Nikon D3300 Performance


Timing and Performance

Good overall performance for an entry-level model.

Startup/Play to Record

Power on
to first shot

~0.4 second

Time it takes for camera to turn on and take a shot.

Play to Record,
first shot

~0.3 second

Time until first shot is captured.

The Nikon D3300's startup time was good for a consumer DSLR, and switching from Play to Record and taking a shot was also fast.

 

Shutter Response (Lag Time), Optical Viewfinder

Full Autofocus
Single Area AF (Center AF point)

0.262 second

Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture. (All AF timing measured with Nikkor AF-S 18-55mm II kit lens).

Full Autofocus
Single Area AF, Flash enabled

0.287 second

Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, Auto Flash enabled.

Full Autofocus
Auto Area AF

0.344 second

Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture.

Manual focus

0.268 second

For most cameras, shutter lag is less in manual focus than autofocus, but usually not as fast as when the camera is "pre-focused."

Pre-focused

0.081 second

Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.

Shutter Response (Lag Time), Live View mode

Full Autofocus
Live View
Single-servo AF

1.847 seconds

Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture.

Pre-focused
Live View

0.472 second

Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.

The Nikon D3300's full autofocus shutter lag when shooting the same target multiple times was a touch slower than average for a consumer DSLR, but not bad for entry-level model. The D3300 required about 0.26 second for full AF using the center focus point. Enabling the flash raised shutter lag only slightly to 0.29 second, reflecting the added delay caused by the metering preflash. Shutter lag increased to about 0.34 second in Auto-area AF mode. Manual focus shutter lag was oddly a little slower than full autofocus (center) at about 0.27 second, and that's somewhat sluggish for a DSLR. When prefocused, shutter lag dropped to 0.081 second which is about average for a consumer DSLR.

As expected, autofocus and shutter lag were much slower in Live View mode. The Nikon D3300 only offers contrast-detect AF in Live View, which took about 1.8 seconds to focus in our tests, which is a bit slow even for Live View. (How fast the lens can adjust focus makes a big difference here.) Prefocused shutter lag was also slower but still reasonable in Live View mode, at about 0.47 second.

To minimize the effect of different lens' focusing speed, we test AF-active shutter lag with the lens already set to the correct focal distance.

 

Cycle Time (shot-to-shot)

Single Shot mode
Large Fine JPEG

0.57 second

Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots, 2 seconds to clear.

Single Shot mode
12-bit RAW

0.60 second

Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots, 2 seconds to clear.

Single Shot mode
12-bit RAW + L/F JPEG

0.66 second

Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots, 4 seconds to clear.

Early shutter
penalty?

No
(Yes with Flash)

Some cameras refuse to snap another shot if you release and press the shutter too quickly in Single Shot mode, making "No" the preferred answer.

Continuous mode
Large Fine JPEG

0.20 second (4.95 frames per second);
50+ frames total;
2 seconds to clear

Time per shot, averaged over 50 shots with no signs of slowing down.

Continuous mode
12-bit RAW

0.20 second (4.96 frames per second);
7 frames total;
9 seconds to clear

Time per shot, averaged over 7 frame buffer. Slows to an average of 0.29 second or 3.5 fps when buffer is full.

Continuous mode
12-bit RAW + L/F
JPEG

0.20 second (4.94 frames per second);
5 frames total;
9 seconds to clear

Time per shot, averaged over 5 frame buffer. Slows to an average of 0.66 second or 1.52 fps when buffer is full.

Flash recycling

3.2 seconds

Flash at maximum output.

*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/s UHS-I SDHC memory card. Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode. ISO sensitivity and other settings such as Advanced D-Lighting or NR can also affect cycle times and burst mode performance.

Shot-to-shot cycle times were about average for a consumer DSLR, at 0.57 second for Large/Fine JPEGs, 0.60 second for RAW files, and 0.66 second for RAW + L/F JPEG frames.

Continuous mode speed when shooting best quality JPEGs or RAW files (only 12-bit compressed NEF files are supported) was slightly above average considering the class and resolution, at almost 5 frames per second.

Buffer depth in continuous mode was excellent with JPEGs at over 50 L/F JPEG frames with no signs of slowing (Nikon says up to 100 frames), though with RAW files buffer depths were quite shallow at only 7 RAW frames or 5 RAW+L/F JPEG frames, which is typical for an entry-level DSLR. Buffer clearing times were good with a fast card, especially considering the 24-megapixel files, though buffer depths with RAW files were shallow.

The built-in flash took 3.2 seconds to recharge after a full-power shot, which is fair.

Download speed

Windows Computer, USB 2.0

10,519 KBytes/sec

Typical Values:
Less than 600=USB 1.1;
600-769=USB 2.0 Low;
Above 770=USB 2.0 High

Connected to a computer via USB 2.0, download speeds were reasonably fast.

Bottom line, the Nikon D3300's performance was generally good for its class in our tests. Startup was good, as were single shot cycle-times, as well as JPEG and RAW continuous mode performance. Autofocus speeds however were slightly slower than average and buffer depths with RAW files were shallow, but that's not unusual for its class.

Battery

Battery Life
Very good battery life for a compact DSLR.

Operating Mode Number of Shots
Optical Viewfinder,
(CIPA standard)
700

The Nikon D3300 uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery for power, and ships with a dedicated charger. Battery life when using the optical viewfinder is above average for a consumer DSLR, though Nikon does not specify battery life for Live View mode, which will certainly be a lot lower. We recommend you pick up a spare battery and keep it freshly charged and on-hand for extended outings, or when using Live View a lot.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on either a fresh set of disposable batteries or a fully-charged rechargeable battery as appropriate), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))

 



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