Canon PowerShot G5The next generation of Canon's popular "G" model updates the line with a larger, 5.0-megapixel CCD.<<Exposure & Flash :(Previous) | (Next): Operation & User Interface>> Page 7:Shutter Lag & Cycle Time TestsReview First Posted: 08/18/2003 |
Shutter Lag/Cycle Times
When you press the shutter release on a digital camera, there's usually a delay or 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.
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.
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| Power On -> First shot | | Time from power-up to first shot. A little slow. |
| Shutdown | | Time for lens to retract. About average. |
| Play to Record, first shot | | Time until first shot is captured. Average to a bit slower than average. |
| Record to play (max/min res) | 1.97/0.79 | Top times are for max res JPEGs, bottom times for min res. First number is for immediate switch after capturing an image, second is for camera at rest, after having finished processing. |
| Shutter lag, full autofocus | | Longer time is for telephoto, shorter for wide angle. On the slow side of average. ("Average" runs from 0.8 to 1.0 seconds.) |
| Shutter lag, continuous autofocus | 1.20 | Continuous AF may help for moving subjects, but is slower than single AF for stationary ones. |
| Shutter lag, manual focus | | Slower than average. (Average is about 0.5 second.) |
| Shutter lag, prefocus | | Very fast. |
| Cycle Time, max/min resolution | | First number is for large/fine files, second for small/economy. Last time is for full res CCD RAW files. Buffer holds minimum of 4 shots at max JPEG size/quality, essentially unlimited shots at lowest size/quality, and two shots in RAW mode. Buffer takes about 22 seconds to clear for JPEGs, about 10 seconds for RAW files. |
| Cycle time, continuous mode | 0.72 (First is 0.98) | Interval between first and second shot is 0.98 seconds, drops to 0.72 seconds after that. Same times for large/small files. Buffer holds minimum of 4 large/fine files, many small/fine (100 or more), two RAW files. Buffer clears in ~22 seconds. |
| Cycle time, high-speed continuous mode | (First is 0.63) | Large/fine files slightly slower than small/basic ones. Interval between first two shots is 0.63 seconds, regardless of image size. |
The G5 is fairly fast from shot to shot and it has a fairly generous buffer memory, but its shutter lag is longer than I'd like to see on a camera of this caliber. The good news though, is that its prefocus lag is very short, so you can get quick response when you need it, as long as you can live with prefocusing by half-pressing and holding the shutter button ahead of time. Cycle time in continuous mode is pretty good, about 1.4 frames/second in normal mode, and 2 frames/second in high speed mode. Overall, a good performance, but I'd like to see a faster autofocus system.
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