Pre-capture is the best wildlife photography trick youre not using heres how I use the handy tool and which Canon, Nikon and Sony cameras support it

Date:
Sun, 20 Sep 2026 14:58:04 +0000

Description:
Sometimes your reactions arent up to speed to capture the key moment, and
it's gone before your finger has pressed the shutter button. That's where pre-capture comes in, and your mirrorless camera might just have the feature

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter If you followed the release of the new Canon EOS R8 Mark II, you might be wondering what the feature pre-continuous shooting is, otherwise known as pre-capture ( Sony and Nikon), Pro Capture (OM System), Pre-Burst ( Panasonic ) or Pre-shot ES ( Fujifilm ).

The feature has been around for a while now having been introduced by OM System (Olympus), and its slowly worked its way across brands and into affordable models, including the R8 II, Sony A7 V and Nikon Z5 II. I'm here
to explain pre-capture, and show you the benefit of this feature with images
I wouldnt have otherwise been able to capture without it. Lets dive in.
Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video here: What is pre-capture and how does it work? Picture this youve got your camera fixed on a subject, poised for the action to happen; athletes on the 100m start line, a
kingfisher on a branch that could take flight at any moment, a potential goal in a soccer match.

Sometimes your reactions arent up to speed to capture the key moment, and
it's gone before your finger has pressed the shutter button. Its exactly
these scenarios that pre-capture is designed for, and it's the feature that helped me get the images of birds in flight, where previously Id have missed the moment or simply settled for ones of them perched on branches. You may like How an award-winning camera trap transformed my backyard wildlife photography overnight I tested Fujifilm's 400mm F4.5 telephoto prime lens,
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Pre-capture gives you up to a 1 second head start (depending on the model) before the shutter is pressed, continually shooting (to a temporary buffer) before you press the shutter button, at which point the images shot in the specified time before the shutter button was fully pressed are recorded retrospectively. What would've happened without pre capture (Image credit:
Tim Coleman) With pre-capture on, it's typically initiated by half pressing the shutter button (or fully pressing an assignable button, such as the autofocus button), as is the case with the Sony A7 V I used to take the pictures in this feature. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from
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The Canon EOS R8 Mark II, for example, can shoot up to 40fps and offers up to 0.5 second pre-capture, meaning you can retrospectively record a 20 photo sequence in the half second before you press the shutter button. The Sony A7
V can shoot up to 30fps with up to 1 second pre-capture, so thats up to 15 images. (Image credit: Tim Coleman) How to use pre-capture effectively I recently got into bird photography and it didnt take me long to bag some beautiful photos of the varied birdlife in my local nature reserve and wetland, using some superb review gear including the Sony 400-800mm F6.3-8 super telephoto zoom lens .

As enjoyable as this hobby is (and it really is), soon enough I was considering how I could mix up the kind of photos I was making, besides stationary birds on branches. Pre-capture came to mind. How about capturing photos of the birds taking flight? What to read next The best camera for photography Can Sonys new RX10 V replace pro Sony mirrorless camera gear?
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Birds in flight is one of the toughest photography challenges as I found out during a recent hands-on with the Fujifilm XF 400mm F4.5 R LM WR lens at a birds of prey experience . And that was when I had some idea of where the birds would be flying. But wild birds in flight? Nigh on impossible, I thought.

I chose the most appropriate autofocus mode (in this case bird subject detection), the continuous high drive mode (30fps), set a suitably fast shutter speed to freeze movement (1/1000sec, wasn't fast enough it turned
out) and, of course, activated pre-capture. I started with the maximum time possible of 1 second, though the camera in question has options from 0.1 sec to 1 sec in full decimal points. (Image credit: Tim Coleman) Pre-capture helped me get the shots you see in this article, but there were a couple more non-technical ingredients in the recipe: an eye for the shot and, ultimately, patience.

Once I had the composition and subject I liked, I kept the camera locked in with the shutter half pressed and waited for the bird to take flight. Many times the bird was content for several minutes, and I could feel my finger / thumb burning by the time it moved.

On my first attempt I thought I had missed the moment even with pre-capture active, but low and behold my slow reactions were redeemed.

I think my patience has paid off. Yes, the photos of the birds stationary are still lovely, but the ones of them in flight in an already well-composed
scene take them to new heights.

There are plenty of other scenarios that benefit from pre-capture, and if youre a keen sports or wildlife photographer its well worth trying out Ive included a list of recent cameras equipped with the feature, plus shopping links, below. Image 1 of 3 (Image credit: Tim Coleman) (Image credit: Tim Coleman) (Image credit: Tim Coleman) Image 1 of 3 View Original Image 2 of 3 View Original Image 3 of 3 View Original Cameras with pre-capture The following cameras are listed as having each company's version of pre-capture: Canon EOS R1, EOS R5 Mark II, EOS R6 Mark II, EOS R6 Mark III, EOS R8 Mark II Nikon Z9, Nikon Z8, Nikon Z6 III, Nikon Z5 II, Nikon Z50 II Sony A9 III, Sony A1 II, Sony A7R VI, Sony A7 V OM System OM-1, OM1 Mark-II, OM-5 Mark II, Olympus OM-D E-M1 X, E-M1 Mark III, E-M1 Mark II, E-M5 Mark III, Tough TG-6, Tough TG-7 Panasonic Lumix G9, Lumix G9 II, Lumix S5 II / X, Lumix S1 II, Lumix S1 II R Fujifilm X-T5, X-T4, X-T3, X-T30 III, X-T30 II, X-T30, X-H2S, X-H2, X-Pro3, X100VI Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a
preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Today's best Canon EOS R8 Mark II, Sony A7 V, Nikon Z5 II, OM System OM-1 II and Panasonic Lumix G9 II deals Canon EOS R8 Mark II $1,899 View See all prices Sony A7 V $2,898 View See all prices Nikon Z5 II $1,596.95 View See
all prices OM System OM-1 II $1,999.99 View See all prices Panasonic Lumix G9 II $1,597.99 View See all prices We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices



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