Casio EXILIM PRO EX-P6006.0 megapixels, a Canon 4x zoom lens, and a host of features.<<Exposure & Flash :(Previous) | (Next): Operation & User Interface>> Page 7:Shutter Lag & Cycle Time TestsReview First Posted: 07/30/2004 |
Shutter Lag/Cycle Times
When you press the shutter release on a camera, there's generally a delay or lag time before the shutter actually fires. This time is to allow 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 (and even more rarely reported accurately), and can significantly affect the picture taking experience, I routinely measure it with a custom test system I constructed for the purpose. (With crystal-controlled timing, accurate to 0.01% and with a timing resolution of one millisecond.) Here are the figures I obtained in my testing of the EX-P600:
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(secs) |
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| Power On -> First shot | |
LCD turns
on and lens extends forward. About average |
| Shutdown | |
First time is time to retract
lens, second time is worst-case buffer-clearing time. A little slow on
both counts. The 20-second worst-case buffer-clearing time though, is
after a string of 20 or more large/fine images in normal speed continuous
mode, so actually isn't too bad, considering. |
| Play to Record, first shot | |
Time until
first shot is captured. Very fast. |
| 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. Very fast. |
| Shutter lag, full autofocus | |
First time is at full wide-angle, second is full telephoto. Extremely fast. (One of the fastest prosumer cameras I've tested to date!) (July, 2004) |
| Shutter lag, prefocus | |
Time to capture, after half-pressing
shutter button. Extremely fast. |
| Cycle Time, max resolution TIFF | 43 |
Captures 17.5 MB TIFF and 2.9MB JPEG file for each shot. Continuous mode is not available with TIFF mode. Very slow, but then these are awfully big files. (No buffering for TIFF-mode files.) |
| Cycle Time, max/min resolution | 2.44 / |
First number is for large/fine files, second number is time for 640x480 images. Times are averages. Buffer takes up to 14 seconds to clear after a long series (20 or more) large/fine files, clears almost immediately with 640x480 files. |
| Cycle Time, continuous High mode, max/min resolution | 0.41 / 0.43 (2.42/2.33 fps) |
First number is for large/fine files, second number is time for 640x480 images. Times are averages. Shoots 6 frames at any resolution, then pauses to empty buffer. Buffer clears in 15 seconds for large/fine images, 3 seconds for lowest resolution. |
| Cycle Time, continuous Low mode, max/min resolution | 1.73 / 0.91 (0.58 / 1.1 fps) |
First number is for large/fine files, second number is time for small/basic images. Times are averages. There doesn't appear to be a buffer-imposed limit, but the camera stops writing to the memory card 20 seconds after a series of ~20 large/fine shots, and almost immediately after a series of 640x480 shots. |
| Cycle Time, Continuous Multi mode | 0.07 (14.3 fps) |
Camera captures 25 images of 320 x 240 pixels, stores them in 5x5 arrays inside normal 1600x1200 files. Takes 3 seconds to process and save the file and clear the buffer, then can shoot another 25. |
The EX-P600 is a surprisingly fast camera, particularly considering its 6-megapixel CCD. Its full-autofocus shutter lag time of only 0.27-0.28 seconds makes it one of (if not the) fastest non-SLR cameras currently on the market. Its prefocus shutter lag of only 16 milliseconds (0.016 second) makes it one of the fastest cameras out there, regardless of price. Cycle times are good, but not quite as spectacular as the shutter lag numbers, although the P600 can maintain its large/fine cycle time of 2.4 seconds more or less indefinitely, as its buffer fills very slowly. (I found no increase in cycle time, even after 20 large/fine shots in rapid succession. Continuous-mode performance is a very good 2.4 frames/second for up to 6 frames in high-speed mode, and Continuous Multi grabs 25 small images (320x240) at just over 14 frames/second, saving them in a single full-resolution file. All in all, the P600 is a remarkably responsive camera, a great choice for shooting sports and other fast-paced action. And nicely responsive the rest of the time. - We're finally starting to see full-featured digital cameras with shutter response approaching that of their film-based ancestors!
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