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DSLRs with Minimal Shutter Lag?
Calling all DSLR gurus and know-it-alls! I am a film guy. I only shoot digital for location scouting and snapshots. But I'm embarking on work for some clients which will require shooting with a DSLR which responds like a film SLR. No shutter lag. Think sports-like action. 80% of these images will be used internally and not for publication. I'm not going to need the highest end, slammin'-est body, because the largest the images will go is probably 11x14. I really don't want to get the absolute hottest body on the market for this use. I will need accurate color rendition and easy connection with studio strobes. Although I use Nikon (and occasionally Minolta) SLR systems for film, as a videographer, I've been partial to Canon's digital cameras. Several people I've spoken to are partial to Canon DSLRs. I'm most concerned about good optics, nice image output and the ability to handle a hefty card. Anyway, jump in with your thoughts. Thanks! Bruce Jul 02 05 11:50 pm Link i have a couple of Nikon D2x's and there is absolutely no shutter lag. it's like an F5, only better. the Canon Mark II also has no lag and is a great sports camera. i have a Canon 20D, and the is almost no lag, but it certainly isn't as fast as the other two. [ b ] Jul 03 05 01:03 am Link If you like Canon, Mark II.. The 8MP, not the 1Ds Mark II 16MP. Mark II replaced the 1D which was the camera of choice for sports photography. Among Canon users so hold on to your tomatos, Nikon guys!! It's pretty decent even when shooting RAW; 20 frames continous I think.. Twice that for JPEG.. Best optics, L series glass.. Jul 03 05 01:05 am Link Yep , Nikon D2X or Canon 1D Mk2, both good speed shooters. Though far as 'lag' goes, if you are comming from like a point and shoot, even something like a rebel or 20D is going to seem crazy fast to you. But Sports-like action, with the proper lens.... definitly the 1DMk2 or D2X. Jul 03 05 01:19 am Link As the others have said.  Canon's 1D Mark II has a slightly shorter shutter lag than their 1V film body did (Both list 55 ms nominal, but Canon claims the 1DII is shorter--go figure.) Nikon's F6 film camera states a 51ms delay. Their D2H and D2X are 37 ms each. To put in into perspective, though: which film SLRs are you used to? Canon's (older) Elan 7, the film body I used most recently, had a 125ms lag, and pretty much all the dSLRs made in the last couple of years have a shorter one than that. (The Digital Rebel XT claims 100 ms.) Jul 03 05 02:57 am Link Posted by Kevin Connery: Course I think prior to that newest Nikon, the canon seem to be more feature packed. (though despite the D2X seems to have better noise reduction at 1.5x than the 1DMk2 does at 1.3x, or thats the way it looks.) Jul 03 05 03:46 am Link This is very enlightening! Thanks for the input so far. Posted by Kevin Connery: When I shoot 35mm film I generally shoot with a Nikon F3--so in answer to the above question it would be the F3. Jul 03 05 06:54 am Link I din't see anything on Nikons site about Nikon suspending production or support on DSLR. Maybe you were implying film SLR, although I didn't see anything about that either. check out the reviews on both cameras a dpreview.com when you see the pixel size and density on the Nikon it will make you think twice about the Canon. Both the MkII and the D2X are great options. Jul 03 05 07:10 am Link Posted by Bruce Caines: Posted by Kevin Connery: When I shoot 35mm film I generally shoot with a Nikon F3--so in answer to the above question it would be the F3. Kodak is getting out of the pro DSLR business, not Nikon. Jul 03 05 07:17 am Link Posted by JvR: Oops! You're right--I mis-typed and misthought. My bad. Jul 03 05 07:19 am Link Shutter lag really shouldn't be an issue with modern dSLRs. I have an antique Nikon D100 and I have never found shutter lag to be a problem. As far as which brand to acquire, stick with Nikon. It's nice to have a camera that, when you switch it on, it works. Jul 03 05 07:25 am Link As JvR said, it's Kodak that's getting out of the game not Nikon.. Regarding support, regardless of which system you pick, if you meet the criteria join the repective companies pro services. For Canon it's CPS and I think Nikon is NPS. The advantage is you can get loaner equipment, faster repairs and unlike the consumer side, fast response to your questions. I've been shooting Canon digital since the G1 came out and have had a D30-60 and 10D. Unlike those that have cameras with CCD's, I've only had 1 small dust issue, whereas everyone I know with CCD sensors, complains about dust. The majority of my shooting is on the beach and I do change my lenses without turning the camera off. Yea, bad idea, but only one small issue after 3 DSLR's, I'd say it's the sensor that is making the difference.. Just my 2 cents... Jul 03 05 07:26 am Link Posted by JvR: I know that the Canon menu is different from the Nikon menu. Maybe this wasn't clear. I've seen the Nikon pro menu as well as the one on my little Nikon coolpix. The format is very similar. Jul 03 05 07:29 am Link Posted by Belair: Are we saying that Canon and Fuji don't work?? With all due respect, the D100 was a dog of a camera and the majority of people who bought it complained or had it in for repair. Talking working pros, not amatures. In fact, most picked up the D70 and found it, as did most reviews, to be a superior camera. Jul 03 05 07:31 am Link I have a mix of AF Nikon lenses and the older non-AF lenses. I wouldn't mind terribly if I had to swap out some old lenses for AF--but are the AF lenses compatible with the current Nikon dSLRs? Jul 03 05 07:55 am Link Posted by Karl Blessing: Is that your expert opinion? I'm not trying to bash the D2x, because it's an awsome camera. But let's be real, it does not have better noise control over any of the Canon DSLRs. It does, however, have some stronger points over the mark II. Jul 03 05 08:23 am Link Posted by Bruce Caines: basically, yeah. the cool thing about Nikon. Jul 03 05 08:25 am Link Posted by Belair: what kind of ignorant comment is that? at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, some 70% of of all the photographers were shooting with Canon Mark IIs, including Sport Illustrated (SI). Jul 03 05 08:34 am Link Posted by Gary L.: Posted by Belair: what kind of ignorant comment is that? at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, some 70% of of all the photographers were shooting with Canon Mark IIs, including Sport Illustrated (SI). Hear hear, Gary!!! And actually at most events, you see a sea of white lenses.. Must be why Nikon now offers a white version of some of their pro lenses... :-) Got tired of looking like a minority in a crowd.. Jul 03 05 08:53 am Link The shutter lag on a Nikon D70 is the same as on the hardy pro film standby the F100. You need to distinguish between shutter lag, and the total time required from the time you press the button until the picture's taken. No, I'm not being sarcastic - if what you need is minimum time from finger push to image, the "shutter lag" statistic is godawful misleading. Most of the time from shutter push to image is spent on focusing. You can read all you want about this or that speedy autofocus system, but owning one or two of many of Nikon's SLR offerings, I can tell you for certain: the LENS is more responsible for long focus lags than the camera body. Faster max aperture = faster focus. Having the motor in the lens instead of the body = faster focus. The camera body itself only really makes a difference in two areas: focusing speed of really long lenses with no motor in the lens, and sensitivity to light and contrast for focusing. So, all that said, the D100, nobody's idea of a focus speed demon, will focus lock faster with a 50 1.4 lens than the D2X with a lens with f5.6 max aperture. In fact, with a non-motor lens at f5.6, the D2x and D100 are close enough for it to be a tossup. I am assured by my Canon friends that the same is true in that line. So, if you want to minimize focus lag, buy expensive fast glass. Other things that make which body you buy pretty much irrelevant in lag time are things that pros who shoot sports do routinely. Pre-focus. Manual exposure. The actual lag attributable to timing between button push and shutter actuation (which is what any statistic out there would measure - autofocus off, autoexposure off) is way small. Even with consumer digital cameras, prefocusing and locking exposure will let you catch divers at the peak of their dive reliably. Jul 03 05 11:29 am Link Posted by Keith aka Wolfie: Actually, no. White lenses absorb less heat from being in hot sunlight, and with zooms, means that your zoom is more accurate, and your lens won't suffer from heat expansion induced changes in focus, or friction issues due to different metals expanding at different rates. Anyone who's shot with a long zoom in someplace like Sri Lanka or Africa - or outdoors in hot sun for 12 hours at the US Open - understands the benefit of white lenses, and with VR, now more important. You sure do lose a lot of invisibility, though. Jul 03 05 11:35 am Link Posted by Ed Nazarko: Actually, no. White lenses absorb less heat from being in hot sunlight, and with zooms, means that your zoom is more accurate, and your lens won't suffer from heat expansion induced changes in focus, or friction issues due to different metals expanding at different rates. Anyone who's shot with a long zoom in someplace like Sri Lanka or Africa - or outdoors in hot sun for 12 hours at the US Open - understands the benefit of white lenses, and with VR, now more important. You sure do lose a lot of invisibility, though. WHAT??? I can't believe what I see in advertising??? Oh my, what has this world come to... LOL!! Yea, doesn't surprise me.. Jul 03 05 11:43 am Link Posted by Belair: That's why SI uses Canon for the Superbowl. Jul 03 05 11:51 am Link Shutter lag doesn't seem to be an issue on most of the dSLR bodies (I own a 20D, but have shot a few others)... it's really about the buffer speed/size. The shutter responds as fast as my nikon F100- but shoot 6 or 7 raws in rapid sucession, you might as well put the camera down and go get a cup of coffee. Jul 03 05 11:58 am Link Posted by Ed Nazarko: i wasn't talking about the photo. The info i got about the 70% came from several sources. mosly from articles in Digital Photo Pro, and photographyblog.com. Jul 03 05 04:56 pm Link Awww...sorry I upset all you staunch Canonites. If it makes you all feel any better, I'll pat Canon on the back and tell them what an outstanding camera the F1 was....and is. Jul 03 05 07:46 pm Link Oh, and I have an AE-1 body floating around here if someone is interested in buying it. Jul 03 05 07:55 pm Link Posted by Belair: Never said I was a staunch "Canonite" and in fact I was shooting all Nikon film. Never felt upset; I just consider the source.. Jul 03 05 08:22 pm Link Posted by Keith aka Wolfie: Posted by Belair: Never said I was a staunch "Canonite" and in fact I was shooting all Nikon film. Never felt upset; I just consider the source.. Since you are not a staunch Canonite, the post wasn't directed to you. Jul 03 05 08:34 pm Link Posted by Belair: Posted by Keith aka Wolfie: Posted by Belair: Never said I was a staunch "Canonite" and in fact I was shooting all Nikon film. Never felt upset; I just consider the source.. Since you are not a staunch Canonite, the post wasn't directed to you. Ok, but you stated the following: "As far as which brand to acquire, stick with Nikon. It's nice to have a camera that, when you switch it on, it works." Jul 03 05 09:02 pm Link It's hard to argue with the statement that it's nice to have a camera that works when you turn it on. Now sure why you are trying to argue with that. As far as Fuji's go, I know they make some sort of a digital camrea based on a Nikon N80. I can't vouch for them so I can't recommend that you buy one or not. The same goes with Canon digitals. Someone gave me a Digi Rebel and it was DOA right out of the box. Some "Error 99" thingie. Sent it off for an 8-week vacation to Canon's place in New Jersey. Haven't had much interest in using it. My Nikon D100 has over 40,000 frames on it, and hasn't missed a beat. Is it a perfect camera? No. But, given Nikon's unfathomable method of releasing new products, it was a better choice for me at the time than the aging D1x. I think you are fibbing when you claim that "most" D100 buyers had to repair their cameras. I know about 20 or so D100 owners and none of them have had to send them in for repair. As far as the D70 goes, indeed Nikon used some lessons learned from the D100 to improve certain aspects of the D70. However, the D70's lack of a vertical grip makes it a little difficult to use. Jul 03 05 09:13 pm Link i use to shoot Nikon film, and they were awsome cameras. I went to canon for digital, after using the D100 for a short while. the D100 was equal to my old D60, the 10D was better imho and no comparison to my 20D. Nikon could have done the Nikon people a service and release D200. I sold my D30 over the holidays, and guess what, the owner still enjoys it. Yes, the camera still works after 4 years of use, and has never been serviced. Jul 04 05 07:15 am Link |
