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Canon PowerShot G3

The third generation of Canon's popular G model retains last year's 4 megapixel CCD, but brings a 4X zoom lens and a host of other improvements.

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Page 7:Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests
Review First Posted: 9/16/2002

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 built for this purpose. - It has crystal-controlled timing, with resolution to 0.001 second.

PowerShot G3 Timings

Operation Time (secs) Notes

Power On -> First shot
4.2
Time from power-up to first shot. About average, quite a bit faster than the G2.

Shutdown
2.42
Time for lens to retract, also faster than the G2.

Play to Record, first shot
2.38
Time until first shot is captured. A bit slower than average.

Record to play (max/min res)
1.6/1.4

1.3/1.2
Top times are for max res JPEGs, bottom times for min res. First time in each pair is for preview mode immediately after shutter release, second time is for switch to playback mode after camera has processed the last frame and saved to memory. All times are very fast.

Shutter lag, full autofocus
0.94 - 0.80
Longer time is for telephoto, shorter for wide angle. Both figures are about average.

Shutter lag, manual focus
0.44
Slightly faster than average.

Shutter lag, prefocus
0.104
MUCH faster than average. (Good for sports?)

Cycle Time, max/min resolution
1.88

1.88

2.5-2.8/
7.4-16.4
First number is for large/fine files, second for small/economy. Last time is for full res CCD RAW files. Times of 2.5-2.8 are for first four shots in RAW mode, with slight variations between fast and slow CF cards. Times of 7.4-16.4 are for buffer clearing, with dramatic variation between fast and slow cards. Buffer capacity in large/fine mode is about 10 shots, after which cycle time increases to 3.1 - 5.1 seconds, depending on card speed. Overall, very fast.

Cycle time, continuous mode
1.46/1.50 fps

2.27/2.41 fps
Quite fast. First set of numbers are for max/min res in "normal" continuous mode, second set are the same for "high speed" continuous mode. Buffer size for large/fine mode was about the same for both normal and high-speed modes, at ~10-12 frames, depending on scene content. Buffer clear afterward ranged from 17-39 secs in normal mode, 23-44 secs in high speed mode, depending on card speed. Buffer size in small/economy mode was ~63-65 frames.

Overall, the PowerShot G3 is noticeably faster than the G2 in just about every parameter, and is either average or a bit faster than average relative to competing high-end prosumer digicam models. Startup and shutdown times have been markedly improved, as have shot to shot cycle times. Shutter lag is also a good bit better, with the result that the G3 is now average or a bit faster than average in that critical parameter. As was the case with the G2, prefocus shutter lag is very short.

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PowerShot G3 Timings
Operation	Time (secs)	Notes
Power On -> First shot	4.2	Time from power-up to first shot. About average, quite a bit faster than the G2.
Shutdown	2.42	Time for lens to retract, also faster than the G2.
Play to Record, first shot	2.38	Time until first shot is captured. A bit slower than average.
Record to play (max/min res)	1.6/1.4 1.3/1.2	Top times are for max res JPEGs, bottom times for min res. First time in each pair is for preview mode immediately after shutter release, second time is for switch to playback mode after camera has processed the last frame and saved to memory. All times are very fast.
Shutter lag, full autofocus	0.94 - 0.80	Longer time is for telephoto, shorter for wide angle. Both figures are about average.
Shutter lag, manual focus	0.44	Slightly faster than average.
Shutter lag, prefocus	0.104	MUCH faster than average. (Good for sports?)
Cycle Time, max/min resolution	1.88 1.88 2.5-2.8/ 7.4-16.4	First number is for large/fine files, second for small/economy. Last time is for full res CCD RAW files. Times of 2.5-2.8 are for first four shots in RAW mode, with slight variations between fast and slow CF cards. Times of 7.4-16.4 are for buffer clearing, with dramatic variation between fast and slow cards. Buffer capacity in large/fine mode is about 10 shots, after which cycle time increases to 3.1 - 5.1 seconds, depending on card speed. Overall, very fast.
Cycle time, continuous mode	1.46/1.50 fps 2.27/2.41 fps	Quite fast. First set of numbers are for max/min res in "normal" continuous mode, second set are the same for "high speed" continuous mode. Buffer size for large/fine mode was about the same for both normal and high-speed modes, at ~10-12 frames, depending on scene content. Buffer clear afterward ranged from 17-39 secs in normal mode, 23-44 secs in high speed mode, depending on card speed. Buffer size in small/economy mode was ~63-65 frames.