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Jet lag: Cameras with a short shutter delay

Lori Grunin Lori Grunin, Senior Editor March 10, 2008

Everyone's looking for a point-and-shoot camera fast enough to catch Sally making the winning goal or Fido catching a Frisbee in midair. There are two main factors that impact your camera's speed: the time it takes to lock focus, which affects how fast the camera captures an image after you press the shutter button; and processing and write speeds, which affect how fast you can shoot the next image after you've just taken a picture. In our reviews, we refer to the first factor as shutter lag and measure it in both high-contrast and low-contrast situations. We call the second factor shot-to-shot time. Here are five of the fastest we've seen, with shot-to-shot times (in good light) of 1.5 seconds or less and shutter lags of 0.5 second or shorter in high-contrast conditions and 1.2 seconds or less in dim conditions.

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Product name
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T200 (Black)
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Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T200 (Black)

Canon PowerShot SD1000 Digital ELPH (Silver)
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Canon PowerShot SD1000 Digital ELPH (Silver)

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W90 (silver)
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Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W90 (silver)

Price $237.99 to $599.44 $143.95 to $303.62 $159.99 to $249.90 $167.00 to $169.89 $216.95 to $279.99 $179.09 to $211.99
CNET editors' rating
Average user rating
Review date November 12, 2007 March 14, 2007 February 15, 2008 January 02, 2008 February 13, 2008 February 21, 2008
The Bottom Line Though still a solid camera, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T200's touch-sensitive LCD and lower image quality present a step back from its excellent predecessor. Small size, excellent image quality, and a solid, though not extensive, feature set make the SD1000 a great choice for a compact camera. Quick shooting and generally good picture quality make the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W90 a solid choice. Fast shooting and pleasing images in an easy-to-use design make the Kodak EasyShare V1253 an attractive--though not best-in-class--option. The ultracompact Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T70 packs impressive performance and image quality into a sexy little camera body, but its touchy touch screen left us a tad teed. The W130's quick performance and decent image quality make it a solid follow-up to the W90, and a good choice for a pocket point-and-shoot camera.
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Features
Lens aperture F/3.5-4.4
F/2.8-4.9
F/2.8-5.2
F/3.4-5.3
F/3.5-4.3
F/2.8-5.8
Equivalent 35mm focal length 35 - 175 mm
35 - 105 mm
35 - 105 mm
37 - 111 mm
38 - 114 mm
Info unavailable
Optical zoom 5 x
3 x
3 x
3 x
3 x
4 x
Light sensitivity ISO 200
ISO 800
ISO auto
ISO 400
ISO 80
ISO 3200
ISO 1600
ISO 100
ISO 200
ISO 800
ISO auto
ISO 400
ISO 80
ISO 1600
ISO 100
ISO 200
ISO 800
ISO auto
ISO 400
ISO 3200
ISO 1600
ISO 100
ISO 200
ISO 800
ISO auto (64-400)
ISO 400
ISO 3200
ISO 1600
ISO 100
ISO 64
ISO 200
ISO 800
ISO auto
ISO 400
ISO 80
ISO 3200
ISO 1600
ISO 100
ISO 200
ISO 800
ISO auto
ISO 400
ISO 3200
ISO 1600
ISO 100
Display (projector) technology TFT active matrix
TFT active matrix
TFT active matrix
TFT active matrix
TFT active matrix
TFT active matrix
Memory storage capacity 31 MB
Info unavailable 31 MB
32 MB
31 MB
15 MB
Video input type Digital camera
Digital camera
Digital camera
Digital camera
Digital camera
Digital camera
Flash memory form factor Integrated
SD Memory Card
Integrated
Integrated
Integrated
Integrated
Digital zoom 2 x
4 x
2 x
5 x
2 x
2 x
Battery technology Lithium ion
Lithium ion
Lithium ion
Lithium ion
Lithium ion
Lithium ion
Weight