Processing Speed

flashbackpat · Mar 27, 2009

A friend of mine is in the market for a new P & S Camera. She asked me today what spec determines the time it takes for a picture to load into the camera after it is snapped. Her current camera and my old camera take a very long time. My Nikon D40x can take several pictures in a row without missing a beat. However I am clueless as to what makes the difference. Does anyone know what to look for? Thanks in advance for any input.

Big Mike · Mar 27, 2009

Shutter lag. Most P&S cams are pretty bad...but the have been getting better.

One thing that determines it, is the AF speed. Digicams often take longer to focus....so you can speed things up by half pressing the button, letting the camera focus, then snapping the photo when you are ready.

I'm not sure what the limiting factor is, that determines how fast you can shoot on a P&S...but I'd suggest trying the cameras out in a shop, before buying.

dcclark · Mar 27, 2009

Also, the power of the processing unit in the camera -- you need a certain amount of computing power to change the raw data into an appropriate jpeg, and that needs to be done while the camera is getting ready for another shot. DSLRs have a lot of such power (and bigger ones have more).

tkaat · Mar 27, 2009

Umm from what the two before have pointed out it would seem like a decent assumption to recommend one of the new Canon which take advantage of the Digic processors or something similar (i.e Canon G10) but if i was on a >$300 i would choose the Canon PowerShot SD1200 IS

AlexColeman · Mar 27, 2009

I would say G10, the only good compact from my view.

flashbackpat · Mar 28, 2009

Thanks for the input guys. I'm not sure what her budget is for the new camera but I'll let her know. The information is very much appreciated.

RyanLilly · Mar 28, 2009

Dslrs, have an image buffer, that stores data while it is being processed and transferred to the memory card, and allows you to continue to shoot while the camera is still proceccing other pictures. Most P&S cameras have either a very tiny buffer or no buffer at all, so one you take a shot, the camera has to completely process and store that picture before you can take another.