Machine gun photography

[Don Hoey]

Originally Posted by yelvertoft

Bbbwwwaaaahhhhaaaaahaaaa!

I know I've had a bottle of wine since I last logged on, but this really made me laugh!!!!

I've just come back too. Christmas lights search.

I reckon Andy's just baiting me to go back and look.
Well a quick visit after a glass seemed ok.
Looked at his profile and nearly fell over - Bill McIntyre has 650 galleries and 137478 images online. Mostly the same breed as well . This guy should have been in the movies.

I cannot believe anyone can post stuff like this in their gallery but then......I guess it what the dogs think of it http://www.pbase.com/billmcintyre/image/53158333

ENOUGH or we will become as crazy as the posters on this DP Review thread !!

Agree back to topic.

Don

[Skipton]

I agree, Don..... ENOUGH! But; I just couldn't resist taking a "gander" at his galleries.... the mans "barking" mad

[Tannin]

There is a place for it. OK, not the fruitcake mad style linked above, but in wildlife work there is certainly a place for the machine gun method. I commonly take over 1000 shots in a day, nearly all birds, and yes, sorting through them is a very long and tedious task. But you do get shots that you wouldn't have got otherwise. Every once in a while, something magical does happen, and if you hadn't kept the shutter button down for that extra second or two, you would have missed it.

[postcardcv]

The sheer number of shots that this guy has rattled off does sound a bit over the top. That said I always have my 350D set to burst shooting, normally only shot 3-5 shots in a go though. With active birds you can get the composition and light right, but you're still dependant on the bird looking the right way at the right time, a short burst gives a fair chance of getting the shot.

I'm quite happy to trawl through photos in the evening, I actually enjoy doing so. An average day taking shots of birds I usually end up with about 2-300 shots to go through.

[Karl_R]

In light of this post I feel I have to share a guilty secret I have been hiding for many years.

Having always been a dedicated Canon user I managed to wait a whole 4 weeks before blowing my entire savings on a T90 when they were introduced - desparate to impress my mates I spent hours demonstrating the impressive 5fps wind (without film as I couldn't afford any after buying the body) and the accompanying "Canon Clatter" shutter noise to anyone slow enough not to run away.

Unsurprisingly this was fine until a crunch and deathly silence shortly ensued - off to Canon went the body and cue the call from a Canon service engineer.

"When we downloaded the frame count it read 8000 frames have been taken, in view of it's age we find this a little surprising"!

"My, my, how can that be - I simply don't understand it officer"

Amazingly I received a warranty replaced body within 48 hrs, good old Canon, but lets face it haven't we all had a play once in a while?

[Don Hoey]

A wonderful tale Karl.

I did it too when I finally managed to afford my first drive for my Nikon FM, but not to that extent though.

Don

[greypoint]

There is certainly a place for shooting long bursts when you're trying to capture things like flying birds - one of the great joys of digital - I'm not proud I know I'd get about one a month with film! I have also been involved with the world of show dogs for a very long time [not much now] and have to tell you the obsession with one breed is not unusual. There are those who will visit the cinema to watch a film for a few seconds in the opening sequence where their favourite breed is seen - and sleep through the rest of it! I find a burst of 3 or 4 shots is usually enough to capture the fleeting expression of a dog though - can't imagine taking 1000 per canine!!

[Tom Charles]

Got the guy his publicity; im sure he may well be the one smiling now

[Don Hoey]

A thought has just occurred to me and that is of purchasing used digital slr's. In the old days obvious signs of body wear - brass showing through, on black camera's could be taken as a sign of how much life was left. On chrome camera's, no dings or scratches generally referred to light use by previous owner(s).
In view of numbers of frames shot per session exampled above, do members recommend buying used at all. An apparently 'MINT' camera could be about to fall over with a dead shutter.

Don

Even a well kept DSLR shows signs of use just like any other equipment, on the 20D the paint peels off the hot shoe. One of my 20D's has taken 29,000 images but it does not look too bad.