What's new
GR User Forum

The spot for all Ricoh GR camera users

Register for free, meet other Ricoh GR users, share your images, help others, have fun!

Tell your friends about us!

Please help GR4

R

Richartist

New Member
Unfortunately my topic "Shutter lag issue with flash" does not get any replies. Most of the issues get replies before I even read them, so maybe my question is not clear (maybe my Engrish :D ) so I will try to refrase:

Could a GR4 owner please let me know if he/she experiences a (bigger) shutter lag when using the flash in auto flash mode. So with camera prefocused and flash popped out and charged I get a pretty noticable shutter lag. When the flash is set to manual I get almost no shutter lag at all.

I want to find out if this is a general GR4 issue. Any GR1/2/3 experience in this matter is welcome.

Results and ideas to this issue are much appreciated.

Thanks,
Richard
 
Hi Richard,

I'm sorry to hear about your problem. Unfortunately, I don't have the GRDIV yet, so I can't help you with your problem not even try to reproduce it. The GRD4 still very new camera and I guess there's not much of them flying around. So this may be also the reason why your original post has not been answered? Additionally, the GRD folks generally don't use flash much (judging also from my typical use).

I would expect some delay in the Auto flash mode (as in any Auto mode), because of the time required for Auto flash evaluation/calculation. But of course, the lag should not be very noticeable. The only other reason of the shutter lag (aside FW bug) I could imagine flash recharging time? Do you experience the shutter lag after each shot with flash? Does the Flash icon blink while you press the shutter button?
 
Hi Pavel,

Thank you for your quick reply. I agree with the GR4 being a new camera, but if there are any owners to be found it should be in this forum right? These dark winter days in Holland it is hard to use the GR4 without flash all the time, especially when shooting in colour. As the GR4 is intended for carrying around with me I can not avoid needing the use of flash.

Camera has the latest FW and it occurs when flash is charged. No icon to be seen, that disappears when focused.

I agree with flash evaluation/calculation time but I have never owned a camera (owned Sony, Canon, Nikon and Casio) that calculated flash after the focus and took a noticable time. Liking the GR4 for it's excellent speed this is such a weird difference.

Even more curiuos is that when auto-flash decides not to fire the flash it has -again- no noticable shutter lag. So the calculation of the flash (or the calculation to not use it) seems quick enough.

And using the flash manually it does not have any lag... So where does the lag come from (other than... a SW bug).

Regards,
Richard
 
I checked your problem with my GRDIII and I believe I now see what you consider a problem. There indeed is a noticeable delay between pressing the shutter and firing the Auto flash, which is unnoticeable in case of Manual Flash mode. I examined the GRD manual regarding the Flash settings and there is a note about the pre-flash done for best results. Unfortuantely, there is no word about the Flash mode, in which the pre-flash is activated. And so far, I was able to reproduce the preflash only in the Slow Sync and Red-Eye flash mode. But there is a possibility, that the pre-flash is done also in the Auto Flash mode, for example in case of strong backlight? And this could explain the delay in cases the pre-flash is not done or it's weak, nearly unnoticeable? I will ask about this my contact in Ricoh. He may be able to reproduce the delay and ask the dev. guys in Japan? I will keep you updated.

BTW, are you sure you have the latest FW 1.17 installed on your GRD4? I know you mentioned it has the latest FW, but it's always good to check this, especially because there were done some changes in the Auto Flash mode ;)
 
Richartist":ihj6su11 said:
Could a GR4 owner please let me know if he/she experiences a (bigger) shutter lag when using the flash in auto flash mode. So with camera prefocused and flash popped out and charged I get a pretty noticable shutter lag. When the flash is set to manual I get almost no shutter lag at all.

I want to find out if this is a general GR4 issue. Any GR1/2/3 experience in this matter is welcome.

Results and ideas to this issue are much appreciated.

Thanks,
Richard
Click to expand...

Hi Richard, sorry about lack of replies. But your revised post has piqued my interest. I do have a GRD III to try. I still must get my IV ordered. :evil:

I am an occasional flash user. Often its when I just need a grab image to be a record of someone or something, its not ever that I've tried to use it for "an Art" image.
Nonetheless I do use it and must try for some idea of lag.

A photog buddy of mine once had an older Panasonic (I think) that lagged even in bright sunlight.
He found if switch many auto functions off he reduced the lag dramatically. He went as far as to use manual white balance even.
Perhaps the auto flash is using up camera CPU cycles and this is causing the lag. :?:
 
I am using a GRD IV with latest firmware v1.7 and this behavior still exists. Yes, I can replicate it every time.
 
Thank you everyone. At least now I know it is not my camera but a GR3/GR4 issue. Should be a SW bug then? As Randius I am using 1.7. How to pass this on? You any luck on this Odklizec?
 
Hi Richard,

I finally got a response from Ricoh regarding the Auto Flash delay issue. It's exactly what I thought it will be. The delay is caused by the Auto Flash calculation required for adjustment of Flash power. There is no such calculation done in the Manual Flash mode because the Flash power is manually selected by you. But once you switch to the Auto Flash mode, the Flash power is calculated from the actual exposure time, aperture and lightning conditions. And unfortunately, this evaluation/calculation takes some time. So I'm afraid, we will have to live with that delay or switch to the Manual Flash mode. Hope this answer helps, even though it does not eliminate the delay ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top