If in doubt, throw money at it…!

OM System has had Pro Capture Mode for years, the Canon R1 now has Pre-burst Capture and the Nikon Z8 and Z9 have Pre-release Capture. However, Sony doesn’t have any equivalent, and that used to be very frustrating. My two ⍺1s were probably the best on the market for wildlife photography, but they couldn’t ‘turn back time’. So what did I do? I exchanged one of them for a Nikon Z8!

Why?

The whole point of pre-release capture is to help you take better action shots—whether it’s lions mating, a leopard jumping up a tree or a bird taking off. It could be anything unpredictable, and wildlife has a habit of doing unpredictable things!

As soon as you half-press the shutter or press the back button to focus, the camera starts buffering images. When you start taking pictures, it writes all those buffered files to the memory card plus the ones you take normally and even a few after you’ve taken your finger off the shutter!

That obviously means you have a few more frames to look through afterwards, but it’s a huge net benefit if you want to capture unpredictable action, such as birds taking off, because it means you don’t have to have great reflexes. You can simply wait for the moment, safe in the knowledge that you have a second or so to press the shutter. The camera will take care of the rest.

In my case, I was particularly keen on getting shots like the one above, showing birds like the lilac-breasted roller spreading their wings just at the moment they took off with their feet still touching the branch.

I took that shot a few years ago, but I was very lucky. My Nikon D850 didn’t have pre-release capture, and I just happened to press the shutter at the right time! The reason I bought my Z8 was to give me a chance to take more photos like that.

How?

Settings

The settings you need for pre-release capture obviously depend on your camera, but it’s fairly straightforward with the Z8. You simply have to put it in burst mode—either at 30, 60 or 120 fps. The camera will then automatically use pre-release capture.

If you forget which mode you’re in, there’s a PRE icon in the electronic viewfinder (EVF). A little green dot appears whenever you half-press the shutter or press the AF-ON button (if you’re using back button focus).

You can also choose how long the camera buffers images, both before and after you fully press the shutter. If you press the Menu button, go to the Custom Settings Menu (shown by the pencil icon) and choose Shooting/display, you’ll see Pre-Release Capture options (d3).

There, you’ll find the options for the length of the pre-release and post-release bursts. The pre-release options are None, 0.3 s, 0.5 s and 1.0 s. The post-release options are 1 s, 2 s, 3 s and Max (which is around four seconds).

And that’s it!

Missing Options

While we’re on the subject of settings, though, I should mention a few missing options. Sadly, the Z8 doesn’t offer Raw shooting with pre-release capture like the Z9. It might get it in a future firmware update, but in the meantime, it offers various JPEG formats that depend on the frame rate:

• 30 fps: JPEG Fine (using the whole 45.7 MP sensor)

• 60 fps: JPEG Normal DX crop mode (19 MP)

• 120 fps: 11 MP JPEG

I first used my Z8 on a trip to Zambia in July 2024, but I’d forgotten about the file size limitations—even though I’d read all about it when reviewing cameras for Expert Photography and Camera Reviews!

I chose to shoot at 120 fps on my first day, but I quickly realised my mistake when I looked at my pictures back at camp…

Another difficulty when using pre-release capture is the lack of customisation on the Z8. When I bought mine, I was used to having the three drive mode options on the main exposure dial of the Sony ⍺1, but the Z8 doesn’t have any.

Instead, it has four memory banks that are hard to access and don’t revert to the defaults if you change the shutter speed, aperture or any of the other settings. That’s a real pain, and it means it’s not easy to switch between different types of shots—which was the main reason I switched from the Nikon D850 to the Sony ⍺1 in the first place!

For example, if you’re taking portraits of an animal and you spot a bird on a branch, you might want to change your camera settings. With the ⍺1, that’s easy. You just create different presets and turn the main dial to select the right one. You don’t have to worry about having the right settings because they’re all saved for each preset.

However, the Z8’s lack of presets forces you to change the shutter speed, frame rate and subject detection mode manually—and it ain’t easy! The rear dial controls the shutter speed, but it’s not a one-touch button or option, so you have to spend time making sure it’s exactly the one you want.

If you’ve just been taking animal portraits, you’ll probably be shooting in Raw at a maximum 20 fps. However, you need to be at least at 30 fps to use pre-release capture, and again, there’s no easy fix. To change the frame rate, you have to use your left thumb to press the frame rate button on the top plate and your right thumb to rotate the rear dial one step to the right to go from 20 to 30 fps.

It’s even worse for subject detection. Yes, there’s an Auto mode that’s supposed to do it for you, but, in practice, it’s very unreliable. It slows down the focus acquisition time and sometimes even prevents eye detection completely!

That means you have to choose your subject manually—but you can’t assign that to a custom button (as you can on the ⍺1), so you have to press i on the back of the camera, make sure AF-area mode/subj. detection is the active option and turn the front dial one step to the right to get from animal to bird detection.

All that slows down the whole process of changing settings, and that’s a disaster when trying to photograph fast-moving action. I’m a great believer in the Two-second Rule, which states that you have to be able to switch settings in less than two seconds if you want to get the shot before your subject changes position. With the Z8, you don’t have a hope!

It’s impossible to change all your settings while looking through the viewfinder, and it’s even worse if you’re shooting handheld with a long lens. You’ll be supporting it with your left hand, so you’ll have to put it down somewhere just so you can change the frame rate!

Camera Technique

Once you’ve chosen the right settings, there’s not much to think about when you’re actually shooting. You don’t really need to do anything differently. It’s just a lot less stressful as you don't have to worry about missing the money shot!

You obviously need to remember which mode you’re in, and the PRE icon in the viewfinder is handy for that. However, the main difference is probably in your approach. More great images are suddenly made possible, so you can set yourself previously impossible targets, challenging yourself to take photos of the moment an African fish eagle takes flight, say, or a leopard jumps down from the trunk of a tree.

Alternatively, you can cut down on the number of images you need to go through by simply focusing on your subject and waiting for it to do something interesting. If it doesn’t, you never have to press the shutter!

For example, I recently went to Mana Pools, and I wanted to capture a few of the frisky, young, male impalas jumping as they galloped. I could’ve taken a long burst as they galloped past, but instead, I simply used back button focus to activate pre-release capture—knowing that all I had to do to take a picture of a jump was to press the shutter up to a second afterwards.

Verdict

Pre-release capture is like a time machine for wildlife photography, allowing you to capture fast-moving action and unpredictable behaviour. If you happen to have a camera that offers it, you should definitely check it out. If you don’t, it might be worth investing in one that does, such as the OM-1, the Canon R1 or the Nikon Z8 or Z9.

If you feel you’re ‘locked in’ to the wrong manufacturer, it might still be worth jumping ship to take advantage of it. Many professional photographers now have gear from different manufacturers, and owning two brands of cameras lets you take advantage of the best features of both (see article).

I now go on safari with a Sony ⍺1 fitted with a 70-200mm lens and a Nikon Z8 fitted with a 600mm lens with a built-in 1.4x teleconverter. Again, that’s something Sony just didn’t offer, so I’m happy now to be able to take the shots I want with the equipment I need.

If you’d like to order a framed print of one of my wildlife photographs, please visit the Prints page.

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