Posted by HOST on 12/14/2007, 10:26 pm, in reply to "delayed exposure"
You're talking about what's called "Shutter delay" - which is a delay from the time you press the shutter button until the camera focuses, and actually captures the photo.
Unfortunately, most point-and-shoot consumer model cameras have this problem. It's not as bad as it used to be, but, it's still there. Some are a bit faster than others, but pretty much all of them have it on some level. If you're outdoors in bright light they work more quickly, but indoors in lower light and lower contrast situations, it takes the camera longer to focus and adds even more time to it.
Two ways to help (one costs nothing, the other a lot):
1) Pre-focus. Press the shutter button halfway down at a particular area where activity is going on. Then hold it there - halfway down. When the kids finally smile, finish pressing it and you won't have the focus delay. Not very easy to always do, but it eliminates the "focus when you press now" thing.
2) Buy a faster camera. Digital SLR models like the Nikon D40 or Canon XTi/400D are MUCH faster than consumer models. Virtually no shutter delay that you can sense, anyway. Better in low light, less noise (grain) on indoor shots, faster shooting, etc etc. You're talking about $499.00 U.S. for the cheapest package with kit lens right now, though.
Makers are slowly catching up. Perhaps in 3-5 years consumer cameras won't have that irritating delay, but for now, you still have to live with it.
HOST
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