I am getting realy fed up with my digital camera in that it take quite a while ( ok a couple of seconds) to take a picture after pressing the button.

So my question is if I use a SD card with a faster write speed would the camera be quicker especially for action shots

possibly but some cameras are just slow! and even the fastest card wont make a difference.

what camera?

Nope. The camera can only write the image to the card once it’s taken the picture. So if it’s taking a couple of seconds after pressing the button for it to actually take the pic, then it is likely to be something else.
If you had said it takes several seconds after taking a shot before I can take another one, then the memory card might have been to blame…

Normally the thing actually causing the delay isn’t shutter lag, but the time it takes the camera to focus, although the two are closely linked so might appear as the same thing.
Do you press the shutter button halfway to focus and then when it confirms focus press the button all the way? If you try this, does it still take 2secs from fully pressing the shutter to taking an image?

Also, what mode do you have it in? Is the flash firing? And if so, is it set to red-eye reduction? This will fire a series of pre-flashes before firing the actual flash for the exposure & taking the image. So you can press the shutter and think nothing is happening, but actually the red eye is doing it’s thing and flashing away before the picture is taken.

What camera is it out of interest? How old is it?

Hi thanks for the reply

the camera is a Fuji Finepix s1500 and it is about 18months old and it has always been an issue in that it is er a bit slow
Yes I do focus before I fully press to take a picture and the pics are during daylight and I do not use the flash.
Alas I just miss action pictures due to this issue

I’ve just read some reviews on your camera & it appears that there is a ‘high speed-capture’ capability on it.

Taking an action ‘burst’ shot may solve your problem with action shots rather than single shots, you can always delete those burst shots that aren’t what you are looking for.

It’s taken me a little while to get used to my new camera & I now press the shutter down in advance of where I want the subject to be & then follow it(panning)with my finger pressed down.

Aplogies if any of this is teaching a granny to suck eggs. In my opinion keep practicing until you get the desired results.

Hi les

yep I tried the high speed setting where it take 5 pics in rapid sucession but the picture quality was er a bit like my riding ability namely dodgy

I guess the problem is the pup moves too quick

When you say the pup moves too quick, do you mean that you are getting the shot, but it is coming out blurred?
It could just be that the camera is choosing a relatively slow shutter speed due to the available light, if that is the case. Particularly if you are taking pics indoors.
Perhaps try the flash, but make sure it’s not on red-eye…

It’s due to the slow processors in compact cameras and that’s the reason I’ve been disappointed with every digital camera we’ve bought. Unless you shoot in bright sunlight or switch all the auto features off there is a delay between pressing the button and the shot being taken

The only way you can get around it is with a high end compact / mirror less compact or buy a an slr.

You could experiment with the setting but it’s not ideal really.

Stumpy

I have a 12 week old pup and and I miss shots of her because of the slow pic taking

hence the comment

Andy

I had poor action shot results in low light conditions with my old digital camera.

My new higher/better spec digi compact is a lot better but still has issues with low light conditions. As above the camera is trying to do lots of things at once & hence it’s slow and can miss the shot. You could try changing some of the settings & see if that improves things.

Try taking pics outdoors in brighter/better light conditions with the pup & see if they are any better. It maybe that your camera will struggle with indoor action shots of a fast moving puppy but might do better outdoors. Failing that you’ll have to train Brie to sit still & pose for you.

Heres an outdoors action shot I took once

can’t remember who it was tho 😉

that shot is bloody purrrrrfect

But why did you photo shop out the ground below the back wheel

Did I crash into the puddle??

It’s not impossible that it’d help… What spec is the existing card? (should have a number in a circle on it somewhere)

Hi Northwind

the card is a #2

I guess that because the cards are quite cheap nowadays its worth a punt

I went from a #2 to a #10 on my helmet camera and it was a great improvement for video use

2 should be enough for stills on a compact though. Have you got another card you can swap in then?