How many frames per second is enough? Part 2

When someone is shopping for a new camera, one the attributes that is often brought up is the “fps” or frames per second. New cameras have markedly improved frame rates compared to DSLRs just a few years ago. Do you need 60fps or 30fps? That certainly can produce a daunting number of images to sort through at the end of the day. However, what that frame rate also does is to sometimes capture “the” moment. With the increasing emphasis on “action” or “telling a story” in our images, this can mean the difference between a winner and a loser. This image is an example of that. My wife, Deb, shot this image of two Saffron Finches in Brazil last summer. She used a Canon R7, 100-500 mm zoom (at 500 mm), SS 1/1600, ISO 400, f/7.1, EC -0.7 (dark BG and she wanted to avoid blowing out the yellows). This camera is capable of 30 fps (electronic shutter) or 15 fps (mechanical shutter) but when the battery level drops below 50% the fps slows way down; indeed that was the case here.
A millisecond before this frame was shot, both of these finches were singing to each other with their beaks open wide as they belted out their song. Although this is a nice image, if the camera had caught them a millisecond earlier, it would have been a terrific image.
Processed in PS with birds brought slightly up and cropped slightly from top and R.