I am filing today an event and I’ll get one shot.  It’s actually a Steam Train going past ourhouse which doesn’t happen all that often especially when the weather is good(UK weather and all that).  

Thanks to some excellent help here I am now able to capturereally nice still images from video at 4096 x 2160 which I think is about 8Mp.

My Still images are at 4000x3000 and I have the advantage ofthe RAW images which incidentally I love for their flexibility.  

My bias is towards still BUT I can’t help be tempted tosimply video the event and then take still s that I want.  This way I get both video and some perhapscompromised stills.

I am not too happy with shooting stills in sequence and thespeed between each frame is not documented. 7 stills in sequence plus RAW is the way I was going to go but to me atleast it’s not a well-documented part of the P3.

So video is safe and I get both but with no RAW and lowerstill resolution.  The quality way,single objective would be to shoot the sequence of stills and make sure I getthe shot right.

Anybody facing similar dilemma with action shots?  Any advice?

I understand the dilemma. Like you say, video is the safest bet as you wil have many "frames" to choose from but downside is you loose quality and editability ( although you could colour correct the video first to get it better screen grabs ).

The way I look at it, getting shots from the perspective of a Phantom is always going to be better that anything you could get on the ground ( purely because of the vantage point ). Yes you ( and I'm guessing you are an avid photographer ) will not be 100% happy with the the quality of the image from a video capture but most people you show it too will be in awe.

For an one off instance where the subject mater will move away from you, I would go with video..

Thanks, sploodge,

It's the safest bet.  I have had an idea.  The shot I want is the train coming out of a tunnel.  You see with the line electrification soon all you will see is wires so we have a few months to get nostalgic shots before its spoilt (I'm not a train-spotter, promise!).  I think I will take video one way and then a sequence of stills the other way.  The lighting will be a little challenging in one direction so I'll shoot the RAW sequence into the light which will give me more flexibility to play with the images.  

You are quite right the vantage point is the big advantage here.  I have to keep an eye on twitter for when the train leaves Bath (they never run on time) and make sure I have the position and enough battery life to get the shots.  Actually the screen grabs are so good with a little work we will be able to print from them.

Cheers, thanks for your support...  It should be a fun day ....