any P&S w/o shutter lag?

Gventure

Help - I am trying to downsize from a D200 and 17-55 etc to a digital P&S yet they all seem to have shutter lag. I just tried the G9 and it had a lag of exactly one second. SO, I really want to downsize but I need quick shutter release - is there a P&S for me?

Thanks, G

ziggy53

Gventure wrote:

Help - I am trying to downsize from a D200 and 17-55 etc to a digital P&S yet they all seem to have shutter lag. I just tried the G9 and it had a lag of exactly one second. SO, I really want to downsize but I need quick shutter release - is there a P&S for me?

Thanks, G

P&S cameras have several types of lag and are often lumped as "shutter lag".

There is:

Viewfinder/LCD lag
Autofocus lag
Shutter lag
Lag to next shot

All of these tend to hinder responsiveness. Which of these are most important and which can you live with?

Gventure

Thanks Ziggy

ziggy53 wrote:

P&S cameras have several types of lag and are often lumped as "shutter lag".

There is:

Viewfinder/LCD lag
Autofocus lag
Shutter lag
Lag to next shot

All of these tend to hinder responsiveness. Which of these are most important and which can you live with?

Thanks Ziggy - what I am looking for is immediate shutter release when I press the shutter button - what I don't want is to push the button at the right moment only to have the camera wait one second before it actually takes the picture because by then the moment has been lost. That is the reason I went from my old Nikon Coolpix 5700 to a D70 a year or so ago. I thought by now the high end P&Ss would take the picture when I pressed the shutter button but so far I haven't found one to do that - have an suggestions?

Thanks, G

Slinky0390

Gventure wrote:

Thanks Ziggy - what I am looking for is immediate shutter release when I press the shutter button - what I don't want is to push the button at the right moment only to have the camera wait one second before it actually takes the picture because by then the moment has been lost. That is the reason I went from my old Nikon Coolpix 5700 to a D70 a year or so ago. I thought by now the high end P&Ss would take the picture when I pressed the shutter button but so far I haven't found one to do that - have an suggestions?

Thanks, G

Just curious, why do you want to downgrade?

ziggy53

Gventure wrote:

Thanks Ziggy - what I am looking for is immediate shutter release when I press the shutter button - what I don't want is to push the button at the right moment only to have the camera wait one second before it actually takes the picture because by then the moment has been lost. That is the reason I went from my old Nikon Coolpix 5700 to a D70 a year or so ago. I thought by now the high end P&Ss would take the picture when I pressed the shutter button but so far I haven't found one to do that - have an suggestions?

Thanks, G

There are P&S cameras with relatively short timings on all of these properties, but nothing even close to what you are now used too.

Your best bet for similar responsiveness to a dSLR is an entry level dSLR. Honestly, it is.

For instance a Pentax dSLR with a "pancake" lens is not much larger than some digicams but has a much, much better focus system, a true optical viewfinder, pretty fast lens with good sensitivity in low light, ability to use an external flash and much, much faster shot-to-shot times overall (including faster write to card times.)

Comparative timings for different P&S cameras:

http://www.cameras.co.uk/html/shutter-lag-comparisons.cfm?sort=ShutterLag

Gventure

too much stuff

Slinky0390 wrote:

Just curious, why do you want to downgrade?

between photography, mt biking, road biking, motorcycling, kayaking, climbing. camping with family, shooting sports, cooking, off road Rovering and Porsche stuff, any one or some of which I mess with daily, PLUS a job and a great dog, dude I just have no time. I love all those hobbies but some need to go - so - realizing that the photography is mainly a way to capture memories of the bike races, camping trips, etc. I am down grading photography from hobby to "hey I have a camera I'll take a picture". Crazy huh.

G

claudermilk

Quick! Get the straight jacket! Someone let him play with a D3 for a while!

Lags in responsiveness are part of the territory with P&S cameras. The best you can do is learn the timing & anticipate it, pressing the shutter just that much before you think "the shot" is going to happen.

gchappel

Gventure wrote:

between photography, mt biking, road biking, motorcycling, kayaking, climbing. camping with family, shooting sports, cooking, off road Rovering and Porsche stuff, any one or some of which I mess with daily, PLUS a job and a great dog, dude I just have no time. I love all those hobbies but some need to go - so - realizing that the photography is mainly a way to capture memories of the bike races, camping trips, etc. I am down grading photography from hobby to "hey I have a camera I'll take a picture". Crazy huh.

G

Sounds so familiar. You sound young, I am 55. Raced porsches for years, bike -road -mostly 100 milers, and mountain- raced, sports etc. Photography was on the back burner for years. Shattered my knee in a mountain bike accident about 4 months ago, surgery, multiple pins, etc. Photography is becoming more important again, as I can't do the other stuff right now.
Looking back, keep a small dslr. I have been using a fuji finepix f31 for a while- very little "lag", and have been happy with it. It is in no way a replacement for the D3.
gary

Gventure

OK - bought a Canon PowerShot S5 IS
The Canon PowerShot S5 IS does not have an appreciable shutter lag. Done deal - now selling Nikon gear -

Joves

I used to carry my Pentax MX with a 50mm on it when I used to cycle on the road and, did climbing. But then I liked photography more than a lot of my other past times.