Olympus C-3020 ZoomA bargain-priced, full featured 3 megapixel model from Olympus!<<Exposure & Flash :(Previous) | (Next): Operation & User Interface>> Page 7:Shutter Lag & Cycle Time TestsReview First Posted: 2/16/2002 |
Shutter Lag and Cycle Times
When you press the shutter release on a camera, there's usually a lag time before the shutter actually fires. This time is to allow 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 almost never reported on, and can significantly affect the picture taking experience, I now routinely measure it with a custom electronic test system of my own design.
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| Power On -> First shot |
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A bit slower than average among cameras with telescoping lenses.
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| Shutdown |
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Also a little on the slow side.
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| Play to Record, first shot |
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Quite fast.
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| Record to play |
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Also quite fast.
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| Shutter lag, full autofocus |
0.82 Tele |
Both times are quite a bit quicker than average. |
| Shutter lag, continuous autofocus |
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Surprisingly slow, given that the camera's lens should *always* be in focus. (Perhaps it's only a noticeable help with moving subjects, when the camera would otherwise have to adjust focus over a wider range.) |
| Shutter lag, manual focus |
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Average to slightly slower than average. |
| Shutter lag, prefocus |
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Quite a bit faster than average.
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| Cycle times, single shot mode |
1.6/1.9 small (29.2 for TIFF) |
First times are for large/fine files, second for small/basic. Two shots in a row for large/fine then a pause of 6.5 seconds, indefinite for small files, but some variability in times. TIFF time is for largest image size. |
| Cycle times, continuous mode |
0.60 (small) |
Camera snaps two large/fine files quickly, then waits 7.14 seconds to write to memory card. Small/basic captures a large number of shots (up to 70+), one every 0.60 seconds. |
Overall, the 3020 is quite a fast camera, its only limitation relative to the more expensive 3040 (in this respect at least) being shorter burst lengths. It can snap two successive shots with an interval of only 1.8 seconds (manual focus mode), but then has to wait 7.1 seconds to write the images to the card. (HQ mode can snap more in rapid sequence without pausing.) In small/basic mode, I captured as many as 75 images in a sequence before having to wait. The best part (IMHO) though, was the shutter delay in full autofocus mode, which was very much on the faster side of average, with shutter lag times of only 0.75 and 0.82 seconds with the lens set to wide angle and telephoto respectively. - Most of the best of its competitors can get to 0.8 seconds or so with the lens set at wide angle, but telephoto focus times stretch to a second or more in many cases. Manual focus and continuous focus times are slower than I'd expect or like to see, but the prefocus shutter delay is exceptionally fast. Although limited a bit by its short burst length (only two exposures), the 3020 would be a good choice for fast-paced action.
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