need a faster shutter camera (digital)

[ron24151]

Hello, I am looking for a digital w/ a fast shutter. right now I have the fuji finepix 3800 and minalta z1 all the pics come out somewhat blurry, tried using cord, new batteries, flash, settings at portriat, action, sport..what you see when pressed is not what shows up..any good/great camera in the same price range w/ a faster shutter..or is there a trick to this...thank you ron

 

[buck52]

Howdy

I don't have either camera but it is a problem you will find on most all non DSLR cameras...shutter lag... some have the sports mode you refer to and better than those that don't...

what you see when pressed is not what shows up

that would be shutter lag...the time between you pressing the trigger and the time it actually happens...the subject is gone.

on the other hand "blurry" is probably shutter speed or movement on your part...that's how long it take the shutter to open and close regardless of when you press the trigger

I have a Fuji S2 Pro DSLR and it takes wonderful pictures but is noted for slow shutter lag no matter the shutter speed... When I go to a Horse show to photograph the event...as an amateur by the way, sister in law thing ... it takes a good deal of timing and practice to get the frame I want...

I can't get to tech for you but other will be along with their suggestions/comments

buck

 

[ron24151]

thanks, can you adjust shutter speed or is this the same as lag? too many blurred pics..even w/ tripod. thanks again

 

[buck52]

Hi again

As I explained above...shutter lag and shutter speed are two different things...speed is adjustable (depending on the camera) lag is not (no matter the camera)

what are you trying to shoot? sports, kids, birds, cars

where? inside, outside

Here's a page of owner reviews...for what they're worth... on the Fuji...Of the ones I read at least half said this was not a good camera for action/sports
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/read_opinions.asp?prodkey=fuji_finepix3800

The review here... http://www.steves-digicams.com/2003_reviews/z1.html ... sounds like the Minolta "should" be plenty capable of decent sport/action pictures

Do you think the "blurry" is from motion or non-focus

maybe you can post an image

buck

 

[ron24151]

here is a pic, thanks ron

 

[buck52]

pretty stingy with the info

What camera?
What settings?
Flash?
Tripod?

Looks to me like the focus locked on the cabinet in the background...

Is that the full size image that the camera was set for...480x640...

 

[jakoval]

Exif shows 1/2 sec @ f2.8.
Need to use a flash or more ambient light to get a higher shutter speed.

(Caution - avoid direct flash at close range with babies - bounce if possible or use a diffuser)

 

[slipe]

I’ll try to sum up what others have said. You have two separate problems, shutter lag and not enough light to generate enough shutter speed.

You can eliminate a lot of the shutter lag by half depressing the shutter as you frame the shot. After the auto-focus has focused the camera you can press it the rest of the way and the shutter lag is much smaller. If the cameras have continuous focus set them for that and things will not go out of focus if they move while you are framing the picture. It takes a little more battery to run in continuous focus.

The Z1 is pretty fast for an older long zoom camera. Shutter lag is 0.8 to 0.5 seconds according to the zoom. That improves to better than 0.1 second with pre-focus.

The other problem is not having enough light to take a handheld shot without a flash. Any small digital would probably have given you around 1/2 second shutter speed for that shot without flash and it isn’t enough. You could put the camera on a tripod or use the flash. Stabilization helps a lot but it is still hard to get a sharp shot at 1/2 second.

The old rule of thumb was that you needed the reciprocal of the 35mm focal length to handhold if you are steady and use good technique. That would mean you need 1/38 second at full wide and 1/380 second at telephoto with the Z1 to get a really sharp shot. The stabilization on the Z3 would take it down to around 1/6 second in full wide if the subject was not moving, but even the Z3 with the stabilization on probably wouldn’t give you consistently sharp images at ½ second handheld.