Saturday, May 29, 2004

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Solution to Shutter Lag in Digital Cameras There is lots and lots of literature out there about the problem of shutter lag on digital cameras. I, too, found it to be a problem when I first went digital (calibration: I was totally a snapshot photographer at the time, though I have since progressed somewhat, I am far from a serious photographer). The funny thing is, there is an easy, well-known solution that gets glossed over in many of the discussions. First, definitions. Shutter lag is the time that elapses from depressing the button (in many digicams, technically not a "shutter button"), to the image being recorded. It is often on the order of 0.3 - 1.0 seconds in digicams--enough not only to miss an action shot, but also to miss a fleeting facial expression. Shutter lag should not be confused with shot-to-shot lag, which is the time after one shot has been taken until the camera is ready to take the next shot.  (1) The main reason for shutter lag is the time it takes to auto-focus. So one work-around is to pre-focus, by half-way depressing the button and holding it there until ready to make your shot (I'm pretty sure this works on the vast majority of digicams, all but maybe the very cheapest). This almost completely eliminates shutter lag on my cameras. Another equally effective work around, if your camera has the option, is to turn off auto-focus and to pre-focus using manual focus. That way you don't have to hold your finger on the button awaiting the shot. So, for the life of me, I don't understand why this fact isn't more well-known to the average consumer. I find that, in most cases, pre-focusing is feasible for the shot I am taking (e.g., child is opening present, and I am trying to capture the expression that crosses their face when they realize what it is). I think if most amateurs knew about pre-focusing, it would greatly diminish their complaints about shutter lag. _____________ (1) Shot-to-shot lag is an inherent problem for digital, and worse at the low end. But for most casual photographers, I think that is a problem they only notice because they have gone digital. What I mean is, in the film days, most of us were pasimonius with our photos. So, I would try to get one photo of a child opening a present, and just hope it was a good one. I wouldn't try to squeeze off four in a row. So even though, with film, I could have squeezed off those four quickly, I rarely would have taken advantage of that ability. Of course, burst mode, in the better point-and-shoots, greatly mitigates even this problem. 11:53:01 PM    comment []

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Gamecube Displacing TV Watching I've written before with modest praise of our Gamecube, because the cooperative games have promoted sibling bonding. I have also noticed that it has almost completely displaced television, which is a good thing. My daughters were watching no television, before they got hooked on American Idol, and the only TV my son watches is Saturday morning cartoons. Of course, we help our odds in that regard by only subscribing to basic cable. 10:52:20 PM    comment []

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Optionally Reference DB Columns by an Immutable Numeric ID I know there is an old saying that there is no problem in computer science that can't be solved by another level of indirection. It seems to me that there is a clear opportunity to apply this to database field-naming. Often, in a subsequent release, it will become clear that a field-name was poorly chosen (1). But by then there may be so many queries, stored procedures and reports that reference the field name in question, that it is inconceivable to rename simply for the sake of "housekeeping". So, why can't fields have two names--a numeric ID, and a traditional name? IDEs, reporting tools, etc could display the traditional name for user convenience, but then build in terms of the numeric ID. It seems to me that this would be a nice useability and maintenance win, and would provide the database vendor implementing it a new competitive feature. Given Microsoft's level of integration, it seems like an obvious thing for them to do. _______________ (1) There are a million reasons this can happen, one obvious one is merger's and acquisitions. Let's suppose a field was named "Acme Order Number", and then Acme is acquired by National. 10:48:36 PM    comment []

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Minnesota Weather We had better-than-average luck with our first five seasons in Minnesota, but I think our luck has run out. This spring has been quite a bust. Cool, occasionally downright cold, rainy and dreary. A nice day every here and there, but mostly during the week, and they don't last. Can't believe it is almost June--beginning of air conditioner season back in Indiana. Reminds me of some springs in Connecticut. I remember one May it rained every day the whole month. 10:31:17 PM    comment []