Ok, I own an older film type SLR and of course my trusty reefmaster rc film camera (lol, anyone in the market for it, accessories included) and obviously no shutter lag. From what I hear there is no shutter lag on the DSLR's, so what causes the "normal" digital cameras to have shutter lag? I was just thinking about that today and thought someone here might have the answer. If so, please enlighten me. Thanks, Greg
What causes shutter lag?
- Thread starter gt2003
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As far as I know it is caused mainly by the time it takes the camera to auto-focus.
I think it from flying with your camera across many time zones from East to West. Or was it West to East? Darn.
ReyeR is the one to explain this! Shutter lag is the time between your cameras pre-flash, the camera reading the 'readings', focusing, etc. Most digital cameras have a half-press feature that severely cuts the shutter lag as it allows the camera to pre-focus, but it's still there.
You soon get used to it but we all wish it wasn't there! A SLR is the only solution to totally get rid of it.
You soon get used to it but we all wish it wasn't there! A SLR is the only solution to totally get rid of it.
To take a picture a digital camera has to do a lot of complicated calculations. Just like the computer you use to get online the faster the computer the more money you have to pay for it.
This is one reason why pro cameras cost more even for the same megapixels, the faster processor costs more.
This is one reason why pro cameras cost more even for the same megapixels, the faster processor costs more.
yeah, yeah, but who wants the reefmaster? Really though, thanks for giving me a better idea. It makes more sense now. I've heard some digicams have features where their internal flash will measure the light needed for the pic when pushing the shutter part way down. I guess its similar to this. I appreciate the input. Maybe ReyeR will give me some input too. Thanks again, Greg
Part of the shutter lag is the auto focus. This is slower on normal digitals (i.e. not DSLR) because the camera is actually using the CCD as the autofocus sensor.
Part also comes from pre-flash.
The other part of the shutter lag comes from the process the camera has to do after autofocus:
Close the shutter (it is open normally so you can see the image on the screen and autofocus)
Clear the CCD pixels of charge, ready for the actual exposure
Part also comes from pre-flash.
The other part of the shutter lag comes from the process the camera has to do after autofocus:
Close the shutter (it is open normally so you can see the image on the screen and autofocus)
Clear the CCD pixels of charge, ready for the actual exposure
lukeROB
Contributor
Yes ReyeR always seems to know that little bit more than me but i'll give it a stab. ReyeR tune in and fill in the details.
As others have said part of the lag in speed it due to slower processer and autofocus, exposure calculations, etc, etc. However this can be almost eliminated by half pressing the shutter button. All these things are now taken care of. The part that I consider to be actual shutter lag is the time taken after all these calculations are done to actually take the picture. A compact digicam does not work like a normal film camera, ie exposing film. To see the picture on your LCD you must already be exposing the CCD to light and are actually seeing what the CCD is seeing. When we want to take a snap the LCD must 'freeze' for a period of time and clear the charged couples for actual exposure like MacHealth said. This takes a finite amount of time, hence no digicam can ever have no lag because of this. (A70 only is about 0.15ms for this to occur, which is faster than most and why I like it).
A DSLR is not the same. They still work lke the film counterpart, with a mirror. The mirror flips up same as film when the shutter is clicked and the CCD is only exposed for the correct time, etc. This answers your question I think.
As others have said part of the lag in speed it due to slower processer and autofocus, exposure calculations, etc, etc. However this can be almost eliminated by half pressing the shutter button. All these things are now taken care of. The part that I consider to be actual shutter lag is the time taken after all these calculations are done to actually take the picture. A compact digicam does not work like a normal film camera, ie exposing film. To see the picture on your LCD you must already be exposing the CCD to light and are actually seeing what the CCD is seeing. When we want to take a snap the LCD must 'freeze' for a period of time and clear the charged couples for actual exposure like MacHealth said. This takes a finite amount of time, hence no digicam can ever have no lag because of this. (A70 only is about 0.15ms for this to occur, which is faster than most and why I like it).
A DSLR is not the same. They still work lke the film counterpart, with a mirror. The mirror flips up same as film when the shutter is clicked and the CCD is only exposed for the correct time, etc. This answers your question I think.
clive francis
Guest
gt2003:
in the case of the consumer cameras the shutter lag is mainly caused by having to display the image in real time on the lcd.
the camera has to work out the focus (which is pretty quick on any camera if you watch it snap to focus) and all the other settings but it also has to figure out how to display it on the LCD and then you take the picture and it does its processing and displays it again.
the slr just takes the pic and displays it afterwards cutting out a huge loop of processing and displaying.
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