Today I want to talk about a super cool feature that's becoming more common on mirrorless cameras, especially in mid to high-end models. It's called Precapture. And if you photograph action, wildlife, and especially birds, you're going to want to know about this. So what is Precapture? It's a setting that allows your camera to start recording images before you actually press the shutter. Yeah, you heard right. It's kind of like time travel for photographers.
The camera starts buffering images the moment you half press the shutter, and it holds on to the last second or so worth of photos, so when you finally hit the shutter all the way, you also capture the moments just before that press. The camera starts buffering images the moment you half press the shutter, and it holds on to the last second or so worth of photos, so when you finally hit the shutter all the way, you also capture the moments just before that press.
If this doesn't make sense to you, let me give you an example. You're shooting a bird perched on a branch. You're waiting for it to take off. You know it's coming, but you have no idea when. With pre-capture turned on, you lock focus, halfway press your shutter, keep it half pressed, and wait. The camera is quietly recording in the background. The moment the bird launches into the air, you press the button fully, and boom.
Your camera not only captures the takeoff, but likely the frames leading to it. Without pre-capture, your reaction time is likely too slow to capture it taking off. Again, you're not saving every second of that waiting time. Most cameras with pre-capture only keep the last X number of images. And they're constantly overriding the oldest ones while you're holding the shutter halfway. It's a rolling buffer.
Once you fully press the shutter, it saves that pre-buffer along with everything after until you release your shutter button. Some cameras let you customize how long the pre-capture buffer lasts or how many images it stores. That means you can tailor it to your style, whether it's fast-moving sports or the unpredictability of wildlife. So if you've ever missed the perfect split-second moment, a bird taking off, a child's surprise laugh, a goal at a game,
Precapture can be a total game changer. Just remember to explore your settings, practice with it, and make it a part of your shooting workflow when you're capturing unpredictable action. That's it for today. I hope it was helpful. And if you try out Precapture, let me know how it goes. Until next time, keep on shooting.
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