From the time I grabbed the A610 out of the drawer, pressed the on button, quickly turned the dial to my custom b/w setting (ISO 400, Flexizone focus*, flash off), squeezed the shutter button I doubt whether 30 seconds had passed. (Noise Ninja - Smart Sharpen) Picture is not underexposed. Only light is 13 watt fluorescent desk lamp about 6 feet from the cat. Just rethought the time thing...it was really more like 10 seconds!