Help Deciper! Shutter Speed vs. Frames Per Second?

[moopdog]

I want to know which ones equals: fast picture taking. I am comparing on mysimon.com and have it down to a Panasonic Lumix DMC and an Olympus Ultrazoom SP510 for $50 less, but the Panasonic has: a shutter speed of 60 vs the Olympus' 15. Also it's a 12X zoom vs 10X.

For the extra $50 is it worth it. Oh, one more thing... the Panasonic has a lithium battery and the other takes regular AA batteries. What's the way to go?

Thanks in advance

 

[handicap18]

Shutter speed is how long the shutter door stays open to allow light into the camera. It is listed in seconds (more commonly fractions of a second, ie: 1/30th, 1/60th, 1/125th, 1/250th, 1/500th, etc...)

Frames per second is how often you can get the shutter door to open by pressing the button. Generally you'll see 1 FPS, 2 FPS 2.5 FPS then as you get into the expensive dSLRs, 3 FPS, 5 FPS and upwards of 8 FPS on the high end $3000 models.'

So what you say by 60 vs 15 comparing the 2 cameras doesn't make any sence to me. It has to be referring to something else. Maybe its referring to shutter lag, how long it takes to actually record the image, but even with those numbers I can't tell which is better or worse. What are the 60 and 15 measuring?

12x or 10x zoom, both are good. Obviously the 12x will have a bigger zoom range, but for the most part both are good. You'll have to look closer to the specific numbers on what the range is to get a better comparison (ie: 35mm-350mm, 35mm-420mm, 28mm-336mm, 28mm-280mm or something like that). Do you want wider or longer?

 

[tinksdad]

Not really sure what you're getting at here. But, I'll take a stab at the topic.

Shutter speed is how fast the shutter actuates to take the picture. It is tied to the amount of light that is available and the camera engineering. The higher the number (fraction of a second) the faster the shutter speed. Lower number equates to more time that the shutter is open for those lower light shots.

Frames per second, is just that. How fast the camera can take successive shots. For fast action shots, you want a high shutter speed to avoid motion blur (if that is your goal) and a high frame rate which will take lots of shots to catch that "special" moment.

The Oly 510 has a min shutter of 1/60 (+ bulb) which is for lower light shots, but is not that slow. The Panasonic DMC line has several cameras it it, so not sure which one you're referring to, but 1/15 isn't particular slow either.

Batteries: If the camera uses standard batts, then finding them won't be hard. If it uses a proprietary system, then you have to purchase those! They usually last longer, are more expensive.

 

[CapeCAD]

These are the specs to look at for those cameras:

Panasonic:
Image Sensor Type CCD
Resolution 7.38 Megapixel
Optical Zoom 12x
Digital Zoom 4x
Aperture Range f8/f8 (w/t) - f2.8/f3.1 (w/t)
Shutter Speed 60 - 1/2000 sec
35mm Zoom Lens 36 - 432 mm
ISO Speeds Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 3200

Olympus:
Image Sensor Type CCD
Resolution 7.4 Megapixel
Optical Zoom 10x
Digital Zoom 5x
Aperture Range f2.8/f3.7 (w/t)
Shutter Speed 15 - 1/1000 sec
35mm Zoom Lens 38 - 380 mm
ISO Speeds Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600

 

[moopdog]

These are the specs to look at for those cameras:

Panasonic:
Image Sensor Type CCD
Resolution 7.38 Megapixel
Optical Zoom 12x
Digital Zoom 4x
Aperture Range f8/f8 (w/t) - f2.8/f3.1 (w/t)
Shutter Speed 60 - 1/2000 sec
35mm Zoom Lens 36 - 432 mm
ISO Speeds Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 3200

Olympus:
Image Sensor Type CCD
Resolution 7.4 Megapixel
Optical Zoom 10x
Digital Zoom 5x
Aperture Range f2.8/f3.7 (w/t)
Shutter Speed 15 - 1/1000 sec
35mm Zoom Lens 38 - 380 mm
ISO Speeds Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600

Okay - so given these specs, which camera is the best for sporting events (far away shots AND fast moving) and almost more importantly, poorly lit situations like a school stage? Sorry for not having the lingo down...hopefully I am not being redundant? Thanks!!

 

[CapeCAD]

Okay - so given these specs, which camera is the best for sporting events (far away shots AND fast moving) and almost more importantly, poorly lit situations like a school stage? Sorry for not having the lingo down...hopefully I am not being redundant? Thanks!!

IMHO Both cameras appear to be closely matched for those situations. Neither is going to be as good as an SLR, but both have the ability to give you decent shots with the right settings.

These are how I interpret the sttings:
Same: Image Sensor
Olympus: Resolution (Higher is usually better)
Panasonic: Optical Zoom (Higher is usually better)
Olympus: Digital Zoom (Higher is usually better)
Olympus: Aperture Range (Smaller is usually better)
Panasonic: Shutter Speed (Wider range is usually better)
Panasonic: 35mm Zoom Lens (Low number is close/wider angle. High number is further away)
Olympus: Low ISO Speeds (Work better for Lighter, fast action shots)
Panasonic: High ISO Speeds (Better for Darker situations, still shots)

It's usually a good idea to read customer reviews also to see how the settings published by the manufacturers perform in the real world.

 

[handicap18]

Looking at the specs, I would probably go with the Panasonic. Though I'd also have to see images between the 2 camera's to make a final decision. The Panasonic has a much longer reach and is just a tad wider in the short end, though not enough to really make a difference.

Definately read the reviews between the 2 and look over as many images as you can then make your decision.

As for the digital zoom, forget you ever saw the number next to it. It really is a meaningless feature and in the end if you use it will only make your images turn out bad. Optical zoom is what you want to focus on (no pun indended).

 

[JR6ooo4]

look for reviews to see which camera has better pictures using the higher ISO ranges. ISO is the same as film speed. A lower number is higher quality but a higher number is usually for low light situations (the hardest for a camera. especialy when the kids on stage are moving) it will help make a faster shutter speed even though there is low light.

try:
www.dpreview.com
www.stevesdigicams.com for reviews

MIkeeee

 

[Groucho]

The type of CCD doesn't matter so much, it's the size of it that matters. I'll almost guarantee that both have 1/2.5" sensors (I think only Fuji has put a larger sensor in a long-zoom point-n-shoot), though, which means that neither one will be anything to write home about in low light.

And we still don't know just which Panasonic the OP is referring to?