Shutter Response Improvements/Adjustments?

For those of you who have enjoyed some good results with your consumer digitial cameras (non-SLR) like the Oly 5050/5060, the Nikon Coolpix models, Sony's, etc;

In ways to help avoid blur, capturing moving fish, crisper reef scenes, divers in wide angle and more approaches...

Would you mind sharing some of the settings and approaches you use to help you gain better results for your pictures with the challenge that the extra shutter delay from when you press the shutter release to when the camera actually takes the picture?

Please don't say, "sure, upgrade to a SLR"

(I understand each camera is different, and in general holding the shutter half way to help lock the focus takes a small amount of time off, but other than that, please share other techniques and settings that you use.)

Do you always use program mode? Fire manual focus? Pre-empt and shot shortly sooner than you normally would? Cross your fingers?

Any help you might provide would be great!

paquito

Actually, all you have to do is upgrade to a sony. They have a shutter release time much faster than ANY DSLR! This includes all their cameras in the last year or so.

But that is only about auto focus, and final shutter release times.

When using a camera, with slow autofocus and final shutter release, I always put it on center focus, and always to the "half press to focus, then recompose, and wait for the perfect moment, and shoot."

Blur typically comes from motion blur. The flash exposure is so short, that it will never be blurred. But the ambient light part of the exposure can easily be blurred, with a slowish shutter speed. Even 1/60 can lead to quite a lot of blur, with a moving fish.

Never use P mode. If you are using a flash, you need to keep control of the aperture, to make sure you are getting a useable f-stop, within the limits of the flash power. P mode gives you no control.

Personally, I always use either Aperature priority mode, (where I set the aperature and camera calculates the shutter speed), or manual. Aperature mode, with the flash on, typically limits the slowest shutter speed. But often it is a bit too slow.

If your camera can do manual exposure mode, and still do TTL for the flash, that is a great way to go. Keep your aperture wide enough, to keep your shutter speed high enough, (say 1/100 or faster), to eliminate blur.

Hope this helps.

Don