Are you shooting too many frames? Pre-Shot Capture Technique

[EricBowles]

I don't know exactly how shooting banks work on a Z-9 but I use something similar on the OM-1. The issue is the other settings. Each "bank" (Custom Mode on the OM-1) is independent from any other.

For example, let's say I am shooting a white bird on a black background with pre-capture in a pre-capture "bank" (Custom Mode). I reduce the exposure compensation to not blow out the subject.

If I then switch away and am shooting black birds on a white background in normal mode. I increase the exposure compensation. No problem.

However, if I now switch the "bank" (Custom Mode) to pre-capture the exposure compensation is still set for the white bird.

Regards,

Tom

This is not really the situation where custom setting banks will pay off. It's situations with a lot more complexity resulting in a need to change 8-10 menu choices and customization options. For example, there is a big difference in your primary and secondary AF choices, and turning on and off subject recognition as you move to different genres. Reed Hoffman is using multiple remote cameras, at least three cameras on his person, and each camera is set up for a specific purpose photographing baseball or whatever other sport. The time it takes to set up complex settings for remotes, interval shooting, pre-shot capture, and environmental images of the ballpark or celebrations.

 

[Venkatesh VT]

This is where a piece of computer software on an iPad app would be nice. It would be helpful to be able to view and export all of my settings in a spreadsheet so I could compare and view them. The more options and setting that cameras have the more difficult it is to manage the settings. I have looked at Camera Control Pro 2 but I don't think it allows you to access all of the camera settings and I don't think it allows you to display them in a table format. I think camera manufactures are missing the boat on this.

I would further add that a computer program on a PC could be used to do/change the settings on the camera
It is just a matter of time

 

[JamesFarrell]

Actually this feature would be really great if there is a toggle to Preshot or not
It is tedious to switch between raw & preshot now

Well, this is not the perfect solution to what you would like but it does work. Now in firmware 3.0 one has more choices for programming various buttons in custom settings f2. Since I usually am shooting Auto ISO and one can program an iMenu selection for ISO stuff, I have programmed my ISO button next to the shutter to “Release Mode”. You have to also set the big dial on the top left of the Z9 body to the setting that looks like squares stacked on top of each other to the right of the timer icon. Then pressing the ISO button brings up the the menu choices to quickly toggle to 30-60-120 or other shooting mode choices, frame rates, etc. by spinning a command dial. It is very ergonomically easy to do so quickly since it essentially replaces that part of the big mode dial that is a pain to use with your eye to the EVF. That will quickly get you into and out of Precapture shooting. Might be worth checking this out. What I also like is that I don’t have to fuss with the big dial and the top left of the body which is hard to use in a hurry, especially if one is handling larger lenses. I also reprogrammed the “lock” button to change modes, e.g., A, M, S or P.

 

[GregWCIL]

I was on a plane while this was going on, sorry I missed it. I am kicking myself a little that I did not use this more while shooting a lot of softball this fall. I still have plenty of volleyball left so I am going to make this a priority. Thanks for sharing.

This is one of the areas where I think we need to take advantage of the shooting banks. I could establish the settings I am going to use for a specific event, copy the settings to another bank, then change the settings in the second bank for pre-capture. Then switch banks when I want to turn pre-capture on or off.

I guess I don’t understand how this could be possibly be done with any “software recall function” because it is a setting done by the mechanical top dial on the Z9. I use recall shooting often in the field and find it is very quick to switch back and forth just by turning the top dial. In fact, I prefer that since I can tell at a glance which frame capture mode I’m in.

 

[Venkatesh VT]

Software override through buttons for all mechanical dials/ setting is the solution that would enable number of options in the field ( with out juggling dials & settings)
A1 had given us a good taste of it & I find it invaluable in the field

Nikon needs to be coaxed into that direction . To achieve it Nikon needs to break away from the past ( like Sony did it with A1)

 

[Johan Schmidt]

One an NPS webinar today Nikon Ambassador Reed Hoffman talked about how pre-shot capture has completely changed the way he shoots.

Reed Hoffman is a baseball photographer as well as lots of other sports. He is using a 0.5 second preshot capture with JPEG files at 30 fps and not triggering the shutter until there is action - a hit, a play in the field, a catch, etc. He does not bother to fire a burst unless he sees action. As a result, he is capturing every hit as the bat strikes the ball without the large number of images associated with photographing every pitch. He's getting every shot and is able to quickly run through the images and choose his selects.

Reed also described the way he photographs lightning - which is by waiting until he sees it. Again with pre-shot capture, he is able to capture a series of images with almost every lightning strike. He showed us a series of nine images from a single lightning bolt - all based on pre-capture and pressing the shutter after he sees the lightning.

The same technique is being used for birds as they take off. He is simply waiting until he sees the bird take off, and then using pre-shot capture, he captures the images as it takes off. The challenge remains getting the subject in focus as it flies away from it's perch - but it is generally very effective.

There is another program planned for November 10 to discuss the features in firmware 3.0 by Mark Cruz. Again - it is NPS only, but we'll try to post interesting comments and observations here.

Eric - can you explain to me how the preshot works please? E.g. if I use BBAF, do I focus on the subject and as soon as I see action then release the shutter - do I then see images from the time the shutter was released + the pre and after time period set in the config on the camera? Are they on the memory card automatically or do I need to do something to save them from the camera's memory to the card?

 

[EricBowles]

Eric - can you explain to me how the preshot works please? E.g. if I use BBAF, do I focus on the subject and as soon as I see action then release the shutter - do I then see images from the time the shutter was released + the pre and after time period set in the config on the camera? Are they on the memory card automatically or do I need to do something to save them from the camera's memory to the card?

It's pretty simple. You turn on Prerelease capture using the menu. You can choose the frame rate you want and the time you want before the shutter release. There is an indicator in the viewfinder that shows Pre-release capture is active. You focus normally. When you press the shutter, the camera operates normally at the frame rate selected PLUS the frames before the shutter release was pressed. They are all written to the card.

You'll need to experiment and decide on what frame rate and time period you need. It's likely 30 fps is enough. If you are watching carefully, a half second is probably enough. But you can adjust as needed. Just keep in mind you'll have a lot of discards and should be ruthless about what you keep.

Here is a short demo from Matt Granger. It starts at 1:12.

 

[Johan Schmidt]

It's pretty simple. You turn on Prerelease capture using the menu. You can choose the frame rate you want and the time you want before the shutter release. There is an indicator in the viewfinder that shows Pre-release capture is active. You focus normally. When you press the shutter, the camera operates normally at the frame rate selected PLUS the frames before the shutter release was pressed. They are all written to the card.

You'll need to experiment and decide on what frame rate and time period you need. It's likely 30 fps is enough. If you are watching carefully, a half second is probably enough. But you can adjust as needed. Just keep in mind you'll have a lot of discards and should be ruthless about what you keep.

Here is a short demo from Matt Granger. It starts at 1:12.

Thanks - appreciate the quick reply - I'd never seen the pre indicator in the viewfinder before but now I know what to look for.

 

[fcotterill]

It's simple to have Precapture in the iMenu to change the settings quickly

 

[MartyD]

I guess I don’t understand how this could be possibly be done with any “software recall function” because it is a setting done by the mechanical top dial on the Z9. I use recall shooting often in the field and find it is very quick to switch back and forth just by turning the top dial. In fact, I prefer that since I can tell at a glance which frame capture mode I’m in.

Yes, you are correct.

 

[JamesFarrell]

I guess I don’t understand how this could be possibly be done with any “software recall function” because it is a setting done by the mechanical top dial on the Z9. I use recall shooting often in the field and find it is very quick to switch back and forth just by turning the top dial. In fact, I prefer that since I can tell at a glance which frame capture mode I’m in.O

What you're referring to can most certainly be done easier than having to play with the big mechnaical dial on top of the body. I outlined that in response to another poster in this thread - see #28

In my opinion (for the two cents or less than perhaps it's worth) the most valuable change in firmware 3.0 is the added number of buttons that can be programmed in custom setting f2 and the added functions that can be programmed for the increased number of button controls. I've changed a number of button controls in custom f2 and copied them to all 4 custom banks (which do NOT affect the shooting banks as they're not linked.) What it's done for me is to eliminate most, if not all of the occasions, that I would need to use my left hand to change something on the mechanical dial all the while I am looking through then EVF and trying to balance a lens with the same hand that I would need to change the mechanical dial. The bottom line for me is to set up my Z9 to be able to change as many things as I can EASILY while looking through the EVF so as not to miss a shooting moment.

EDIT COMMENT: Now, for those of you who are not shooting a lot of action or shooting from a tripod a lot, my suggestions here might not be applicable.

 

[Tom Reynolds]

If you are shooting birds taking off from a perch the setup process is virtually identical to setting up non pre-capture. Assume that you have just taken a typical, fill-the-frame portrait of a bird on a perch and now want him in flight taking off. You may want to increase shutter speed to a BIF speed, you will want to un-zoom or move backward to give the bird room to spread its wings and fly and you need to focus where you expect to capture the bird in flight, possibly changing exposure compensation as you expect the background to change. Assume you are using pre-capture that focuses on every image, you would maintain focus on the bird in one corner of the frame expecting the camera to follow and focus on the bird as it takes off.

The only difference is that the camera will pre-capture a certain number of shots before you react to the bird taking off. Since my ability to recognize that the bird is about to fly is terrible, this is a godsend. Previously I took an untold number of shots of that bird sitting on the perch because I falsely thought that the bird was about to go. In my case I only need about 1/2 second of pre-capture frames but I set it to 1 sec to be sure.

However, trying to capture fast tiny birds as they flit from branch to branch to feeder to branch is something I had no hope of previously. At best I could get a quick snap of the bird on a perch and occasionally I would get lucky to catch a BIF. Now, when I get the bird in the frame I half-press until the bird takes off, then full-press. I get shots I had no hope of capturing before.

Notice that in the first case that several changes were necessary to transition from the fill-the-frame portrait to the BIF shot while in the second case there is no time to make any changes. A one button change from normal to pre-capture mode is nice but really that big of a deal.

Tom

 

[EricBowles]

If you are shooting birds taking off from a perch the setup process is virtually identical to setting up non pre-capture. Assume that you have just taken a typical, fill-the-frame portrait of a bird on a perch and now want him in flight taking off. You may want to increase shutter speed to a BIF speed, you will want to un-zoom or move backward to give the bird room to spread its wings and fly and you need to focus where you expect to capture the bird in flight, possibly changing exposure compensation as you expect the background to change. Assume you are using pre-capture that focuses on every image, you would maintain focus on the bird in one corner of the frame expecting the camera to follow and focus on the bird as it takes off.

The only difference is that the camera will pre-capture a certain number of shots before you react to the bird taking off. Since my ability to recognize that the bird is about to fly is terrible, this is a godsend. Previously I took an untold number of shots of that bird sitting on the perch because I falsely thought that the bird was about to go. In my case I only need about 1/2 second of pre-capture frames but I set it to 1 sec to be sure.

However, trying to capture fast tiny birds as they flit from branch to branch to feeder to branch is something I had no hope of previously. At best I could get a quick snap of the bird on a perch and occasionally I would get lucky to catch a BIF. Now, when I get the bird in the frame I half-press until the bird takes off, then full-press. I get shots I had no hope of capturing before.

Notice that in the first case that several changes were necessary to transition from the fill-the-frame portrait to the BIF shot while in the second case there is no time to make any changes. A one button change from normal to pre-capture mode is nice but really that big of a deal.

Tom

Good description, Tom.

One comment from the panel was that the main reason for failed shots was not timing but focus. The bird needs to be in your focus plane and invariably, the bird jumps in a random direction resulting in soft images. But you're right - now you have a very good chance to get the shot you want.

 

[Tom Reynolds]

Two kinds of pre-capture. One does not focus and relies on the subject staying in the focus plane. The other does Subject ID and AF for each frame. I am interested in the focus-every-frame mode. This mode typically shoots 25, 30 or 50f/s. The non-focus mode does 60, 120 f/s.

Focusing speed is dependent on the Camera/Lens combination. On my camera I can shoot focus mode @ 50/f/s with one of my lenses but only 25 f/s on another. My understanding of how Subject ID works is that the camera looks at every image using AI to identify a subject, then focuses on the shape, then beak, then eye of the bird. I do not believe that pre-capture has any effect on the camera/lens capability. The camera is just doing what it normally does only it does not write the pre-capture frames to the card until full-press.

Like everyone, I want the camera to be focused specifically on the eye and not rely on the eye to remain in that focal plane because, as you say, it doesn't.

As you can see, pre-capture was not really that big a deal until cameras could autofocus at the high frame rates the now can and can track the subject/eye across the frame at a high frame rate.

Tom

 

[JamesFarrell]

Question for Eric Bowles: I am just starting to ‘play around’ with Pre-Capture. I am Rey familiar with the concept as I used it with my Olympus gear for a few years before I came back to Nikon in 2019. It is a really neat function. What I am not sure of in reading through this thread is whether there is AF and exposure metering with each Z9 Pre-Capture frame - either the buffered images or the ones being written to the memory card upon full shutter press. Can you elaborate a bit on this? Thanks. >> Jim

 

[Tom Reynolds]

Mike Lane put out the first video of his experiences with focus-mode Pre-capture that I have seen. The url is attached below but it is mostly dealing with setup on an OM-1. The actual experiences of Make are near the end. I will summarize my take of the video for Nikon Z-9 and Canon R7 shooters.

1-Why is pre-capture just now becoming a big deal? Although previous Olympus models has pre-capture the low frame rate (18 f/s) and poor focus capabilities made it relatively not useful.

2-Why do most reviewers seem to primarily use the high frame rate, no focus mode? (No focus mode relies on the subject staying in the same focus plain that it started in.) Mike was shooting in focus-every-shot mode @ 50 f/s. With a small bird taking off he captured very few frames before the bird flew out of the frame. He did not have much choice of wing position. Mike wished for 120 f/s focus-every-shot but I question if that is currently possible. Only a few Olympus Pro lenses are capable of 50 f/s. My go to lens is only capable of 25 f/s. At 25 f/s or Canon R7's @ 30 F/s there will be even less choice.

3-Mike was backed way off to allow room for the bird to stretch his wings and fly. Even then he often clipped a wing. That is a problem with my paltry 20mp sensor. If Nikon can get its act together and provide 50 F/s focus-every-image with the necessary AF speed and accuracy, that 54mp sensor will come in very handy. (Don't expect every lens to be able to do 50 f/s.)

4-Mike set pre capture to 1/2 second and had 4-5 frames of the bird on the perch before it started to take off. He then set the pre capture to slightly more than 1/2 second because he is sometimes distracted. Mike is a professional and I am not so I will retain my 1 sec pre capture amount

5-Mike indicated that he waited up to 5 min for a bird to take off. I could not do that hand-held even with a 4.5# rig. I carry a monopod/mono gimble for that reason. My arm hurts even thinking of holding a Z-9/800pf for that long.

The video:

Regards,
Tom

 

[BarkingBeans Coffee]

Question for Eric Bowles: I am just starting to ‘play around’ with Pre-Capture. I am Rey familiar with the concept as I used it with my Olympus gear for a few years before I came back to Nikon in 2019. It is a really neat function. What I am not sure of in reading through this thread is whether there is AF and exposure metering with each Z9 Pre-Capture frame - either the buffered images or the ones being written to the memory card upon full shutter press. Can you elaborate a bit on this? Thanks. >> Jim

James,

According to this story there is auto focus and auto exposure even up to the 120fps. The article describes the 2.11 firmware so it doesn't cover the 60FPS added to DX mode in FW 3.0.

 

[JamesFarrell]

James,

According to this story there is auto focus and auto exposure even up to the 120fps. The article describes the 2.11 firmware so it doesn't cover the 60FPS added to DX mode in FW 3.0.

Thanks for the link to the article in PhotographyLife. Appreciate your response. Answers my question.

 

[O]

One an NPS webinar today Nikon Ambassador Reed Hoffman talked about how pre-shot capture has completely changed the way he shoots.

Reed Hoffman is a baseball photographer as well as lots of other sports. He is using a 0.5 second preshot capture with JPEG files at 30 fps and not triggering the shutter until there is action - a hit, a play in the field, a catch, etc. He does not bother to fire a burst unless he sees action. As a result, he is capturing every hit as the bat strikes the ball without the large number of images associated with photographing every pitch. He's getting every shot and is able to quickly run through the images and choose his selects.

Reed also described the way he photographs lightning - which is by waiting until he sees it. Again with pre-shot capture, he is able to capture a series of images with almost every lightning strike. He showed us a series of nine images from a single lightning bolt - all based on pre-capture and pressing the shutter after he sees the lightning.

The same technique is being used for birds as they take off. He is simply waiting until he sees the bird take off, and then using pre-shot capture, he captures the images as it takes off. The challenge remains getting the subject in focus as it flies away from it's perch - but it is generally very effective.

There is another program planned for November 10 to discuss the features in firmware 3.0 by Mark Cruz. Again - it is NPS only, but we'll try to post interesting comments and observations here.

Brilliant stuff i will try and look it up if its possible

 

[EricBowles]

Brilliant stuff i will try and look it up if its possible

I'm afraid it's not recorded. Nikon apparently requires that public, recorded content is reviewed by legal to avoid making any incorrect statements or claims. This kind of presentation and many others reflect a lot of opinion and anecdotal information - often reflecting observations within the past week or two. Paul van Allen provided a presentation on Nikonians that included images and changes made that day. So Nikon is quite willing to provide these presentations through NPS, dealers or groups like Nikonians, but they maintain a strict prohibition on recording.

Reed Hoffman, Andrew Hancock, Paul Van Allen, and Mike Corrado are active on Instagram if you have questions or want to see their latest work.

 

[ccirelli]

When pre-capture is activated, does the Z9 need to be in JPEG only mode? Or, can you be in RAW with pre-capture on? Meaning - all pre-cap's are JPEG, but images after the pre-cap switch to RAW. Hope that makes sense. I'm guessing it's all or nothing - no pre-cap available unless camera is set to JPEG.

The JPEG-only options (120, 60 fps and pre-capture) in the Z9 are all amazing, but we really need RAW options for these. Even if the cost is lower fps. And of course keep the option for JPEG with faster fps.

 

[eft]

When pre-capture is activated, does the Z9 need to be in JPEG only mode? Or, can you be in RAW with pre-capture on? Meaning - all pre-cap's are JPEG, but images after the pre-cap switch to RAW. Hope that makes sense. I'm guessing it's all or nothing - no pre-cap available unless camera is set to JPEG.

You can be in RAW. When you go back to 20 fps or slower the file format reverts to RAW automatically.

 

[EricBowles]

When pre-capture is activated, does the Z9 need to be in JPEG only mode? Or, can you be in RAW with pre-capture on? Meaning - all pre-cap's are JPEG, but images after the pre-cap switch to RAW. Hope that makes sense. I'm guessing it's all or nothing - no pre-cap available unless camera is set to JPEG.

The JPEG-only options (120, 60 fps and pre-capture) in the Z9 are all amazing, but we really need RAW options for these. Even if the cost is lower fps. And of course keep the option for JPEG with faster fps.

It's completely your option. The frame rate determines whether you are RAW or JPEG. The high frame rates - 30, 60, and 120 fps are JPEG only.

 

[Butlerkid]

Just to make sure I understand:

@ 30 fps one can shoot FX and raw's - Correct?

@ 120 fps one can shoot DX and jpg large Corrrect?

@ 60 fps one can shoot ? and ?

 

[BarkingBeans Coffee]

Just to make sure I understand:

@ 30 fps one can shoot FX and raw's - Correct?

@ 120 fps one can shoot DX and jpg large Corrrect?

@ 60 fps one can shoot ? and ?

20FPS is the fastest you have full control over RAW and Jpeg choices
C30 and C60 are Norm Large
C120 is Norm Small

No fine jpgs.