Toshiba PDR-M60Toshiba introduces a "value-priced" 2 megapixel camera with nice image quality and a 2.3x optical zoom.<<Exposure & Flash :(Previous) | (Next): Operation & User Interface>> Page 7:Shutter Lag & Cycle Time TestsReview First Posted: 1/12/2001 |
Shutter Lag/Cycle Times
When you press the shutter release on a camera, there's usually a lag time before the shutter actually fires. This pause 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 can significantly affect the picture-taking experience, and is almost never reported by the manufacturer or other reviewers, we now routinely measure it using a proprietary Imaging Resource testing system.
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| Power On -> First shot |
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Faster than average
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| Shutdown |
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A little slow, but not usually an issue.
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| Play to Record, first shot |
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Essentially instant if the lens is extended. 2.5 seconds if lens is retracted. VERY fast in normal usage!
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| Record to play (max/min res) |
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A bit faster than average
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| Shutter lag, full autofocus |
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Rather slow |
| Shutter lag, prefocus |
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VERY fast! |
| Cycle time (max/min res) |
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Very fast. (Toshiba is known for fast processing in their cameras.) |
| Frame Rate, continuous mode, frames per second (fps) |
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This is for the 1/4 resolution multi-image mode. Very fast, but small images.
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Speed-wise, the PDR-M60 is a little bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, it's shutter lag in full autofocus mode is a rather long 1.4 seconds. This long a delay between pressing the shutter button and the camera actually snapping a picture would make it difficult to capture any fast-paced action. On the other hand though, if you let the camera prefocus by half-pressing and holding the shutter button prior to your actual exposure, the delay drops to a blazing 0.07 seconds. This is one of the fastest prefocus performances we've measured to date. Thus, if you can arrange things such that you can prefocus the camera on a given spot, the M60 could be one of the best bets out there for catching the action.
Shot to shot, the PDR-M60's cycle times are very good, and it's also excellent when switching from playback to record mode, a feature we like to see. With many cameras, it's all too easy to switch your camera to playback mode to check the last shot, and then not be able to react quick enough to the next shot unfolding in front of you. The M60 doesn't have this problem in the slightest.
Overall, a very credible set of performance timings from a low-cost camera.
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