Timings & File Sizes
As we would expect the overall operational performance of the DiMAGE 7Hi is identical to the camera on which it is based, the DiMAGE 7i. Startup times, focusing, shot to shot, file writing and other functions are all relatively quick and within acceptable limits (although nothing stands out as being particularly stunning). What has improved is the depth of the continuous shooting buffer and the addition of the High speed continuous shooting mode (more below).
Timing Notes: All times calculated as an average of three operations. Unless otherwise stated all timings were made on a 2560 x 1920 FINE JPEG image (approx. 2.0 MB per image).
The media used for these tests were:
- 512 MB SanDisk Ultra Type I Compact Flash card
- 512 MB SimpleTech Type II Compact Flash card
- 1 GB IBM Microdrive Type II Compact Flash card
| Legend for CF card timings | |
| Noticeably quicker | |
| Noticeably slower | |
| Action | Details | Time,
seconds (SanDisk CF) |
Time,
seconds (SimpleTech CF) |
Time,
seconds (Microdrive) |
| Power: Off to Record | 2.4 | 2.4 | 2.4 | |
| Power: Off to Play *1 | Accessing | n/a | n/a | 2.6 |
| Power: Off to Play *1 | Displayed | 2.5 | 2.5 | 6.0 |
| Power: Record to Off *2 | 2.4 | 2.3 | 2.5 | |
| Power: Play to Off | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.4 | |
 |
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| Mode: Record to Play / QV | 1.4 / 1.7 | 1.4 / 1.7 | 3.1 / 3.3 | |
| Mode: Play / QV to Record | 1.3 / 1.4 | 1.4 / 1.4 | 1.5 / 1.5 | |
|
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| Play: Magnify to x2.0 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 1.4 | |
| Rec: Thumbnail view 3 x 3 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.0 | |
| Action | Details | Time,
seconds (average) |
| Auto Focus LAG *4 | Full wide angle (28 mm equiv.) | 0.9 *3 |
| Auto Focus LAG *4 | Full telephoto (200 mm equiv.) | 1.1 *3 |
|
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| Shutter Release LAG *5 | Using LCD monitor / EVF | 0.1 |
| Total LAG *6 | Lens @ 50 mm equiv. | 0.8 - 1.2 |
| Off to Shot Taken | Media: 512 MB SimpleTech CF card | 3.1 |
| Off to Shot Taken | Media: 1 GB IBM Microdrive | 5.6 |
|
||
| Shot to Shot | Instant playback enabled | 1.5 |
| Shot to Shot | Instant playback disabled | 1.4 |
| *1 | First timing is the time (from OFF) before "Accessing files..." is shown the LCD. Second timing is the time (from OFF) before the first image is displayed. |
| *2 | No images remaining in internal buffer. Timer is stopped when top LCD display disappears. |
| *3 | Add approximately 0.5 seconds in lower light. |
| *4 | Auto Focus LAG - The amount of time it takes the camera to autofocus (a half-press and hold of the shutter release button), this timing is normally the most variable as its affected by the subject matter, current focus position, still or moving subject etc.This timing is an average. |
| *5 | Shutter Release LAG - The amount of time it takes to take the shot after autofocus, this timing assumes you have already focused (half-pressed the shutter release) and now press the shutter release button all the way down to take the shot. This timing is an average. |
| *6 | Total LAG - The total time it takes (not just the two above added together) if you haven't pre-focused, that is no finger touching the shutter release button, press it all the way down in one movement, this new timing is how long it'd take if you were in one of those spur-of-the-moment situations.This timing is an average. |
Continuous modes
The table below shows the results of our continuous shooting test, indicating the actual frame rate along with maximum number of frames and how long you would have to wait after taking the maximum number of frames before you could take another shot. Media used for these tests was the 512 MB SimpleTech CF card.
Standard Continuous drive mode
Standard continuous drive mode shoots at approximately two frames per second at the native five megapixel 2560 x 1920 resolution, drop image size below that and the additional processing required in downsampling slows the frame rate to 1.4 frames per second. You can shoot only one frame in RAW or Super Fine (TIFF) modes. A preview of each shot is shown as the burst is taken and a summary of up to the last nine frames is shown in a thumbnail view at the end of the burst.
| Image Type | Frames per sec | Frames in one burst *1 | Wait before |
| 2560 x 1920 RAW | - | - | - |
| 2560 x 1920 Super Fine (TIFF) | - | - | - |
| 2560 x 1920 Extra Fine | 2.2 fps | 7 | 9.6 secs |
| 2560 x 1920 Fine | 2.0 fps | 9 | 5.1 secs |
| 2560 x 1920 Standard | 2.0 fps | 16 | 4.0 secs |
| 1600 x 1200 Fine | 1.4 fps | 22 | 2.5 secs |
| 1280 x 960 Fine | 1.4 fps | 37 | 2.1 secs |
| 640 x 480 Fine | 1.4 fps | 136 | 1.3 secs |
High Speed Continuous drive mode
The DiMAGE 7Hi features a new high speed continuous mode, the main difference between this and the standard mode is that the monitor display is blank during shooting. In this mode the camera can shoot far more quickly, although we found it to be a little inconsistent and difficult to measure (as you can see from the figures below). You can shoot RAW or Super Fine (TIFF) in High Speed continuous drive mode. Once more, using a smaller image size introduces downsampling processing and reduces the frame rate to 1.4 frames per second. A summary of up to the last nine frames is shown in a thumbnail view at the end of the burst.
| Image Type | Frames per sec | Frames in one burst *1 | Wait before |
| 2560 x 1920 RAW | 2.8 fps | 6 | 21.0 secs |
| 2560 x 1920 Super Fine (TIFF) | 2.8 fps | 3 | 29.3 secs |
| 2560 x 1920 Extra Fine | 4.3 fps | 4 | 14.6 secs |
| 2560 x 1920 Fine | 5.2 fps | 9 | 6.3 secs |
| 2560 x 1920 Standard | 3.3 fps | 7 | 5.2 secs |
| 1600 x 1200 Fine | 1.4 fps | 19 | 1.5 secs |
| 1280 x 960 Fine | 1.4 fps | 39 | 1.8 secs |
| 640 x 480 Fine | 1.4 fps | - | - |
UHS Continuous drive mode
UHS Continuous drive mode appears to use the CCD's ability to capture images using an 'electronic shutter'. That is you do not hear the mechanical shutter opening and closing during the burst of shots. After capturing a burst of shots the LCD screen goes blank while images are stored. UHS mode does capture very quickly and also provides the ability to turn the captured sequence into a movie file instead of separate JPEG images.
| Image Type | Frames per sec | Frames in one burst *1 | Wait before |
| 1280 x 960 Extra Fine | 7.3 fps | 57 | 100 sec |
| 1280 x 960 Fine | 7.2 fps | 106 | 92 sec |
| 1280 x 960 Standard | 7.2 fps | 140 | 94 sec |
| *1 | In a single "burst" (finger held down on shutter release), exact number of frames may vary depending on size of JPEG file (detail in the image). |
| *2 | You can take a frame as soon as there is space in the cameras internal buffer (writing continues "in the background"). |
The DiMAGE 7Hi's Ultra High Speed Continuous drive mode is amazing, over 100 frames at 1280 x 960 Fine JPEG quality shot at 7 frames per second. This ability alone makes this camera perfect for amateur sports photography.
File Flush Timing
Timings shown below are the time taken for the camera to process and "flush" the image out to the Compact Flash card, the timer was started as soon as the shutter release was pressed (shutter click was heard) and stopped when activity indicator LED beside the storage compartment went out. This means the timings also include the cameras processing time and as such are more representative of the actual time to "complete the task".
The media used for these tests were:
- 512 MB SanDisk Ultra Type I Compact Flash card
- 512 MB SimpleTech Type II Compact Flash card
- 1 GB IBM Microdrive Type II Compact Flash card
| Image Type | Time
to store *1 (seconds) |
|||
| SanDisk CF | SimpleTech CF | Microdrive | ||
| 2560 x 1920 | S.Fine TIFF | 35.7 | 36.3 | 18.9 |
| 2560 x 1920 | RAW | 25.4 | 25.5 | 14.9 |
| 2560 x 1920 | Extra Fine | 11.9 | 11.4 | 8.3 |
| 2560 x 1920 | Fine | 9.6 | 8.9 | 7.5 |
| 2560 x 1920 | Standard | 6.5 | 5.9 | 6.5 |
| 1600 x 1200 | Fine | 5.9 | 5.6 | 6.5 |
| 1280 x 960 | Fine | 5.2 | 4.8 | 6.4 |
| 640 x 480 | Fine | 3.9 | 3.9 | 6.3 |
| *1 | This is the amount of time it takes to write a single image away, it is taken from the moment of shutter release to the activity indicator LED beside the storage compartment going out. RAW and TIFF modes both blank the LCD/EVF during this time and no more shots can be taken until this time has elapsed. |
Surprisingly the Microdrive pulls out a significant lead over the two solid-state storage cards, we've known from experience that the Microdrive performs better on most cameras with larger files but the proof here is impressive, 70-80% faster than the solid-state cards when writing TIFF or RAW files.
File Sizes
Here's a comparison of the average byte size of each of different image size / quality combinations.
| Image Size | Quality | Image format | File
size (~ = approx.) |
Number
on a 1 GB Microdrive |
| 2560 x 1920 | S. FINE | TIFF | 14,479 KB | 72 |
| 2560 x 1920 | RAW | MRW | 9,746 KB | 107 |
| 2560 x 1920 | Extra Fine | JPEG | ~3,500 KB | 212 |
| 2560 x 1920 | Fine | JPEG | ~2,600 KB | 415 |
| 2560 x 1920 | Standard | JPEG | ~1,300 KB | 697 |
| 1600 x 1200 | Fine | JPEG | ~1,100 KB | 964 |
| 1280 x 960 | Fine | JPEG | ~700 KB | >999 |
| 640 x 480 | Fine | JPEG | ~300 KB | >999 |
| * | All file sizes are an average of three files. As is the case with JPEG it's difficult to predict the size of an image because it will vary a fair amount depending on the content of the image (especially the amount of detail captured). For example, take a photograph of a fairly empty wall and you'll get a small JPEG, take a photograph of a bush with a lot of detail and you'll get a larger image. File sizes here are closer to the later, the larger size of file you should expect. |
Battery life
We ran the camera through our new battery life test. This test is designed to be fair and comparative to each camera and battery type:
- Take 4 shots without flash
- Wait 2 minutes (50% of the time powering the camera off)
- Take 1 shot with flash
- Wait 1 minute
- Repeat
All batteries had been fully discharged and recharged before the test and all cameras were reset to their factory default settings. Here are the results:
| Camera Prosumer / SLR-Like |
Battery | Power | Battery life | Number of shots |
| Minolta DiMAGE 7 | 4 x AA NiMH 1600 mAh (GP) | 7.7 Wh | 1 hr 14 mins | 125 |
| Minolta DiMAGE 5 | 4 x AA NiMH 1600 mAh (GP) | 7.7 Wh | 1 hr 56 mins | 195 |
| Nikon Coolpix 5700 | EN-EL1 | 4.8 Wh | 2 hr 08 mins | 215 |
| Canon PowerShot S40 | NB-2L | 3.9 Wh | 2 hr 13 mins | 225 |
| Minolta DiMAGE S304 | 4 x AA NiMH 1600 mAh (GP) | 7.7 Wh | 2 hr 18 mins | 235 |
| Canon PowerShot S45 | NB-2L | 3.9 Wh | 2 hr 28 mins | 240 |
| Nikon Coolpix 4500 | EN-EL1 | 4.8 Wh | 2 hr 27 mins | 250 |
| Fujifilm FinePix 6900Z | NP-80 | 4.1 Wh | 2 hr 29 mins | 250 |
| Nikon Coolpix 990 | 4 x AA NiMH 1600 mAh (GP) | 7.7 Wh | 2 hr 30 mins | 255 |
| Nikon Coolpix 995 | EN-EL1 | 4.8 Wh | 2 hr 30 mins | 255 |
| Nikon Coolpix 5000 | EN-EL1 | 4.8 Wh | 2 hr 32 mins | 260 |
| Minolta DiMAGE 7Hi | 4 x AA NiMH 1600 mAh (GP) | 7.7 Wh | 2 hr 33 mins | 260 |
| Canon PowerShot Pro1 | BP-511A | 10.2 Wh | 2 hr 36 mins | 265 |
| Canon PowerShot S50 | NB-2L | 3.9 Wh | 2 hr 39 mins | 270 |
| Minolta DiMAGE S404 | 4 x AA NiMH 1600 mAh (GP) | 7.7 Wh | 2 hr 39 mins | 270 |
| Sony DSC-V1 | NP-FC11 | 2.8 Wh | 2 hr 39 mins | 270 |
| Olympus C-7000 Zoom | LI-12B | 4.5 Wh | 2 hr 44 mins | 280 |
| Nikon Coolpix 8700 | EN-EL1 | 5.0 Wh | 2 hr 45 mins | 280 |
| Minolta DiMAGE 7i | 4 x AA NiMH 1600 mAh (GP) | 7.7 Wh | 2 hr 46 mins | 270 |
| Olympus E-20 | 4 x AA NiMH 1600 mAh (GP) | 7.7 Wh | 2 hr 48 mins | 285 |
| Canon PowerShot G1 | BP-511 | 8.1 Wh | 3 hr 00 mins | 300 |
| Nikon Coolpix 5400 | EN-EL1 | 4.8 Wh | 3 hr 06 mins | 315 |
| HP Photosmart 850 | 4 x AA NiMH 1600 mAh (GP) | 7.7 Wh | 3 hr 12 mins | 325 |
| Sony DSC-S75 | NP-FM50 | 8.6 Wh | 3 hr 15 mins | 330 |
| Nikon Coolpix 8800 | EN-EL7 | 8.1 Wh | 3 hr 27 mins | 350 |
| Fujifilm FinePix S602Z | 4 x AA NiMH 1600 mAh (GP) | 7.7 Wh | 3 hr 29 mins | 350 |
| Canon PowerShot G2 | BP-511 | 8.1 Wh | 3 hr 32 mins | 355 |
| Casio QV-4000 | 4 x AA NiMH 1600 mAh (GP) | 7.7 Wh | 3 hr 38 mins | 365 |
| Olympus C-5050 Zoom | 4 x AA NiMH 1600 mAh (GP) | 7.7 Wh | 3 hr 48 mins | 380 |
| Casio EXILIM EX-P700 | NP-40 | 4.5 Wh | 3 hr 48 mins | 385 |
| Sony DSC-S85 | NP-FM50 | 8.6 Wh | 3 hr 50 mins | 400 |
| Sony DSC-F717 | NP-FM50 | 8.6 Wh | 4 hr 02 mins | 405 |
| Pentax Optio 750Z | D-LI7 | 6.6 Wh | 4 hr 03 mins | 415 |
| Sony DSC-V3 | NP-FR1 | 4.4 Wh | 4 hr 05 mins | 415 |
| Nikon Coolpix 8400 | EN-EL7 | 8.1 Wh | 4 hr 09 mins | 420 |
| Sony DSC-F707 | NP-FM50 | 8.6 Wh | 4 hr 20 mins | 440 |
| Fujifilm S7000 Zoom | 4 x AA NiMH 1600 mAh (GP) | 7.7 Wh | 4 hr 23 mins | 445 |
| Konica Minolta DiMAGE A2 | NP-400 | 11.1 Wh | 4 hr 26 mins | 450 |
| Canon PowerShot G3 | BP-511 | 8.1 Wh | 4 hr 32 mins | 455 |
| Canon PowerShot G5 | BP-511 | 8.1 Wh | 4 hr 33 mins | 460 |
| Pentax Optio 550 | D-LI7 | 6.6 Wh | 4 hr 36 mins | 465 |
| Minolta DiMAGE A1 | NP-400 | 11.1 Wh | 5 hr 02 mins | 515 |
| Leica Digilux 2 | BP-DC1-E | 10.1 Wh | 5 hr 05 mins | 515 |
| Sony DSC-F828 | NP-FM50 | 8.6 Wh | 5 hr 28 mins | 540 |
| Fujifilm FinePix S5000 | 4 x AA NiMH 1600 mAh (GP) | 7.7 Wh | 5 hr 31 mins | 555 |
| Canon PowerShot G6 | BP-511A | 10.3 Wh | 5 hr 38 mins | 570 |
| Olympus C-8080 WZ | BLM-1 | 10.8 Wh | 5 hr 52 mins | 595 |
| Other test notes: | ||||
| • LCD monitor is left on during
the battery test • The camera is powered off half of the time and left on half of the time (switch every 10 iterations) • There are now higher capacity AA NiMH batteries available, however in the interests of fair comparison we will continue to use our 1600 mAh test set |
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Unsurprisingly the DiMAGE 7Hi records a battery life very similar to the DiMAGE 7i, within thirteen minutes of that camera. Battery life is relatively good for a camera which uses AA NiMH batteries.
