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Canon PowerShot S45

A sleek design, improved electronics and user interface, direct support for a Canon inkjet printer, and four megapixels of resolution!

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Page 7:Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests
Review First Posted: 02/22/2003

Shutter Lag/Cycle Times
When you press the shutter release on a digital camera, there's usually a 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 designed and constructed for the purpose. (Crystal-controlled, accurate 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.

PowerShot S45 Timings

Operation Time
(secs) Notes

Power On -> First shot 3.14 Time for lens to extend and take the first shot about average.

Shutdown 2.56 Time for lens to retract. About average.

Play to Record, first shot 2.12 Time from playback mode to first shot captured. About average.

Record to play 1.62/1.2/0.82
Longer time is for max res JPEG, immediate switch to quick review. Middle time is for quick review, with camera already done saving image to card. Shortest time is for momentary auto preview directly following shutter release. All are a bit faster than average.

Shutter lag, full autofocus 0.82/0.87 First time is for lens at wide angle zoom position, second time is for lens at telephoto. Both are on the fast side of average. (Typical range is 0.8-1.0 second.)

Shutter lag, manual focus 0.38 Slightly faster than average.

Shutter lag, prefocus 0.07 As I've found with most cameras I've tested, the S45 is quite a bit faster than average in prefocus mode (average is ~0.3 seconds), but there was also quite a lot of variation in the times I measured, ranging from 0.03 (!) to 0.09 seconds. (All times were a lot faster than average though.)

Cycle time, large/fine files 1.65 Quite fast, especially for a four megapixel camera. Buffer holds ~9 frames at maximum JPEG quality before you have to wait for the memory card, but even then the shot to shot time is under 3 seconds. Very impressive.

Cycle time, small/basic files 1.51 Not a lot of difference with small/basic quality images, but I found no limit due to buffer capacity. (At least no limit up to ~150 shots which was the number I snapped without pausing before I gave up with a tired finger. ;-)

Cycle time, RAW files 2.46 Very fast cycle time for RAW format files. Camera can capture up to four frames this quickly, then slows to anywhere between 3 and 7 seconds between shots. (Which is still very fast for four-megapixel RAW files.)

Continuous mode 0.66/0.68
(1.50-1.46 fps) In this mode, the camera briefly flashes a "review" glimpse of the just-captured image on the viewfinder after each shot. Oddly, small/basic images result in a slightly slower cycle time than large/fine ones, although both are very close. The camera can capture ~10 frames in large/fine mode before pausing, and ~64 frames in small/basic mode. When the buffer fills in large/fine mode, cycle time stretches to 2-3 seconds between each image. In small/basic mode, the camera pauses for several seconds when the buffer is full, but then can capture another long string of images without pausing.

Continuous mode, "H" mode
(Large/Fine file size) 0.44
(2.25 fps) In this mode, there's no "review" display after each picture, letting the camera cycle more quickly. As before, ~10-11 frames at large/fine size before slowing to 2-3 seconds between frames.

Continuous mode, "H" mode
(Small/Basic file size) 0.42
(2.38 fps) In "H" continuous mode, shooting at small/basic size results in slightly higher frame rates. The camera can capture ~64 frames before having to pause for the buffer to empty, but it takes only a few seconds before it's ready to grab another long sequence of shots again.

Overall, the S45 is a surprisingly fast camera, particularly so considering its four-megapixel resolution. Shutter lag is about as good as it gets for consumer-level digicams, and shot to shot times are excellent. What's more, the camera seems to have an unusually large buffer memory, as it can capture as many as 10 large/fine ("Superfine" in Canon's parlance) files at maximum speed without having to wait for the buffer to empty. Very impressive, this would be a great camera for people interested in capturing fast-paced action.

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PowerShot S45 Timings
Operation	Time (secs)	Notes
Power On -> First shot	3.14	Time for lens to extend and take the first shot about average.
Shutdown	2.56	Time for lens to retract. About average.
Play to Record, first shot	2.12	Time from playback mode to first shot captured. About average.
Record to play	1.62/1.2/0.82	Longer time is for max res JPEG, immediate switch to quick review. Middle time is for quick review, with camera already done saving image to card. Shortest time is for momentary auto preview directly following shutter release. All are a bit faster than average.
Shutter lag, full autofocus	0.82/0.87	First time is for lens at wide angle zoom position, second time is for lens at telephoto. Both are on the fast side of average. (Typical range is 0.8-1.0 second.)
Shutter lag, manual focus	0.38	Slightly faster than average.
Shutter lag, prefocus	0.07	As I've found with most cameras I've tested, the S45 is quite a bit faster than average in prefocus mode (average is ~0.3 seconds), but there was also quite a lot of variation in the times I measured, ranging from 0.03 (!) to 0.09 seconds. (All times were a lot faster than average though.)
Cycle time, large/fine files	1.65	Quite fast, especially for a four megapixel camera. Buffer holds ~9 frames at maximum JPEG quality before you have to wait for the memory card, but even then the shot to shot time is under 3 seconds. Very impressive.
Cycle time, small/basic files	1.51	Not a lot of difference with small/basic quality images, but I found no limit due to buffer capacity. (At least no limit up to ~150 shots which was the number I snapped without pausing before I gave up with a tired finger. ;-)
Cycle time, RAW files	2.46	Very fast cycle time for RAW format files. Camera can capture up to four frames this quickly, then slows to anywhere between 3 and 7 seconds between shots. (Which is still very fast for four-megapixel RAW files.)
Continuous mode	0.66/0.68 (1.50-1.46 fps)	In this mode, the camera briefly flashes a "review" glimpse of the just-captured image on the viewfinder after each shot. Oddly, small/basic images result in a slightly slower cycle time than large/fine ones, although both are very close. The camera can capture ~10 frames in large/fine mode before pausing, and ~64 frames in small/basic mode. When the buffer fills in large/fine mode, cycle time stretches to 2-3 seconds between each image. In small/basic mode, the camera pauses for several seconds when the buffer is full, but then can capture another long string of images without pausing.
Continuous mode, "H" mode (Large/Fine file size)	0.44 (2.25 fps)	In this mode, there's no "review" display after each picture, letting the camera cycle more quickly. As before, ~10-11 frames at large/fine size before slowing to 2-3 seconds between frames.
Continuous mode, "H" mode (Small/Basic file size)	0.42 (2.38 fps)	In "H" continuous mode, shooting at small/basic size results in slightly higher frame rates. The camera can capture ~64 frames before having to pause for the buffer to empty, but it takes only a few seconds before it's ready to grab another long sequence of shots again.