Timings & File Sizes
The S40 is a nippy little operator, it doesn't keep you waiting, most operations are very quick. Indeed for major functions it's even faster than the G2, startup, switching between play / record modes are noticeably quicker. Other timings such as Auto Focus, Shutter Lag are identical to the G2.
Lens extension is faster and this makes a big difference to startup time (almost 2 seconds quicker). Another point which indicates that internal parts of the S40 are different to the G2 is its performance with the IBM Microdrive. The use of a Microdrive made less difference to startup and shutdown times but the S40's write times were longer (slower) than the G2 (although not by much).
Timing Notes: All times calculated as an average of three operations. Unless otherwise stated all timings were made on a 2272 x 1704 Super-Fine JPEG image (approx. 2.0 MB per image).
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 sliding the 'PLAY lever' to the right.
The media used for these tests were:
- 16 MB Canon Type I CompactFlash card (as supplied)
- 320 MB Lexar Pro 12x Type I CompactFlash card
- 1 GB IBM Microdrive Type II CompactFlash card
Legend | |
Quickest | |
Noticeably slower |
Action | Details | Time,
seconds (Canon CF) |
Time,
seconds (Lexar 12x CF) |
Time,
seconds (Microdrive) |
Power: Off to Record | Lens extension | 4.1 | 4.4 | 4.1 |
Power: Off to Play *1 |
Image displayed | 2.2 | 1.8 | 4.8 |
Power: Record to Off | Lens extended | 1.9 | 1.9 | 2.0 |
Power: Play to Off *1 | Lens retracted | <0.5 | <0.5 | ~0.7 |
![]() |
||||
Mode: Record to Play | Image displayed | 2.0 | 2.1 | 2.4 |
Mode: Play to Record | Lens extended | 1.7 | 1.6 | 1.6 |
![]() |
||||
Play: Magnify | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.8 | |
Rec: Thumbnail view | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.9 |
Action | Details | Time, seconds |
Zoom from Wide to Tele | Full zoom from 35 mm to 105 mm (3 x) | 2.0 |
Auto Focus LAG | Half zoom, Normal AF *3 | 0.9 - 1.0 |
Auto Focus LAG | Half zoom, Macro AF *3 | 1.1 - 3.0 |
Shutter Release LAG | Using viewfinder | <0.1 |
Shutter Release LAG | Using LCD monitor | 0.1 |
Total LAG | *3 | ~1.0 |
Off to Shot Taken | Using supplied 16 MB Canon CF card | 5.5 |
![]() |
||
Shot to Shot | Same for LCD in review or preview modes (AF) | 2.2 |
*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. I did on a few odd occasions experience slower AF at telephoto, up to a second slower. If the AF assist lamp comes on this can add approximately 0.5 seconds to focus times. |
*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 S40 features the same new 'High Speed' continuous shooting mode we saw on the G2 as well as normal continuous. The manual states normal continuous mode as 1.5 fps and high speed continuous as 2.8 fps. Our results show that this depends on the selected image size / quality.
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 320 MB Lexar Pro 12x Type I CompactFlash card.
Mode | Image Type | Frames per sec | Max no. of frames *1 |
Wait before |
Continuous | 2272 x 1704 Super-Fine | 1.2 fps | 6 | 4.3 sec |
Continuous | 2272 x 1704 Fine | 1.2 fps | 9 | 3.8 sec |
Continuous | 1024 x 768 Fine | 1.3 fps | 47 | 9.2 sec |
Continuous H | 2272 x 1704 Super-Fine | 2.9 fps | 4 | 2.7 sec |
Continuous H | 2272 x 1704 Fine | 2.8 fps | 5 | 1.6 sec |
Continuous H | 1024 x 768 Fine | 2.5 fps | 23 | 4.6 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"). |
It's clear that the reported 1.5 fps is a little optimistic, having said that the high speed continuous is closer to the reported figure. These results are also far less consistent than we got from the G2, I'm not sure why that is.
Continuous mode Flush Timing
The timings above represent the speed of the camera and its internal buffer, however the speed of the Compact Flash card will also have an impact on shooting continuously, it defines how long we must wait before the "burst" of frames are written away to the card (flushed). The flush process happens in the background, you can still take a shot as long as there is space in the internal buffer.
Image Type | No. images | Time,
seconds (Canon CF) |
Time,
seconds (Lexar 12x CF) |
Time,
seconds (Microdrive) |
2272 x 1704 Super-Fine | 6 | 25.0 | 13.9 | 14.5 |
2272 x 1704 Fine | 9 | 23.3 | 13.1 | 13.4 |
1024 x 768 Fine | 47 | 25.6 | 18.4 | 19.6 |
These results are interesting, although the Lexar and IBM Microdrive are both faster than the supplied CF card the difference is not as significant as we observed with the G2. This is probably down to a higher performance CF interface in the G2.
File Flush / Display 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 viewfinder stopped blinking. 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:
- 16 MB Canon Type I CompactFlash card (as supplied)
- 320 MB Lexar Pro 12x Type I CompactFlash card
- 1 GB IBM Microdrive Type II CompactFlash card
Image Type | Time
to store (seconds) |
Time
to display (seconds) |
||||||
Canon | Lexar | Microdrive | Canon | Lexar | Microdrive | |||
2272 x 1704 | RAW | 8.6 | 4.6 | 6.4 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.8 | |
2272 x 1704 | Super-Fine | 5.6 | 3.3 | 4.5 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 3.0 | |
2272 x 1704 | Fine | 3.3 | 2.5 | 3.6 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 2.4 | |
1024 x 768 | Fine | 1.5 | 1.5 | 3.2 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.5 |
Once more the difference between the different media types is noticeable but there's less of a difference than we measured on the G2. Overall the Microdrive still offers the best $/MB even considering its slightly slower performance.
File Sizes
Here's a comparison of the average byte size of each of different image size / quality combinations.
Image Type | Image format | File
size *1 (approx.) |
No. on supplied 16 MB CF Card | No. on 1 GB Microdrive | |
2272 x 1704 | RAW | CRW | 3,300 KB | 4 | 359 |
2272 x 1704 | Super-Fine | JPEG | 2,200 KB | 7 | 512 |
2272 x 1704 | Fine | JPEG | 1,400 KB | 13 | 910 |
1600 x 1200 | Fine | JPEG | 760 KB | 26 | 1726 |
1024 x 768 | Fine | JPEG | 280 KB | 47 | 2981 |
640 x 480 | Fine | JPEG | 120 KB | 96 | 5466 |
*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. |
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
This test routine was carried out on five different cameras simultaneously. 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 |
With just under half the battery power of the G2 the S40 managed to last a respectable two hours and thirteen minutes, what's also clear as the results in this table build is that Lithuim-Ion batteries last significantly longer than NiMH batteries of equivalent power.
Comments