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General discussion

need faster response time

Oct 19, 2004 1:35AM PDT

I have a Canon S50 and love the image quality but can't stand the slow response time. I'm taking pictures of two fast moving kids and they're long gone by the time the S50 is ready. Any recommendations for settings that may speed things up? Or - any recommendations for a faster camera? I'm considering the Olympus C8080.

Discussion is locked

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Re: need faster response time
Oct 19, 2004 1:44AM PDT

Read dpreview about the cx7430.. For example:

"The shooting performance of the CX7430 was impressive for a camera in this class. In our testing, the delay between turning the camera on until capturing the first image averaged about four seconds (with flash.) Shutter lag when pre-focused was a fast 1/10 of a second, or 4/10 of a second including autofocus. The shot to shot time averaged about 1.8 seconds between frames with the flash Off and about 2.5 seconds with the flash On. Shooting in Continuous capture mode, I was able to capture 6 images in about 1.5 seconds."
- http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/cx7430_pg5.html

Kodak and others are addressing the lag time. Dig into the reviews.

Bob

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Re: need faster response time
Oct 19, 2004 9:24AM PDT

The camera makers recommend that you use a two step shutter button method to catch action shots.

Point the camera in the direction where the action is going to happen and press the shutter button half-way down. This lets the camera achieve a locked focus.

When the action occurs, press the button the rest of the way down. You delay will be minimal.

Takes a bit of practice, but will become natural after a few tries.

....

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Re: need faster response time
Oct 19, 2004 10:59AM PDT

Remember also that your camera is only as fast as the media card speed. Hi-speed compact flash cards can transfer data around 4MB per second but they're expensive.

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card speed...
Oct 19, 2004 11:05AM PDT

I've tried such and ... zip effect. From what I can tell the JPEG compress time seems to be the bulk of the picture to picture delays. Newer cameras can "burst" to insternal RAM and compress later.

Bob