G7 Significant Shutter Lag

I just bought a G7, and I'm really surprised at the amount of shutter lag that it has when using the flash. It's like a camera from the last decade. On the other hand, my SD700 has almost instantaneous shutter responsiveness even with flash. What gives? I've seen other posts about this, but has anyone posted a solution? I find this unacceptable in a camera that is relatively expensive (but is great in other respects). The lag seems to be about a half second. The reviews I've read say that the G7 has minimal shutter lag. Haven't they tested it with flash?

Is Red-eye reduction on or off. If on, that could be a big delay.

Also I think the Canon ETTL flash metering sends out a preflash to determine the exposure. That could cause a delay. I don't think you can turn that off, however.

--mamallama

The shutter lag is bad with red eye reduction on or off.

If possible, go to a store and try another one, or exchange yours if you purchased it locally. I don't have any significant shutter lag on mine, and I come from a dslr, so I would notice it. I had this same problem with the 710IS I purchased before I purchased the G7. I sent it back as it felt like a 5 year old camera with the shutter lag, horribly slow write speed, noisy pictures and fuzzy lcd. I came to the conclusion from reading other posts that I had recieved a lemon. It actually turned out to be a good thing, I love my G7! I am tired of lugging around a heavy camera and lenses. I am having fun again!
Good luck!

Betsy

Eric Jacobs said:

I just bought a G7, and I'm really surprised at the amount of
shutter lag that it has when using the flash. It's like a camera
from the last decade.

Click to expand...

You gave the answer yourself.
What do you expect from a camera which is from the last decade?!?!
Outdated, catastrophic ergonomics.
And big time shutter lag.

--

• Mr Ralf -

birdwatcher said:

If possible, go to a store and try another one, or exchange yours
if you purchased it locally. I don't have any significant
shutter lag on mine, and I come from a dslr, so I would notice it.
I had this same problem with the 710IS I purchased before I
purchased the G7. I sent it back as it felt like a 5 year old
camera with the shutter lag, horribly slow write speed, noisy
pictures and fuzzy lcd. I came to the conclusion from reading
other posts that I had recieved a lemon. It actually turned out to
be a good thing, I love my G7! I am tired of lugging around a heavy
camera and lenses. I am having fun again!
Good luck!

Betsy

Click to expand...

Since my first post, I've done some more searching on the web. I've seen other comments about there being lag on the G7 while shooting with flash. The lag was estimated at a half second, which is what I'm seeing. Everything else works fine on the camera, so I'm beginning to think that this half second lag is typical of this camera. But to confirm it, I think your suggestion of trying out another in a store is a good one. Without flash, the camera is very responsive, but with flash, it's surprisingly slow, even if you first press the shutter button half way to achieve focus.

Do you mean that you are using flash for all the shots and the shutter lag is in the range of 0,5 seconds? I suppose that the flash on this camera works in the same way as on any other big flash also. The energy from the battery is "loaded" into the condensor, which then makes the burst in the flash tube. The loading process of the energy needs a certain time. In my eyes 0,5 seconds with flash is a very short time and with the present size and development stage of the components can not be made much shorter. Does anyone have other examples?

If you shoot with flash from a short distance, there will be some energy left in the condensor, and the next flash comes more quickly. But if you shoot in a big room, the condensor will be totally "empty" after the shot, and the reloading time will be longer.

I admit that this is a theory from an older photographer, and if someone has a newer explanation, I am only pleased to learn.

I have done some playing around since I also found the shutter lag with flash very long. If I turn of red eye reduction and go to manual mode (where the flash output is manually set [I think this can be done in the menu in other modes as well]). Then the shutter lag is much much shorter. I have not been able to test with moving targets but it sure seems ok too me

-- tobias

The G7 has a relatively long shutter button. It needs to be pressed half-way to set focus and exposure, then fully depressed to take the photo (along with flash). Perhaps the long shutter button gives the impression of a slow shutter lag when using flash.

The G7 has a lot of manual control options not found on point-and-shoot cameras. It acts a lot like a DSLR in that regard. It also uses Canon's DSLR flash exposure system - which uses a preflash prior to the final flash to determine exposure. The preflash system (which is not an anti-redeye system) does prolong the process of obtaining a flash exposure. This pre-flash for exposure is probably missing in the point-and-shoot cameras. This G7 feature allows it to use external flashheads for great exposure.

The pre-flash system can be bypassed by using the manual exposure mode - where the aperture and shutter speed are set manually. This speeds up the time of taking a flash exposure because there is no preflash.

I haven't tested the G7 yet with an external flashhead. Perhaps this is much faster in any exposure mode - just like a DSLR.

I find that the G7 HAS minimal shutter lag, even with the flash. It is the long flash exposure process with a preflash that gives the impression of shutter lag - but it is not shutter lag.

What I find slower when using flash is Canon's preflash system since it takes a longer time to do a flash exposure when two flashes rather than one is done. However, this is fine since it results in better flash exposures in the long run - particularly with external flashheads.

If you want better flash photos, definitely get an external flashhead, such as the 430EX. Better yet, get a light modifier such as Gary Fong's light sphere. With such a flash system, I think the G7 easily can take photos indistinguishable from DSLRs like the 30D.

Eric Jacobs said:

I just bought a G7, and I'm really surprised at the amount of
shutter lag that it has when using the flash. It's like a camera
from the last decade. On the other hand, my SD700 has almost
instantaneous shutter responsiveness even with flash. What gives?
I've seen other posts about this, but has anyone posted a solution?
I find this unacceptable in a camera that is relatively expensive
(but is great in other respects). The lag seems to be about a half
second. The reviews I've read say that the G7 has minimal shutter
lag. Haven't they tested it with flash?

Click to expand...

the lag is twice as long when a speedlight is attached, also there is no ettl on manual. sad

Is the lag twice as long using a speed light and manual (compared to manual with internal flash)? Or do you mean in auto? Well, ttl and manual are kind of counter parts, so you can't have both...

-- tobias

You are confusing time to recycle the flash with shutter lag: the time between depressing the shutter fully and the flash firing.

--mamallama

on most DSLRs when the camera is set to manual, where you choose both the aperture and shutter speed, E-TTL metering will make up the difference when underexposed.

On the G7, the flash is set to manual as well.

Ok, I was thinking of the manual flash setting in the Av/Tv modes. Could you almost get the same effect using the Av/Tv modes with exposure compensation and auto flash?

-- tobias

um, not sure I follow.

Your original assertion was correct, the shutter lag is much reduced when the the flash is set to manual as you state above, I was just clearing up the 'slight' confusion with the the 'camera' manual setting and the flash manual setting.

:O)

Sure, and thanks for that by the way , I just found it as a disadvantage for the G7 to be stuck in manual flash mode in the manual mode. Thus, I wonder if you can get the same results usng the Av/Tv mode with auto flash? Of course it is not the same but in most situations it is close enough, or?

-- tobias

if, by same results, you mean reduced shutter lag, then no, as in AV or TV the flash goes into TTL mode.

As it happens, I find the manual mode on the internal flash pretty much unuseable because of the way it works, plus that the fact that you have such a small amount of granularity to the flash controls (I think there are only three power outputs if memory serves me).

Of course, with an external EX flash mounted then you have far greater control on the amount of light output in manual mode.

I don't think there's any way around the TTL preflash without going into manual though, which makes sense really.

cheers, toffee

Lots of confusion here With same results I ment exposure results not shorter lag.

You can also go inte manual flash mode in Av and Tv modes which shortens the shutter lag there as well.

-- tobias

Mr Ralf said:

What do you expect from a camera which is from the last decade?!?!
Outdated, catastrophic ergonomics.

Click to expand...

I have used a G7 and have to say that I consider this to be total nonsense. My hands are probably slightly larger than the average (male) hands and I have no problem whatsoever holding the G7 and do not find it to be at all cramped. Moreover, the ergonomics are superb - by far the best of any compact digicam that I used previously, and in this respect it is certainly not a "camera which is from the last decade". The 'retro' design is good because it is a highly practical layout that has proven to work.

Earlier digital cameras had very poor design and ergonomics - it appeared that their designers ignored all the decades of experience gained from film cameras and decided to make digital cameras look different purely for marketing reasons - a case of form winning over function. Now that digital cameras have become established it seems that designers are becoming more pragmatic again (thank goodness) and designing usable compacts (and DSLRs), like the G7.

Terry.

I can't understand this critique either. The camera fits nicely in my hands and I have no problems shooting with only one hand. My right thumb sits in the middle of the buttonless area between the play and exposure lock button. This is simply nothing more than a great camera! :-D

-- tobias