digital camera

[ssleblanc]

It seems like processing time and lag time are 2 different things. Processing is how long it takes the camera to write to disk and happens after the image is captured but before you can take your next pic. I consider lag time to be the time between pushing the button and actually capturing the picture. Lag is THE main drawback to a point and shoot digital.

You are right. Both my Canon A75 and my S2 IS have relatively short lag times compared to other digitals I have tried. The S2 IS is slightly shorter than the A75, but are pretty short. When you add the processing time (after the picture) to the lag time of the next picture, it can be pretty significant and caused missed pictures. I use the continuous shooting mode a LOT (just keep the finger depressed and it clicks away REALLY fast). Prevents lost shots - and then I just delete the ones I don't want.

For the processing speed (after taking the picture, before you can take another) - a way to reduce that time is to use a smaller memory card (say a 1/2 a Gig as opposed to 2 Gig's) - and just carry extra cards - or the "high speed" cards (more expensive). On the really big (but lower speed) memory cards, the camera has to search the memory card for available space to store the picture (sort of sorting through an index in order to figure out where to put it) and then save it. The bigger the card (therefore bigger space to search) the slower the processing is. On a 256 MB card I get about 200 pictures on a card. I carry 4 or 5 of those with me, in addition to a high speed 1 Gig card (holds about 900 pictures). That allows me to take LOTS of pictures in continuous mode and then when I get home, I delete the ones that didn't come out.

My dad was a professional photographer and he always taught me "film is cheap - anyone can take a really great photo if they snap enough shots". I agreed, except the PROCESSING the film is NOT so cheap. Digital solves that. So I just keep pressing that button. It works REALLY well when you are trying to take a pictures of 5 or 6 kids at once. Really hard to get them all smiling at once right when you snap the picture. But hold down that button and let it just keep taking them continuously, and you're bound to get at least one where everyone is smiling and no eyes are closed.