Why does a Sony a6000 have long shutter delay with the 55-210mm lens indoors?
Asked 6/13/2018
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I used a Sony a6000 with the E 55-210mm f/4.5-6.3 OSS indoors under fairly dim incandescent spotlights. With this lens attached, shutter release was delayed by about a second or more. Half-press did not seem to respond normally, I could not see focus changes on the LCD, and I did not hear autofocus activity. Sometimes the shutter fired only after I had already started lowering the camera.
On the same body, the E PZ 16-50mm kit lens behaved normally, with the expected half-press response and much less delay.
In similar light, another camera was around 1/40 sec at f/5.6, ISO 5000. Is this kind of delay normal with the 55-210mm on the a6000 in low light? What is the likely technical cause?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
8y ago
2 Answers
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Yes, cameras and lenses these days 'talk' to one another, and so indeed the camera can behave very differently when combined with different lenses.
I've had opportunities to try out many different lens and camera combinations in the last several months, and it continues to surprise me just how extreme the differences can be in camera behavior while shooting. Even more surprisingly, sometimes the resulting jpg images differ in features that are derived from the in-camera processing of the image (e.g firmware) and not directly from the 'glass' (which of course will also affect the image).
Just have seen your refined question. If you were using autofocus, I suspect the lense was saying more like, 'ah, hang on, give me another chance to focus better'. An increase in delay in shutter release with a different lens, is likely something in the lens-to-camera communication, and autofocus is the one that springs to mind. Does this match your experience?
Originally by user59085. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user59085
8y ago
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Most likely, the delay was autofocus struggling in low light with a relatively slow lens.
The 55-210mm is f/4.5-6.3, so at the long end it lets in less light than the 16-50mm. Indoors, that gives the a6000’s AF system less information to work with, so it may keep trying to confirm focus before firing. That can feel like “shutter lag,” especially if the camera is set to focus priority rather than release priority.
So yes: a lens change can noticeably change camera behavior, because modern lenses and bodies communicate constantly for autofocus, stabilization, and exposure. In dim light, a slower telephoto zoom can focus much more hesitantly than a shorter, slightly faster lens.
Nothing is intentionally “adding lag”; the camera is usually still trying to achieve focus or otherwise cope with the low-light scene. This is also why performance often improves outdoors.
If it happens only indoors or in dim light, that points to normal AF limitation rather than a defect. If it happens in bright light too, then it may indicate a camera or lens issue.
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