GOA – An Indian Wildlife Documentary – Shot on PIXBOOM Spark and LUMIX Cameras

At the end of October, we published our first hands-on review of the PIXBOOM Spark, a new high-speed camera by the Chinese startup PIXBOOM. Back then, we teased footage that I shot in Goa, India. Now, the full documentary is online. Curious to hear and see more? Then read on …

It is the beginning of September. I am starting to pack my gear for the upcoming business trip to India, where I will mostly visit customers and speak at a conference. Still, I also plan to use an extended weekend to visit some special places in Goa with my dear Indian wildlife friends. This time, they recommended making a film about the Cotigao wildlife sanctuary, butterfly gardens, and their owners.

A Tamil Lacewing butterfly. Image credit: Gunther Machu

I consider myself very lucky to have made some close friends in the Indian wildlife community over the years, and this time, Parag Aklujkar, Jaayant Deshpande, and Vijay Gaikwad joined me. These guys have superb local contacts, which allow a depth of insight you won’t get if you just visit these places as a tourist – a very important aspect of any documentary.

Exploring the Western Ghats in Goa at the end of the Monsoon. Image credit: Gunther Machu

While discussing the story and the animals/insects we wanted to cover, it became clear that this film would be a lot about macro shots, close-ups of butterflies, and also damselflies.

Stream Ruby damselfly shot at 600fps / F8 / 1100mm equiv. focal length. Image credit. Gunther Machu

Damselflies are especially difficult to film as they move super fast, almost invisible to the naked eye. I quickly realized that 4K/120 frames per second (available on my LUMIX GH6) wouldn’t cut it.

Hence, I reached out to Nino and Johnnie and asked if there was any upcoming camera that could shoot higher frame rates. And as luck would have it, they were just about to leave for IBC 2025, where the Chinese startup PIXBOOM would exhibit the first two prototypes of their new high-speed camera, PIXBOOM Spark.

PIXBOOM Spark high-speed camera. Image credit: PIXBOOM

PIXBOOM quickly agreed that I could take one of the IBC prototypes with me, which effectively resulted in delivery of the camera on the night before my morning flight to India.

Which made me a little nervous. What if… I usually prefer to test any new camera before a shoot like this.

However, it turned out that the camera worked just fine, and I thoroughly enjoyed using it. It has a very organic, detailed image, and I shot all sequences in open-gate 4.6K, between 480 and 600 frames per second. Open-gate came in very handy, as it increased the frame size and thereby the chances of catching good shots. In hindsight, especially for the damselflies, I could have cranked up the frame rates even more, as 600 fps was still not enough for the starting / or landing sequences – but see for yourself.

Please have a look at our first-hand review of the PIXBOOM camera here and also our coverage at IBC 2025 here. Plus, we should mention that they received our best-of-show award there as well! Serial production units should start shipping sometime at the end of January, hence soonish.

Malabar Banded Peacock shot at 480fps. Image credit: Gunther Machu

As elsewhere around the globe, land-use conversion to farms, the use of pesticides, and changes in monsoon rhythms due to global warming are starting to have an impact on the insect and butterfly populations in Goa. Some butterflies are endemic to Goa, such as the Malabar Banded Peacock shown above.

But there are beacons of hope – local people who start conservation initiatives and build up butterfly gardens, often as a side activity to their official jobs on farms. My goal for this documentary was to bring these people in front of the camera and highlight that ordinary individuals can take action to help conserve nature. The Indian government has also designated areas for conservation, including the Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary, which we visited.

There, I was quite amazed to see so many snakes. One venomous pit viper picked the bush next to our bungalow as its place to rest for the night. A bit scary initially, but very educational for me in the end. Snakes are not at all interested in getting close to us. Quite the opposite, actually. When a bamboo pit viper crossed the road on our way to the restaurant, there was just pure excitement on my end and no fear (somehow, if you put a camera between you and the animal, it feels safe …).

Bamboo Pit Viper. Image credit: Parag Aklujkar

In total, I used three cameras for this film: the PIXBOOM Spark for all the high-speed shots, a LUMIX S1 for the interviews, and a LUMIX GH6 for close-up/macro shots. In addition, I brought a SIGMA 18-35mm F1.8, a Canon 50mm F1.2, and a Canon 100-400mm 4.5-5.6 IS II with a 1.4X teleconverter. I am glad nobody asked me to put my backpack on a scale before boarding my flights … it would have weighed around 23kg (vs. the allowed 8kg).

But now, let’s just put all technical aspects aside – if you are interested, I would be grateful if you’d watch my film!

If you are interested in pre-ordering the Pixboom, please click here.

Please let me know your feedback, and I am happy to answer any additional questions in the comments section below!