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.
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.
Digital cameras Shutter lag is much more of a problem with digital cameras, although higher cost models tend to have less lag.
The comet-tail artifact that early CCD sensors suffered from was significantly reduced by the invention of the pinned photodiode (PPD). It was invented by Nobukazu Teranishi, Hiromitsu Shiraki and Yasuo Ishihara at NEC in 1980. 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. 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.
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. Camera Type Shutter lag [ms] Nikon Coolpix L3 Point-and-shoot (digital) 1800 Nikon Coolpix S550 Point-and-shoot (digital) 590 Panasonic DMC Lumix FS20 Point-and-shoot (digital) 480 Canon PowerShot A590 IS Point-and-shoot (digital) 350 Samsung Nx-Mini SLR (digital, APS) 164 Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W80 Point-and-shoot (digital) 150 Pentax MZ-50SLR (Film) 120 Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D SLR (digital, APS-C, built-in image stabilization) 117 Sony NEX-5 EVIL (APS) 115Fujifilm GFX 50SEVIL (44mm)108Fujifilm GFX 100EVIL (44mm)105Fujifilm GFX 50REVIL (44mm)102 SLR (Film) 90Sigma SD1SLR (APS)88 Leica M8 Rangefinder (Digital, APS-H) 80 Leica M9 Rangefinder (Digital, 35mm) 80 Sony A850 SLR (digital, 35mm, built-in image stabilization) 74 Sony A900 SLR (digital, 35mm, built-in image stabilization) 72 Minolta XD-7 SLR (Film) 60Nikon Z7 and Z6EVIL (35mm)59 and 56 respectively, 69-70 both Canon EOS-5D Mark IV and 5DSSLR (digital, 35mm)57, 61-63 Canon EOS-1D XSLR (digital, 35mm) 57-58, 36Nikon DfSLR (digital, 35mm)55-57 Nikon D300s SLR (digital, APS) 53 Sony Alpha SLT-A77 SLR (digital, APS, built-in image stabilization) 53 Canon EOS-1D Mark IISLR (digital, APS-H) 53, 40 Canon EOS-1D Mark IVSLR (digital, APS-H) 49Leica SL 601EVIL (35mm)46Nikon D700 and 800SLR (digital, 35mm)44, less than D500, 600, 610, 750, 810, and 850. Nikon D3sSLR (digital, 35mm) 43 Nikon D3xSLR (digital, 35mm) 40Nikon D5SLR (digital, 35mm)39, 43-57 Minolta XE-1SLR (Film) 38 Nikon D2H, D2Hs, D2XSLR (digital, APS) 37 Nikon F6SLR (Film) 37 Contax RTS33SLR (Film) 22 Sony A7 and A7 III EVIL (35mm) 21-25, 23 Sony NEX-7, NEX-5N, a6x00 series EVIL (APS) 20-25, 22 Sony A7r II EVIL (35mm) 20, 21-26 (noticeably faster than the 163 ms of Mark 1; 3 ms faster than Mark 3 and 4)Sony A7sEVIL (35mm)20-23 Leica M3 Rangefinder (Film) 16 Leica M7 Rangefinder (Film) 12Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-F828Point-and-shoot (digital)9 = manufacturer claim. Note that Sony claims the same 9 ms for models P93, T33 and W1; ImagingResource tested them at 11 ms Canon EOS RTSLR (Film) 8 Canon EOS-1N RSSLR (Film) 6
References Josef Scheibel, Robert Scheibel: Foto-Guide Minolta Dynax 9. vfv Verlag für Foto, Film und Video, Gilching 1999, (176 pages, , retrieved at 8 January 2011). Imaging-Resource Preview Sony Alpha SLT-A77V Imaging-Resource Preview Sony Alpha NEX-5N Imaging-Resource Preview Sony Alpha NEX-5 Imaging-Resource Preview Sony Alpha DSLR-A900 (Firmware 1) Imaging-Resource Preview Sony Alpha DSLR-A850 (Firmware 1) Imaging-Resource Preview Konica Minolta Dynax/Maxxum/Alpha 7D
External links Shutter lag comparison chart for digital P&S Imaging Resource camera reviews often with measured shutter lag times NY Times article on shutter lag Photographer's Article on Shutter Lag What is Zero Shutter Delay (ZSD) on your mobile camera