If you have a Canon camera that takes pictures but takes a while to do so, then one of the following will probably be the reason.
- Camera is struggling to focus
- Shutter delay / Self timer
- Live View
- Long shutter speed
- Camera is busy processing something
- Something else
We break down each issue so you should know what to do next by the end of this post.
Table of Contents
Camera Is Struggling To Focus
If you are using auto focus then your camera may be taking a while to find focus.
When using autofocus the camera will want to lock in focus before it takes the picture.
Try shooting in manual focus then see if the problem persists.
If autofocus is your issue then the article linked below will help.
The post below is for the Canon Rebel T6, but can also apply to other Canon cameras.
You Have Set Shutter Delay / Self Timer To Be On
Another common issue is that you may have set up a shutter delay/ self timer to be on and forgot to turn it back off.
This is when you press the shutter but the camera will wait a few seconds before taking the picture.
This is useful for when you want to take pictures of yourself, but not so useful when you want to just take a quick picture.
We have more information on this in the post linked below which you should find helpful.
It also has some instructions on how to turn a self timer off under point number 2.
You Are Using Live View
Live view is when you are using the screen to compose and take your pictures instead of looking through the viewfinder.
Using live view is handy to see how your picture changes depending on your settings, but it does have a drawback.
Autofocus may not be as fast in live view compared to when using the viewfinder.
This is more of an issue in older cameras and in newer cameras this shouldn’t really be a problem.
Even if this does seem to be the case with your camera, it will probably be a delay of a few seconds at max.
If your Canon camera is taking longer than this then it is probably one of the other issues on this list.
You Have A Long Shutter Speed
You may have set a shutter speed of a few seconds by accident so the camera is taking longer for each exposure.
If you are using a tripod and taking a picture of a landscape or any other stationary subject then you might not notice this.
If you are taking an image of a moving subject you will definitely notice this as they will probably be blurry due to the shutter speed being too slow to freeze any motion.
Check to see if your shutter speed is set to a slow shutter speed and bring it back to more of a standard shutter speed like 1/100 to see if your camera still takes a long time to take photos.
Your Camera Is Busy Processing Something
This can be quite common.
Every time your camera takes a picture or video, it needs to process this and store it correctly.
If there is too much for your camera to do then it may say it is ‘busy’ before it can do anything else.
Read the post below to find more information on this as well as solutions.
Something Else
If none of the above have helped then the best thing to do is to try and have your camera checked by Canon.
This way a technician can assess the issue and recommend any next steps.
Hopefully this post has helped you figure out why your Canon camera takes so long to take pictures and what your next steps should be.