G9 or xti?

[PriusDrIVER]

The dpreview.com review lists .6 seconds when using live-view for full-press lag. This, to me, is disappointing at best with the SD870 coming in with less lag, and the A570 (6+ months older) having the same lag.

Personally, shutter lag is still the most limiting factor on a P&S...image quality of many is reasonable (other than the little jpeg problem)...when the XTi can go from being powered off to a shot taken in less than .1 seconds, and it seems that normal shooting lag isn't really measurable.

Whether its a limiting factor or not depends on the target, if its a colorful coral its likely not moving very quickly...if its a great white, .6 seconds is an infinite amount of time to miss the shot.

 

[PriusDrIVER]

My statements on the XTi assume that its pre-focused, of course. If you are waiting for autofocus underwater in the conditions I have shot in, then the .5 seconds isn't that big of a deal...but I doubt many would recommend waiting for the AF on a per shot basis to pick where it thinks you want it.

 

[Katamuki]

The autofocus on the G7 is the only thing I dont like about the camera. Often I lose a photo from this lag which at times seems to take over a full second. I have heard that the G9 has cut this time down significantly but dont know this from experience. The D80 can take almost 3 photographs in the time the G7 takes one and all will be focused.

It is my opinion that the SLR takes better photos on any given shot but for the recreational diver it is VERY hard to beat a camera that can do video, WA and ultra close macro shots without switching lenses. In addition, not enough can be said on just how durable the Ikelite case is for the Canon. I have been battered on 4-5' surf being rolled over a reef with the camera clipped to my BC during a rescue and was absolutely sure I had cracked the glass lens, case or something. To my surpise there was nothing more than gouges on the case. My Nocturnal light had been beat up enough to expose bare metal but the Ikelite did its job and protected the camera very well.

 

[pakman]

Personally, shutter lag is still the most limiting factor on a P&S...image quality of many is reasonable (other than the little jpeg problem)...when the XTi can go from being powered off to a shot taken in less than .1 seconds, and it seems that normal shooting lag isn't really measurable.

Whether its a limiting factor or not depends on the target, if its a colorful coral its likely not moving very quickly...if its a great white, .6 seconds is an infinite amount of time to miss the shot.

.1 sec? well maybe not that fast... With a good lens on the XTI, it is pretty quick to lock focus. That was one of the things that drove me batty with my old Canon S60 P&S.

If your goal is to take pics of static macro subjects like nudis or maybe lizard fish, and even then it better be in pretty calm waters. Even with static subjects, that shutter lag can drive you nuts if you're shooting in a little surge where you can't keep that camera perfectly still and have the time and luxury to lock focus, recompose and snap a shot off.

 

[Blackwood]

I have read rumors on dpreview.com that Canon could introduce it on the XTI successor due out in Feb/Mar 2008. It makes sense for Canon to first introduce the capability on their consumer line, where some ability would be better than none at all.

It's already available on the "prosumer" 40D. I haven't used it yet, though.

 

[jeraldjcook]

It's already available on the "prosumer" 40D. I haven't used it yet, though.

Unless my 40D is missing some features it only has Live View, not the ability to take video.

 

[Blackwood]

Unless my 40D is missing some features it only has Live View, not the ability to take video.

Sorry, I misread your post.