Shutter lag
Encyclopedia
In photography, shutter lag is the delay between triggering the shutter and when the photograph
is actually recorded. This is a common problem in the photography
of fast-moving objects or people in motion. The term narrowly refers only to shutter effects, but more broadly refers to all lag between when the button is pressed and when the photo is taken, including metering and focus lag.
, exposing the film. Because the process is mechanical, however, and relatively brief, shutter lag in film cameras is often only noticeable (and of any concern) to professionals. SLR
s have slightly longer shutter lag than rangefinders, because of the need to lift the mirror. Point and shoot film cameras often have significant shutter lag.
s. In digital camera
s, the delay results from the charging of the CCD
and relatively slow transmission of its capture data to the circuitry of the camera for processing and storage. Recent improvements in technology, however, such as the speed, bandwidth
and power consumption of processor chips and memory, as well as CCD
technology, have made shutter lag less of a problem. As of 2007, the greatest advancements have been limited mostly to professional, "prosumer
," and high-end consumer-grade digital cameras. Inexpensive (most "point-and-shoot") digital cameras, however, have even reduced the average shutter lag to half seconds, and higher-end "point-and-shoot" cameras have reduced this down to a quarter second or less.
) and auto-focus, which is lag of a different cause but similar effect.
These causes of lag can be eliminated by pre-setting the exposure and focus, by either manually setting the exposure and focus, or by pre-exposing and pre-focusing. Pre-exposing and pre-focusing mean "using automatic exposure and autofocus, then fixing the settings so they do not change"; this can often be done by the shutter release halfway down, or by using a separate "AE / AF lock" button (useful if taking multiple photographs that are not in a burst), and means the subsequent photographs will be taken faster. These techniques can be combined – one can manually set the exposure and then use AF lock or conversely.
Photograph
A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...
is actually recorded. This is a common problem in the photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
of fast-moving objects or people in motion. The term narrowly refers only to shutter effects, but more broadly refers to all lag between when the button is pressed and when the photo is taken, including metering and focus lag.
Film cameras
In film cameras, the delay is caused by the mechanism inside the camera that opens the shutterShutter (photography)
In photography, a shutter is a device that allows light to pass for a determined period of time, for the purpose of exposing photographic film or a light-sensitive electronic sensor to light to capture a permanent image of a scene...
, exposing the film. Because the process is mechanical, however, and relatively brief, shutter lag in film cameras is often only noticeable (and of any concern) to professionals. SLR
Single-lens reflex camera
A single-lens reflex camera is a camera that typically uses a semi-automatic moving mirror system that permits the photographer to see exactly what will be captured by the film or digital imaging system, as opposed to pre-SLR cameras where the view through the viewfinder could be significantly...
s have slightly longer shutter lag than rangefinders, because of the need to lift the mirror. Point and shoot film cameras often have significant shutter lag.
Digital cameras
Shutter lag is much more of a problem with digital cameraDigital camera
A digital camera is a camera that takes video or still photographs, or both, digitally by recording images via an electronic image sensor. It is the main device used in the field of digital photography...
s. In digital camera
Digital camera
A digital camera is a camera that takes video or still photographs, or both, digitally by recording images via an electronic image sensor. It is the main device used in the field of digital photography...
s, the delay results from the charging of the CCD
Charge-coupled device
A charge-coupled device is a device for the movement of electrical charge, usually from within the device to an area where the charge can be manipulated, for example conversion into a digital value. This is achieved by "shifting" the signals between stages within the device one at a time...
and relatively slow transmission of its capture data to the circuitry of the camera for processing and storage. Recent improvements in technology, however, such as the speed, bandwidth
Bandwidth (computing)
In computer networking and computer science, bandwidth, network bandwidth, data bandwidth, or digital bandwidth is a measure of available or consumed data communication resources expressed in bits/second or multiples of it .Note that in textbooks on wireless communications, modem data transmission,...
and power consumption of processor chips and memory, as well as CCD
Charge-coupled device
A charge-coupled device is a device for the movement of electrical charge, usually from within the device to an area where the charge can be manipulated, for example conversion into a digital value. This is achieved by "shifting" the signals between stages within the device one at a time...
technology, have made shutter lag less of a problem. As of 2007, the greatest advancements have been limited mostly to professional, "prosumer
Prosumer
Prosumer is a portmanteau formed by contracting either the word professional or less often, producer with the word consumer. For example, a prosumer grade digital camera is a "cross" between consumer grade and professional grade...
," and high-end consumer-grade digital cameras. Inexpensive (most "point-and-shoot") digital cameras, however, have even reduced the average shutter lag to half seconds, and higher-end "point-and-shoot" cameras have reduced this down to a quarter second or less.
AE & AF lag
However, what many people consider shutter lag is in fact the time the camera takes to meter (set the exposureExposure (photography)
In photography, exposure is the total amount of light allowed to fall on the photographic medium during the process of taking a photograph. Exposure is measured in lux seconds, and can be computed from exposure value and scene luminance over a specified area.In photographic jargon, an exposure...
) and auto-focus, which is lag of a different cause but similar effect.
These causes of lag can be eliminated by pre-setting the exposure and focus, by either manually setting the exposure and focus, or by pre-exposing and pre-focusing. Pre-exposing and pre-focusing mean "using automatic exposure and autofocus, then fixing the settings so they do not change"; this can often be done by the shutter release halfway down, or by using a separate "AE / AF lock" button (useful if taking multiple photographs that are not in a burst), and means the subsequent photographs will be taken faster. These techniques can be combined – one can manually set the exposure and then use AF lock or conversely.
Examples of various shutter lag times
| Camera | Type | Shutter Lag |
|---|---|---|
| Nikon Coolpix L3 Nikon Coolpix L3 The Coolpix L3 is a discontinued compact point-and-shoot digital camera produced by Nikon. It was branded as part of the "Life" or "L-series" cameras in the Coolpix family. It had a 5.1 megapixel maximum resolution, 2" TFT LCD monitor, 3x Optical Zoom, D-Lighting, and Face-priority AF.-External... |
Digital Point and Shoot | 1.800s |
| Nikon Coolpix S550 | Digital Point and Shoot | 0.590s |
| Panasonic DMC Lumix Lumix Lumix is Panasonic's brand of digital cameras, ranging from pocket point-and-shoot models to digital SLRs.Compact digital camera DMC-LC5 and DMC-F7 were the first products of the Lumix series released in 2001. They are equipped with Leica lenses.... FS20 |
Digital Point and Shoot | 0.480s |
| Canon PowerShot A Canon PowerShot A The Canon PowerShot A is a series of digital cameras released by Canon. The A-series is Canon's budget line of cameras, although its feature set has varied as cameras have ranged from low-end point-and-shoot cameras to high-end prosumer cameras capable of rivaling Canon's flagship... 590 IS |
Digital Point and Shoot | 0.350s |
| Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W80 | Advanced digital Point and Shoot | 0.150s |
| Pentax MZ-50 | Amateur 35mm film SLR | 0.12s |
| Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D The Maxxum 7D, labelled Dynax 7D in Europe/Hong Kong and α-7 Digital in Japan and officially named "DG-7D", is a 6.1 megapixel digital single-lens reflex camera, or dSLR, produced by Konica Minolta... |
Advanced amateur APS-C digital SLR with built-in image stabilization | 0.117s |
| Sony NEX-5 Sony NEX-5 The Sony NEX-5 is a digital camera launched on 11 May 2010 . It is a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera with the body of a common point-and-shoot camera but with the sensor size and features of an APS-C-sized digital single-lens reflex camera... |
Amateur APS-C digital compact camera | 0.115s |
| Professional 35mm film SLR | 0.090s | |
| Leica M8 Leica M8 The Leica M8 is the first digital camera in the rangefinder M series introduced by Leica Camera AG on 14 September 2006. It uses a 10.3-megapixel Kodak KAF-10500 CCD image sensor.As of 15/07/2011, the most recent firmware version is 2.014.-Features:... |
Professional digital rangefinder | 0.08s |
| Leica M9 Leica M9 The Leica M9 is the second digital camera in Leica Camera AG's rangefinder M series. It was introduced on 9 September 2009 and uses an 18.5-megapixel Kodak KAF-18500 Full Frame CCD image sensor.... |
Professional full-frame digital rangefinder | 0.08s |
| Sony Alpha DSLR-A850 | Professional full-frame digital SLR with built-in image stabilization | 0.074s |
| Sony Alpha DSLR-A900 | Professional full-frame digital SLR with built-in image stabilization | 0.072s |
| Minolta XD-7 Minolta XD-7 The Minolta XD-7 was a 35mm SLR camera manufactured by Minolta and introduced in 1977. It was the first camera to feature both shutter priority and aperture priority automatic exposure modes. The camera also offered fully metered manual exposure as well as depth of field preview and an eyepiece... |
Amateur 35mm film SLR | 0.06s |
| Nikon D300s Nikon D300S The Nikon D300S is a 12.3 megapixel DX format digital single-lens reflex camera announced by Nikon on 30 July 2009. It replaces the D300 as Nikon's DX format flagship DSLR adding HD video recording... |
Amateur APS-C digital SLR | 0.053s |
| Sony Alpha SLT-A77 | Advanced amateur APS-C digital SLR-alike with built-in image stabilization and electronic 1st curtain | 0.053s |
| Canon EOS-1D Mark IV Canon EOS-1D Mark IV The EOS-1D Mark IV is a professional 16.1 effective megapixels digital single lens reflex camera camera body produced by Canon. The EOS-1D Mark IV is the successor of the Canon EOS-1D Mark III and was announced on October 20, 2009, just four days after Nikon announced the D3s... |
Professional APS-H digital SLR | 0.049s |
| Nikon D3s Nikon D3S The Nikon D3S is a 12.1 megapixel professional-grade full frame digital single-lens reflex camera announced by Nikon Corporation on 14 October 2009. The D3S is the fourth camera in Nikon's line to feature a full frame sensor, following the D3, D700 and D3X. It is also Nikon's first full frame... |
Professional full-frame digital SLR | 0.043s |
| Nikon D3x Nikon D3X The Nikon D3X is a 24.5 megapixel professional-grade full frame digital single-lens reflex camera announced by the Nikon Corporation on 1 December 2008. The D3X is the third camera in Nikon's line to offer a full frame sensor, following the D3 and D700... |
Professional full-frame digital SLR | 0.040s |
| Canon EOS-1D Mark II Canon EOS-1D Mark II The EOS 1D Mark II is a professional 8.2 megapixel digital single lens reflex camera camera body produced by Canon. The EOS 1D Mark II is the successor of the EOS 1D.-Features:The EOS 1D Mark II features:* 28.7 × 19.1 mm CMOS sensor... |
Professional APS-H digital SLR | 0.040s |
| Minolta XE-1 | Amateur 35mm film SLR | 0.038s |
| Nikon F6 Nikon F6 The Nikon F6 is a 35mm single-lens reflex camera body that became commercially available during 2004, and is the sixth top-of-the-line professional film camera in Nikon's line since the introduction of the Nikon F in 1959... |
Professional 35mm film SLR | 0.037s |
| Leica M7 Leica M7 The Leica M7 is a 35 mm camera by Leica AG introduced in 2002. It is the direct successor to the M6. The Leica M7 is a departure from previous mechanical designs for the M series.... |
Professional 35mm film rangefinder | 0.025s |
| Sony Alpha NEX-5N | Amateur APS-C digital compact camera with electronic 1st curtain | 0.022s |
| Leica M3 Leica M3 The Leica M3 is a 35 mm rangefinder camera by Leica AG, introduced in 1954. It was a new starting point for Leitz, which until then had only produced screw-mount Leica cameras that were incremental improvements to its original Leica... |
Professional 35mm film rangefinder | 0.016s |