Subject:	Another perspective (+)
Author:	drdread
Date:	11/14/2001 11:39:30 AM
Message:

Yeah, the total time between pictures can be pretty annoying with digital cameras. But consider that they have to read out the CCD, which is a serial process, and then they have to convert to JPEG, which is very CPU-intensive. Some of the really high-end digital cameras (Nikon in particular) have giant RAM buffers in them that eliminate the JPEG wait -- but you still have to wait out the CCD read-out. Of course, once that RAM buffer is full, you're going to be back in JPEG wait territory. If you want to resume fast-shooting, you'll have to wait for the CPU to clear the entire buffer, which presumably takes 'n' times as long as a single JPEG operation, where 'n' is the number of frames buffered. :(

I can't remember which camera does it, but I remember seeing a Nikon model spec'ed to do 5 fps for 1.5 seconds....but I'm guessing you're in for a 30+ second wait before you can resume 5 fps mode!

As for Sony, they're on my shit list right now. Anne gave me a Sony DVD player for Christmas last year. These days I'm lucky if it will play a DVD 75% of the way through before it starts glitching massively. I did a little digging, and it turns out that the exact 'degenerative' failure I've been experiencing is the #1 most-reported problem with this particular model...and Sony denies it's a design flaw & won't repair it under warranty. If they refuse to fix mine, it will be the last Sony product I ever buy, of any type. That sort of customer service is 100% unacceptable.

D

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