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Digital Camera Shutter Lag & Startup Time
Shutter Lag - What is it?
One of the most frustrating problems some people run into with digital cameras is the characteristic known as shutter lag. How many times have you waited for the right moment to take a shot, only to spend the next second waiting for the camera to take the picture, if at all? Meanwhile, your perfect shot has vanished from view. This is shutter lag.
The time from when you press the shutter release button (ie. the trigger) until the camera actually takes the photo is known as total shutter lag. Total shutter lag is the combination of two processes at work: the autofocus lag and the shutter release lag.
- Autofocus Lag - As soon you press the shutter button, the camera generally attempts to search for an appropriate focus point. This autofocus mechanism is often very slow, and contributes most to the overall lag. In point and shoot cameras, the physical lens is focused back and forth with a motor until the camera determines that the focus is correct. Obviously since we have to wait for a motor to move in both directions, the delay is going to be considerable. With digital SLR cameras, an advanced closed-loop control circuit allows a fast estimate of appropriate focus distance, without having to slowly move the lens back and forth. Note that all cameras will take longer to autofocus if the environment is dark or the photographed object exhibits poor contrast (which makes it harder for the camera to lock-on to).
- Shutter Release Lag - Once the camera has determined the appropriate focus distance, the camera triggers the electronic or physical shutter mechanism. On some cheaper cameras this process can take a moderate amount of time, but it is usually not as significant as the autofocus lag. The shutter release lag is the time it takes to take the photo if one has "pre-focused" (ie. held down the shutter button half-way) or used manual focus mode.
- Total Lag - The sum of Autofocus Lag and Shutter Release Lag. This is the delay most often seen when "pre-focusing" is not done, or in times when one is trying to take a picture quickly (ie. without setting it up).
Obviously, the larger the total lag time for a camera, the more noticeable and frustrating the delay becomes. In purchasing a new camera, one should carefully compare the differences in total lag between different models, as some cameras are much faster than others in this respect. Make sure that you are comparing the time it takes to shoot the same object (as different objects will lead to different autofocus lag delays).
Comparison of Shutter Lag & Startup Delay
Values in the following table are in seconds. The references column will contain links to the sources for each data point. Where multiple references are used for the data, the average is shown, along with the range (min-max) in parentheses. It is very important to note that differences in measurement approaches and result precision make direct comparisons difficult. Therefore, comparisons between models performed by the same source should theoretically be fair, while comparisons between different sources may be less accurate.
More cameras will be added over time. Note that it is often difficult to test for shutter lag, and that there is some degree of variability in the readings that various sources might indicate. This is especially the case with total lag, as it is highly dependent upon the lens setup. Therefore, where mutliple total lag tests have been performed for a camera by the same tester, the fastest measurement is included.
NOTE: All times in the table below are in seconds (S). Multiply by 1000 to convert to milliseconds (mS).
Brand | Model | Shutter Lag | Total Lag | Startup Delay | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Canon | 10D | 0.091 (0.08-0.104) | 0.189 (0.146-0.24) | 2.355 (2.32-2.39) | *** |
Canon | 1D | 0.051 (0.039-0.056) | 0.251 (0.201-0.3) | 0.91 | **** |
Canon | 1D mk II | 0.056 (0.054-0.059) | 0.215 (0.2-0.23) | 0.95 | *** |
Canon | 1D mk II N | 0.04 | 0.2 | * | |
Canon | 1Ds | 0.057 (0.055-0.059) | 0.197 (0.093-0.3) | 1.32 | *** |
Canon | 1Ds mk II | 0.055 | 0.3 | * | |
Canon | 20D | 0.076 (0.065-0.09) | 0.195 (0.16-0.23) | 0.22 (0.2-0.25) | **** |
Canon | 300D Rebel | 0.107 (0.06-0.142) | 0.25 | 2.617 (2-3.09) | *** |
Canon | 30D | 0.065 | 0.15 | * | |
Canon | 350D Rebel XT | 0.098 (0.09-0.105) | 0.219 (0.208-0.24) | 0.253 (0.2-0.31) | **** |
Canon | 400D Rebel XTi | 0.1 | 0.2 | * | |
Canon | 40D | 0.059 | 0.15 | * | |
Canon | 5D | 0.075 | 0.2 | * | |
Canon | PowerShot A75 | 0.065 | 1.2 | 2.7 | * |
Canon | PowerShot A85 | 0.075 | 0.96 | 2.6 | * |
Canon | PowerShot A95 | 0.09 | 0.87 | 2.6 | * |
Canon | PowerShot G6 | 0.077 | 0.78 | 3.92 | * |
Canon | PowerShot Pro1 | 0.078 | 0.74 | 3 | * |
Canon | PowerShot S60 | 0.082 (0.08-0.084) | 0.84 (0.69-0.99) | 3.59 (3.2-3.98) | ** |
Canon | PowerShot SD300 | 0.077 (0.073-0.08) | 0.7 (0.62-0.78) | 1.67 (1.5-1.84) | ** |
Canon | PowerShot SD500 | 0.07 | 0.46 | 1 | * |
Casio | QV-R51 | 0.05 | 0.27 | 2.58 | * |
Fujifilm | FinePix A330 | 0.19 | 0.59 | 3.27 | * |
Fujifilm | FinePix E550 zoom | 0.09 | 0.38 | 1.94 | * |
HP | Photosmart M307 | 0.09 | 0.93 | 5.89 | * |
Kodak | CX7330 | 0.2 | 0.79 | 6.09 | * |
Kodak | DCS Pro 14n | 0.125 | * | ||
Kodak | DCS Pro SLR/n | 0.125 | 0.2 | * | |
Kodak | DX4530 | 0.07 | 0.81 | 6.02 | * |
Kodak | DX7590 | 0.07 | 0.54 | 4.05 | * |
Konica Minolta | DiMAGE Z2 | 0.09 (0.09-0.09) | 0.705 (0.59-0.82) | 4.24 | ** |
Konica Minolta | DiMAGE Z3 | 0.124 (0.11-0.137) | 0.51 (0.47-0.55) | 3.43 (3-3.86) | ** |
Nikon | Coolpix 4100 | 0.09 | 0.55 | 4.02 | * |
Nikon | Coolpix 5200 | 0.102 (0.08-0.124) | 0.995 (0.82-1.17) | 3.72 (3.34-4.1) | ** |
Nikon | Coolpix 8400 | 0.075 (0.07-0.079) | 0.45 (0.41-0.49) | 3.905 (3.5-4.31) | ** |
Nikon | Coolpix 8700 | 0.113 | 0.388 | 4.68 | * |
Nikon | Coolpix 8800 | 0.077 | 0.54 | 3.6 | * |
Nikon | D100 | 0.1 | 0.15 | 0.63 | * |
Nikon | D1X | 0.072 | 0.26 | 0.73 | * |
Nikon | D200 | 0.05 | 0.15 | * | |
Nikon | D2H | 0.041 (0.037-0.045) | 0.049 | 0.16 | ** |
Nikon | D2Hs | 0.037 | * | ||
Nikon | D2X | 0.041 (0.037-0.044) | 0.104 | 0.25 | ** |
Nikon | D40 | 0.098 | 0.26 | 0.29 (0.18-0.4) | ** |
Nikon | D50 | 0.114 (0.113-0.114) | 0.265 | 0.2 (0.2-0.2) | *** |
Nikon | D70 | 0.124 | 0.342 | 0.01 | * |
Nikon | D70s | 0.106 | 0.2 | ** | |
Nikon | D80 | 0.08 | 0.18 | * | |
Olympus | C-50 | 0.05 | 0.73 | 5.7 | * |
Olympus | Camedia E-10 | 0.1 | * | ||
Olympus | D-540 | 0.19 | 1.5 | 7.17 | * |
Olympus | Style Verve | 0.13 | 0.64 | 3.76 | * |
Panasonic | DMC-FZ50 | 0.024 | 0.44 | 1.4 | * |
Pentax | Optio X | 0.09 | 0.92 | 3.37 | * |
Samsung | Pro815 | 0.05 | 1 | * | |
Sony | Cyber-Shot DSC-F828 | 0.009 (0.008-0.009) | 0.475 (0.26-0.69) | 1.25 (1-1.5) | ** |
Sony | Cyber-Shot DSC-F88 | 0.08 | 0.41 | 1.73 | * |
Sony | Cyber-Shot DSC-L1 | 0.01 | 0.31 | 2.54 | * |
Sony | Cyber-Shot DSC-P92 | 0.47 | * | ||
Sony | Cyber-Shot DSC-P93 | 0.009 | 0.3 | 2.4 | * |
Sony | Cyber-Shot DSC-T33 | 0.009 | 0.23 | 1.3 | * |
Sony | Cyber-Shot DSC-W1 | 0.009 | 0.3 | 1.3 | * |
Sony Point & Shoot 9ms shutter lag?
Yes, as surprising as it is, Sony apparently has shutter lag delays of as little as 9ms! This value has been published on the Sony site with several of their point and shoot models under Specifications. One should always take manufacturer's performance specs with a grain of salt, but there may be some truth to this as another tester (Imaging-Resource) came up with the same figure. It is important to note, however, that this is without any auto-focus. Bringing auto-focus into the picture drops the total lag time more in line with a typical P&S digicams.
Sources for Digital Camera Testing
The following websites offer detailed testing of digital cameras, including shutter lag. The quality of the tests vary, but the test setups used in each of the following sites are reasonable for a starting point:
Reader's Comments:
Please leave your comments or suggestions below!As Per Commenter "Liliken":
"What about the lag between taking pictures; that's the frustrating one for me now. I take a pic and have to wait until the camera gets ready to take the next one. How is that lag called? Thank you."
Yep! That can be a VERY Disturbing LAG as well. For an extreme example, take a 2003 Sony Mavica with the mini-CD-RW inside it for recording photos. You take a photo and the unit has to "Process" the data and then write it to a mini-CD-RW. I'm sure All can imagine how long and frustrating that moment could be. I happen to have an Old Mavica, still takes great pics, but now it's relegated to emergency use, and conversation piece, because the real "Total" Lag is murder.
I would call the "Number" mentioned here: "Process Lag"... and I Believe the Number for "Process Lag" should be Included with "Total Lag"... Because THAT'S Theee Number that's really causing ALL the Frustration!
Press the Button - WAIT for Focus - Shutter Release - WAIT for "Processing" - Repeat. Meanwhile, the "Moments" and "Shots" disappear into History for Eternity... never to be Seen again...
I don't believe the manufacturers are going to make these numbers readily available. It seems that it's up to One to do extensive research, and browse numerous sites and forums for the data... but as is seen here... it's hard to find a complete list.
I have found some Data on SnapSort.com and (believe it or not) BestBuy.com. BestBuy has one of the Best Digital Camera comparison charts I've found yet. It has nice sized list of filters for finding a group of cameras to compare. Then, check off the cameras you want to compare, up to 4 or 5, and then click on "Compare" and you'll get the Specs for each camera, side by side for Easy Comparison.
For Instance: I filtered Samsung, Low Light Sensitivity, Burst Mode, Up to $200, WiFi... got a list of cameras... compared 2... chose a Samsung WB350F... Boom! Ease-as-Peas!
Good Luck! Happy PhotoBugging! Enjoy All!
John
We are looking for a new camera. We hade two SONY Cybershot up to kwow (not that good regarding pre-focusing and shutter lag).
We are considering to buy a SONY HX 300 or a NIKON P520.
What about them regarding total lag?
Thanks in advance for any information or opinion you may have.
vvveerry frustrating!
thanks in advance!
2009-02-02 Autumn
many thanks.
thank you for the data.
I tested my canon 20D and 50D, measuring the lag between the pulse and the light of an external flash. In my case 40d and 20D are about 0.09 both, but with mirror lock up the 20D turns faster and achieve 0.036! It was faster than the 1D II of my friend in the same condition. Are there other tests of this kind
with other cameras?
Thanks
I do have one question that i'm unsure anyone can answer, but in messuring the focus time, is there a standard for doing this? A light reading, a distance? Or does it really matter? Is there a time difference between shooting something 20 feet away and 100 ft away?
Regarding the shutter lag: makes you wonder what the typical shutter lag was for non-digital cameras, and whether it was greater or lesser.
Thank you again.
I'm a Nikon D70 user. I actually came here to research a concern of a friend of mine, which is that her Sony Cybershot has too much of a lag time.
Interestingly enough, your chart shows that the Sony Cybershots are quite fast. However, their startup time is substantial.
I don't see your definition of startup time on the page. Are you defining it as the time it takes to turn the camera on from completely off, or the time it takes for the camera to come back on if it's gone on standby? Could this be what my friend is actually referring to?
Thank you very much again for the excellent info!
I would like a camera that allows an electronic trigger with a shutter lag of .01s or less. I have a konica-minolta with .04s lag. Too long.
This is full manual I am interested in. I want it to catch insects in flight using a laser trigger.
I find it really hard to find this on the www. For example would the
Sony DSC-H50 work for me? (could I hijack the remote trigger to come from my laser box?) what is its shutter lag?
Any advice? (please email me as I might not check here).
Congratulations for the great site!
Luk
pl continue the good work.???
is "prefocus shutter time lag" and "release time lag " one and the same .
i plan to buy a sonyh3 or sony w110 both having release time lag of 0.008 seconds on their website . w110 fits more in my budget.
i doubt w110 is as fast
thanks a million
dilip
Many thanks!
Your great source of info is much appreciated! I am particularly interested in the shutter response times as they affect the ability to synchronize the shutters of two cameras for stereo (3D) work with one flash. Is this topic something that you have any information on?
Given an external flash duration of approximately 1/10,000 S (0.1mS) - 1/1,000 S (1mS), most modern DSLR cameras have no problem achieving a flash sync speed of 1/250 S (4mS), which guarantees that there is no partial illumination of the frame (ie. mechanical shutter curtain exposes entire frame to flash). Considering that average shutter lag times are often in the 60-100mS range, one would have to presume that the flash is triggered by the actual start of the internal shutter release, not the depression of the shutter release button.
If you need a contact for details on how you may be able to achieve your setup, I suggest that you consider contacting Chris Breeze (the author of DSL Remote Pro, a multi-camera remote setup), as I would think that he'd be a great source of information in this area. If you do discover details that would work for your stereoscopic setup, I'd be interested in hearing about it.
Unfortunately, camera makers just keep bringing out the new models, so it's a little tough to compare. When I searched for some of the cameras on this list, you can only find them used. New point and shoots that probably ought to appear on this list:
Canon Powershot SD800IS, SD850IS SD870IS
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W80, DSC-T200
Casio Exilim EX-Z1000 (which has fast shot, but is slow shot-to-shot)
CNET is doing a better job of highlighting comparitive speed in the charts at the bottom of their reviews now also.
That aside, nice comprehensive list.
If you have, appreciate if you can provide me.
Many thanks.
Happy Holidays!
Krista
I looked at your references on some cameras, and see that you used data from http://www.imaging-resource.com, and while looking at that data the description seems reasonable, the data in fact must be in error. One possibility is that the lens used in the tests (not an L lens) is a limiting factor, not the camera.
Example: the 1D Mark II is astoundingly fast compared to the 10D using the same lenses on the same subject, (comparing multiple lenses). Currently, I do wildlife photography with a 1D Mark II with a 10D as a backup, often switching lenses (e.g. 500 mm f/$ L IS on a tripod and 300 mm f/4 L IS hand held). To rate the 10D total lag at 0.189 second and the 1D Mark II at 0.235 second is just plain wrong, unless you put the fastest autofocusing lens on the 10D and the slowest possible lens on the 1D Mark II. I shoot a lot of wildlife action, and the response time on the 1D Mark II is well under 0.1 second (total lag time in my experience in multiple shooting conditions). The 10D feels like a slow point and shoot in comparison.
In real world action conditions, I would have two problems with the 10D: 1) erratic action (e.g. bird in flight) with a complex background (e.g. distant trees) has trouble locking onto the subject and not the background, and 2) while tracking a subject, if the focus point is moved off the subject (e.g. due to my inability to track erratic movement), the camera would never regain focus until the subject stopped.
On the 1D Mark II, I don't have these problems. Reports from people in the field say the 20D has the same problems as the 10D. But with the 1D Mark II, I can lose and reacquire the focus point on a moving subject in what seems like well under 0.1 second. The focus accuracy is much better on the 1DII also (having had more than 50% out of focus action shots on a 10D, almost all in good focus with the 1DII) with typical large birds in flight (e.g. eagles, cranes, egrets).
So, your table http://www.impulseadventure.com/photo/shutter-lag.html/ is highly suspect, regardless of the source of the data.
Roger (Photos at: http://www.clarkvision.com)
You'll note that the review sites (3 of them, not just imaging-resource) all provided measurements in the range 230 to 240 ms for the Canon 1d Mk II. However, you can see that the results given for the 10D and 20D have a much wider spread, from 146 up to the 240 ms listed for the Canon 1D mk II. So, while the average might show as 189, the fair comparison value might be the 240 ms (identical with the Canon 1D mkII).
I don't necessarily agree that the numbers are incorrect. Taking the largest total lag times in the comparison would yield similar results, but they are likely captured in a very synthetic setting (high-contrast static target in a well-lit environment). Of course your real-world experience would highlight the weakness in the 10D and 20D autofocus times, where motion servo tracking and low contrast conditions may really degrade the 10D or 20D's best-case performance. That being said, the shutter lag is indeed reported as being significantly faster on the 1d Mark II when compared to the other prosumer cameras.
Ideally, we would have an objective, reproducable comparison of total shutter lags with the same setup and lens, but with typical real-world scenarios! But this is out of the scope of the setup for most camera reviewers. They would need a mechanized rig that could reproduce the motion, with some digital counter in the image scene (to assess the real delay accurately) and a remote release trigger. If someone set this up for most of the major dSLRs and with comparable lenses (e.g. L on Canon), this would be fantastic. Unfortunately, I think we'll have to settle for a sampling of results from different reviewers, all with slightly varying setups. The hope is that with enough reviews and results, the averages will be useful as a rough starting point of comparison.
Again, thank you very much for providing some real-world insight into the performance you've observed between the cameras. This feedback is often much more useful than another synthetic data point! Great gallery, BTW!
Anyway, thanks for a great site.
Many thanks!
Hey Cal what a helpful chart next I buy a new camera I will definatly be checking your charts