Timings & File Sizes
All in all the C-40Z is fairly quick. It's weakness is in the 6 second startup time and potentially the write speed of SmartMedia (although the camera does have a fairly sizeable internal buffer). Focus, LAG and shot to shot times are all very respectable and in line with other compact four megapixel digital cameras. The internal buffer is sizeable enough to allow you to shoot continuously at 1.2 fps for 19 two megapixel (1600 x 1200) images, not bad at all.
Timing Notes: All times calculated as an average of three operations. Unless otherwise stated all timings were made on a 2288 x 1712 SHQ JPEG image (approx. 2.4 MB per image). Timings taken using a 128 MB TwinMOS SmartMedia card.
Power on tests were carried out with the lens cover 'almost fully open', there's a notch at the end of the covers travel, past this notch the camera powers up. Play power on test was carried out with the lens cover closed by simply pressing the display button.
| Action | Details | Time, seconds |
| Power: Off to Record | Lens extension | 5.8 |
|
Power: Off to Play *1 |
Image displayed | 3.2 |
| Power: Record to Off | Lens extended | 3.4 |
| Power: Play to Off *1 | Lens retracted | 3.4 |
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| Mode: Record to Play | Image displayed | 1.4 |
| Mode: Play to Record | Lens extended | 1.1 |
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| Play: Magnify | Each zoom level | 0.5 |
| Rec: Thumbnail view | 9 images | 1.0 |
| Action | Details | Time, seconds |
| Zoom from Wide to Tele | Full zoom from 35 mm to 98 mm (2.8 x) | 2.7 |
| Auto Focus LAG | Wide angle (35 mm) | ~0.9 |
| Auto Focus LAG | Telephoto (98 mm) | ~1.2 |
| Shutter Release LAG | Using viewfinder | <0.1 |
| Shutter Release LAG | Using LCD monitor | <0.1 |
| Total LAG | *3 | 0.9 - 1.3 |
| Off to Shot Taken | 6.2 | |
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| Shot to Shot | Zoom at wide angle, record review enabled | 2.6 |
| Shot to Shot | Zoom at wide angle, record review disabled | 2.3 |
| *1 | You need to 'hold' the PLAY lever in its right most position for at least 1.3 seconds for the camera to recognize that as a change of power state (on or off), this is to avoid accidental knocks of the lever. The timings shown for this measurement are EXCLUDING this 1.3 seconds. |
| *2 | AF was approximately 0.5 seconds slower at full telephoto and about 0.3 seconds faster at full wide angle. |
| *3 | Depending on focus |
Auto Focus LAG is (roughly) 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.
Shutter Release LAG is 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.
Total LAG is 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. Timings taken using a 128 MB TwinMOS SmartMedia card.
| Mode | Image Type | Frames per sec | Max no. of frames *1 |
Wait before |
| Continuous | 2288 x 1712 SHQ | 1.4 fps | 3 | 11.0 sec |
| Continuous | 2272 x 1704 HQ | 1.1 fps | 9 | 6.5 sec |
| Continuous | 1600 x 1200 SQ1 Normal | 1.2 fps | 19 | 5.2 sec |
| Continuous | 1024 x 768 SQ2 Normal | 1.2 fps | 53 | 4.4 sec |
| Continuous | 640 x 480 SQ2 Normal | 1.2 fps | 155 | 3.6 sec |
| *1 | In a single "burst" (finger held down on shutter release) |
| *2 | You can take a frame as soon as there is space in the cameras internal buffer (writing continues "in the background"). |
A good performance for a 'pocket camera', the C-40Z's buffer is capable of holding three SHQ images (approx. 2.4 MB each), reducing the image size and quality a little and you can happily fire off 53 frames at XGA resolution. Switching to continuous AF mode (where the camera re-focuses between each shot) reduces shooting speed to approximately 0.7 fps.
File Write / Display and Sizes
Timings shown below are the time taken for the camera to process and "flush" the image out to the SmartMedia card, the timer was started as soon as the shutter shutter click was heard and stopped when activity indicator LED beside the SmartMedia compartment door went out. This means the timings also include the cameras processing time (approx 0.5 sec) and as such are more representative of the actual time to "complete the task". Timings taken using a 128 MB TwinMOS SmartMedia card.
| Image Type | Time
to store (seconds) |
Time
to display (seconds) |
File
size *1 (approx.) |
No. on supplied 16 MB CF Card |
| 2288 x 1712 SHQ | 6.1 | 1.4 | 2,300 KB | 5 |
| 2272 x 1704 HQ | 3.7 | 0.9 | 950 KB | 16 |
| 1600 x 1200 SQ1 High | 3.9 | 0.9 | 1,080 KB | 11 |
| 1024 x 768 SQ2 Normal | 2.4 | 0.5 | 190 KB | 76 |
| 640 x 480 SQ2 Normal | 1.7 | 0.5 | 70 KB | 165 |
| *1 | 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. |
Subtractin the processing and preparation time (approx. 0.5 seconds) from the above timings we can calculate that the C-40Z has a write speed (with this particular SmartMedia card) of approximately 380 KB/sec.
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
Batteries are fully discharged and recharged before the test and all cameras were reset to their factory default settings. Here are the results:
| Camera Compact / Ultra compact |
Battery | Power | Battery life | Number of shots |
| Kyocera S3 | BP-800S | 2.1 Wh | 54 mins | 95 |
| Canon PowerShot S300 | NB-1L | 2.5 Wh | 1 hr 26 mins | 155 |
| Pentax Optio 430 | D-LI2 | 3.3 Wh | 1 hr 33 mins | 160 |
| Olympus C-40Z | 2 x AA NiMH 1600 mAh (GP) | 3.6 Wh | 1 hr 33 mins | 165 |
| Nikon Coolpix 3100 | 2 x AA NiMH 1600 mAh (GP) | 3.6 Wh | 1 hr 42 mins | 175 |
| Minolta DiMAGE F100 | 2 x AA NiMH 1600 mAh (GP) | 3.3 Wh | 1 hr 42 mins | 175 |
| Minolta DiMAGE X | NP-200 | 2.8 Wh | 1 hr 45 mins | 180 |
| Pentax Optio 330 | D-LI2 | 3.3 Wh | 1 hr 48 mins | 185 |
| Canon PowerShot S330 | NB-1LH | 2.5 Wh | 1 hr 48 mins | 185 |
| Sony DSC-P71 | 2 x AA NiMH 1600 mAh (GP) | 3.6 Wh | 1 hr 50 mins | 185 |
| Kodak DX4900 | 2 x AA NiMH 1600 mAh (GP) | 3.5 Wh | 1 hr 51 mins | 190 |
| Sony DSC-P5 | NP-FC10 | 2.4 Wh | 1 hr 51 mins | 190 |
| Nikon Coolpix 3500 | EN-EL2 | 4.1 Wh | 1 hr 54 mins | 195 |
| Sony DSC-P9 | NP-FC10 | 2.4 Wh | 1 hr 59 mins | 200 |
| Nikon Coolpix SQ | EN-EL2 | 3.7 Wh | 2 hr 03 mins | 210 |
| Minolta DiMAGE Xt | NP-200 | 2.8 Wh | 2 hr 12 mins | 225 |
| Canon PowerShot S400 | NP-1LH | 2.5 Wh | 2 hr 17 mins | 230 |
| HP Photosmart 812 | 2 x AA NiMH 1600 mAh (GP) | 3.6 Wh | 2 hr 21 mins | 240 |
| Nikon Coolpix 885 | EN-EL1 | 4.8 Wh | 2 hr 21 mins | 240 |
| Nikon Coolpix 775 | EN-EL1 | 4.8 Wh | 2 hr 27 mins | 250 |
| Canon PowerShot SD100 | NB-3L | 2.9 Wh | 2 hr 29 mins | 250 |
| Pentax Optio S | D-LI8 | 2.6 Wh | 2 hr 33 mins | 260 |
| Nikon Coolpix 2500 | EN-EL2 | 4.1 Wh | 2 hr 33 mins | 260 |
| Fujifilm FinePix F601Z | NP-60 | 3.7 Wh | 2 hr 47 mins | 275 |
| Casio EXILIM EX-Z3 | NP-20 | 2.5 Wh | 2 hr 48 mins | 285 |
| Casio EXILIM EX-S3 | NP-20 | 2.5 Wh | 2 hr 48 mins | 285 |
| Olympus C-50Z | LI-10B | 4.0 Wh | 2 hr 54 mins | 295 |
| HP Photosmart 935 | 2 x AA NiMH 1600 mAh (GP) | 3.6 Wh | 3 hr 09 mins | 320 |
| Canon PowerShot A70 | 4 x AA NiMH 1600 mAh (GP) | 7.7 Wh | 5 hr 08 mins | 515 |
| 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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The C-40Z lasted approximately as long as Canon's IXUS 300. Considering the additional power available from the two GP NiMH's I'd have expected it to last longer. So, an average performance, the only saving grace would be that AA's are readily available and most rechargeables come in four packs, so you'll almost always have a spare set.
