Shutter lag
Inphotography,shutter lagis the delay between triggering the shutter and when thephotographis actually recorded. This is a common problem in the photography of fast-moving objects or animals and people in motion. The term narrowly refers only to shutter effects, but more broadly refers to all lag between when theshutter buttonis pressed and when the photo is taken, including metering and focus lag.
Film cameras
[edit]Infilm cameras,the delay is caused by the mechanism inside the camera that opens theshutter,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.SLRshave slightly longer shutter lag than rangefinders, because of the need to lift the mirror.Point-and-shootfilm cameras often have significant shutter lag.
Digital cameras
[edit]Shutter lag is much more of a problem withdigital cameras.Here, the delay results from the charging of thecharge-coupled device(CCD)image sensorand relatively slow transmission of its capture data to the circuitry of the camera for processing and storage.
The comet-tail artifact that early CCD sensors suffered from was significantly reduced by the invention of thepinned photodiode(PPD).[1]It was invented byNobukazu Teranishi,Hiromitsu Shiraki and Yasuo Ishihara atNECin 1980.[1][2]The "pinned photodiode" is aphotodetectorstructure used in almost all charge-coupled device (CCD) and CMOS image sensors (CIS) due to its lownoise,highquantum efficiencyand lowdark current.[1]In 1987, the PPD began to be incorporated into most CCD devices, becoming a fixture inconsumer electronicvideo camerasand thendigital still cameras.The PPD has since been used in most CCD sensors and thenCMOS sensors.[1]
Improvements in technology, such as the speed,bandwidthand power consumption ofprocessorchipsandmemory,as well as CCD technology and then CMOS sensors, have made shutter lag less of a problem. While digital SLRs have achieved lag times around 50 ms by the late 2000s, someEVILstake half as long in the 2010s. That said, the lag times of some exceptional historic devices are still unsurpassed, see table below.
AE & AF lag
[edit]However, what many people consider shutter lag is in fact the time the camera takes to meter (set theexposure) and auto-focus, which is lag of a different cause but similar effect.
These causes of lag can be eliminated by pre-setting exposure and focus. One can either manually set exposure and focus, or use automatic exposure and autofocus, then fixing the settings so they do not change; this can often be done by holding 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
[edit]Note that cameras offer increasingly varied choices of fully mechanical shutter, first-curtain electronic shutter (EFCS; meaning a mechanical shutter only at the end of the exposure), or fully electronic (thus silent) shutter. This is paired with either autofocus, fully manual focus, or prefocus (half-pressing the shutter button to engage autofocus and lock exposure; then holding the button half-pressed until the decisive picture-taking moment, in which the button is depressed completely). Typically, prefocus + EFCS results in the shortest shutter lag (see the following individual sources with measurements for all available modi).
This table quotes the shortest possible lag time of the respective camera. Note that variations may occur between manufacturer-claimed times and real-world measurements. In the case of follow-up versions of cameras (Mark II, -N, -s,...), it is usually save to assume identical performance unless explicitly stated otherwise in press releases or comparisons.
| Camera | Type | Shutter lag [ms] |
|---|---|---|
| Nikon Coolpix L3 | Point-and-shoot (digital) | 1800 |
| Nikon CoolpixS550 | Point-and-shoot (digital) | 590 |
| Panasonic DMCLumixFS20 | Point-and-shoot (digital) | 480 |
| Canon PowerShot A590 IS | Point-and-shoot (digital) | 350 |
| Samsung Nx-Mini | SLR (digital, APS) | 164[3] |
| Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W80 | Point-and-shoot (digital) | 150 |
| Pentax MZ-50 | SLR (Film) | 120 |
| Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D | SLR (digital, APS-C, built-in image stabilization) | 117[4] |
| Sony NEX-5 | EVIL (APS) | 115[5] |
| Fujifilm GFX 50S | EVIL (44mm) | 108[6] |
| Fujifilm GFX 100 | EVIL (44mm) | 105[7] |
| Fujifilm GFX 50R | EVIL (44mm) | 102[8] |
| Minolta Maxxum 9 | SLR (Film) | 90[9] |
| Sigma SD1 | SLR (APS) | 88[10] |
| Leica M8 | Rangefinder (Digital, APS-H) | 80 |
| Leica M9 | Rangefinder (Digital, 35mm) | 80 |
| Sony A850 | SLR (digital, 35mm, built-in image stabilization) | 74[11] |
| Sony A900 | SLR (digital, 35mm, built-in image stabilization) | 72[12] |
| Minolta XD-7 | SLR (Film) | 60 |
| Nikon Z7andZ6 | EVIL (35mm) | 59[13]and 56[14]respectively, 69-70[15]both |
| Canon EOS-5D Mark IVand5DS | SLR (digital, 35mm) | 57,[16][17]61-63[15] |
| Canon EOS-1D X | SLR (digital, 35mm) | 57-58,[15]36[18] |
| Nikon Df | SLR (digital, 35mm) | 55-57[15] |
| Nikon D300s | SLR (digital, APS) | 53 |
| Sony Alpha SLT-A77 | SLR (digital, APS, built-in image stabilization) | 53[19] |
| Canon EOS-1D Mark II | SLR (digital, APS-H) | 53,[20]40[citation needed] |
| Canon EOS-1D Mark IV | SLR (digital, APS-H) | 49 |
| Leica SL 601 | EVIL (35mm) | 46[21] |
| Nikon D700and800 | SLR (digital, 35mm) | 44,[15]less than D500, 600, 610, 750, 810, and 850. |
| Nikon D3s | SLR (digital, 35mm) | 43 |
| Nikon D3x | SLR (digital, 35mm) | 40 |
| Nikon D5 | SLR (digital, 35mm) | 39,[22]43-57[15] |
| Minolta XE-1 | SLR (Film) | 38 |
| Nikon D2H, D2Hs,D2X | SLR (digital, APS) | 37[23] |
| Nikon F6 | SLR (Film) | 37 |
| Contax RTS33 | SLR (Film) | 22 |
| Sony A7andA7 III | EVIL (35mm) | 21-25,[15]23[24][25] |
| Sony NEX-7,NEX-5N,a6x00series | EVIL (APS) | 20-25,[15]22[26] |
| Sony A7r II | EVIL (35mm) | 20,[27]21-26[15](noticeably faster than the 163 ms of Mark 1; 3 ms faster than Mark 3 and 4) |
| Sony A7s | EVIL (35mm) | 20-23[15] |
| Leica M3 | Rangefinder (Film) | 16 |
| Leica M7 | Rangefinder (Film) | 12 |
| Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-F828 | Point-and-shoot (digital) | 9[28]= manufacturer claim. Note that Sony claims the same 9 ms for models P93, T33 and W1; ImagingResource tested them at 11 ms[29][30][31] |
| Canon EOS RT | SLR (Film) | 8[32] |
| Canon EOS-1N RS | SLR (Film) | 6[33] |
References
[edit]- ^abcdFossum, Eric R.;Hondongwa, D. B. (2014)."A Review of the Pinned Photodiode for CCD and CMOS Image Sensors".IEEE Journal of the Electron Devices Society.2(3): 33–43.doi:10.1109/JEDS.2014.2306412.
- ^U.S. Patent 4,484,210: Solid-state imaging device having a reduced image lag
- ^"Samsung NX Mini Review - Performance".Imaging Resource.Retrieved2022-02-19.
- ^Imaging-Resource Preview Konica Minolta Dynax/Maxxum/Alpha 7D
- ^Imaging-Resource Preview Sony Alpha NEX-5
- ^"Fujifilm GFX 50S Review - Performance".Imaging Resource.Retrieved2022-02-19.
- ^"Fujifilm GFX 100 Review - Performance".Imaging Resource.Retrieved2022-02-19.
- ^"Fujifilm GFX 50R Review - Performance".Imaging Resource.Retrieved2022-02-19.
- ^Josef Scheibel, Robert Scheibel:Foto-Guide Minolta Dynax 9.vfv Verlag für Foto, Film und Video, Gilching 1999,ISBN3-88955-116-5(176 pages,[1],retrieved at 8 January 2011).
- ^"Sigma SD1 Merrill Review - Performance".Imaging Resource.Retrieved2022-02-19.
- ^Imaging-Resource Preview Sony Alpha DSLR-A850(Firmware 1)
- ^Imaging-Resource Preview Sony Alpha DSLR-A900(Firmware 1)
- ^"Nikon Z7 Review - Performance".Imaging Resource.Retrieved2022-02-19.
- ^"Nikon Z6 Review - Performance".Imaging Resource.Retrieved2022-02-19.
- ^abcdefghij"Eltima Shutter Lag Tests"(PDF).Eltima.Retrieved2022-02-20.
- ^"Canon 5D Mark IV Review - Performance".Imaging Resource.Retrieved2022-02-19.
- ^"Canon 5DS Review - Performance".Imaging Resource.Retrieved2022-02-19.
- ^"Canon Professional Network - The EOS-1D X explained: inside Canon's flagship DSLR".Retrieved2015-06-04.
- ^Imaging-Resource Preview Sony Alpha SLT-A77V
- ^"Canon 1DX Mark II Review - Performance".Imaging Resource.Retrieved2022-02-19.
- ^"Leica SL (Typ 601) Review - Performance".Imaging Resource.Retrieved2022-02-19.
- ^"Nikon D5 Review - Performance".Imaging Resource.Retrieved2022-02-19.
- ^"Nikon D2hs Press Release".2005-02-16.Retrieved2014-06-04.
- ^"Sony A7 Review".
- ^"Sony A7 III Review - Performance".
- ^Imaging-Resource Preview Sony Alpha NEX-5N
- ^"Sony A7R II Review - Performance".
- ^"Sony Cyber-shot DSC-F828 Digital Camera Review: Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests".www.imaging-resource.com.Retrieved2022-02-20.
- ^"Digital Cameras - Picky Details of the Sony Cybershot DSC-P93 Digital Camera".www.imaging-resource.com.Retrieved2022-02-20.
- ^"Digital Cameras - Picky Details of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T33 Digital Camera".www.imaging-resource.com.Retrieved2022-02-20.
- ^"Digital Cameras - Picky Details of the Sony CyberShot DSC-W1 Digital Camera".www.imaging-resource.com.Retrieved2022-02-20.
- ^"EOS RT - Canon Camera Museum".global.canon.Retrieved2022-02-19.
- ^"EOS-1N RS - Canon Camera Museum".global.canon.Retrieved2022-02-19.