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"Picky Details" for the Sony DSC-P8 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 01 second.) Here are the numbers I collected for the DSC-P8:

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.

Sony DSC-P8 Timings
Operation	Time (secs)	Notes
Power On -> First shot	2.89	Startup screen appears and lens moves into position. About average.
Shutdown	3.29	Lens retracts. About average.
Play to Record, first shot	0.65	Time until first shot is captured. Quite fast.
Record to play	0.78	Time to display a large/fine file after capture. Quite fast.
Shutter lag, full autofocus	0.64/0.70	First number is wide angle, second is full telephoto. Much faster than average, most cameras I've tested are above 0.8 seconds.
Shutter lag, manual preset focus	0.316	A bit faster than average. (Average for manually focused cameras is about 0.5 seconds.)
Shutter lag, prefocus	0.127	Delay after shutter button is half-pressed and held. Faster than average.
Cycle Time, max/min resolution	1.25/1.47	First number is for large/fine files, second number is time for small/basic images. Very fast. Camera has a 4-shot buffer for large/fine files, essentially unlimited for small/basic ones. After four large/fine files, shot to shot cycle time slows to about 2 seconds. (Still pretty fast.)
Cycle Time, continuous mode, max/min resolution	0.43 (2.3 fps)	Cycle time in "burst two" mode is independent of file size, although as you'd expect from the name, you can only capture 2 frames before waiting for the Memory Stick to catch up. (Odd, given the 4-frame buffer I observed above.)

The table below shows the DSC-P8's power consumption in various modes, and approximate run times for each, based on a lithium-ion battery with a 2.4 Watt-Hour capacity:

 

Operating Mode	Power (@3.6 volts on the external power terminal)	Est. Minutes (One 2.4 watt-hour Li-Ion cell)
Capture Mode, w/LCD	482 mA	83
Capture Mode, no LCD	288 mA	139
Half-pressed shutter w/LCD	505 mA	79
Half-pressed w/o LCD	295 mA	136
Memory Write (transient)	520 mA	n/a
Flash Recharge (transient)	904 mA	n/a
Image Playback	463 mA	87

 

Storage Capacity
The DSC-P8 stores its photos on Sony Memory Sticks, and a 16MB card is included with the camera. (I strongly recommend buying at least a 32MB Stick, preferably a 64MB one, to give yourself extra space for extended outings.) The chart below shows how many images can be stored on the included 16MB card at each size/quality setting, along with the average images sizes and approximate compression ratios..

 

Image Capacity vs Resolution/Quality 16MB Memory Card		Fine	Normal
2,048 x 1,536	Images (Avg size)	10 1,561 KB	20 865 KB
	Approx. Compression	6:1	11:1
1,632 x 1,224	Images (Avg size)	16 970 KB	38 520 KB
	Approx. Compression	6:1	12:1
1,280 x 960	Images (Avg size)	25 634 KB	38 342 KB
	Approx. Compression	6:1	11:1
640 x 480	Images (Avg size)	98 162 KB	99 65 KB
	Approx. Compression	6:1	14:1

 

DSC-P8 Review
DSC-P8 Test Images
DSC-P8 Specifications
DSC-P8 "Picky Details"
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