Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20By: Dave EtchellsPanasonic introduces a five-megapixel digicam with the high quality optics of a 12x Leica lens. <<Exposure & Flash :(Previous) | (Next): Operation & User Interface>> Page 8:Shutter Lag & Cycle Time TestsReview First Posted: 12/17/2004 |
Shutter Lag and 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 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20:
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(secs) |
|
| Power On -> First shot | |
LCD turns
on and lens extends forward. Somewhat slow. |
| Shutdown | |
First time
is time to retract lens, second time is worst-case buffer-clearing time.
Also a bit slow, although it clears its buffer very quickly, even in
continuous-shooting mode. |
| Play to Record, first shot | |
Time until
first shot is captured. Quite fast, at least with the lens set to manual
focus mode. (Autofocus mode would add 0.5 - 1.0 second to this, depending
on the AF mode selected.) |
| Record to play | |
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. Fairly fast. |
| Shutter lag, full autofocus, multi-area mode | |
First time is at full wide-angle, second is full telephoto. Quite slow, but these times are with the camera's multi-area Autofocus mode, which is dramatically slower than all the camera's other modes. |
| Shutter lag, full autofocus, all other AF modes | 0.53 / 0.99 | First time is at full wide-angle, second is full telephoto. These times are with all AF modes except multi-area. The camera defaults to the single large-area AF mode when powered on, so these times should represent the typical user's experience. Quite fast at wide angle, average at telephoto, but still better than most long-zoom models. |
| Shutter lag, continuous autofocus | 0.60 | As is often the case, continuous autofocus doesn't help shutter lag with static subjects. |
| Shutter lag, manual focus | 0.080 | Very fast for a manual focus mode. |
| Shutter lag, prefocus | |
Time to capture, after half-pressing
shutter button. Extremely fast. |
| Cycle Time, max/min resolution | 0.86 / |
First number is for large/fine files, second number is time for "TV" mode (640x480) images. Times are averages. Buffer clears after each shot with a 32x Lexar card, slows down to 2.9 seconds/shot after four shots with a non-speed-rated one. (Buy a fast card for use with the FZ20, it can take good advantage of the speed.) NOTE though, that this cycle time depends on using Manual Focus. If you shoot in autofocus mode, the time required for focusing will slow the cycle time to 1.2-1.5 seconds per large/fine shot. |
| Cycle Time, continuous High mode, max/min resolution | 0.33 (3.0 fps) |
Shoots at the same rate for large/fine images or "TV" size images. Times are averages. Takes 4 large/fine shots or 7 TV size shots before stopping to clear buffer. Buffer clears in 1.5 seconds for large/fine images, about 1 second for lowest resolution. Good speed for a 5-megapixel camera. |
| Cycle Time, continuous Low mode, max/min resolution | 0.47 (2.14 fps) |
Shoots at the same rate for large/fine images or "TV" size images. Times are averages. Takes 4 large/fine shots or 7 TV size shots before stopping to clear the buffer. Buffer clears in 1.4 seconds for large/fine images, about 1 second for lowest resolution. Good speed for a 5-megapixel camera. |
| Cycle Time, continuous "infinite" mode, max/min resolution | 0.47 (2.14 fps) |
Shoots at the same rate for large/fine images or "TV" size images. Times are averages. Takes 4 large/fine shots or 7 TV size shots before stopping to clear buffer. After 50 shots, buffer clears in about 2 seconds for large/fine images, about 1 second for lowest resolution. Very fast, considering there's no buffer limitation. (And interesting, that speed in this mode matches that in "Continuous Low.") |
| Cycle Time, TIFF mode | 3.94 | Shoots large/fine TIFF files at this rate, clearing the buffer after each shot. Very fast for a TIFF mode. |
The FZ20 for the most part does pretty well in the speed department, provided
that you avoid its 9-area autofocus mode. When operating in its 9-area
AF mode, the FZ20's shutter lag is positively sluggish, ranging from 1.35
- 1.48 seconds. (Slow even when compared to other long-zoom digicam models.)
In any other AF mode though, the shutter lag ranges from 0.53 - 0.99 second
as the zoom is varied from wide angle to telephoto. The lag for wide angle
focal lengths is quite short, while that for telephoto focal lengths is on
the long side of average, but still not bad for a long-zoom digicam. Manual
focus lag time is really excellent, at 0.08 second, and prefocused, it's positively
blazing, at 0.038 second. Cycle times are very fast. In manual-focus single-shot
mode with a sufficiently fast card (we tested with a Lexar 32x SD card), it
can capture large/fine JPEG files to the memory card nonstop, at about 0.86
second per shot. With slower cards, it'll make you wait a little every 3-4
shots, but it's still very fast. So... If you avoid its 9-area AF mode (which
is really best suited to landscapes or still life shots), the Panasonic FZ20
is a reasonably responsive camera, with excellent cycle times and buffer capacity.
And, if you can live with manual focus or prefocusing prior to your shots,
the FZ20 would be great for fast-paced action.
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