"Picky Details" for the Olympus SP-310 Digital Camera
(Timing, Power, and Storage Info)

Timing

When you press the shutter release on a camera, there's usually a lag time or delay before the shutter actually fires. This corresponds to the time required for 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 on (and even more rarely reported accurately), and can significantly affect the picture taking experience, we routinely measure both shutter delay and shot to shot cycle times for all cameras we test, using a test system Dave designed and built for the purpose. (Crystal-controlled, with a resolution of 0.001 second.) Here are the numbers we collected for the Olympus SP-310:

The Olympus SP-310's overall performance is on the slow side of average, though its startup time is pretty good at 1.5 seconds. Shutter lag at wide angle is a little laggardly at 0.88 second, though it speeds up slightly at telephoto. "Prefocusing" the camera by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the final exposure results in a more zippy time of 0.144 second. Shot to shot cycle times are decent if not impressive, at about 2.17 seconds for large/fine JPEGs, and it only captures up to four shots this quickly before it has to slow down to an irregular pace of around 4.6 seconds per frame. Continuous-mode speed is slower than average, at about 1.28 frames/second, for up to four shots in succession. Switching to High Speed mode speeds up the process a good bit, to 0.4 second or 2.5 frames per second, but you're limited to only two frames per series. The flash takes about eight seconds to recharge after a full-power shot, also somewhat slow. Connected to a computer, download speeds are very fast, so you won't really need a separate card reader. Bottom line, while not a first choice for sports or other fast-paced action, the SP-310 should handle average consumer shooting needs pretty well, though you might want a faster continuous mode (or one permitting more shots in a series) for kid photography. 

Power

The Olympus SP-310 uses two AA batteries for power, and ordinary alkaline batteries are included with the camera.

The Olympus SP-310 uses two AA batteries for power, and ordinary alkaline batteries are included with the camera. The table above shows maximum run times based on our power measurements and "standard" 1600 mAh NiMH rechargeable batteries. (Note though, that current high-capacity NiMH cells can easily deliver 25% more capacity than the cells referenced. - A run time in capture mode of almost 220 minutes is quite good, particularly for a 2-cell camera.) To get the best run times from the camera, you'll definitely want to pick up a couple of sets of high-capacity NIMH AA cells, and a good-quality charger.

(NOTE: In our testing, we found the Olympus SP-310 to be very finicky about battery voltage, to the point that it would run for only a very short time on NiMH rechargeable cells. When we contacted Olympus about this, we learned that a firmware patch would adjust the camera's cutoff voltage to a lower level, appropriate for NiMH batteries. If your sample of the SP-310 seems to have poor battery life on rechargeable NiMH cells, visit the Olympus website to download the version 1.3 firmware update.)

Storage Capacity

The Olympus SP-310 stores its photos on xD memory cards or in approximately 25MB of internal memory, and no card is included with the camera. (We strongly recommend buying at least a 128 MB card, to give yourself extra space for extended outings.) The chart below shows how many images can be stored internal memory at each size/quality setting.

Download Speed

The Olympus SP-310 connects to a host computer via a USB interface. Downloading files to my Sony desktop running Windows XP (Pentium IV, 2.4 GHz), we clocked it at 2269 KBytes/second. (Cameras with slow USB interfaces run as low as 300 KB/s, cameras with fast v1.1 interfaces run as high as 600 KB/s. Cameras with USB v2.0 interfaces run as fast as several megabytes/second.)