Shutter Lag on Digital Camera

[diver69]

Hello all,

I just came back from my first Sea&Sea MMII Ex dive trip. I realize now that it's gonna take a lot of practice and film for me to get really good at using Sea&Sea. Don't get me wrong, I like the camera, and I have the full set-up, all the lenses, strobes, etc.

Now, after seeing all the digital u/w photos, I'm really tempted to get one myself. I'm thinking about Olympus C5050 (lots of people on this board seem to be using it) or 5060 ( according to this board, housing not out yet), or the Canon S400 or SD100.

However, my biggest concern is Shutter Lag. Several people I met during my most recent dive trip all expressed a frustration with the shutter lag on digital cameras...Any opinion?

Also, I have 2 Sea&Sea YS50 strobes, I'm not sure if they are slave capable, anyone knows? Or do I have to buy new strobe for the digital?

Appreciate any comment.

 

[norcaldiver]

I shoot digital as well as most of my buddies. I think that the biggest problem is the autofocus. I get the same thing with my Minolta Maxim 35mm AF camera. When I hit the button, the camera autofocuses, then takes the picture, so I have lag on my 35mm camera also. Now, if I turn of AF the snaps the pic right away.....I have tried to set the focus on my digital to infinety and shoot and it does cut some of the lag, but isn't practical if I'm shooting underwater where things are nearly always very close.
My advise is to shoot early, shoot often. It's not like you have to pay for developing film on a digital camera.

 

[Scubatooth]

ah yes the the plague of all digital cameras is shutter la.

let me explain why on all consumer level problems this is a problem. the main reason contributing to the shutter lag is LCD screen on the back that is feeding a live preview to the screen off the CCD. see once you press the shutter button down and focus has been achieved the voltage on the CCD must be zeroed out before the image can be taken, then once this occurs the picture will be taken, normally this is about a .5 second to occur. now to cut down on the shutter lag prefocus your image by half pressing the shutter, then all you have to do is press it the other half of the way down which normally is around .1-.2 of a second

now on professional level digital cameras you will notice there is no shutter lag, and this is because pro cams use a optical viewfinder and the LCD on the back is used for post viewing of the image, and this is why these cams have the same shutter lag as the film cams

norcal, im not going to start a dig vs. film debate, but with as much as i shoot of both the costs are almost the same for me on a per shot basis, but if you would like to discuss further PM me , because i know this is a touchy subject on here.

tooth

hope this helped

 

[5615mike]

I used S&S's new DX 3000 last May in Coz. Shutter delay was minimul and took nice pics. Time for me to upgrade my gear. Good luck.

 

[-hh]

Hello all,

I just came back from my first Sea&Sea MMII Ex dive trip....after seeing all the digital u/w photos, I'm really tempted to get one myself...However, my biggest concern is Shutter Lag. Several people I met during my most recent dive trip all expressed a frustration with the shutter lag on digital cameras...Any opinion?

In a sound-bite, "Welcome to the Trade-Off Zone."

If you only want to shoot unmoving, static subjects, digital's shutter lag isn't going to frustrate you...much. You can then benefit from digital's more immediate feedback of good/bad images, which gets you up the learning curve faster.

If you want to shoot moving subjects without the frustration of shutter lag, today you're going to have to "PAY" one way or the other:

Option 1: you take the hit on the fast learning curve of digital by using your existing film camera that doesn't have shutter lag.

Option 2: you take the hit in the wallet and upgrade to a digital SLR and the appropriate camera housing.

Note that not all digital SLR's are the same. One of the catches for the less expensive (eg, $999 Digital Rebel) is that these "cheaper" digi-SLR's don't use a full sized sensor, and this results in a focal length magnification (Canon's is 1.6x).

This focal length magnification can be a wonderful thing for land photography - - for example, a good 300mm telephoto lens becomes (300*1.6x) = 480mm!

Unfortunately, for underwater photography, we don't use much telephoto, and wide angle is very popular, and this 1.6x can work against you. For example, if you want the equivalent to your Sea&Sea's 15mm UW lens, instead of needing a 20mm land lens, you now need a 20mm/1.6x = ~12mm land lens, and a good quality one of these is bokoo expensive. If you try to save on the body, you end up paying more on the lens end.

Personally, I'm already up the learning curve for film, so if it was me, I'd stick with film. If you want digitized images for the web, use pretty much any color flatbed scanner if you're shooting prints. If you're shooting slides, there's some good one-at-a-time consumer-based 35mm scanners for under $300. If you want bulk scanning, the ticket price for entry is around $1400 for a Nikon Super Coolscan LS-4000 with bulk feeder accessory.

They're going to get our money, one way or another...


-hh

-hh

 

[Dee]

On digital cameras you use a half press of the shutter button to eliminate most of the shutter lag. Yes, it's there, but it isn't something that can't be gotten used to. I don't really notice the shutter lag anymore. For fast moving subjects, just 'lead' them a little bit and continue to move your camera with them after you've taken the shot. With all the other advantages of digital, the shutter lag is a minor thing.

I came to digital from a MMIIExPro and I know exactly what you're talking about. I'm glad I switched and have never regretted it. You cannot use the YS60 strobes as they can't read the pre-flash of digital cameras. You may still be able to find the bayonette lense adapter that allow you to use the MMII lenses but they are getting scarce. Your best bet is to sell the whole MMII system to pay for the new digital set-up. A C-5050 and PT-15 housing can be found for around $650. The good thing about digitals is the internal flash is very different from those on film cameras, more intense. Making it unnecessary to have an external strobe to get great photos. You can add a strobe later yet still get great shots in the meantime.

I won't get into the whole film/digital debate, there's been enough of that subject here. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

 

[diver69]

Thx all.

Spoken to a few people and apparently you CAN pre-focus on the digital cameras, which helps in reducing shutter lag. I guess it takes a bit of practive underwater (and with gloves on).

I am thinking of getting either an Olympus C5050 or 5060, and possibly Canon S400. I like the Oly because of their higher megapixel counts. Does anyone know if it's possible to use my Sea&Sea lenses with these u/w housing?

I think I might keep the Sea&Sea setup as well...it's always nice to wake up and say, "hmmm. What camera should I dive with today?"

 

[norcaldiver]

I just found this. It's a test for your shutter lag. It's not great but it seems to give me consistant results and is a quick, cheap way to do a real-world test.
Lag test

 

[TedJ]

Great find. What fun!
TEdJ

 

[padiscubapro]

Hello all,

I just came back from my first Sea&Sea MMII Ex dive trip. I realize now that it's gonna take a lot of practice and film for me to get really good at using Sea&Sea. Don't get me wrong, I like the camera, and I have the full set-up, all the lenses, strobes, etc.

Now, after seeing all the digital u/w photos, I'm really tempted to get one myself. I'm thinking about Olympus C5050 (lots of people on this board seem to be using it) or 5060 ( according to this board, housing not out yet), or the Canon S400 or SD100.

However, my biggest concern is Shutter Lag. Several people I met during my most recent dive trip all expressed a frustration with the shutter lag on digital cameras...Any opinion?

Also, I have 2 Sea&Sea YS50 strobes, I'm not sure if they are slave capable, anyone knows? Or do I have to buy new strobe for the digital?

Appreciate any comment.

another optin that noone mentioned so far.. is setting full time autofocus to on. this option is available on many olympus cameras.. it will drain the batteries a bit faster but it shouldn't be a concern.