Burst Mode Photography

Burst mode is a shooting mode in still cameras, most notably single-lens reflex cameras which allow several photographs to be captured in quick succession by either single pressing the shutter button or holding it down. This is used mainly in mixed-light conditions or when the subject is in successive motion, such as sports. The photographer can then select the best image of the group or arrange them in a sequence to study the transitions in detail.

1. Shooting images so quickly means your camera will not usually have time to directly save your images to your memory card. Instead most cameras have a ‘buffering’ system that stores the shot up until you finish shooting. It then sends them to the card. The more shots you take the longer it will take after you stop shooting before you can start shooting again as the process does usually take a fair bit of processing power from your camera.

2. Most cameras have a limit to how many shots they will allow you to take in this mode. The number of shots allowed will depend upon numerous factors including the format you’re shooting in (ie RAW files are bigger and you can’t shoot as many in a row) and the size of images you’re shooting.

3. Some cameras have a predetermined number of shots that they will take in ‘burst mode’. i.e it might take a sequence of 5 shots instead of just shooting until you release the shutter.

4. The more shots you take the quicker you’ll run out of batteries and the faster you’ll fill your memory card – so shooting all day in continuous mode will mean you will need backups.

5. When shooting a moving image you might need to think about your focusing strategy. Some DSLRs have a continuous focusing feature to help with this but in simpler cameras you might find that the focusing just can’t keep up.

6. It can take a bit of practice to use continuous shooting mode in order to get the right number of shots. Some cameras are more sensitive than others when it comes to their shutter release and in some cases it’s difficult to take just a single shot.