I'm a super newbie to photography. I would like some clarification on the following:
I am shooting an image in Auto mode. There is no shutter lag at all and the picture looks good. The settings are: ISO auto, 1/25, f/4.0.
However, when I copy those exact settings within Aperture or Shutter Mode it takes about 11 seconds to get the same result and I have to use a tripod.
What am I missing here?
(BTW: I'm using an old Olympus E-620).
While the answer by Kai Mattern (regarding the anti-shock setting) is most likely to apply here, one thing to note about AutoISO is that its performance may significantly differ between modes. On an older Sony camera I have (DSC-R1), AutoISO engages only in Auto and in P mode (selecting between the base ISO160 and ISO400). It doesn't in M, S, or A mode where it stays at its base ISO160. I would expect that the comparatively few Scene modes behave like Auto and P here.
When it uses a flash in TTL mode (and the camera's Auto or P modes), it can dial up ISO to compensate for weaker flash (it does so differently for external and internal flash) and it will even pick intermediate ISO values (like ISO250) not available manually. In other flash modes, it stays at base ISO.
While I cannot vouch for how your camera interprets Auto ISO. However, the description of AutoISO in the manual of my camera is completely unsuitable for figuring out just when the camera will feel compelled to pick what ISO. If your manufacturer does things similarly, you'll likely be down to experimenting yourself. At least from your question it seems like you are off to a good start...
I can only guess.
When you are in full auto, the camera will use all 3 parts of the exposure triangle to end up with a decent amount of depth of field, a shutter speed that is ok to shoot in hand with the attached lens and will fill in with higher ISO.
When you switch to say aperture mode, it will let you chose the aperture manually and will control the shutter speed. BUT it may also allow you to set the ISO manually.
So if you are indoors and take said shot at ISO auto, 1/25, f/4.0 and if ISO was at 25600, then the equivalent would be ISO 100, 10 seconds, f4.0.
The only thing that is making no sense is that the cam has no such ISO capabilities. It only ranges from 100 to 3200.
So what I believe is, that the following happens: You are set to a manual low ISO like 100, which triggers a slow shutter speed. This triggers noise reduction which then reprocesses the image and this results the long time that you perceive.
Quote from the manual:
• While noise reduction is activated, it takes about twice the usual time to take a picture. • The card access lamp blinks and [busy] is displayed on the viewfinder while noise reduction is operating. You cannot take more pictures until the card access lamp turns off.
If the perceived "lag" is always 10 seconds, then there is also an option to reduce shutter shock. This adds a delay after the mirror is flipped up to prevent shutter shock when using longer exposures. The option is called anti-shock in the camera. Please also check, that this is off or at 0 seconds.
Quote:
ANTI-SHOCK You can select the interval from the time the mirror is raised until the shutter is released from 1 to 30 seconds. This diminishes camera shake caused by vibrations when the mirror moves. This feature can be useful in astrophotography and microscope photography or other photographic situations where a very slow shutter speed is used, and camera vibration needs to be kept to a minimum. Notes • Anti-shock is added to the shooting functions individually (single-frame shooting, sequential shooting, self-timer shooting, and remote control shooting). “Sequential shooting” (P. 61)
