1. A digital camera for having a variable time duration burst capture mode, comprising: an image sensor for capturing a digital image; an optical system for forming an image of a scene onto the image sensor; a data processing system; a frame buffer memory for temporarily storing captured digital images; and a program memory communicatively connected to the data processing system and storing instructions configured to cause the data processing system to implement a method for capturing a sequence of digital images in the variable time duration burst capture mode, wherein the method includes: specifying a first frame rate; initiating an image capture sequence; storing a sequence of digital images captured at the first frame rate in the frame buffer memory; determining whether the frame buffer memory has been filled to a predetermined capacity, and if so: specifying a second frame rate, wherein the second frame rate is lower than the first frame rate; designating a set of stored digital images that can be overwritten; and storing a sequence of digital images captured at the second frame rate in the frame buffer memory, overwriting the designated set of stored digital images.