Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/08/01
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Mitch, You are right on the money here, especially with regard to the adverse impact of camera automation on response time, especially with digital cameras under $1,000 price point. I own three digital cameras: A Nikon Coolpix 5000, Minolta Dimage X and the recent arrival, Leica Digilux 1. I find the shutter lag on the CP5K to be excessive to the point of virtual uselessness as a snapshot camera for anything other than relatively static subject matter... impossible for capturing my grandchildren's antics at play, for example. Their most recent firmware release doesn't fix this glaring inadequacy. OTOH, the Digilux 1 seems to have little or no discernible shutter lag, potentially making it much more useable in a variety of shooting situations. I have other problems with the Digilux's design, but shutter lag isn't one of them... I wish camera manufacturers (like N*k*n, P*n*s*n*c and others) would get beyond the notion that doing the last 5% of their R & D in the field is acceptable to their customers... Len Leonard J. Kapner Tel: (310) 377-5060 E-mail: ljkapner@cox.net - ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Aug 2002 05:31:28 -0400 From: "Mitch Zeissler" <zeissler@directvinternet.com> Subject: RE: [Leica] Millimeters and milliseconds Message-ID: <DLEKLNGGBBCIABLMALOHIEIBCFAA.zeissler@directvinternet.com> References: Ted... Sorry; I have to disagree with you on this one. I tried looking for examples that I have seen on the shutter lag with some of the cheaper digicams and can no longer locate them. The examples that were posted were of people and critters that were fleeting images, but by the time the digicam had made up it's mind about the focus distance, exposure, phase of the moon, why ducks quack, etc., the subject was mostly or completely gone from the frame. My wife has a Canon G1 pro-sumer digicam that I consider worthless for candids because of the shutter lag, even with presetting the exposure by pressing the shutter button half-way. My point is, the shutter lag with a lot of the newer cameras, cheap digicams in particular, can be infuriatingly slow, with delays measured up to 1.5 seconds from the point of intended exposure. The problem with some of these is the fact they are not consistent from one shot to the next; in ideal conditions, the lag may only be 200 to 300 milliseconds, but in less than ideal conditions [and you may not ever know what the "ideal" conditions are for some of them] the shutter lag is much longer and unpredictable. Not something you can anticipate and work with in your day-to-day shooting style. Regards, /Mitch _________________________________________ Mitch Zeissler E-mail: zeissler@directvinternet.com - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html