What is a good shutter speed for a digital camera?

Question by Little Fluffball of Doom: What is a good shutter speed for a digital camera?
I have an old digital camera but the shutter speed is ridiculously slow! So I am going to purchase a new camera, what is a good shutter speed for a digital camera, I have found one and it lists this:

4~1/2000 sec (Manual 30s)

I don't know what that means...so please help! thanks!


Best answer:

Answer by reeveslittle
I'm guessing what you're looking for is less "lag" when you're taking a picture, the time between when you press the button and when the picture takes. Older point and shoot digital cameras have the annoying tendency to miss the action because there is too much shutter lag.

Many small point and shoot cameras now have a "kids and pets" mode that speeds up the camera response time. Look for this feature in your next camera.

Some more detail:
Shutter lag is the time between when you press the button and when the picture is taken. Shutter speed is the amount of time the the lens is "open", letting light onto the sensor. A slow shutter speed will create a blurry image (like this picture of my dog: http://www.little.org/blog/2009/02/08/ThisIsGoingToTakeSomePractice.aspx) while a fast shutter speed will freeze the action but requires a brighter subject.

Why is there shutter lag?
Before you take a picture the camera must do several things: focus, set the aperture, set the shutter speed, set the white balance and, most importantly, charge the camera sensor. With a point and shoot camera this all takes place when you push the button down. You can reduce the number of missed shots but getting ready to take the picture early, holding the button partway down so it focuses (usually the camera will give a little beep when ready). Say your daughter is about to jump in the pool, before the jump even starts, aim the camera, push the button slightly, then say "go". Keep the button partway down until the jump then push the rest of the way.

If you are taking a lot of action shots, you really need to step up to a digital SLR. SLR digital cameras are constantly monitoring everything while they are turned on and have much higher quality sensors, making the shutter response time nearly instantaneous.

Cameras.co.uk has an excellent table comparing the shutter lag on a bunch of cameras. The model names listed are European model names, but a web search for a given brand and model will tell you the name for your country: http://www.cameras.co.uk/html/shutter-lag-comparisons.cfm

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