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Hello everybody,

I purchased a few days ago a Canon Ixus 500 (Powershot 500). It makes a
strange noise, during the interval between pressing the shutter button and
the moment when the picture is taken. The AF lamp is ON during that interval
and I suppose the noise is related to camera adjusting the focus, etc.
However, the noise is strange, more like a chatter than like the 'clean'
sound of a micro-motor. Is that normal, perhaps those with Ixus 500
experience can tell? I did not hear a similar sound in few other types of
cameras I have tried.

This is my first digital camera and I am a bit disappointed with the shutter
delay. Taking a picture of a child is often a miss, and I wonder if the
shutter delay is longer than it should be and the noise described above is a
symptom.

Thank you for any opinions,

Mike

"mike" <> wrote in message
news:%WFuc.17745$...
> Hello everybody,
>
> I purchased a few days ago a Canon Ixus 500 (Powershot 500). It makes a
> strange noise, during the interval between pressing the shutter button and
> the moment when the picture is taken. The AF lamp is ON during that
interval
> and I suppose the noise is related to camera adjusting the focus, etc.
> However, the noise is strange, more like a chatter than like the 'clean'
> sound of a micro-motor. Is that normal, perhaps those with Ixus 500
> experience can tell? I did not hear a similar sound in few other types of
> cameras I have tried.
>
> This is my first digital camera and I am a bit disappointed with the
shutter
> delay. Taking a picture of a child is often a miss, and I wonder if the
> shutter delay is longer than it should be and the noise described above is
a
> symptom.
>

That chattering noise is normal, I hear it on my S400. It's part of all the
stuff the camera has to do to focus, set aperture and fire.

The shutter delay is a problem with consumer-level point-and-shoot cameras.
Some are worse than others, but it is a byproduct of the method these
consumer cameras use to capture the image. The only way to eliminate it is
to get a digital SLR such as the Nikon D70.

HMc

"mike" <> writes:

>I purchased a few days ago a Canon Ixus 500 (Powershot 500). It makes a
>strange noise, during the interval between pressing the shutter button and
>the moment when the picture is taken. The AF lamp is ON during that interval
>and I suppose the noise is related to camera adjusting the focus, etc.
>However, the noise is strange, more like a chatter than like the 'clean'
>sound of a micro-motor. Is that normal, perhaps those with Ixus 500
>experience can tell? I did not hear a similar sound in few other types of
>cameras I have tried.

The noise is normal. The camera captures many separate images in the
process of autofocusing, and I suspect the sound is the focus motor
starting and stopping many times between focus positions. If you set
the "quick shot" menu feature on, the chattering will be higher pitched
and take less total time, since the LCD display is not being updated
during the focus process.

The Canon A200 made this sort of noise during focusing too.

>This is my first digital camera and I am a bit disappointed with the shutter
>delay. Taking a picture of a child is often a miss, and I wonder if the
>shutter delay is longer than it should be and the noise described above is a
>symptom.

Are you talking about focus delay (from half-pressing the shutter button
to green rectangle in the finder) or shutter release delay (time to
release the shutter after getting correct focus)? Focus delay can be
sped up by the quick shot mode. Shutter delay actually seems pretty
fast to me for a P&S camera.

To take pictures of children, you'll need to preset focus and exposure.
You can just hold your shutter finger half-pressed and wait for the
right moment, or you can use the camera's autofocus lock and
autoexposure lock modes.

Dave

"Dave Martindale" <> wrote in message
news:c9i8jk$36q$...
> "mike" <> writes:
>
> >I purchased a few days ago a Canon Ixus 500 (Powershot 500). It makes a
> >strange noise, during the interval between pressing the shutter button
and
> >the moment when the picture is taken. The AF lamp is ON during that
interval
> >and I suppose the noise is related to camera adjusting the focus, etc.
> >However, the noise is strange, more like a chatter than like the 'clean'
> >sound of a micro-motor. Is that normal, perhaps those with Ixus 500
> >experience can tell? I did not hear a similar sound in few other types of
> >cameras I have tried.
>
> The noise is normal. The camera captures many separate images in the
> process of autofocusing, and I suspect the sound is the focus motor
> starting and stopping many times between focus positions. If you set
> the "quick shot" menu feature on, the chattering will be higher pitched
> and take less total time, since the LCD display is not being updated
> during the focus process.
>
> The Canon A200 made this sort of noise during focusing too.
>
> >This is my first digital camera and I am a bit disappointed with the
shutter
> >delay. Taking a picture of a child is often a miss, and I wonder if the
> >shutter delay is longer than it should be and the noise described above
is a
> >symptom.
>
> Are you talking about focus delay (from half-pressing the shutter button
> to green rectangle in the finder) or shutter release delay (time to
> release the shutter after getting correct focus)? Focus delay can be
> sped up by the quick shot mode. Shutter delay actually seems pretty
> fast to me for a P&S camera.
>
> To take pictures of children, you'll need to preset focus and exposure.
> You can just hold your shutter finger half-pressed and wait for the
> right moment, or you can use the camera's autofocus lock and
> autoexposure lock modes.
>
> Dave

I was talking about focus delay. Indeed, it is not that bad in the quick
fast mode. One more question: is it the same kind of noise in Canon
Powershot S50, and similar focus delay? I assume Powershot S50 and Ixus 500
are based on same electronics platform, but perhaps mechanics is better?

Thanks,

M

"mike" <> writes:

>I was talking about focus delay. Indeed, it is not that bad in the quick
>fast mode. One more question: is it the same kind of noise in Canon
>Powershot S50, and similar focus delay? I assume Powershot S50 and Ixus 500
>are based on same electronics platform, but perhaps mechanics is better?

I've never used a S50 or its predecessors, but Canon cameras do
differ. The G2 and A80 seem to run the focus motor continuously
instead of starting and stopping, so they quietly "whir" rather than
making the stuttering sound.

Dave