Can anyone tell me why a P&S digicam has to have a shutter lag, while the DSLR's seem to manage fine without one? If a DSLR doesn't have one why should a P&S?
Also, are there any decent cameras (i.e. low noise, fairly high megapixels, good lens, manual controls) that have a minimal or non-existent lag between pressing the shutter button and recording the image? I have a Canon 20D but sometimes a camera without an audible shutter sound would be very helpful to me.
thanks,
Rick
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
Can anyone tell me why a P&S digicam has to have a shutter lag, while the DSLR's seem to manage fine without one? If a DSLR doesn't have one why should a P&S?
Also, are there any decent cameras (i.e. low noise, fairly high megapixels, good lens, manual controls) that have a minimal or non-existent lag between pressing the shutter button and recording the image? I have a Canon 20D but sometimes a camera without an audible shutter sound would be very helpful to me.
thanks,
Rick
Most of the shutter lag is in auto focus. You can go look at reviews on DPReview. Many of them show the time for 1/2 press of shutter (AF) and the final pressing.
Essentially most of the difeerence is ya gets whatcha pays for.....better, faster components and processing capability.
John
__________________ John Schwaller
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
I'm not sure why the big difference, but I imagine that it has a lot to do with the fact that on a point and shoot, the sensor does double duty as both a view finder and a capture sensor. With a DSLR, the view finder is a totally different system from the sensor.
The other thing to keep in mind is that even the base model DSLR's like the D40x, are more expensive than 95% of the digital point and shoots. Again, you pay for performance.
Indeed. Try using a Ricoh GRD in Snap mode. That gives you fixed focus at the hyperfocal distance of the widest aperture. In that mode the delay is negligable. All you lose is real close ups, and those you get by turning off the Snap.
Tony
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
so, if a compact is set to manual focus (eg at infinity) it has essentially no shutter lag, is it?
Well, I wouldn't say that. What one can say is that it takes the auto focus lag out, which is arguably the largest portion of the lag. The shutter lag is still a finite value, and likely more than a good SLR, but it's so small that it would probably be usable for most purposes.
__________________ Dennis
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
More lag will be caused by using the main sensor for exposure calculations, and then I guess the sensor has to be cleared down and settled before the image is captured.
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
Why the shutter lag? 
Linear Mode
