Burst Mode in Xangle Camera Server is essentially a workaround. The only way to achieve bursts with supported cameras is by sending a continuous trigger signal for a pre-defined duration. Think of it as holding down the shutter button on a camera: we start the burst, but we cannot tell the camera when to stop or how many frames to take.

This has a few important implications:

• We cannot control the exact frames-per-second (fps) between shots.
• The fps rate depends on your camera model and settings.
• You can influence the capture rate by using longer shutter speeds or by selecting the camera’s built-in burst modes (e.g. high-speed vs. low-speed).

Since we cannot request a fixed number of images directly from the camera, you will need to:

1. Set the burst duration in Xangle.
2. Specify the number of images to keep. Any extra frames will be discarded automatically.

Best Practices & Limitations

• Use a sacrifice camera for flash sync: Fire your strobes from a camera with a longer shutter speed (e.g. 1/4s). This compensates for fps variability across models.
• Avoid mixing camera models: Different models have different burst speeds. If you must mix, using longer shutter speeds can reduce mismatches.
• Mirror lockup is not supported in Burst Mode.
• Camera buffer size is the limit: The maximum burst length depends on your model’s internal buffer.
• JPG vs RAW:
  • Smaller JPG resolutions allow more shots before the buffer fills.
  • Shooting RAW will quickly saturate the buffer.
• Using SD cards:
  • Having a card in the camera generally increases the number of frames you can capture (accessible through the hidden module at http://localhost:8091/memory-card).
  • Some recent models, such as the Canon R100, can shoot continuous RAW to the SD card.

Demo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCbkL7g9Oxs