An experiment in using the Pre-capture burst feature in my Lumix G9. When you engage it, it will record .5 seconds worth of RAW files in the buffer and recycle them every so often so long as the shutter is 1/2 pressed. When you hit the shutter all the way those files get recorded onto your memory card and new shots hit the buffer. This way you get action shots that you’re ordinarily too slow for. Like this Eastern Kingbird pestering this eagle. I didn’t notice it in the frame until it was almost on its head, but the pre-capture caught the entry into the scene and so I put together a little video of 15 stills.
Specific Feedback Requested:
It’s rough, I know, but I didn’t feel like diving into DaVinci Resolve for this and just used the Windows Video editor. Still…do you have enough time at the beginning to get set for the action or should I make that first frame slower? How about the title cards at the ends? And each frame goes for .2 seconds. Should I make it faster or slower?
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
Handheld in the kayak in unbelievably heavy winds. I was jammed sideways onto a big dead tree and was mostly still. Edited everything in Lr first for general improvements and crop to 16:9. Topaz DeNoise with some extra sharpen added in.
The pause at the beginning seems about right for me, Kris. I suspect it depends on the viewer. The pacing seems about right. Orange isn’t my favorite color for the end boards, but I’m pretty conservative in my color taste.
I do wish Sony would get off their butts and add that feature in a firmware update. It can’t be very hard.
yeah orange…it’s the default and I was lazy. Thanks for taking a look even so.
I’m quite surprised that pre-capture burst seems limited to Panasonic and Olympus for the most part. I can do this either with RAW files or with a 6K video and peel frames from it. For birding and other quick and unpredictable action it’s a lifesaver. Maybe there are weird patents involved that are tough to untangle or license. Strange.
Thanks @Allen_Sparks - it always amazes me when such small birds take on such large ones. I see it with hawks as well - the diving and the chasing. Eventually the eagle got fed up and took off. Need to process those shots since the pre-capture burst mode caught that, too.
