How many FPS is enough?

James Babbitt · Mar 5, 2023

Canon EOS R7
RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM
ƒ/5
159mm
1/3200s
ISO 5000
Jim BABBITT
Fri, 26 August 2022 10:46 AM
DxO PureRAW 2

I certainly am aware of the limitations of this image but in looking at it I had to think about the many posts I have read in various forums about the every increasing capabilities of how many frames per second can a camera take. On the "never enough" side is the argument that by capturing X numbers of frames per second you have the best possibility of catching just the "right" position of the bird or animal. On the other side is the daunting number of images one has to look at and cull at the end of the day, to say nothing of the storage space required.
This image was taken with a Canon R7 in mechanical shutter mode (15 fps). I was using mechanical shutter to avoid the notorious "rolling shutter" this camera is known for when using electronic shutter (30 fps). Unfortunately by using the reduced frame rate, I missed the money shot. A millisecond after this shot, these two Booted Racket-tail females collided. The shot I captured after this one only shows both of the birds tumbling off the perch. Had I been able to capture the "in between" shot it likely would have been a 5 star shot.
Shot with a Canon R7, 100-500 lens (at 159), ISO 5000, SS 1/3200, f/5.0.
What makes this situation especially irritating to me is that I had an R5 sitting beside me that could have been used and I would not have worried about the rolling shutter. Well, maybe I would have caught the "right" frame and maybe not, but I will think about it for some time to come.

Jonathan Ashton · Mar 6, 2023

If you hadn't mentioned the detail I am sure most people would have said pretty good timing to catch the lower looking at the upper bird!! It is a little different to the many hummingbird shots we see of them hovering in anticipation of a sip of nectar - I like it. The red OOF flower head at the rear of the head of the lower bird is a little distracting, otherwise it looks pretty good to me.

Randy Stout · Mar 6, 2023

James:

How to capture the "decisive moment" has been an issue since photography began. Do higher frame rates help? Certainly, but short of taking ultra high speed video and scrubbing through it to extract the right instant, we are always going to miss the perfect moment a lot. I was just looking at a series of 20 fps images from the Z9 of a duck as it flew by. By pure chance there were essentially only 3 or 4 wing positions in the entire series. Full up, mid level, full down, over and over again. You could let up on the shutter button periodically for a beat or two to reset the timing, but of course, the bird would do something great while you were paused! I do think there is a diminishing return on your hit rate vs. time spent in post processing at some point. I am pretty pleased with the balance at 20 fps generally.

In regards to your image, as Jon mentioned, the pose of the lower bird is very interesting. I agree about the red around the head is a bit over powering . Both birds are a little soft for my tastes. It is the near misses that keeps going back to try it again!

Randy

James Babbitt · Mar 8, 2023

Jonathan Ashton said:
If you hadn't mentioned the detail I am sure most people would have said pretty good timing to catch the lower looking at the upper bird!! It is a little different to the many hummingbird shots we see of them hovering in anticipation of a sip of nectar - I like it. The red OOF flower head at the rear of the head of the lower bird is a little distracting, otherwise it looks pretty good to me.

Thank you for your thoughts. Yes, you are absolutely correct about the magenta OOF flower in the BG. I did not put in a lot of time on the shot as I thought is was marginal anyway because of the soft birds, but will give some clone work a try and see if I can take that out of the image.

James Babbitt · Mar 8, 2023

Randy Stout said:
James:

How to capture the "decisive moment" has been an issue since photography began. Do higher frame rates help? Certainly, but short of taking ultra high speed video and scrubbing through it to extract the right instant, we are always going to miss the perfect moment a lot. I was just looking at a series of 20 fps images from the Z9 of a duck as it flew by. By pure chance there were essentially only 3 or 4 wing positions in the entire series. Full up, mid level, full down, over and over again. You could let up on the shutter button periodically for a beat or two to reset the timing, but of course, the bird would do something great while you were paused! I do think there is a diminishing return on your hit rate vs. time spent in post processing at some point. I am pretty pleased with the balance at 20 fps generally.

Yes, whoever said, "Whatever fps you have it is always one too few". Whatever I have with the R series cameras, it is certainly a big improvement over the previous DSLRs I have used.

Daniel Cadieux · Mar 10, 2023

And now the newer mirrorless reaching 40 and soon even more frames per second! It's going to be nice when most cameras won't get those pesky rolling shutter effects when in ES in the future. Lots of unique poses to be found with this, and your image is no exception.