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Shutter lag
Delay between triggering the shutter and when the photograph is actually recorded

In photography, shutter lag is the delay between triggering the shutter and when the photograph is actually recorded, which includes all lag between when the shutter button is pressed and when the photo is taken, including metering and focus lag. it can be mitigated to an extent by pre-focusing and readying for action.

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Film cameras

In film cameras, the delay is caused by the mechanism inside the camera that opens the shutter, exposing the film. Because the process is mechanical, however, and relatively brief, shutter lag in film cameras is often only noticeable (and of any concern) to professionals. SLRs have a slight additional lag due to the time it takes to move the mirror out of the way.2

Digital cameras

Shutter lag is much more of a problem with digital cameras, although higher cost models tend to have less lag.3

The comet-tail artifact that early CCD sensors suffered from was significantly reduced by the invention of the pinned photodiode (PPD).4 It was invented by Nobukazu Teranishi, Hiromitsu Shiraki and Yasuo Ishihara at NEC in 1980.56 The "pinned photodiode" is a photodetector structure used in almost all charge-coupled device (CCD) and CMOS image sensors (CIS) due to its low noise, high quantum efficiency and low dark current.7 In 1987, the PPD began to be incorporated into most CCD devices, becoming a fixture in consumer electronic video cameras and then digital still cameras. The PPD has since been used in most CCD sensors and then CMOS sensors.8

Improvements in technology, such as the speed, bandwidth and power consumption of processor chips and memory, as well as CCD technology and then CMOS sensors, have made shutter lag less of a problem. While digital SLRs have achieved lag times around 50 ms by the late 2000s, some EVILs take half as long in the 2010s. That said, the lag times of some exceptional historic devices are still unsurpassed, see table below.

Examples of various shutter lag times

Note that cameras offer increasingly varied choices of fully mechanical shutter, first-curtain electronic shutter (EFCS; meaning a mechanical shutter only at the end of the exposure), or fully electronic (thus silent) shutter. This is paired with either autofocus, fully manual focus, or prefocus (half-pressing the shutter button to engage autofocus and lock exposure; then holding the button half-pressed until the decisive picture-taking moment, in which the button is depressed completely). Typically, prefocus + EFCS results in the shortest shutter lag (see the following individual sources with measurements for all available modi).

This table quotes the shortest possible lag time of the respective camera. Note that variations may occur between manufacturer-claimed times and real-world measurements. In the case of follow-up versions of cameras (Mark II, -N, -s, ...), it is usually save to assume identical performance unless explicitly stated otherwise in press releases or comparisons.

CameraTypeShutter lag [ms]
Nikon Coolpix L3Point-and-shoot (digital)1800
Nikon Coolpix S550Point-and-shoot (digital)590
Panasonic DMC Lumix FS20Point-and-shoot (digital)480
Canon PowerShot A590 ISPoint-and-shoot (digital)350
Samsung Nx-MiniSLR (digital, APS)1649
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W80Point-and-shoot (digital)150
Pentax MZ-50SLR (Film)120
Konica Minolta Maxxum 7DSLR (digital, APS-C, built-in image stabilization)11710
Sony NEX-5EVIL (APS)11511
Fujifilm GFX 50SEVIL (44mm)10812
Fujifilm GFX 100EVIL (44mm)10513
Fujifilm GFX 50REVIL (44mm)10214
Minolta Maxxum 9 [de]SLR (Film)9015
Sigma SD1SLR (APS)8816
Leica M8Rangefinder (Digital, APS-H)80
Leica M9Rangefinder (Digital, 35mm)80
Sony A850SLR (digital, 35mm, built-in image stabilization)7417
Sony A900SLR (digital, 35mm, built-in image stabilization)7218
Minolta XD-7SLR (Film)60
Nikon Z7 and Z6EVIL (35mm)5919 and 5620 respectively, 69-7021 both
Canon EOS-5D Mark IV and 5DSSLR (digital, 35mm)57,2223 61-6324
Canon EOS-1D XSLR (digital, 35mm)57-58,25 3626
Nikon DfSLR (digital, 35mm)55-5727
Nikon D300sSLR (digital, APS)53
Sony Alpha SLT-A77SLR (digital, APS, built-in image stabilization)5328
Canon EOS-1D Mark IISLR (digital, APS-H)53,29 40
Canon EOS-1D Mark IVSLR (digital, APS-H)49
Leica SL 601EVIL (35mm)4630
Nikon D700 and 800SLR (digital, 35mm)44,31 less than D500, 600, 610, 750, 810, and 850.
Nikon D3sSLR (digital, 35mm)43
Nikon D3xSLR (digital, 35mm)40
Nikon D5SLR (digital, 35mm)39,32 43-5733
Minolta XE-1SLR (Film)38
Nikon D2H, D2Hs, D2XSLR (digital, APS)3734
Nikon F6SLR (Film)37
Contax RTS33SLR (Film)22
Sony A7 and A7 IIIEVIL (35mm)21-25,35 2336 37
Sony NEX-7, NEX-5N, a6x00 seriesEVIL (APS)20-25,38 2239
Sony A7r IIEVIL (35mm)20,40 21-2641 (noticeably faster than the 163 ms of Mark 1; 3 ms faster than Mark 3 and 4)
Sony A7sEVIL (35mm)20-2342
Leica M3Rangefinder (Film)16
Leica M7Rangefinder (Film)12
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-F828Point-and-shoot (digital)943 = manufacturer claim. Note that Sony claims the same 9 ms for models P93, T33 and W1; ImagingResource tested them at 11 ms444546
Canon EOS RTSLR (Film)847
Canon EOS-1N RSSLR (Film)648

References

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  2. Jones, Patrick (2011-02-10). Practical Forensic Digital Imaging: Applications and Techniques. CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-040-08161-7. 978-1-040-08161-7 ↩

  3. Jones, Patrick (2011-02-10). Practical Forensic Digital Imaging: Applications and Techniques. CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-040-08161-7. 978-1-040-08161-7 ↩

  4. Fossum, Eric R.; Hondongwa, D. B. (2014). "A Review of the Pinned Photodiode for CCD and CMOS Image Sensors". IEEE Journal of the Electron Devices Society. 2 (3): 33–43. doi:10.1109/JEDS.2014.2306412. /wiki/Eric_Fossum ↩

  5. Fossum, Eric R.; Hondongwa, D. B. (2014). "A Review of the Pinned Photodiode for CCD and CMOS Image Sensors". IEEE Journal of the Electron Devices Society. 2 (3): 33–43. doi:10.1109/JEDS.2014.2306412. /wiki/Eric_Fossum ↩

  6. U.S. Patent 4,484,210: Solid-state imaging device having a reduced image lag https://patents.google.com/patent/US4484210 ↩

  7. Fossum, Eric R.; Hondongwa, D. B. (2014). "A Review of the Pinned Photodiode for CCD and CMOS Image Sensors". IEEE Journal of the Electron Devices Society. 2 (3): 33–43. doi:10.1109/JEDS.2014.2306412. /wiki/Eric_Fossum ↩

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