the same cycle times, thanks to memory buffer. See note on TIFF timing under Continuous mode below though.
Continuous mode, JPEG files	0.20 (5 fps)	Continuous-mode timing for JPEG files is very consistent, at 0.2 seconds per frame (5 frames/second).
Continuous mode, TIFF files	0.20-0.30 (3.33-5 fps)	Oddly, although the camera still used its huge buffer memory, shot to shot times for TIFF images in continuous mode varied significantly, ranging from 0.20 to 0.30 seconds, with an average of 0.23 seconds. (If you need consistent frame to frame timing, set the camera to save as JPEGs in continuous mode.)

The D1h is indeed a very fast camera. Shutter lag is very fast, measured at 70 milliseconds with my test apparatus. This is slightly slower than the 58 milliseconds I measured for the original D1, but still incredibly fast. This ultrafast 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: I clocked the 24-85mm zoom I tested at only 130 milliseconds in situations where the subject was nearly the same distance away as for the previous shot. Needless to say, these shutter delay times are enormously faster than anything I've encountered in the consumer digicam world. It's safe to say that the D1h's reflexes are quite a bit quicker than yours!

Unlike the D1, but like the recent D1x, the D1h seems to make good use of its buffer memory even in single-shot mode. Shot to shot cycle time is about 0.2 seconds, whether in single-shot or continuous modes. This is nice, as it avoids the complication of special continuous-mode setup required to get the maximum cycle time performance out of the D1. I did find though, that continuous-mode operation was a bit variable when shooting TIFF-mode images. When shooting normal JPEG files, the shot to shot cycle time was very consistent, at 0.20 seconds/frame. When I shot TIFF images though, the time between frames ranged from 0.20 seconds to as high as 0.30 seconds. - Still very fast, but if you need absolutely consistent cycle times (time/motion studies, perhaps?), be sure to shoot in JPEG mode.

The buffer on the D1h only a full 40 images at the highest resolution/quality setting, dramatically more than the 4-6 frames of the higher-resolution D1x, and a good step above even the 21 frames of buffer in the original D1. (Also incidentally, far ahead of the 14-21 frames of buffer in the Canon EOS-1D: The 1D beats the D1h in maximum frame rate, but the 40 frame buffer of the D1h should do a lot to make up for that difference for pro sports shooters.) The D1h's buffer is limited to 27 frames when saving files into TIFF or NEF format., but there isn't any limitation associated with higher ISO speed settings, as with the EOS-1D. Maximum continuous-mode shooting speed is 5.0 frames/second, the fastest available apart from the aforementioned EOS-1D by Canon.

Finally, the D1h starts up and shuts down quite quickly, taking only 0.635 seconds 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 also switches from record to play mode very quickly (0.61 seconds), and from play to record mode almost instantly (0.101 seconds).