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Retrograde capture of peak moment before you press the shutter button!

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Today, DPReview has a video by Vincent Laforet on the 8K "Red Weapon".

At first glance one would think in a time of ever capable cell phones and fabulous Mirrorless cameras that the "Lambergini" class camera series used by Nature videographer-photographers, RED, is of little relevence to those of us who need to scrimp and save just for one new lens.

Here is my reaction:


"Vincent,

You've infected us a new meme, like "exposing to the right", "pixel peeping" and "peak moment" of an event, and this is "shooting back in time" to capture that unexpected and fleeting moment. Red needs to invest little of its massive computing technology and flash memory reserves to have a 60 second buffer from continuously recording as 60 frames per second in 8K. This means when a whale breeches with a porpoise in its jaws, one can go back in in time for 60 seconds and choose from 3,600 RAW images at 36MP for the "retrospective peak moment"

This is a real game changer for sports, wedding and nature photography.

Is it possible that one could upload firmware into any current Canon, Sony or Fuji, Panasonic or Olympus Mirrorless camera and do that too, but for a shorter period of retrograde time?

Asher"
 

Michael Nagel

Well-known member
Red needs to invest little of its massive computing technology and flash memory reserves to have a 60 second buffer from continuously recording as 60 frames per second in 8K. This means when a whale breeches with a porpoise in its jaws, one can go back in in time for 60 seconds and choose from 3,600 RAW images at 36MP for the "retrospective peak moment
Based on the file size of the K-1 this could mean >180GB per such an exercise. Just to have an idea...
Selecting the right image will take some time...

Is it possible that one could upload firmware into any current Canon, Sony or Fuji, Panasonic or Olympus Mirrorless camera and do that too, but for a shorter period of retrograde time?
Why? The Fuji X10 had a 'Best Frame Capture' feature which was certainly slower, had less resolution and less memory depth, but it did basically the same.
A short video provides an explanation. You will probably find similar features on several smart-phones and some cameras.
The sensor and image processing must provide fast readout and an electronic shutter (shuttercount!) would avoid excessive wear of the mechanical shutter. This is not for every old camera.

Best regards,
Michael
 

Jerome Marot

Well-known member
Indeed: that feature has been available for quite some time on video cameras. It was called "pre-record" or "loop recording". I think the Casio Exilim P&S were amongst the first photo cameras to offer it in photographic resolution.

Here discussions of the feature dating back to 2008: Panasonic and Casio.
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Thanks, Michael and Jerome,

My experience is mostly with Canon, Sony and Ricoh!

I thought that there might be some loop buffer in some cameras, but with the Red it's a ~ 35 Megapixel still that one can get and that allows an exhibition print up to 40" to 80" high.

I would love to have such a loop, pre-record buffer on a Sony Mirrorless such as the A9. Perhaps they have done that already!

Asher
 

Jerome Marot

Well-known member
Memory cards are cheap nowadays. You could simply let the camera record continuously and edit out the beginning of the video.
 
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