Photography is all about getting your camera to record animage you see with your eyes, or even just in your head, with as few obstaclesin the way as possible.

One of those obstacles is undoubtedly speed. If you takeyour photography seriously, in whatever form it takes, every split second isimportant.

High-end digital SLRs are inevitably the best cameras in allareas, and that includes speed.

In the past week we've been treated to the announcement ofNikon's D3 and D300, as well as Canon's EOS 1Ds Mark III. We won't see them fora few months still, but well-heeled professional photographers are in for atreat.

But how do the new arrivals stack up in the speed stakes? Toanswer that question, we've looked at three factors: start-up time, maximumcontinuous shooting speed, and shutter release lag.

The fastest digital SLRs

1 Nikon D3 - start-up 0.12sec; 9fps; 37ms shutter releaselag

2 Nikon D2HS - 0.2sec; 9fps; 37ms

3 Canon EOS-1D Mark III - 0.2sec; 10fps; 55ms

4 Nikon D300 - 0.13sec; 6fps; 45ms

5 Nikon D2XS - 0.2sec; 5fps; 37ms

So what does this show? First of all, that Canon's perceivededge over Nikon is not due to any speed superiority. Closing out four of thetop 5 places here makes Nikon the clear winner between the two.

Of course, it must be said that apart from continuous shooting speed we'retalking barely perceptible differences. In addition, some cameras offer faster shooting speeds when the resolution is reduced.

The other main point here is that full-frame SLRs deliverimproved pictures, but with a slight speed disadvantage. As a result, Canon'snewly announced EOS-1Ds Mark III fails to make our top 5. Conversely, it makesthe Nikon D3's top spot even more remarkable.