Canon’s DSLRs come with a variety of continuous shooting speeds, ranging from 2.5 frames per second on the 300D (AKA Digital Rebel/Kiss Digital) to a whopping 14 frames per second on the high-end 1D-X. If you want to get a taste of what these shutter speeds sound like on the actual cameras, check out the comparison video above by YouTube user dochero2005. Read more…
When Fujifilm announced its latest wave of X-Series cameras earlier this year, the company stated that the big area they’re focusing on is “speed”. The new X20 and X100s feature extremely speedy autofocus, burst speed, and startup time. The ‘s’ in X100s may officially stand for “speed,” but it could just as well stand for “silent” or “stealth”. Both cameras feature extremely silent shutters that won’t attract attention while you’re snapping away.
The video above by nycphotog2006 shows how silent the X20 is even while the leaf shutter is fluttering at a staggering 12fps. Read more…
Sony’s latest addition to their Xperia line of smartphones isn’t known for its camera as is, for example, the new HTC One. But even though it doesn’t feature “Ultrapixels” or 41 or the regular type like the PureView, it can capture 999 photos in just 68 seconds. Read more…
Needing a way to test the speed of memory cards, Jaroslav of Crazy Lab realized that camera shutter sounds can do the trick. By recording the sound of his Canon 600D snapping away in continuous burst mode and then viewing them audio file, he was able to visualize the card’s speed and compare them against each other. He also learned some things about burst speed and ISO/format:
As you can see, the burst length is getting shorter with rising ISO. The time camera needs to write the buffer to the card is also significantly grown. The reason is the noise. On higher ISO settings we getting more noise in picture and noisy pictures are not good for compression. The RAW-File size (black picture shouted with closed lens cap) varies from 19MB @ ISO100 to 32MB @ ISO12800.
Also interesting is the comparsion of burst speed shooting in RAW versus JPEG. While the burst length with JPEG files is virtually infinite (with fast sd-card), the burst speed is slightly lower.
You don’t need anything fancy to do this experiement: Jaroslav used a webcam mic and the free audio program Audacity.
Kai over at DigitalRev put together this video that offers photography advice in burst mode: 50 (or 49) short and sweet tips in less than 15 minutes. If you take yourself too seriously, be warned: the tips are presented in Kai’s trademark “infotainment” style. Read more…
Canon’s new 1D X can shoot full frame 18-megapixel JPEGs at a whopping 14 frames per second with mirror-lockup. Drop down to 12fps, and you can shoot RAW images while continuously tracking the subject using AI Servo mode. Here are a couple videos that give you a feel for what 14fps on the 1D X is like. Read more…
Fast Burst Camera is a best-selling Android app that upgrades your phone camera’s FPS to 5 to 10 frames per second, allowing you to capture action shots by spraying, praying, and selecting the best image afterward. On high end phones, the FPS can even go up to a crazy 30FPS. Like with the burst mode on DSLRs, holding down the shutter will fill up your buffer, and you’ll need to wait for it to clear before continuing. The app can be purchased from the Android Market for $3.63.