More Use Cases for Pre-Release (Pre-capture).

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jeffnles1

jeffnles1

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First shot is of a frog "croaking". It would balloon up its throat randomly every 2 minutes or so. I wanted together the action shot and my reflexes were too slow. I enabled the pre-capture and caught several photos of the frog "mid croak". I liked how the vibrations on its throat created the ripples in the water. (image downsized a lot for inclusion on the forum).

The second photo was much the same, bees were flying to and from this Milkweed Blossom. I wanted to catch one in flight (BIF - bee in flight). They were really quick and reaction time was not up to the challenge. Pre-Capture enabled me to catch a bee in flight.

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In addition to birds taking off, I’ve been trying precapture for beaver tail slaps and great blue herons hunting for fish along shore. Would like to try it on lightening and foxes/coyotes hunting in winter (when they leap up in the air and then plunge into the snow trying to get an unlucky small rodent).

Hope Nikon extends precapture to allow HE* raw (or even HE raw) files rather than jpeg only. Would also like to be able to turn precapture on and off with a customized single button press, rather than needing a button press and dial turn.
 
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BillW said:
In addition to birds taking off, I’ve been trying precapture for beaver tail slaps and great blue herons hunting for fish along shore. Would like to try it on lightening and foxes/coyotes hunting in winter (when they leap up in the air and then plunge into the snow trying to get an unlucky small rodent).

Hope Nikon extends precapture to allow HE* raw (or even HE raw) files rather than jpeg only. Would also like to be able to turn precapture on and off with a customized single button press, rather than needing a button press and dial turn.
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I believe it was Thom who said they were looking into HE*/HE as an option for raw. Even only at 20fps, I'd happily use it.
 
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BillW said:
In addition to birds taking off, I’ve been trying precapture for beaver tail slaps and great blue herons hunting for fish along shore. Would like to try it on lightening and foxes/coyotes hunting in winter (when they leap up in the air and then plunge into the snow trying to get an unlucky small rodent).

Hope Nikon extends precapture to allow HE* raw (or even HE raw) files rather than jpeg only. Would also like to be able to turn precapture on and off with a customized single button press, rather than needing a button press and dial turn.
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Tail slap would be cool. There are a couple areas locally with beaver. i may give it a try.
Jeff
 
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Most interesting is bird interactions.

To accomplish this type of shot I focused on a bird in the frame usually sitting on a perch and used pre-capture (ProCapture) to capture the action when another bird invades the first bird's space. For this type of shot I found 50 f/s much better than 25 f/s

Tom

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Tom Reynolds said:
Most interesting is bird interactions.

To accomplish this type of shot I focused on a bird in the frame usually sitting on a perch and used pre-capture (ProCapture) to capture the action when another bird invades the first bird's space. For this type of shot I found 50 f/s much better than 25 f/s

Tom

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cool shot.
Before I tried it, I was thinking pre-capture (various names from different brands of cameras) was somewhat of a gimmick. I thought it would be nice to get moment of takeoff with a bird flying form a perch or perhaps something like a flycatcher landing when it flies out and returns to the same perch over and over during the course of hunting insects. However, other than that, I didn't think it would be much use.

While I don't think it is a "game changer" I do see pre-capture as an added tool in the toolbox we now have at our disposal. I have surprised myself using it more frequently than I thought. Fact is, I have one of the buttons on the back of my camera set to bring up the specific menu option so that I can quickly enable or disable the feature. Would be nice if a button could be programmed to turn on and off with one press but I'm not complaining. Coming from DSLR's I find the pre-capture thing to be a lot more interesting than I thought it would be.

Thanks for the positive comments.

Jeff
 
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I think it is a game changer because I could not get the shots that either you or I posted without it.

Even with pre-capture I made many attempts at getting the bird interaction photo that I posted. The problem is that this kind of shot doesn't work unless both birds are in focus and the eyes are shown and sharp. That means that you need autofocus engaged since the focal plane of the bird will change when the bird takes off. You need to have focus lock on the bird in the frame but that bird is not in the exact location where the action takes place.

In the posted shot I have the bird's eye in focus in the lower left corner of the frame when I start pre-capture. I anticipated that the invading bird would come from the right and the perched bird would rise and confront it. I was set at 50 f/s but still only obtained a few frames where both birds are in the frame since the 20mp OM-1 capture negates too much cropping.

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Tom Reynolds said:
I think it is a game changer because I could not get the shots that either you or I posted without it.

Even with pre-capture I made many attempts at getting the bird interaction photo that I posted. The problem is that this kind of shot doesn't work unless both birds are in focus and the eyes are shown and sharp. That means that you need autofocus engaged since the focal plane of the bird will change when the bird takes off. You need to have focus lock on the bird in the frame but that bird is not in the exact location where the action takes place.

In the posted shot I have the bird's eye in focus in the lower left corner of the frame when I start pre-capture. I anticipated that the invading bird would come from the right and the perched bird would rise and confront it. I was set at 50 f/s but still only obtained a few frames where both birds are in the frame since the 20mp OM-1 capture negates too much cropping.

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Love this shot. A lot of times wildlife photography is about being in the right place at the right time, but this is also a good example of the right equipment. Like you mention above, even with pre-release capture there were only a few images that worked because this action happens so fast. I love the perch, I love the interaction of the birds and I love the background bokeh - everything works for me in this image. Which Zuiko lens were you using, is this the 300mm f/4 Pro?
 
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Bill-
OM-1/300f4 Pro on a tripod @ Laguna Seca Ranch. I spent two afternoons experimenting with pre-capture.

The previous year I took shots of birds landing on a perch with my D-500/500pf by the simple process of focusing on the perch then shutting off AF on the lens. The pre-capture mode that focuses once then will take 100 f/s or more would make this easier but that type of shot was possible with a DSLR so I didn't bother. A kingfisher or a Kestrel returning to a known perch is the same type of capture. I captured a Kestral landing at Bosque Del Apache with a D-7200 a couple of years ago.

I took multiple shots of birds attempting to land on a perch occupied by another bird. Same situation. If the perched bird doesn't move then a simple prefocus process will have the perched bird in focus and maybe the arriving bird will be in focus also but the tack sharp eye will be on the perched bird, not the arriving bird. I found these shots interesting, but underwhelming compared to two birds in the air.

I took multiple shots of birds taking off. Shooting many Green Jays and Cardinals I found that you captured very few frames with the bird clear of the perch and in the air before I felt that I needed to crop too much. If I ever purchase a Z-8/Z-9 it will be because I want a 45mp image so I can crop more than I can with the OM-1. At 25 f/s I usually obtained at most one shot of the BIF but with 50 f/s I would get 3-4. Again, these shots were nice, but underwhelming compared to the BIF interaction shots.

So, I am setting up my backyard blind to take BIF interaction shots of Finches and Lesser Goldfinches squabbling over perches. Both the red Backyard Finches and the yellow male Lesser Goldfinches will give me more colorful subjects than the juvenile Redwing Blackbirds in the posted photos.

Regards,
Tom
 
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Some shots I took at Laguna Seca Ranch with pre-capture. (OM-1/300f4). Relatively underwhelming IMHO.
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Tom Reynolds said:
Some shots I took at Laguna Seca Ranch with pre-capture. (OM-1/300f4). Relatively underwhelming IMHO.
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Wow Tom, you say underwhelming, but I have to admit - I find those shots exciting, especially the bottom one with the finch and the slightly OOF cardinal, with the finch giving the cardinal the evil eye and standing his ground while the cardinal attempts to takeover, I just think that works really well even with the cardinal slightly OOF.

You've inspired me with these, I want to look into a backyard feeder (we have a 1/2 acre with large live oaks so ideal for drawing in some of our feathered friends). Out of curiosity, what kind of setup do you have for your backyard blind?
 
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Tom Reynolds said:
I think it is a game changer because I could not get the shots that either you or I posted without it.

Even with pre-capture I made many attempts at getting the bird interaction photo that I posted. The problem is that this kind of shot doesn't work unless both birds are in focus and the eyes are shown and sharp. That means that you need autofocus engaged since the focal plane of the bird will change when the bird takes off. You need to have focus lock on the bird in the frame but that bird is not in the exact location where the action takes place.

In the posted shot I have the bird's eye in focus in the lower left corner of the frame when I start pre-capture. I anticipated that the invading bird would come from the right and the perched bird would rise and confront it. I was set at 50 f/s but still only obtained a few frames where both birds are in the frame since the 20mp OM-1 capture negates too much cropping.

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Tom,
I agree the shots you and I have posted would have been somewhere between impossible to extremely fortunate with DSLR or Film equipment. The main reason I wanted to avoid the phrase “game changer” is it is so often overused and hyperbole that it has lost its impact. I’ve been a hobbyist nature and wildlife photographer since the late 1970’s. For me the biggest game changer was digital. It allowed me the ability to shoot a lot more, experiment more and take chances with shots that I never would’ve done with film. The cost of buying and developing film severely limited what I felt I could afford to do. I was a fairly late adopter to digital hanging onto my Nikon film cameras for at 8 or 9 years after digital became more mainstream. My first digital was the D3200. I was amazed and started taking a camera with me everywhere I went. Over the years I progressed through a lot of different Nikon DSLR’s.

My first foray into mirrorless was the last week of February this year when I got a Canon R7. I wanted to challenge myself, learn something new and keep my brain active. My mom has dementia and keeping my brain active learning new stuff is important. Not that any of this would have delayed the onset for her but while I’m still reasonably sharp at 62 I wanted to expand what I do.

It is still early for me to say mirrorless will be the level of game changing that digital was but I can say with features like pre-capture, subject tracking, subject detect and eye detect I have been able to capture shots that would have ranged from impossible to luck with the D500. I am definitely enjoying the journey.
 
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Pro-capture in the OM-1 is truly magnificent, allowing me to get photos I basically could never have gotten, or at the very least, not routinely taken with my previous Sony A1. The OM-1 with 150-400 is a killer combo for these types of shots. For certain aspects, it is a game changer and OM made it a seamless process to go back and forth. This is a male vermilion flycatcher I was focused on when the female flew into the frame, he reacted then took off.
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jeffryscott said:
Pro-capture in the OM-1 is truly magnificent, allowing me to get photos I basically could never have gotten, or at the very least, not routinely taken with my previous Sony A1. The OM-1 with 150-400 is a killer combo for these types of shots. For certain aspects, it is a game changer and OM made it a seamless process to go back and forth. This is a male vermilion flycatcher I was focused on when the female flew into the frame, he reacted then took off.View attachment 64967View attachment 64968View attachment 64969View attachment 64971
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My question is, "Why were you in Pre-capture?" Wee you waiting for the bird to fly?

Regards,
Tom
 
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Tom Reynolds said:
My question is, "Why were you in Pre-capture?" Wee you waiting for the bird to fly?

Regards,
Tom
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For small birds like the Vermilion, I would routinely have it in pro-capture for take off shots like these as unlike raptors, there are few indicators of when they may take flight. The combo of pro-capture and 50fps gave me a small selection of sharp photos with ideal wing position amongst all the images to cull.
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