Timings & File Sizes

The 812 did feel slow by modern day standards. Power on was in line with what we'd expect of an 'extending lens' compact. However almost every other function took longer than we would expect. Most noticeable was the camera's autofocus which almost always took longer than 1.5 seconds. On top of that the 812 also had a consistent 0.2 second shutter release lag, which again is slower than most modern cameras.

Timing Notes: All times calculated as an average of three operations. Unless otherwise stated all timings were made on a 2272 x 1712 JPEG image (approx. 1.1 MB per image). The media used for these tests was a 128 MB SanDisk SD card.

Action	Details	Time, seconds
Power: Off to On	Lens extension	4.7
Power: On to Off	Lens extended	4.2
Mode: Play image	Image displayed	1.2
Play: Magnify	4x magnification	5.3

Action	Details	Time, seconds
Zoom from Wide to Tele	Full zoom from 37 mm to 111 mm (3 x)	1.5
Auto Focus LAG	Wide angle (37 mm) *1	1.5 - 2.2
Auto Focus LAG	Telephoto (102 mm)  *1	1.7 - 2.2
Shutter Release LAG	Using viewfinder	0.2
Shutter Release LAG	Using LCD monitor	0.2
Total LAG	*2	1.5
Off to Shot Taken		5.5
Shot to Shot	Zoom at wide angle, record review set to 1 second	4.5
Shot to Shot	Zoom at wide angle, record review disabled	4.5

Auto Focus LAG is (roughly) the amount of time it takes the camera to autofocus (a half-press and hold of the shutter release button), this timing is normally the most variable as its affected by the subject matter, current focus position, still or moving subject etc. This timing is an average.

Shutter Release LAG is the amount of time it takes to take the shot after autofocus, this timing assumes you have already focused (half-pressed the shutter release) and now press the shutter release button all the way down to take the shot. This timing is an average.

Total LAG is the total time it takes (not just the two above added together) if you haven't pre-focused, that is no finger touching the shutter release button, press it all the way down in one movement, this new timing is how long it'd take if you were in one of those spur-of-the-moment situations. This timing is an average.

File Write / Display and Sizes

Timings shown below are the time taken for the camera to process and "flush" the image out to the SD card, the timer was started as soon as the shutter release was pressed (shutter click was heard) and stopped when activity indicator LED beside the SD compartment returned to green colour. This means the timings also include the cameras processing time and as such are more representative of the actual time to "complete the task". The media used for these tests was a 128 MB SanDisk SD card.

Image Type	Time to store (seconds)	Time to magnify (seconds) *1	File size *2 (approx.)	No. on supplied 16 MB CF Card
2272 x 1712	26.4	9.5	2,300 KB	7
2272 x 1712	19.9	5.2	1,100 KB	15
1136 x 856	17.4	2.8	500 KB	30
1136 x 856	15.9	2.0	250 KB	60

The above write times are some of the slowest I've seen on any digital camera. It takes a whole twenty six seconds to write a 2.3 MB file, that's an incredibly slow 90 KB/sec. Luckily the 812 does have a fairly large buffer which allows you to shoot up to 5 x quality images in a row without having to wait for the camera. As soon as the buffer fills the camera will display 'PROCESSING...'.

Battery life

We ran the camera through our new battery life test. This test is designed to be fair and comparative to each camera and battery type:

• Take 4 shots without flash
• Wait 2 minutes (50% of the time powering the camera off)
• Take 1 shot with flash
• Wait 1 minute
• Repeat

Batteries are fully discharged and recharged before the test and all cameras were reset to their factory default settings. Here are the results:

Here's somewhere the 812 did really well. On just two AA batteries the camera lasted well over two hours in our test. This is probably down to the fact that the camera turns off the LCD monitor after one minute of inactivity (and there aren't any other power save options).