How to decrease shutter lag on Canon s500?

[jh_on_the_cape]

I have a Canon Powershot S500 and the shutter lag never bothered us until we had a baby. It's impossible to get a decent pic of the little guy. Sometimes we press the button and nothing even happens. Especially indoors. It is just so slow to focus. Sometimes doesnt even find the subject.

We purchased that camera at BestBuy and got the extended warranty. I brought it back to see if they could inspect the camera for any problems. They wanted to send it back to Canon, which would take weeks. Well we have a trip and birthdays, etc. and I dont want to be without a camera.

Any suggestions on camera settings, etc. to speed things up a bit?

Thanks... we cannot really afford a DSLR at this point. I have played with one and it is really ideal for the baby shots... but we like the portability of the small camera, and cannot really afford the DSLR, which looks like a $1k investment after lenses/bag/battery/CF card.

[Photo-John]

Technique is the problem. What you're experiencing is pretty common. You need to start prefocusing. It's too much to ask the camera to both focus and and shoot - probably in low light. Spontaneity isn't really an option. You'll have to start planning your shots and prefocusing. In fact, I would do the same thing with my SLR. Prefocusing is the correct technique, regardless of the camera and shutter-lag.

[JSPhoto]

You know Photo John, I never thought about it, but back in the day I used a P&S, then the DRebel I did just that, prefocused, and I still do it. I think using junk (OK, not junk, but slow pokey stuff) was the best thing to use before going to the "good stuff".

JS

[jh_on_the_cape]

thanks. i have been prefocusing when possible. i press the button down half way and wait for the beep. the problem is that sometimes the camera never focuses on the subject.

i would also like any tips on reducing the time to prefocus.

things i have tried that I am not sure if they help:

1. turning off the display
2. tripod or resting camera on solid object
3. reducing resolution
4. totally fully charged battery.

should any of these help?

[JSPhoto]

There really isn't much you can do, the AF it'self can only focus so fast, the most you can do is what we said below. The basic is you can't speed up something that is slow to begin with. The only thing to do is get a faster camera.....but that costs big $$. Even then, AF speed is still hampered by things like light, lens choice and other factors.

It sounds like some of your problem though may be the focus point.... are you using the Center AF point? Can you change the AF point? Sometimes it's better to use a different point depending on subject.

JS

[Photo-John]

i would also like any tips on reducing the time to prefocus.

things i have tried that I am not sure if they help:

1. turning off the display
2. tripod or resting camera on solid object
3. reducing resolution
4. totally fully charged battery.

should any of these help?

None of those things will help with the auto focus. If the camera is having trouble, the best thing to do is to point the camera at something right next to the subject, that's better lit or has more contrast. Your camera's AF system looks for contrasting areas to focus on. If you try to focus on a plain white wall or a sky without clouds, the camera won't know what to do and it won't be able to achieve focus. There's almost always something you can focus on, though. Just move the camera over until you can get it to focus, and then recompose. I don't that for almost every shot, when I prefocus.

JS has a good point about the focus point, too. A lot of p&s digitals have intelligent auto focus systems that try to detect the subject for you. These systems are all very impressive, but they're slower than just using one focus point and recomposing. Most of us only use the center point and recompose on every shot. Check what focus options your camera offers and limit it to the center focus point, if you can.