Speed (Nikon wins)
Speed? What speed? Neither of these cameras has a burst mode, so if you’re looking for a camera to take pictures of your kid’s sporting events these won’t work for you. Both digital cameras output plenty of blurry shots even when the digital image stabilization was engaged. The so-called digital image stabilization just vamps up the shutter speed and ISO, adding more noise and sometimes darkening the image – and it didn’t always stop the action anyway. If you’re going to be shooting lots of action, don’t count on these budget cameras; spend a few extra dollars for something with a burst mode. Now that I’m through that rant, here are the scientific test results: the Nikon Coolpix L19 was faster across the board. It took the Olympus FE-25 nearly 4.5 seconds to start up and take its first shot, while the L19 grabbed a shot in 1.7 seconds. Shutter lag between the cameras was similar, with the FE-25 coming in at 0.62 seconds and the L19 at 0.59 seconds. The Nikon L19 took about half the time that it took the Olympus to write an image to the memory, and this helped the Coolpix take more pictures faster (although certainly not fast at 0.37 frames per second).
