Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Digital Camera Question
Old 01-23-2007, 08:06 AM   #1
Recycles dryer sheets
BOBOT's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 478
Digital Camera Question

This weekend while taking lots of shots in varying lighting conditions (in a museum) I noticed that was taking a LOT of time - up to 5-6 seconds - to write to the SD card before I could take another shot. I had not had (or noticed) the problem before.

Back home I did some experimenting. Thinking it might have something to do with the size of the SD card - 2 Gig - I changed back to the 1 Gig I had used previously, but same thing. Then I noticed that the problem seemed to only happen with shots taken in relatively low light requiring open aperature/slow shutter & flash; in outdoor ambient light it is ready to go nearly instantly.

Camera is a Canon Powershot A540; SD cards are SanDisc & Kingston.

Any ideas?
__________________
I still don't get it...
BOBOT is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Re: Digital Camera Question
Old 01-23-2007, 08:12 AM   #2
Confused about dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 5
Re: Digital Camera Question

Bobot, charge or change the battery. The flash uses a lot of power.
__________________
?
Rockisle is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Digital Camera Question
Old 01-23-2007, 08:18 AM   #3
Full time employment: Posting here.
My Dream's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 837
Re: Digital Camera Question

?, Welcome, it took you almost 2 years to post that. I hope to see you posting more often.
__________________
Newbie
My Dream is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Digital Camera Question
Old 01-23-2007, 10:08 AM   #4
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
cute fuzzy bunny's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Losing my whump
Posts: 22,708
Re: Digital Camera Question

It could be photo processing time. Cameras have a photo processing chip in them that makes adjustments and compresses the photo before storage. Perhaps dim pictures take longer to process on your particular camera model. Check some of the photo review web sites which include this stat in their reviews to see if your model takes more or less time between shots to process photos.

Its also possible that your camera, for whatever reason, decided that the flash chip you inserted is a lower speed than what it actually is. Remove the flash chip and the battery from the camera, wait a minute or so and put them both back in, battery first. See if it changes the store speed.
__________________
Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. Just another form of "buy low, sell high" for those who have trouble with things. This rule is not universal. Do not buy a 1973 Pinto because everyone else is afraid of it.
cute fuzzy bunny is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Digital Camera Question
Old 01-23-2007, 11:27 AM   #5
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
TromboneAl's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 12,880
Re: Digital Camera Question

I agree with CFB, camera is doing extra processing for the low light image. Here's what it's thinking:

"Oh, Geez, he took another one of those low light pictures again. Now I have to fix it up for him. Work work work. Averaging, counting, summing. I wish he'd go outside again."
__________________
Al
TromboneAl is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Digital Camera Question
Old 01-23-2007, 11:55 AM   #6
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
cute fuzzy bunny's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Losing my whump
Posts: 22,708
Re: Digital Camera Question

Theres another plausible flip side explanation...if you've somehow set the camera to store images in a 'raw' or uncompressed format instead of the usual jpeg compression setting, that can result in images as much as 10-40x as much data being written to the flash chip. Check your settings for a 'normal/fine/superfine' setting that you might have inadvertently changed or a 'raw image' or 'no compression' option.

Its also possible that there is some camera smarts being employed...when in auto mode and shooting at high ISO levels, the camera may switch to a raw mode to improve the shot quality.
__________________
Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. Just another form of "buy low, sell high" for those who have trouble with things. This rule is not universal. Do not buy a 1973 Pinto because everyone else is afraid of it.
cute fuzzy bunny is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Digital Camera Question
Old 01-23-2007, 05:47 PM   #7
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 6,115
Re: Digital Camera Question

the camera may be trying to apply low light noise reduction. i just got a nikon d80 and have spent the last month cramming and learning. there is so much to learn. not only about photography but now the digital processing end as im starting to shoot raw
mathjak107 is online now   Reply With Quote
Re: Digital Camera Question
Old 01-23-2007, 07:39 PM   #8
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Goonie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: North-Central Illinois
Posts: 3,228
Re: Digital Camera Question

I noticed that as my SD card got more pix on it (lots more), that the time to process before the next pic could be shot lengthened greatly. I slapped in a new empty SD card, and the the time between shots went back down to normal. I switched back to the first SD card, and the process time increased greatly again.

(I'm using a Kodak Easyshare with 1 & 2 gig SD's)
Goonie is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Digital Camera Question
Old 01-23-2007, 08:18 PM   #9
Dryer sheet wannabe
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 12
Re: Digital Camera Question

Two things are likely at play here. Digital images in low light have a very high noise ratio, and noise is data. If saving as JPG files, then the camera is also applying all of it's noise reduction powers as it processes the image, resulting in longer times to process and write. Since noise is data, the image files are also larger, taking longer to write to the card.
Try this experiment:
With an empty memory card, take one shot outdoors in good light, and one indoors in poor light.
download the files to the computer and look at file size. The low-light image is likely 1/3 to 1/2 larger in size than the well-lit (low noise) image.
renegade is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Digital Camera Question
Old 01-23-2007, 08:38 PM   #10
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Northern IL
Posts: 26,821
Re: Digital Camera Question

Quote:
Originally Posted by Goonie
I noticed that as my SD card got more pix on it (lots more), that the time to process before the next pic could be shot lengthened greatly. I slapped in a new empty SD card, and the the time between shots went back down to normal. I switched back to the first SD card, and the process time increased greatly again.

(I'm using a Kodak Easyshare with 1 & 2 gig SD's)
You could also try re-formatting the card. I understand the pros do that often.

Considering you saw the problem with two diff cards, the other ideas raised may be more to the point, but it couldn't hurt.

I'd bet on the low light processing ideas, or that you did set the camera to a higher size format.

-ERD50
ERD50 is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Digital Camera Question
Old 01-23-2007, 08:54 PM   #11
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Goonie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: North-Central Illinois
Posts: 3,228
Re: Digital Camera Question

Quote:
Originally Posted by ERD50
You could also try re-formatting the card. I understand the pros do that often.

Considering you saw the problem with two diff cards, the other ideas raised may be more to the point, but it couldn't hurt.

I'd bet on the low light processing ideas, or that you did set the camera to a higher size format.

-ERD50
In my case, both cards were fairly quick when empty. Both cards were fairly (quite) slow when more full. I didn't notice any considerable difference in speed due to lighting or lack thereof.

I'll see how things go when I switch cameras and card-types some time soon.
Goonie is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Digital Camera Question
Old 01-24-2007, 08:38 AM   #12
Recycles dryer sheets
BOBOT's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 478
Re: Digital Camera Question

All good insightful info, thanks. I think all of the comments relating to image processing for low light/noise, as well as pix size & density are right on. I obviously have a lot of 'sperimenting to do -- & now I have the time to do it!
__________________
I still don't get it...
BOBOT is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Digital Camera Question
Old 01-24-2007, 12:28 PM   #13
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
cute fuzzy bunny's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Losing my whump
Posts: 22,708
Re: Digital Camera Question

I see that your camera has the same digic ii processor that my camera does.

According to the documentation, the noise reduction circuitry kicks in automatically on low light shots and drops the compression ratio.

__________________
Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. Just another form of "buy low, sell high" for those who have trouble with things. This rule is not universal. Do not buy a 1973 Pinto because everyone else is afraid of it.
cute fuzzy bunny is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Recommend Cheap Older Digital Camera TromboneAl Other topics 16 02-07-2007 09:30 PM
Digital Camera treypar Other topics 39 12-11-2006 03:06 PM
Unobtrusive cell phone, digital camera & other carrier? dex Other topics 15 03-27-2006 03:14 PM
Need digital camcorder recommendation/tutorial farmerEd Other topics 4 10-26-2005 01:14 PM
Good digital camera? cute fuzzy bunny Other topics 32 07-06-2004 04:35 AM

» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 01:37 PM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.