3 ms·

Notice the shutter lag in #27... a century-old annoyance still with us courtesy of digital cameras.

by hernan7 16y ago

ugh 16y ago
That’s not shutter lag. The camera just moved between the exposures. It’s impossible to get such a effect with a digital camera or color film in an analog camera. You can only get it when combining different exposures. Also, digital cameras have no shutter lag, at least not noticeable. The problem is autofocus, that’s what takes time. Pretty much all non-DSLR cameras use contrast detection for focusing. The lens quickly shifts from the closest possible focus distance to infinity and the camera looks for contrast changes on the picture. If the contrast is high the camera knows that the picture is sharp. (This leads to dismal failures whenever you want to take a photo of something with inherently low contrast like a white wall.) DSLRs use optical phase detectors which give direct distance readings, the lens is then shifted to the correct setting. (As you can imagine, this method is faster than contrast detection.) This process just takes time. That didn’t happen to you with older cameras because they don’t have autofocus. All you have to do is remember to focus long before you plan on taking the picture, that was the case when you could only manually focus and that is still the case today. Half-press the shutter button and be happy.
- varjag 16y ago
  > Also, digital cameras have no shutter lag, at least not noticeable. The problem is autofocus, that’s what takes time. Oh but they do. From ~0.07 seconds on professional dslr bodies to as high as 0.13-0.2 second on entry level dslrs. (and yes, it does matter in practice)
  - ugh 16y ago
    But that’s not what most people are complaining about when they complain about shutter lag. 0.1 seconds doesn’t matter when you want to take photos of your kids, contrast detect AF does.

3 ms·

Notice the shutter lag in #27... a century-old annoyance still with us courtesy of digital cameras.

by hernan7 16y ago

Notice the shutter lag in #27... a century-old annoyance still with us courtesy of digital cameras.

ugh 16y ago
That’s not shutter lag. The camera just moved between the exposures. It’s impossible to get such a effect with a digital camera or color film in an analog camera. You can only get it when combining different exposures. Also, digital cameras have no shutter lag, at least not noticeable. The problem is autofocus, that’s what takes time. Pretty much all non-DSLR cameras use contrast detection for focusing. The lens quickly shifts from the closest possible focus distance to infinity and the camera looks for contrast changes on the picture. If the contrast is high the camera knows that the picture is sharp. (This leads to dismal failures whenever you want to take a photo of something with inherently low contrast like a white wall.) DSLRs use optical phase detectors which give direct distance readings, the lens is then shifted to the correct setting. (As you can imagine, this method is faster than contrast detection.) This process just takes time. That didn’t happen to you with older cameras because they don’t have autofocus. All you have to do is remember to focus long before you plan on taking the picture, that was the case when you could only manually focus and that is still the case today. Half-press the shutter button and be happy.
- varjag 16y ago
  > Also, digital cameras have no shutter lag, at least not noticeable. The problem is autofocus, that’s what takes time. Oh but they do. From ~0.07 seconds on professional dslr bodies to as high as 0.13-0.2 second on entry level dslrs. (and yes, it does matter in practice)
  - ugh 16y ago
    But that’s not what most people are complaining about when they complain about shutter lag. 0.1 seconds doesn’t matter when you want to take photos of your kids, contrast detect AF does.