Is anyone exploring the Olympus OM-1 for birds and wildlife?

If you would like to post, you'll need to register. Note that if you have a BCG store account, you'll need a new, separate account here (we keep the two sites separate for security purposes).

Member's gallery
I have been using Nikon Z9 500 pf and OM-1 with 300 f/4 pro lens

1. Sharpness and reach- superb and very comparable
2. Subject isolation - similar.. have to watch the background for good isolation with both
3. Focus capability- can go toe to toe with Z9, but the auto subject detection in Z9 wins hands down IMHO. on the olympus, you have to commit to subject detection algorithm upfront; and for BIF i think nikon CAF tracking is slightly ahead at this time, but OM-1 is not bad. You will have focus They can easily catch up with firmware upgrade, being a stacked sensor with fast read out- 1+ for nikon
4. weight- OM-1 wins; featherweight in comparison
5. Resolution- nikon wins
6. Video- Nikon wins with firmware 2.0; for my purposes , either will do ; upto UHD 120 fps on OM-1 or 4K 120 on z9- both are awesome and OM1 beats nikon hands down with stabilization but falls behind in resolution.. post production seeing on youtube, and likes, resolutions dont make much of a diff.
7. procap on z9 is jpeg only, hopefully will have raw capability in the near future; OM-1 gives raw at 50 fps preburst with CAF and metering and 120 without CAF
8. menu and customization and feel of camera- all subjective measures
9. computational photography in OM-1 love live ND, hand held hiresfor static subjects
 
Member's gallery
With the Olympus 100-400mm lens one has the equivalent of a 200-800mm lens that weighs only 2.46 lb as compared to the Nikon 200-500mm with a weight of 5.1 lb or the Sony 200-600mm with a weight of 4.65 lb which is why people have been migrating to MFT for years. My backpack and kit for Costa Rica weighs 37 lbs whereas my wife's Olympus MFT kit weighs less than 18 lbs. Mine fits in a 32L backpack and hers fits inside a 18L backpack with room for her laptop.
 
Member's gallery
Calson said:
With the Olympus 100-400mm lens one has the equivalent of a 200-800mm lens that weighs only 2.46 lb as compared to the Nikon 200-500mm with a weight of 5.1 lb or the Sony 200-600mm with a weight of 4.65 lb which is why people have been migrating to MFT for years. My backpack and kit for Costa Rica weighs 37 lbs whereas my wife's Olympus MFT kit weighs less than 18 lbs. Mine fits in a 32L backpack and hers fits inside a 18L backpack with room for her laptop.
Click to expand...
I have the d500 and 200-500, and also the OM1. I'm an Olympus user from way back, but jumped over to the d500/200-500 just for the AF and reach in a wildlife combo. At the time, to get anywhere close with Olympus was the em1x and 300mm F4 Pro, at a much higher price. Now considering selling the d500/200-500 and getting the 300 F4 or 100-400.

I'm curious on a comparison between the 200-500 and the Oly 100-400 from an image quality/sharpness and AF ability standpoint. The weight difference is a known entity. Have you done any direct comparisons between the two?
 
Member's gallery
I've had some more time with this camera and I'm still very impressed. I'm catching shots that would have required much more effort and, quite frankly, luck with my past DSLR cameras. I'm ok with 20 mp as I'm not cropping much and it's much quicker loading and going through photos now that I'm dealing with sequences of 25 pictures for a single shutter press.

Here's an example from the weekend using the pro capture feature. Western Wood-Pewee
 
Member's gallery
I have shot with olympus OM-1 side by side with nikon Z9

my observations in a nutshell pertaining only to birding and wildlife. I dont shoot more than 20fps with either of those cameras.

1. advantages of olympus- size, weight, raw in procapture mode ( Z9 will hopefully get RAW support) ; ibis for video is phenomenal with long lenses
2. advantages of Z9- slightly better AF, better battery life, better tracking in CAF, more video codec options and 8k video, 4k 120 with caf

both have excellent CAF, but tracking on olympus needs some more work ( firmware fix) .
olympus glass is very comparable to nikkor z glass both in terms of sharpness and resolving power

love the color rendition on both systems
 
Member's gallery
riseform said:
I've had some more time with this camera and I'm still very impressed. I'm catching shots that would have required much more effort and, quite frankly, luck with my past DSLR cameras. I'm ok with 20 mp as I'm not cropping much and it's much quicker loading and going through photos now that I'm dealing with sequences of 25 pictures for a single shutter press.

Here's an example from the weekend using the pro capture feature. Western Wood-Pewee
Click to expand...
Very nice shot, your previous hummingbird shots are beautiful with super bird to background separation and gorgeous colours. I'll be watching your posts as I also shoot with the D500/500pf combo and have just received the OM-1. Just waiting for the 300mm f4 and 1.4tc to arrive . Can I ask if you have any recommendations for setup videos for the OM-1 for BIF? The computational features and general landscape setup seems well covered on youtube.
 
Member's gallery
Rook said:
Very nice shot, your previous hummingbird shots are beautiful with super bird to background separation and gorgeous colours. I'll be watching your posts as I also shoot with the D500/500pf combo and have just received the OM-1. Just waiting for the 300mm f4 and 1.4tc to arrive . Can I ask if you have any recommendations for setup videos for the OM-1 for BIF? The computational features and general landscape setup seems well covered on youtube.
Click to expand...
Thanks and congratulations, I think you're going to be very happy.
Sadly, I'm still very naive when it comes to video (not my primary interest) and have yet to even look into video settings for the OM-1.
 
Member's gallery
riseform said:
Thanks and congratulations, I think you're going to be very happy.
Sadly, I'm still very naive when it comes to video (not my primary interest) and have yet to even look into video settings for the OM-1.
Click to expand...
Thanks, looking forward to getting into it! Sorry, I just re-read my previous post and noticed it's not very clear.
I'm also not too familiar with video settings. I was wondering if you have any recommendations for a tutorial on BIF set up on the OM-1? I'm guessing that there must a good video or guide somewhere?? There are plenty of examples of BIF work on YouTube, but I've yet to see a camera setup video from a wildlife shooters perspective.
 
Member's gallery
Here's a good one for the OM1:

mirrorlesscomparison.com

OM System OM-1 Settings: Birds in Flight and Much More! - Mirrorless Comparison

This article is a follow-up to my OM-1 Review. In this post, I go in-depth about the autofocus and stabilisation settings, while giving you examples and tips on how to customise the camera. Please note that, although the following is based around my work with bird photography, I’ve also included...
mirrorlesscomparison.com mirrorlesscomparison.com
 
Member's gallery
Pwdrhound said:
Here's a good one for the OM1:

mirrorlesscomparison.com

OM System OM-1 Settings: Birds in Flight and Much More! - Mirrorless Comparison

This article is a follow-up to my OM-1 Review. In this post, I go in-depth about the autofocus and stabilisation settings, while giving you examples and tips on how to customise the camera. Please note that, although the following is based around my work with bird photography, I’ve also included...
mirrorlesscomparison.com mirrorlesscomparison.com
Click to expand...
Thanks, I'll check that out
 
Member's gallery
Rook said:
Thanks, looking forward to getting into it! Sorry, I just re-read my previous post and noticed it's not very clear.
I'm also not too familiar with video settings. I was wondering if you have any recommendations for a tutorial on BIF set up on the OM-1? I'm guessing that there must a good video or guide somewhere?? There are plenty of examples of BIF work on YouTube, but I've yet to see a camera setup video from a wildlife shooters perspective.I
Click to expand...
Sorry, I misread your post. I unfortunately haven't found a "Steve" for OM Systems complete set up recommendations. Everything for me is still a work in progress.

I enjoyed the above mentioned review and insights. Here's another source that you may not have seen with recommendations for OM-1 settings at the bottom of the blog post.
www.oxbowphoto.com

OM Systems Olympus OM-1 for Wildlife - First Impressions Review — Oxbow Photography

OM-1: Making Photography Fun, Again TLDR Summary After three short days of use, it is obvious to me that the OM-1 is a great camera, and easily the most substantial upgrade in OM cameras since the E-M1 II was introduced. The OM-1 takes all of what was great in the prior models and improves upon j
www.oxbowphoto.com www.oxbowphoto.com
 
Member's gallery
riseform said:
Sorry, I misread your post. I unfortunately haven't found a "Steve" for OM Systems complete set up recommendations. Everything for me is still a work in progress.

I enjoyed the above mentioned review and insights. Here's another source that you may not have seen with recommendations for OM-1 settings at the bottom of the blog post.
www.oxbowphoto.com

OM Systems Olympus OM-1 for Wildlife - First Impressions Review — Oxbow Photography

OM-1: Making Photography Fun, Again TLDR Summary After three short days of use, it is obvious to me that the OM-1 is a great camera, and easily the most substantial upgrade in OM cameras since the E-M1 II was introduced. The OM-1 takes all of what was great in the prior models and improves upon j
www.oxbowphoto.com www.oxbowphoto.com
Click to expand...
Thanks for the link. I'm guessing you must be quite pleased to get those hummingbird shots so early in play with the OM-1..
 
Member's gallery
Tom Reynolds said:
I expect to evaluate the OM-1/100-400 against the R7/100-500 in early July. I plan to purchase both setups, evaluate them and return (if I can) or sell (used).
Click to expand...
That 100-500 Canon feels very light and well balanced, including fully extended, with the R5 and also with the R3. I was given the opportunity to briefly try both combos and was very impressed with the feel of the lens and also how easily the autofocus kept up with BIF.
 
Member's gallery
Rook said:
That 100-500 Canon feels very light and well balanced, including fully extended, with the R5 and also with the R3. I was given the opportunity to briefly try both combos and was very impressed with the feel of the lens and also how easily the autofocus kept up with BIF.
Click to expand...
Good Info, Thanks. I am struggling to get good info about these two rigs.

The OLY gets most of its overall weight reduction because the Oly 100-400 weighs 2.46# while the Canon 100-500 weighs 3# (presumably without the removable collar removed on both.)

However, the Canon is shorter 8.19" vs 10.45" fully extended so it may balance and carry better.

Further, and important to my wife, the Canon has a MFD of 2.95' vs 4.27'.

Jan Wegener indicates I need a new workflow for Canon Raw but otherwise his ergonomic analysis is relatively useless to me because I always shoot auto-ISO and he does not.

Tom
 
Member's gallery
riseform said:
Sorry, I misread your post. I unfortunately haven't found a "Steve" for OM Systems complete set up recommendations. Everything for me is still a work in progress.

I enjoyed the above mentioned review and insights. Here's another source that you may not have seen with recommendations for OM-1 settings at the bottom of the blog post.
www.oxbowphoto.com

OM Systems Olympus OM-1 for Wildlife - First Impressions Review — Oxbow Photography

OM-1: Making Photography Fun, Again TLDR Summary After three short days of use, it is obvious to me that the OM-1 is a great camera, and easily the most substantial upgrade in OM cameras since the E-M1 II was introduced. The OM-1 takes all of what was great in the prior models and improves upon j
www.oxbowphoto.com www.oxbowphoto.com
Click to expand...
Andy Rouse has a nice setup video, with good situational examples.
 
Member's gallery
Tom Reynolds said:
Good Info, Thanks. I am struggling to get good info about these two rigs.

The OLY gets most of its overall weight reduction because the Oly 100-400 weighs 2.46# while the Canon 100-500 weighs 3# (presumably without the removable collar removed on both.)

However, the Canon is shorter 8.19" vs 10.45" fully extended so it may balance and carry better.

Further, and important to my wife, the Canon has a MFD of 2.95' vs 4.27'.

Jan Wegener indicates I need a new workflow for Canon Raw but otherwise his ergonomic analysis is relatively useless to me because I always shoot auto-ISO and he does not.

Tom
Click to expand...

If you are happy with the 500mm fov, there is the PL50-200, which accepts tc, and also the cheaper Olympus 75-300 ii, which, I’ve found very impressive from a rendering pov, but not sure how good it’s AF is, and based on images I’ve seen posted on other forums the PL100-400 is an excellent option on the OM-1

ProCap will work with CAF on Panasonic lenses in SH2 at 25fps.
 
Member's gallery
As someone who shoots both Nikon (including Z9) and Olympus (including OM-1), my input. To compare overall image quality between the Z9/500PF and the Om-1/300mm involves some serious pixel peeping. Both are terrific and you can't go wrong. The advantage of the Z9 is that larger sensor and greater ability to crop. Also, at higher ISO the larger sensor holds up better. Otherwise, the Olympus 300mm f4 is a fantastic lens and it's a stop faster. You choose. I am fortunate enough to also have the Olympus 150-400mm zoom, which is fantastic, not all that large and heavy, and it zooms, which is a big, big deal when one is, for example, photographing birds from a blind, as I was recently in Texas. It also takes TC's really well, and IQ at full zoom and Olympus' 2x teleconverter remains very, very sharp and clear.

On the other hand, on this most recent trip to Texas I took all Nikon gear (my son, who accompanied me, uses Nikon and I wanted us to be able to share gear). I took my now venerable Nikon 600mm F4G, very heavy but a wonderful lens. This is a non-scientific, impressionistic conclusion, but I really thought that the 600mm on the Z9 "popped" remarkably. I took photos of a Yellow-billed cuckoo from about thirty yards away and the detail was otherwordly. So I fell in love with my Nikon gear again. But I also love the Olympus, especially when I have to travel via smaller airplane and the 600mm lens seems like an oversized anvil. I will be a lot happier with Nikon when they (finally) come out with the 200-600mm Z zoom, but I suspect this will be a while, given the state of supply chains, COVID-related manufacturing delays in China, etc.

Oh, I also used the Z9's new "preburst" feature to great success on this trip. Much fun shooting Golden-fronted woodpeckers and Green jays arriving and departing from perches. The images are JPEG only, but the results were still terrific. Lots of bad frames to get one or two good ones, but that' show this type of shooting goes. Otherwise I would have said here that the "Pro Capture" feature of the Olympus is almost reason enough to go with Olympus over the Nikon.
 
Member's gallery
A review of the 100-400 lens indicates softness at or near the long end (400mm) and recommends the Panasonic Leica DG Vario-Elmar 100-400mm F4-6.3 ASPH instead. UPDATE: Other reviews dispute this. Reviews of the Panasonic indicate a bulky zoom ring. CONCLUSION: I will purchase the OLY 100-400

ProCapture "preburst" for the 100-400 Olympus lens is 25 f/s and I assume that it will be the same with the Panasonic. Unlike the Canon 100-500, the Panasonic has a lock that prevents extension when carrying but lacks the ring on the camera that Canon has that can be programmed to change exposure compensation.
 
Last edited:
Member's gallery
Pretty amazing that a $2200 OM-1 MFT camera holds its own with a $5500 Z9 camera. Unfortunately with the parts shortage the Olympus cameras are not going to be easy to find and buy until July.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top