Delay with shutter release of the 7HI

Hi folks,
I need your help:

It's a pleasure to shoot with my new 7Hi and I'm trying to check all the features the camera offers. While focussing in dark light conditions there is a delay of sometimes more than half a second between pushing the realease button and the moment the focus starts working. Sometimes I thought that there is lack of contact but keeping my finger on the trigger it eventually started focussing. Switching to a bright area increases dramaticaly the reaction time up to the tested normal parameters described in several reviews.

Did anybody else experience the same and what do you think could be the reason for that?

Hey, thank's a lot for answering and have a good day out there!

Robo said:

Hi folks,
I need your help:

It's a pleasure to shoot with my new 7Hi and I'm trying to check
all the features the camera offers. While focussing in dark light
conditions there is a delay of sometimes more than half a second
between pushing the realease button and the moment the focus starts
working. Sometimes I thought that there is lack of contact but
keeping my finger on the trigger it eventually started focussing.
Switching to a bright area increases dramaticaly the reaction time
up to the tested normal parameters described in several reviews.

Did anybody else experience the same and what do you think could be
the reason for that?

Hey, thank's a lot for answering and have a good day out there!

Click to expand...

Since no-one else has taken a swing at it I will.

Haven't really tried it with my D7 but I'm guessing that it's just thinking time for the camera under these conditions.
Anyway, this will bump your question!
Regards,
--
DaveMart

In really dark situations, the focus can take half a second to lock - is that what you meant? There is no delay between the time you half depress the shutter and the camera starts to focus(as you stated) - it begins to focus immediately. And there is no discernable shutter delay when you then give it the full press and take the shot.
--
Steven Lyons
http://stevenlyons.com

There is a very noticeable additonal delay if you use an external flash.

Steven Lyons said:

And there is no
discernable shutter delay when you then give it the full press and
take the shot.

Click to expand...

Steven Lyons said:

In really dark situations, the focus can take half a second to lock

• is that what you meant? There is no delay between the time you

half depress the shutter and the camera starts to focus(as you
stated) - it begins to focus immediately. And there is no
discernable shutter delay when you then give it the full press and
take the shot.
--
Steven Lyons
http://stevenlyons.com

Click to expand...

Steven,

what I mean is, that between the moment I start with depressing the shutter and the time I can hear the camera beginning to work, there is a break of sometimes more than 0.5 sec. After I hear a discernible focus, it needs a bit more time than in daylight conditions to show up the red signal.

Regards,
Bogdan

Hmm...that doesn't sound right. So, if you are in a really quiet environment, you half depress the shutter -and right then- it actually takes moment before you hear the focusing mechanism start to work (not the focus lock beep, but the little buzz sound of the focus motor)? Playing with my 7HI right now in my dimly lit studio, I would say that the focus motor starts doing its thing instantly. Play with your settings and see if it changes. I have mine set to ISO100, FINE Quality, Drive: Single Shot, P mode, EVF Auto, Sharpening Normal, Contrast -2. If not, I'd send it back.

Robo said:

Steven Lyons said:

In really dark situations, the focus can take half a second to lock

• is that what you meant? There is no delay between the time you

half depress the shutter and the camera starts to focus(as you
stated) - it begins to focus immediately. And there is no
discernable shutter delay when you then give it the full press and
take the shot.
--
Steven Lyons
http://stevenlyons.com

Click to expand...

Steven,

what I mean is, that between the moment I start with depressing the
shutter and the time I can hear the camera beginning to work, there
is a break of sometimes more than 0.5 sec. After I hear a
discernible focus, it needs a bit more time than in daylight
conditions to show up the red signal.

Regards,
Bogdan

Click to expand...

--
Steven Lyons
http://stevenlyons.com

Steven Lyons said:

Robo said:

Steven Lyons said:

In really dark situations, the focus can take half a second to lock

• is that what you meant? There is no delay between the time you

half depress the shutter and the camera starts to focus(as you
stated) - it begins to focus immediately. And there is no
discernable shutter delay when you then give it the full press and
take the shot.
--
Steven Lyons
http://stevenlyons.com

Click to expand...

Steven,

what I mean is, that between the moment I start with depressing the
shutter and the time I can hear the camera beginning to work, there
is a break of sometimes more than 0.5 sec. After I hear a
discernible focus, it needs a bit more time than in daylight
conditions to show up the red signal.

Regards,
Bogdan

Click to expand...

--
Steven Lyons
http://stevenlyons.com

Click to expand...

Thank's Steven, I'll check it with your settings.

Dear Robo,

This is on a completely different subject, but I did not know how else to contact you.

I see you rubbished the Sony 717 on the Camera Opinions page, dragging down its average ratings really dramatically, but without saying why, which seems a bit unfair.

Would you be willing to explain what your complaints are? I am seriously considering buying one, and if you have strong and valid criticisms it would be helpful to know so I can decide how much I shall be influenced by them.
Rosie

The Camera opinions page ratings is meaningless. (in my opinion!) As long as people that do not have the camera, and apparently aren't even registered any more on dpreview are allowed to post their "ratings" the overall score does not mean a thing. Especially with such a small sample. Look at the ratings for the D7hi for example, there are several low ratings by people that didn't even bother to post any text or only minimal text and aren't on the system any more. With less than 20 ratings for both the 717 and D7Hi, you don't have to be all that good in math to figure out that if you go into either cameras "opinions" page and post a low rating you can move the rating down by about a quarter point with just your one posting. I'd just look at the more thoughtful individual comments and weigh those, instead of looking at the overall rating which apparently includes "spite" or "retaliatory" entries.
Bryan

rosie b said:

Dear Robo,
This is on a completely different subject, but I did not know how
else to contact you.
I see you rubbished the Sony 717 on the Camera Opinions page,
dragging down its average ratings really dramatically, but without
saying why, which seems a bit unfair.
Would you be willing to explain what your complaints are? I am
seriously considering buying one, and if you have strong and valid
criticisms it would be helpful to know so I can decide how much I
shall be influenced by them.
Rosie

Click to expand...

rosie b said:

Dear Robo,
This is on a completely different subject, but I did not know how
else to contact you.
I see you rubbished the Sony 717 on the Camera Opinions page,
dragging down its average ratings really dramatically, but without
saying why, which seems a bit unfair.
Would you be willing to explain what your complaints are? I am
seriously considering buying one, and if you have strong and valid
criticisms it would be helpful to know so I can decide how much I
shall be influenced by them.
Rosie

Click to expand...

Hi Rosie,

If you like the Sony 717, then buy one. I don't think that you can make a too big mistake. If you will read all the recently published reviews and stroll around through the consumer forums you will see that the 717 cannot be that bad as my rating is suggesting and seems to be one of the best rated 5 MP prosumer cameras. However, as far it concerns my personal expectations, I don't like the concept Sony has gone for. The speed, buffer, big memory storage capacity(CF or Microdrive), wide angle, manual zoom, SLR like feeling, exceptional flash possibilities with external flashes and so many features you can adjust are the assets of the Dimage 7Hi. For me this is much more worth than a little bit more resolution or a little bit less noise. As I told you, just a personal impression. You'll probably have to decide between the Nikon 5700, Sony 717 and Dimage 7Hi and whatever you will choose, there will allways be some features of the competing cameras which are better than yours.

So, mix your emotions with your technical knowledge, buy your personal favourite and enjoy!

Bogdan

Well, I know exactly what you mean, Robo.

I have a D7 from ages ago. Mine behaves the same. It seems intermittent. Some days no prob, other days it won't play ball (even then it's intermittent).

I wonder if it has to do with the confusion the camera sometimes has over exposure, e.g. in P mode the exposure (shutter/aperture) flickers up and down.

Sometimes after not having taken a photo (i.e. not a buffer-full situation) the camera won't take a picture even when I fully depress the shutter release. In this case it doesn't matter if I first half-depress the shutter and then fully do so, or if I fully depress in one movement.

These problems I just take as "confused software" in lowlight conditions.

You might like to try your camera out in a store against a demonstration D7i or D7Hi to see if your camera is worse than normal. You don't indicate if you consistently have this problem from day to day or in what kind of lighting conditions it's a problem. For me, a 0.5s/f2.8 type exposure can be problematic one day, another day it might be 4s/f2.8 and most of the time neither is a problem.

Overall I rarely have this problem. If it keeps bugging you and another camera doesn't have the problem in the same conditions, then I'd get the camera changed.

Jawed

I tried a 7i last weekend. In the store it was truly horrible, after using my wifes Elan 7, the 7i seemed to take forever to focus.

I'm afraid that right there convinced me not to buy a Dimage7 of any flavor.

I was really set on it after reading the forums and reviews. I hope it just that one sample, and perhaps when the store gets a 7hi in stock, I'll try it and it will be better.

Robo said:

Hi folks,
I need your help:

It's a pleasure to shoot with my new 7Hi and I'm trying to check
all the features the camera offers. While focussing in dark light
conditions there is a delay of sometimes more than half a second
between pushing the realease button and the moment the focus starts
working. Sometimes I thought that there is lack of contact but
keeping my finger on the trigger it eventually started focussing.
Switching to a bright area increases dramaticaly the reaction time
up to the tested normal parameters described in several reviews.

Did anybody else experience the same and what do you think could be
the reason for that?

Hey, thank's a lot for answering and have a good day out there!

Click to expand...

Jculp said:

I tried a 7i last weekend. In the store it was truly horrible,
after using my wifes Elan 7, the 7i seemed to take forever to focus.

I'm afraid that right there convinced me not to buy a Dimage7 of
any flavor.
I was really set on it after reading the forums and reviews. I hope
it just that one sample, and perhaps when the store gets a 7hi in
stock, I'll try it and it will be better.

Click to expand...

Forgive my ignorance, but I believe the Elan is a film SLR camera.

If so and you are comparing the focus speeds to any digital cameara short of a £5000 professional, you are in for a severe disappointment. None of them remotely compare, I understand that this is due to radically different technologies employed.

The 7Hi is about as fast as it gets, and the 7i is pretty fast compared to most with this range of focal lengths.
Regards,
--
DaveMart

I realize that, I was just expecting much more (unreasonably so it seems)from the Dimage. I have an Oly 2100 and I expected the Dimage to be noticably faster than the Oly, and it wasnt. I'm not sure it is even as fast as the Oly.

The Oly was our first camera, other than an P&S pocket film camera. So the Elan 7 was a shock when we saw how responsive it is. It is also shock when get film deveoped.

The wife wanted film, I want a new digi. After using her Elan, it looks like I wont be happy unless it is a DSLR, and ouch on the price.

David Martin said:

Jculp said:

I tried a 7i last weekend. In the store it was truly horrible,
after using my wifes Elan 7, the 7i seemed to take forever to focus.

I'm afraid that right there convinced me not to buy a Dimage7 of
any flavor.
I was really set on it after reading the forums and reviews. I hope
it just that one sample, and perhaps when the store gets a 7hi in
stock, I'll try it and it will be better.

Click to expand...

Forgive my ignorance, but I believe the Elan is a film SLR camera.
If so and you are comparing the focus speeds to any digital cameara
short of a £5000 professional, you are in for a severe
disappointment. None of them remotely compare, I understand that
this is due to radically different technologies employed.
The 7Hi is about as fast as it gets, and the 7i is pretty fast
compared to most with this range of focal lengths.
Regards,
--
DaveMart

Click to expand...

While I consider the 7Hi to be a fast digital camera - its poky when compared to a mid-range consumer film SLR. All the consumer digitals suffer from this issue - they are processing too much information at once. Even users of the D30/60 cameras complain about slow AF - and those cameras cost $$$.

Jculp said:

The Oly was our first camera, other than an P&S pocket film camera.
So the Elan 7 was a shock when we saw how responsive it is. It is
also shock when get film deveoped.

The wife wanted film, I want a new digi. After using her Elan, it
looks like I wont be happy unless it is a DSLR, and ouch on the
price.

David Martin said:

Jculp said:

I tried a 7i last weekend. In the store it was truly horrible,
after using my wifes Elan 7, the 7i seemed to take forever to focus.

I'm afraid that right there convinced me not to buy a Dimage7 of
any flavor.
I was really set on it after reading the forums and reviews. I hope
it just that one sample, and perhaps when the store gets a 7hi in
stock, I'll try it and it will be better.

Click to expand...

Forgive my ignorance, but I believe the Elan is a film SLR camera.
If so and you are comparing the focus speeds to any digital cameara
short of a £5000 professional, you are in for a severe
disappointment. None of them remotely compare, I understand that
this is due to radically different technologies employed.
The 7Hi is about as fast as it gets, and the 7i is pretty fast
compared to most with this range of focal lengths.
Regards,
--
DaveMart

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

It gets worse than that. As Steve said in the next post, the D30 and D60's of this world aren't too hot in the speed-focussing department either. In fact, I have heard, how accurately I couldn't say, that the 7Hi outperforms them in this respect.

You aren't going to solve the problem without spending some serious, serious money.

On the other hand, for everything except sports, with a little judicious use of pre-focussing, you'll get your shot in fine. After all, until comparitively recently, thjey didn't even have AF in cameras.
Commiserations,
--
DaveMart

David Martin said:

Jculp said:

The Oly was our first camera, other than an P&S pocket film camera.
So the Elan 7 was a shock when we saw how responsive it is. It is
also shock when get film deveoped.

The wife wanted film, I want a new digi. After using her Elan, it
looks like I wont be happy unless it is a DSLR, and ouch on the
price.

David Martin said:

Jculp said:

I tried a 7i last weekend. In the store it was truly horrible,
after using my wifes Elan 7, the 7i seemed to take forever to focus.

I'm afraid that right there convinced me not to buy a Dimage7 of
any flavor.
I was really set on it after reading the forums and reviews. I hope
it just that one sample, and perhaps when the store gets a 7hi in
stock, I'll try it and it will be better.

Click to expand...

Forgive my ignorance, but I believe the Elan is a film SLR camera.
If so and you are comparing the focus speeds to any digital cameara
short of a £5000 professional, you are in for a severe
disappointment. None of them remotely compare, I understand that
this is due to radically different technologies employed.
The 7Hi is about as fast as it gets, and the 7i is pretty fast
compared to most with this range of focal lengths.
Regards,
--
DaveMart

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

It gets worse than that. As Steve said in the next post, the D30
and D60's of this world aren't too hot in the speed-focussing
department either. In fact, I have heard, how accurately I couldn't
say, that the 7Hi outperforms them in this respect.
You aren't going to solve the problem without spending some
serious, serious money.
On the other hand, for everything except sports, with a little
judicious use of pre-focussing, you'll get your shot in fine. After
all, until comparitively recently, thjey didn't even have AF in
cameras.
Commiserations,
--
DaveMart

Click to expand...

With my very limited experience with a D60 that a friend has, in a low light setting it focused far faster than either my Oly or the Dimage. OTOH it had a good lens, 50mm F1.8 on it. I'll see if I can get another chance to try the Af speed on it again. But heck, it is more than twice the cost, without a lens.