Ok, I'm going to be getting a new digi soon. But I have a major issue I need worked out first. How do I make sure I get a camera that doesn't take 1/2 sec to actually capture the image. I first noticed this when I was using my sister's camera a couple of years ago, I would take the picture, and then almost a 1/2 sec after snapping, the flash would go off. I'm sorry, I can't have that in a camera no more than I can own a dog that bites people.

So, what terminolgy do I need to look for to avoid this? Can I avoid this at all? I was playing around Circuit City and noticed that big SLR looking style with the major optical zooms (well, the one that was actually working) seemed to not have this "feature", but all of the slim style I tried did have this "feature". Is that something endemic in the design?

Any insight into this would be most appreciated. Maybe there's a setting on the camera that I missed? I don't know.

 

Its all in the shutter speed.

My first camera was a kodak easyshare, and it did the same thing you are talking about. Allbeit the camera was only about 200 dollars, its what I expected.

My second camera was the Casio Exilim. This camera was very small and slim and had a nice shutter speed.

Its all in the manufacturer and usually with cameras you get what you pay for.

Now I own a Sony DSC-H2. It has a nice shutter speed but it's a 400 dollar camera.

If i can recommwnd anything it would be Sony (of course) cybershot's for slim cameras, casio, or nikon.

 

I had the same problem with my first camera (Fuji). I bought a Minolta Dimage Z1 and there is NO shutter lag at all. It's a great camera for taking sports/action shots. It will even take shots in "Burst Mode". It has a great zoom too. The Z1 is getting a bit out dated now, but the Z3 is still available on eBay and it's awesome. My friend got one of those.

 

my buddy uses a a nikon d70 its a hella of a nice camera bit pricey and he swears by it alot too

its got alot of bells and whistles

you do get what you pay for

around $1000+/-

 

My Minolta was around $200. The pics in the "Creepy Crawly" thread were taken with it.

 

Well .. It kinda sounds lyke you just press the button all the way down right away when you want to take a picture right ?? Well .. ALL digital cameras button to take the picture are supposed to be held down half way til you feel a slight click. When that happens you'll see it focus a bit. When its the picutre you want to take you press it all the way down. Maybe its just you ?? Not the camera. I see alot of poeple do it all the time. Especially if your taking pictures in broad day light it shouldn't be doing what your doing. Even in Auto mode it should be quick.

The moral of this story ..

Dont blame it on the camera.

ALSO !!

If your looking into digital camera's.. Point-n-Shoot camera's and DSLR's are a totally different camera. I would suggest brands like Canon & Nikon. Dont just go getting a DSLR just because it takes a flash quicker than the camera your using now. Point-n-Shoot cameras are more user friendly and DSLR are for more Intermediate photographers.


If you have any questions on Photography let me know. I'm into this kinda stuff. Haha. Check out my link on my signature. Some photo's I took with a Canon A80. Just a regular Point-n-Shoot camera.

 

I say at Fry's Electronics...a 12.9 mega pixel camera for $3200 smackers!!....why would anybody need that many pixels??....lol....looks cool though

 

^ you wouldnt really need a camera with that many MP, unless you need pictures printed at insanely hi-res for HUGE posters etc.

 

That sort of resolution also allows a reasonable amount of cropping before seriously affecting image quality for most amature uses, and in fact approaches 35mm film quality in some uses. (I currently only run 9M resolution, and my 40 year old Minolta SLRs will not only take better quality pics, but will also handle low light situations MUCH better.)

For snapshots, 5 to 6M should be fine.

Take a look at the reviews for cameras you are interested in at http://www.dpreview.com/ - the quickness of the click-to-pic time is covered in their reviews.

As said above, much of the delay is the focus delay, and the additional delay between pics is based on how long it takes the camera to process and store the image on its memory card. (Higher end cameras also have larger internal temp memory to buffer images until they get stored on the slower removable memory. This can greatly shorten the time between shots.)

Most cameras do allow you to 'prefocus' the lens by pressing the button part way, which shortens the delay once you decide to take the pic and press it the rest of the way. Some cameras also allow a 'continuous focus mode' where the camera constantly maintains focus on whatever is in the center of it's view - mine does. This greatly speeds up that first shot, but at the expense of shorter battery life - an external battery pack is recommended if you want to run that mode all the time.

There are some other good on-line review sites with reliable camara data, too, but DPR is my fave.

If you main uses are 4x6 prints and web use, get a fast, simple point-and-shoot with a short cycle time and prefocus whenever possible. For those super fast happenings where you can't expect to prefocus then shoot, you are just going to miss some of those shots.

Somewhere between the $25 640x480 (VGA) cameras and an excellent pro digital camera (http://www.dcviews.com/press/Hasselblad-39-series.htm ~$34,000) you will find what you want. BTW, the $25 VGAs fire almost instantly because they don't have any focus delays - they are fixed focus cameras. :D

Tomas

 

^^ Yeah, what he said.

If you get a "pocket" digicam, you have to press TEH BUTAN halfway and allow the camera to auto-adjust to whatever you're trying to take a picture of.......only the newest cameras with anti-shake tech are fast + steady enough to just whip it out and expect to get a decent shot. Also, ALL of the point and shoot cameras SUCK in low-light

I have owned 4 digital cameras, and currently have two- a pocket one and a DSLR. The pocket cam is nice when you need something small and stealth, but the DSLR completely destroys it in areas of speed, focusing time, low-light capture and color reproduction.

 

Excellent help, thank you very much. Thanks so much for the advice on pre-focusing, I had no idea, as I've nver owned a digi, and the only camera I have now is a Cannon (or is it Minolta) Owl that my sister gave me about 12 years ago, and she got with Marborllo Miles! And no, I'm not kidding.

My main area of concern is making sure when the baby is doing something goofy to get a good shot before he stops. I'm in to candid type of shots, where there is no posing and what not, so speed is of the essence. I'm also going to be taking a majority of the shots inside, so I do need something for lowlight that will work more than halfway decent. I'm willing to put some money into this, more so than the woman is, and I've got her up to $500 now, so I know I should be able to get a pretty decent digi for that.

My preferance is with something that can be easily stashed in a diaper bag, because with the baby, there's already going to be a ton of stuff to carry, but it does't have to be razor thin either. I just want some that takes good photos for mostly 4x6 printing, but I'd like the option of larger prints when wanted, but I don't see a need for poster size baby pics anytime soon, so a 6-7 MP should be more than adequete.

If yall are telling me that to get what I want I have to go up to a DSLR, I'm not opposed to it, but I was hoping that I could get what wanted in a smaller package.

iheartzombies mentioned the Sony cybershot, would this work well for my purposes? I've noticed at CNET that one of the Sony's has a .3 sec lag speed, but it seemed that indoor pics might have suffered with some redeye effects.

I'm not afraid of complicated cameras, especially if it can be set up so that the mother can handle basic pics by herself.

With all of this info, would you advise the DSLR's to get most of what I want?

 

Many people on here will probably disagree with me, but I do not think you need a DSLR to fit your needs. You have a baby, so you obviosly have plenty of other expenses to worry with. There are several cameras available for under $300 that will do everything you need quite well. As long as it has a fast focus and a good zoom, you'll love it. Don't underestimate the value of a good optical zoom. (Don't worry about the digital zoom because it degrades the image quality). My last camera had a 3X optical zoom and it sucked. My new camera has a 10X optical zoom and I love it. If you want to take candid shots, a good zoom is a must.

 

^I agree. I'd say you should get a 5-6mp camera with 8-12x OPTICAL zoom. I have a 4mp Kodak DX6490 with 10x optical zoom and I'm very happy with it. Look into the new Kodaks and Sonys and I'm sure you'll find somthing under $400. I wouldn't reccomend the small point & shoots that just have a big screen and nothing else because somtimes you need to use the viewfinder to get better results (like when the sun is behind you and you can't see anything on the screen). anything less than 8x zoom is unacceptable to me which meens I don't like any of the super slim cameras. Look on cnet.com, they let you narrow down your search by a lot of different variables.

 

Sony DSC-W100 {edited to fit url onto screen --Tomas}

Perfect for your needs.

A wopping 8.1 megapixels. Super Compact. Only $350.

 

Thanks Zombie! (and everyone else, I've learned quite a bit from this thread!)

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to wait til I get out of work to take a better look at it. My internet here blocks a mess load, and right now, it's even blocking pics at CNET. But I wanted send a thanks before tomorrow!

 

Only 3x zoom...not for me... Also mp isn't the only thing that tells the picture quality. There's a lot of thing to it besides just megapixels. There are some expensive 4mp cameras that takes better shots than cheap 8mp. There was an article somewhere online that said what to look for besides megapixels but I can't find it right now...

 

look into a canon s2.

with the recent release of the s3, the price has gone way down. The good part, the only real upgrade fetaure wise from the 2-3 is more ISO settings (worthless) and more points to autofocus from (semi-useful).

12x optical zoom, great sharp pictures, and w/ 5mp, it can print pretty big pictures if you want it too.

I got mine off ebay for <$280 new