Sony DSC-S750 Performance

Camera Reviews / Sony Cameras / Sony Cybershot i Review

Navigate Review Jump to review page...

Sony S750 Performance

Timing and Performance

Good to average speed for a consumer camera.

Startup/Shutdown
Power on to first shot	3.4 seconds	Time it takes for LCD to turn on, lens to deploy and capture a picture.
Shutdown	1.5 seconds	How long it takes to retract lens.
Buffer clearing time	2 seconds (2 seconds buffer clearing in LF JPEG)	Worst case buffer clearing time. -- This is the delay after a set of shots before you can remove the card. Some cameras won't retract their lenses and shut down until the buffer is cleared.

A bit on the slow side here.

Mode Switching
Play to Record, first shot	0.5 second	Time until first shot is captured.
Record to play	1.2 seconds	Time to display a large/superfine file immediately after capture.
Display recorded image	1.1 seconds	Time to display a large/superfine file already on the memory card.

Mode switching times are a bit on the slow side of average.

Shutter Response (Lag Time)
Full Autofocus Wide	0.521 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at wide angle position.
Full Autofocus Tele	0.554 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at telephoto position.
Full Autofocus, with Flash	0.616 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, with flash enabled.
Prefocused	0.103 second	Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.
Manual focus	0.310 second	For most cameras, shutter lag is less in manual focus than autofocus, but usually not as fast as when the camera is "prefocused".

Shutter response is better than average at both wide angle and telephoto, at 0.521s and 0.554s respectively. Prefocusing the camera by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the final exposure results in good lag time as well, though not nearly as fast as some of the competition, or other Sony pocket digital cameras.

Cycle Time (shot to shot)
Single Shot mode Large Fine JPEG	1.44 seconds	Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots.
Single Shot mode 640x480 Fine JPEG	1.42 seconds	Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots.
Early shutter penalty?	No	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	1.03 seconds (0.98 frames per second); 3 frames total; 1 second to clear	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first.
Continuous mode 640x480 Fine JPEG	0.69 second (1.45 frames per second); >20 frames total; 1 second to clear	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first.
Flash recycling	4 seconds	Flash at maximum output.
*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a SanDisk Extreme III PRO Duo memory card. Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode. ISO sensitivity also affects cycle times and burst mode performance, with higher ISOs generally increasing cycle times and reducing burst performance.

Shot-to-shot cycle times are about average, at about 1.44 seconds for large/fine JPEGs, though the camera does capture frames continuously at this rate. (That is, given a fast enough memory card, it doesn't have to pause every few frames to wait for the card to catch up.) The Cyber-shot DSC-S750 also drags quite a bit in its Continuous modes, capturing only three large/fine frames at 0.98 frames per second before slowing down. This increases slightly to 1.45 frames per second for VGA (640 x 480) JPEGs, but buffer depth improves to over 20 frames. The flash takes 4 seconds to recharge after a full-power shot, which is better than average.

Download Speed
Windows Computer, USB 2.0	6,986 KBytes/sec	Typical Values: Less than 600=USB 1.1; 600-769=USB 2.0 Low; Above 770=USB 2.0 High

On the upside, connected to a computer or printer with USB 2.0, download speeds are very good.

Bottom line, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S750 won't be a good choice for sporting events or any fast-paced action, but is responsive enough for average photo opportunities.

Battery and Storage Capacity

Battery
Average battery life for a lithium-ion design.

Operating Mode	Number of Shots
Lithium-ion Rechargeable Battery, (CIPA standard)	280

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S750 uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery for power, and ships with a charger. Battery life is about average, but we recommend you pick up a spare battery and keep it freshly charged and on-hand for extended outings.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of on a fully-charged rechargeable battery, 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))

Storage
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S750 accepts Sony Memory Stick cards, and includes about 22MB of internal memory.

Image Capacity with 22MB Internal Memory		Fine
3,072 x 2,304	Images	7
3,072 x 2,304	File Size	3.1 MB
2,592 x 1,944	Images	10
2,592 x 1,944	File Size	2.2 MB
2,048 x 1,536	Images	16
2,048 x 1,536	File Size	1.3 MB
640 x 480	Images	129
640 x 480	File Size	170 KB

We strongly recommend buying a large-capacity Memory Stick PRO Duo at least a 2GB card, preferably a 4GB one, to give yourself extra space for extended outings. (We recommend the PRO version of the Memory Stick Duo, because it supports non-stop video as well as longer sequences of continuous still-image shooting.) (Check the shopping link above, cards are really cheap these days, so no reason to skimp.)