"Picky Details" for the Kodak EasyShare LS420 digital camera
(Timing, Power, and Storage Info)
Timing
I measure both cycle times and shutter delay times, 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 Kodak EasyShare LS420:
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(secs) |
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| Power On -> First shot |
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A little slow. The camera checks memory and displays a startup screen before entering capture mode.
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| Shutdown |
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Time until done storing high-quality photo. Since the camera doesn't have to retract a lens though, you can put it in your pocket the moment you shut it off. |
| Play to Record, first shot |
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Time until first shot is captured. About average
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| Record to play |
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Time to display a large/fine file after capture.
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| Shutter lag, full autofocus |
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Not actually autofocus, since the LS420's lens is a fixed-focus design. Quite fast as a result. |
| Shutter lag, prefocus |
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Time to capture, after half-pressing Shutter button. A bit slower than average.
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| Cycle Time, max/min resolution |
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Same performance for large or small image sizes. First number is time between first 3 shots, second number is for subsequent ones. (The LS420 has a 3-shot "buffer memory." |
Overall, the LS420 is a fairly fast camera. It's a little slow getting started, as it seems to take a long while to check memory and display the startup screen. Once started though, it's reasonably fast. The fixed-focus lens means there's no time spent waiting for an autofocus mechanism, so shutter lag is a good bit faster than average. Shot to shot speed is pretty good as well, at least for the first three shots in a series. - After that, the camera has to wait while it writes the picture data to permanent memory.
Power
The LS420 uses a single lithium-ion battery for its power source. Usually, tiny cameras like this have very poor battery life, but the LS420 seems to be an exception to that rule. The table below shows the LS420's power consumption in various modes, and approximate run times for each, based on the standard lithium-ion battery pack with a 1,050 mAh capacity:
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(@5 volts on the external power terminal) |
(3.7v, 1,050 mAh lithium-ion cell) |
| Capture Mode, w/LCD |
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| Capture Mode, no LCD |
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| Half-pressed shutter w/LCD |
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| Half-pressed w/o LCD |
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| Memory Write (transient) |
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| Flash Recharge (transient) |
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| Image Playback |
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As noted, power consumption on the LS420 is quite reasonable. I still highly recommend that you purchase an extra battery for it, but the run times above are really very much on a par with larger cameras.
Storage Capacity
The LS420 stores its photos in its internal 8MB of memory or on SD-type memory cards. (I strongly recommend buying at least a 16MB card, preferably a 32MB one, to give yourself extra space for extended outings. These days memory cards are so cheap, there's no reason not to get even a 64MB card.) The chart below shows how many images can be stored on the internal 8MB memory at each size/quality setting.
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Resolution/Quality Internal 8MB Memory |
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| Full Resolution 1,752x1,168 | Images (Avg size) |
12 667 KB |
| Approx. Compression |
9:1 | |
| Half Resolution 876x584 | Images (Avg size) |
163 KB |
| Approx. Compression |
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Download Speed
The LS420 connects to a host computer via the included camera dock, which in turn connects via a USB cable. Downloading files to my 500 MHz PowerMac G4 (OS 9.1), I clocked it at 311 KBytes/second. (This is on the low side of average - Some cameras with USB connections run as fast as 600 KBytes/second.)
Back to the Main EasyShare LS420
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