Read a review of the E-P1 on CNET, and they're reporting that "shot-to-shot" time in RAW is 2.7 seconds:

http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/olympus-e-p1-silver/4505-6501_7-33704135.html

I'm not positive how CNET calculates this, so can someone who has an E-P1 clarify how long it takes between taking a photo and when you can <i>see</i> the image on the screen and take another photo?

I'm not expecting dSLR-like performance, but if I have to wait nearly 3 seconds between photos, I think I'll stick with my $400 D50 + 35/1.8 combo for casual shooting.

Sam Bennett wrote:
Read a review of the E-P1 on CNET, and they're reporting that "shot-to-shot" time in RAW is 2.7 seconds:

http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/olympus-e-p1-silver/4505-6501_7-33704135.html

I'm not positive how CNET calculates this, so can someone who has an E-P1 clarify how long it takes between taking a photo and when you can <i>see</i> the image on the screen and take another photo?

I'm not expecting dSLR-like performance, but if I have to wait nearly 3 seconds between photos, I think I'll stick with my $400 D50 + 35/1.8 combo for casual shooting.

I suspect they're including the write time in that. The E-P1 is a 3fps camera with a 9 frame RAW buffer. Therefore shot-to-shot time cannot be longer than 0.33 seconds.

If it's anything like the G1 in this regard, the camera can take the next shot well before the Live View feed is resumed, The G1's LV feed runs 1-2 shots behind the rest of the camera in continuous advance.

Yeah, CNET is far from reliable as a source of reviews. I just picked up my E-P1 and gave it a test. With a nice fast SD card and the camera in continuous shooting mode, it could smoke off the 9 shots in the buffer very fast, and then just slightly slowed down as the card worked to keep up with the buffer.

In single-shot mode, you can shoot faster than the rear screen will display. There is a delay of about half a second as the camera writes the images to the card, before it shows them on the display (and I was shooting RAW+Large Fine JPEG); however, you can shoot while it is doing this, and you don't have to wait.

I took the Sigma DP-2 back because of the speed problem, and its just not an issue here. It's not as fast as a DSLR, but in shooting a few hundred shots in my first 24 hours with it, its not slow, either. Perfectly suitable for all of my needs.

jhapeman wrote:
In single-shot mode, you can shoot faster than the rear screen will display. There is a delay of about half a second as the camera writes the images to the card, before it shows them on the display (and I was shooting RAW+Large Fine JPEG); however, you can shoot while it is doing this, and you don't have to wait.

The time I'm concerned about is the time between taking a photo and being able to see the live image on the screen so I can frame the next shot. So, just because the camera is 3FPS is meaningless to me - if that means "blind shooting", I'm going to pass.

The real question is: What's the time between when the LCD goes "black" to take the shot and when it's back on, displaying the image out through the lens? (Presuming you can turn off auto-playback, which I always do on my bodies anyway)

Looking at CNET's specs more, it's clear that I'm not getting the whole story, so I'll clarify even more - I really care about shot-to-shot performance coming back to a half press position. I often pre-focus my shots, and then will take a few shots, waiting for expressions in my subjects, etc. CNET quotes a 1.3 "shutter lag" time but that includes focusing, which is only part of the story as far as "shutter lag" goes. I guess I'll have to wait for more info here, or wait for DPReview's more detailed testing...

The LCD blanks out for about a half second if you have the LCD review turned off. If you have LCD review turned on, it of course shows the picture you just took. You can interrupt it at any time with a half press of the shutter.

If you want to keep your eye on what you're shooting, and don't want any possibility for delay from the camera, the SLR is still king. I admit, I wish I could put the E-P1 to my eye sometimes. But I like the E-P1 so far like I like my G10; it makes me look at the world a bit differently than a DSLR, thanks to the near-finished image you get on the LCD, and the ease of moving the camera into different angles.

An optical finder used in the hot shoe might solve this problem for you, at least with the fixed 17mm lens.

Someone on another forum said he was going to buy a wide CV finder and etch the marks for his other primes. That's a possibility I guess--though I don't know how you do that. I tried a turret finder (as well as my CV 35mm finder) on a G9 but never really liked it.

Diane

It gets bit busy having too many framelines on a finder. Usually, a better option is to have you tele and your wide marked and estimate the in-between.

Tariq Gibran wrote:
An optical finder used in the hot shoe might solve this problem for you, at least with the fixed 17mm lens.

It's possible. I've never used one in the past, and I imagine that it would really jibe with my control-freak sensibilities. I think I'm going to have to spend some quality time with one of these before I figure out if it's right for me.

1.3 sec shutter lag seems a bit excessive.... and hard to believe

CNET isn't exactly the best review site for camera's. I would wait for a real photo review site to provide feeback on the camera or look at some of the reviews / user feedback posted on this forum.
jhapeman has a thread on his E-P1 - good info and probably a lot more reliable than some quack on CNET.

pascal03 wrote:
1.3 sec shutter lag seems a bit excessive.... and hard to believe

Again, it includes focusing time. So, it's not really what I would normally regard as "shutter lag".

pascal03 wrote:
CNET isn't exactly the best review site for camera's.

I agree but they do perform all tests in the same manner.

Happy shooting,
Yakim.

Sam Bennett wrote:
pascal03 wrote:
1.3 sec shutter lag seems a bit excessive.... and hard to believe
A
gain, it includes focusing time. So, it's not really what I would normally regard as "shutter lag".


I allways defined shutter lag the time between shutter press and photo taken, regardless of why. 1.3 sec seems too slow for this camera.

dasrocket wrote:
Sam Bennett wrote:
pascal03 wrote:
1.3 sec shutter lag seems a bit excessive.... and hard to believe
A
gain, it includes focusing time. So, it's not really what I would normally regard as "shutter lag".


I allways defined shutter lag the time between shutter press and photo taken, regardless of why. 1.3 sec seems too slow for this camera.



Unfortunately CNET's testing is designed for low-end P&S's, where focusing is essentially an enforced part of the shutter lag. Their tests are horribly broken for higher-end cameras (I'd love to see their shutter-lag number for an R-D1 or M8)

dasrocket wrote:
I allways defined shutter lag the time between shutter press and photo taken, regardless of why. 1.3 sec seems too slow for this camera.


1.3 sec isn't indicative of the shutter lag for "this camera" - it's the shutter lag for "this camera" with "this lens". If you're buying this camera to use with manual glass, that shutter lag number is completely meaningless.

Sure, but my G10 by comparison, even with manual focus still had a noticeable lag due to metering and what have you.

Also by contrast, the shutter on my RD1 was instantaneous. If the E-P1 behaves the same I couldn't care less for the zoom AF lag. the 17mm kit lens is probably the only AF lens I will be using on it

dasrocket wrote:
Sure, but my G10 by comparison, even with manual focus still had a noticeable lag due to metering and what have you.

Also by contrast, the shutter on my RD1 was instantaneous. If the E-P1 behaves the same I couldn't care less for the zoom AF lag. the 17mm kit lens is probably the only AF lens I will be using on it

My somewhat facetious point was that if including AF was part of the test, the shot-to-shot time on the R-D1 or M8 would be infinite :-)

For me shutter lag was the few milli seconds it takes from depressing the shutter button to the mirror going into action. The canon 1-series are rated at 55mm shutter lag - the nikons are around 45ms or thereabouts.....Then there's also the mirror blackout time which this camera shouldn't have.

mawz wrote:
dasrocket wrote:
Sure, but my G10 by comparison, even with manual focus still had a noticeable lag due to metering and what have you.

Also by contrast, the shutter on my RD1 was instantaneous. If the E-P1 behaves the same I couldn't care less for the zoom AF lag. the 17mm kit lens is probably the only AF lens I will be using on it

My somewhat facetious point was that if including AF was part of the test, the shot-to-shot time on the R-D1 or M8 would be infinite :-)


I know
My comment was directed to Sam's note.

pascal03 wrote:
For me shutter lag was the few milli seconds it takes from depressing the shutter button to the mirror going into action. The canon 1-series are rated at 55mm shutter lag - the nikons are around 45ms or thereabouts.....Then there's also the mirror blackout time which this camera shouldn't have.

Right. But the "mirror blackout" time will be effectively the time it takes the camera to switch between displaying Live View, Capturing the Image, then returning to Live View - which was the shot-to-shot time I was talking about, in a nutshell.

dasrocket wrote:
Sure, but my G10 by comparison, even with manual focus still had a noticeable lag due to metering and what have you.

My point is that, according to CNET, the time includes focusing. CNET has also said that the kit lens is very slow to focus and that the other Oly 4/3rds lenses were much faster. So, there's really not much to glean from their data unless you're convinced you'll be using the kit zoom, which I suspect many on this forum won't be. Others have indicated that when manually focusing, the shutter lag is not problematic.

After a day testing out the E-P1 with AF on the shutter button (like my G10), I switched the camera to put AF on the AEL/AFL button (like my DSLRs). Now that I'm shooting this way, there is no more shutter lag (defined as the lag time between pushing the shutter and the image being taken) on my E-P1 than on my 40D. You push the button, and some small number of milliseconds later, the image is taken.

If you hold the shutter down in continuous mode, you get 3fps until the buffer fills up. No different than a DSLR.

If you shoot a frame, let your finger halfway off the shutter, then shoot another frame, there's a very short delay. I'd guess perhaps 250ms? Wild guess.

If you shoot a frame, let your finger ALL THE WAY off the shutter, then shoot another frame, there's a much longer delay. I'd guess perhaps a full second. It seems to me the camera decides that when you let your finger all the way off the shutter, you want to see the image on the LCD, and starts that process, only to be interrupted by your immediate full re-press of the shutter.

Knowing this, I'm not too bothered. I can avoid this long delay by simply keeping my finger half-pressed. (Which, incidentally, is what I do with all my cameras, anyway.) I work around shortcomings in all my cameras, be it the small viewfinder in my E-410, or the poor daylight LCD on my 5D, or the crappy zoom lever on my G10. The E-P1 just has a different set of shortcomings I'll need to work around.

To be honest I'm more bothered by the vestigial EC button on the top deck than the shutter lag. I wish I could use that button as a second "Fn" button. I absolutely love the "instant WB" feature, but I sometimes miss DOF Preview when taking closeups.

While the cam is capable of shooting continuously at 3 fps with good buffer, its response can be retarded. While writing to clear the buffer, the cam is not responsive when buttons are pressed for review or change of settings.
Also, the LCD live-view screen tends to be jerky at times and may caused me to miss the shot at the critical moment.
The cam is certainly not for fast action.
That's my rant about the camera. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed shooting with the twin lens kit since I bought it a week ago.

CKrueger wrote:
If you shoot a frame, let your finger ALL THE WAY off the shutter, then shoot another frame, there's a much longer delay. I'd guess perhaps a full second. It seems to me the camera decides that when you let your finger all the way off the shutter, you want to see the image on the LCD, and starts that process, only to be interrupted by your immediate full re-press of the shutter.

Are you saying that only taking your finger "ALL THE WAY off" is when it returns to Live View? Returning to Half Press doesn't return you to Live View? Or are you referring to the image just taken?