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

[smkunder]

I have had my OM1 and the 100-400 about two months. In general I love the camera, the focus accusation is fantastic. The lens is good, but really does need good light. I have no regrets purchasing this combo, at at my age I truly appreciate the weight. I think OM systems has a hit with this one. Glad to see more folks getting involved with OM.

 

[Tom Reynolds]

My OM-1 setup

Stationary: 1/1000 ss 10f/s mechanical
BIF: 1/3200 ss 20f/s electronic.

It appears that subject recognition is influenced more by the size of the subject when the background is cluttered. Shooting the hummingbird on the tangerine tree @ 25-30' I had multiple in focus eyes even when the bird was mostly obscured. On the Lantana bank which is a good 10' further (35-40') away however, the camera did not recognize the hummingbird. In contrast, the camera did recognize a bigger bird on the Lantana bank even when ISO was 25,600.

Tom

 

[Tom Reynolds]

It also appears that subject identification: birds works best when the eye is visible. With the attached shot the camera didn't recognize the bird right away but once it did it tracked it nicely, even as the bird took off. This is a small bird at 20-25'

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[agrumpyoldsod]

The reviews thus far seem to indicate a very real upgrade re high ISO and auto-focus. The whole computational photography thing plus the build quality, portability and small size make it seem like an attractive potential option.
Any thoughts folks?

Many folk who buy into the OM1 micro 4/3rds system want the performance of a flagship full-frame camera in a much smaller (138.8mmx91.6mmx72.7mm), "lighter" (599g including battery and card) and cheaper package (£1,999 body only) and the OM-1 is another great step forward for OM (I still call them Olympus).
Sure it provides "only" 20.4 MP (effective) images in normal single shot mode and 10fps (settings can be changed to increases) - it also provides a 2x crop vs- Full-frame and so a 300mm has an effective focal length of 600mm.
The OM-1 is larger and heavier than the APSC/DX Nikon Z50 and it is out-performed in every specification by the APSC FujiFilm X-H2S (which is a similar size and slightly heavier)
If I was looking for an new system APSC I would be looking at the X-H2S rather than the OM-1

The legend that is Andy Rouse is an OM ambassador and one can view his content on his YouTube Channel or website.

 

[Palmor]

The OM-1 is larger and heavier than the APSC/DX Nikon Z50 and it is out-performed in every specification by the APSC FujiFilm X-H2S (which is a similar size and slightly heavier)
If I was looking for an new system APSC I would be looking at the X-H2S rather than the OM-1

Exactly which specifications does the Fuji outperform the OM-1? The only thing I can think of is it's slightly better ISO (bigger sensor) and a slightly faster sensor read speed (for rolling shutter). Other than that I'm not sure how it outperforms the OM-1.

 

[Tom Reynolds]

I looked at the X-H2S and the 150-600 lens. The combination is certainly a consideration but weighs almost a pound heavier than the OM-1/100-400.

It is closer in weight to an OM-1 and a 150-400 F/4.5 and has roughly the same FF equivalent reach. With the 150-400 it appears that the OM-1 outperforms the X-H2S.

 

[LTK]

I had chance to try a friends OM1 300mm f4 and 150-400 over the weekend , unfortunately the weather was poor. Ideally I wanted to try it with birds in flight but the lighting conditions just wasn't suitable to get decent shots so will try again another time. With both of those lenses the subject acquisition is fast , it grabs quicker than my A1 200-600. Both lenses are very sharp, noticeably sharper and more contrasty than my 200-600 for perched .File quality looks good as long as crops was minimal , I found they looked rougher than my A1 but the poor lighting probably didn't help .
The OM1 body feels ok smaller than my A1 , finger grip doesn't feel as deep so it took a little getting used to. The menus looks to provide plenty of customisation. I'm looking at the OM1 + 150-400 as an alternative to the 600mm f4 GM for my A1 . I really like the 150-400 with the built in TC , it feels better balanced than my 200-600 . I'll certainly need to try again though before making the decision which way to go , it seems a nice camera to use though

 

[Palmor]

Like I mentioned previously, I've had the OM-1 for a few weeks but hadn't doing any birding with it until this last weekend. My primary kit is a Sony A1 with the 200-600 and 600 F4 and I'm looking for the OM-1 to be my light weight option when I don't want to or can't bring the big stuff. It will never replace the 600 F4 and I wouldn't expect it to. We all know the pro/cons of a smaller sensor so I'm not going to get into that as it's been beaten to death on every forum

Along with the OM-1 I picked the 300 F4 (not going to spend the money on the 150-400 with so much already invested in Sony). So I got up at 4am to hit the local National Wildlife Refuge before the heat would ruin any chance of a single photo to try to run it through its paces.

In short, I'm very impressed. I can really see it as an M43 version of the A1 in a lot of ways. AF is fast and subject detection works great. It can lose focus against busy backgrounds but so can the A1 (or any other mirrorless camera I've used). In terms of AF there probably isn't anything you can't shoot with it (at least based on my limited experience so far). It was wonderful to sling around such a light setup (compared to either of my Sony) and makes me miss my 500PF

The cons (for me) compared to the A1 (and I know this isn't a fair comparison based on price along) is that I'm 100% spoiled with the 50MP of the A1. Cropping for smaller birds is limited and you are quickly in the 4-6 MP range. To get the same effective reach I'll have to use it with the 1.4x TC just about all the time. The 100-400 zooms would allow more reach but you take a hit on IQ over the 300 Pro prime so I didn't want to go down that route. Really the 150-400 is the answer, and if the Sony 600mm f4 wasn't an option for me I would seriously consider it.

The cropping really hit me when I the "Gray Ghost" flew by.. first time I've had the chance to photograph one and with great light. I would have loved the extra pixels! Other than that there wasn't much going on (photography wise) but here are some sample photos from the morning.


Male Northern Harrier (Gray Ghost)
Cropped to 6.6MP

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Uncropped Male Northern Harrier (Gray Ghost). Camera kept focus on the Harrier even with all the swallows around

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Swallow in flight, with the 1.4x TC and cropped to 6MP

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Female Red-winged Blackbird, cropped to 7.6MP

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Great Egret with breakfast, cropped to cropped to 10.8MP

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[wildpics]

PL200 f2.8 next to my Nikkor 500 f4, which it replaced

Weight-wise the PL200 f2.8 is the same as a Z400 f4.5 so not keen on this. I prefer to use zooms with the OM-1 and Primes with FF. Olympus has a gap in a reasonably priced 70-300 Pro lens.

 

[santiago]

Just an update as I finally received my OM-1 a few days ago. The purpose for this post is to:

(i) wholeheartedly thank forum members for sharing your wisdom, it really has made such a difference for me. I am so grateful to all of you, especially to (a) @faunagraphy, as he was the first one that mentioned the OM-1 to me and (b) @fsi22, whose detailed tests convinced me to give it a go.

(ii) recommend members who face the same BIF conditions that I do ((a) small bird, (b) moving erratically and fast, particularly at take-off and (c) with a busy background i.e. bird camouflaged at take-off, (d) very difficult initial focus acquisition: the bird is hidden in the heather and it suddenly bursts explosively into life) to consider testing the OM-1.

My set up is: OM-1 + 300mm f/4 PRO + EE-1 dot sight (the dot sight is quite useful if your technique can be improved like mine). I have only tested this a few days but my preliminary conclusion is that for the described conditions this setup performs very well mainly because (a) the keeper rate is noticeably higher as a result of fast focus acquisition and the 50fps and (b) the difference in weight when hiking and shooting handheld is a big plus.

I attach a picture below, nothing special about it (losing the light, framing not ideal, etc.) other than it is useful to illustrate my point. The picture is uncropped, and that is key: it was very close and very fast and the camera focused... I had failed at this situation so many times over the years.

Thank you again everybody for your invaluable input!

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[Palmor]

It did pass the swallow test...

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[Pauhana]

Was finally able to test out the OM-1 for 4 days using the 100-400 Olympus. Was impressed with system that am ready to pack up my Canon gear and make the move.

 

[Pauhana]

Just an update as I finally received my OM-1 a few days ago. The purpose for this post is to:

(i) wholeheartedly thank forum members for sharing your wisdom, it really has made such a difference for me. I am so grateful to all of you, especially to (a) @faunagraphy, as he was the first one that mentioned the OM-1 to me and (b) @fsi22, whose detailed tests convinced me to give it a go.

(ii) recommend members who face the same BIF conditions that I do ((a) small bird, (b) moving erratically and fast, particularly at take-off and (c) with a busy background i.e. bird camouflaged at take-off, (d) very difficult initial focus acquisition: the bird is hidden in the heather and it suddenly bursts explosively into life) to consider testing the OM-1.

My set up is: OM-1 + 300mm f/4 PRO + EE-1 dot sight (the dot sight is quite useful if your technique can be improved like mine). I have only tested this a few days but my preliminary conclusion is that for the described conditions this setup performs very well mainly because (a) the keeper rate is noticeably higher as a result of fast focus acquisition and the 50fps and (b) the difference in weight when hiking and shooting handheld is a big plus.

I attach a picture below, nothing special about it (losing the light, framing not ideal, etc.) other than it is useful to illustrate my point. The picture is uncropped, and that is key: it was very close and very fast and the camera focused... I had failed at this situation so many times over the years.

Thank you again everybody for your invaluable input!

View attachment 45041

Wonderful capture

 

[Tom Reynolds]

John-
It is not clear to me why you would need an ee-1 dot site for these shots. Did you not get a Bird frame?

 

[Palmor]

John-
It is not clear to me why you would need an ee-1 dot site for these shots. Did you not get a Bird frame?

Wasn’t me with the dot site, it was Santiago

 

[santiago]

John-
It is not clear to me why you would need an ee-1 dot site for these shots. Did you not get a Bird frame?

It allows you to compose the picture (with the 300mm) when the bird is really close and takes off fast. Most likely someone technically better than me (easy) could get a lot of the shots without it, but in my view not all of them

 

[fsi22]

It allows you to compose the picture (with the 300mm) when the bird is really close and takes off fast. Most likely someone technically better than me (easy) could get a lot of the shots without it, but in my view not all of them

I use the dot sight very often. The OM-1 AF is so good that using it allows me to track with wider fov. The dot sight is incredibly useful.

One of my favourite purchases.

 

[Tom Reynolds]

I am continuing to learn how to use the camera. I have never been able to adjust the exposure compensation while looking at the viewfinder and I have never needed to worry what AF zone I am in.

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[Tom Reynolds]

Of interest is that I am working with the Olympus 100-400mm lens. I haven't done anything with the 300 f4 except check it out.

Most evaluators are using the 300 f4 or the 150-400 f4.5 but my wife and I prefer the light weight and flexibility of the zoom. The issue is that now I am using a f6.3 lens, not a F4-4.5 and high ISO becomes a problem if I want the shutter speed that I typically used on the D-500. My standard shooting setup is F6.3, 400mm, 1/3200 sec and 0 exp compensation. With this setup I need to pay attention to high ISO while I wouldn't with a F4 lens. I could drop the shutter speed but if I do so and the bird takes off my shutter speed would be slow.

The solution seems to pay attention to the histogram, keeping the image bright but not blown out. If this is accomplished, then initially running the images through DXO Pure Raw 2 seems to create a good .DNG file for further processing. This is why my wife and I have been focusing on changing the exposure compensation while viewing a bird-in-flight in the viewfinder. Our solution to date:

1-The OM-1 has small buttons and wheels. It is relatively difficult to press, hold and rotate. The back wheel is much easier than the front wheel as it protrudes further and does not have a ridge that gets in the way. That means that either of the two front buttons need to be programmed for exposure compensation. My wife likes the lower button. I like the upper button. It all depends on your hand size.

2-Even with the right button programmed and significant experience at press-hold/rotate, we can't get the EXP COMP changed fast enough to get from 0 exposure compensation to what is necessary for either a white bird or a black bird as it pops into the frame. Our solution is to program C2 to electronic shutter 20 f/s, 1/3200 ss and +1.3 exposure compensation and C4 to the same and -1.3 exposure compensation. These buttons are push on-push off buttons and are easy to use. Typically, we find these values close for the Snowy Egrets and Red Wing Blackbirds we practice on.

The value of this is that we get confused less. The ISO button adds 1.3 exp comp or whatever it was last set to and the AF-ON subtracts 1.3 exp compensation or whatever it was last set to while a no Custom Mode engaged starts at 0 exp comp and is adjusted to normal conditions. We have three separate exposure compensations starting settings and one doesn't interfere with either of the two others.

One may ask why I am using two of the four custom modes for such mundane adjustments when the camera has so many cool features. The answer is that BIF is what I want to shoot. I have C3 set tp ProCapture but in that mode I typically have time to adjust the exposure compensation via press-hold/rotate.

With a F4 lens none of this is probably necessary. It wasn't with my D-500/500pf f5.6 but with a higher f/stop and greater crop factor getting the histogram correct appears to be impotent.

Regards,

Tom

 

[Pauhana]

Thanks for info Tom. Have been torn between Ordering 100-400 or 300 to start. Rented oly 100-400 and think I will go with that for same reasons you stated. Intial funds will limit what I can order also at least until I trade in Canon gear.

 

[Tom Reynolds]

Thanks for info Tom. Have been torn between Ordering 100-400 or 300 to start. Rented oly 100-400 and think I will go with that for same reasons you stated. Intial funds will limit what I can order also at least until I trade in Canon gear.

You might try for a used lens on FredMiranda. That is where I purchased my 300pf. I think you should budget for DXO Pure Raw 2 if you go 100-400 although OM Workspace also has good noise reduction.

 

[Barbara]

Of interest is that I am working with the Olympus 100-400mm lens. I haven't done anything with the 300 f4 except check it out.

Most evaluators are using the 300 f4 or the 150-400 f4.5 but my wife and I prefer the light weight and flexibility of the zoom. The issue is that now I am using a f6.3 lens, not a F4-4.5 and high ISO becomes a problem if I want the shutter speed that I typically used on the D-500. My standard shooting setup is F6.3, 400mm, 1/3200 sec and 0 exp compensation. With this setup I need to pay attention to high ISO while I wouldn't with a F4 lens. I could drop the shutter speed but if I do so and the bird takes off my shutter speed would be slow.
. . .
With a F4 lens none of this is probably necessary. It wasn't with my D-500/500pf f5.6 but with a higher f/stop and greater crop factor getting the histogram correct appears to be impotent.

Regards,

Tom

I realize you're discussing the 300 f/4 here, but I'm curious about your experience with the 100-400 compared to the D500/500PF combo. You now have a lens that's 1/3 stop slower, but with a little more reach. And of course a somewhat smaller sensor in the camera. How do you find the noise and other IQ parameters with the OM-1/100-400 vs the D500/500PF?

 

[Tom Reynolds]

I realize you're discussing the 300 f/4 here, but I'm curious about your experience with the 100-400 compared to the D500/500PF combo. You now have a lens that's 1/3 stop slower, but with a little more reach. And of course a somewhat smaller sensor in the camera. How do you find the noise and other IQ parameters with the OM-1/100-400 vs the D500/500PF?

Barbara-

I am discussing the 100-400 not the 300f4 and I outlined the steps needed to get equivalent IQ with the Oly 100-400 compared to the 500 pf. Essentially you need to make sure that you are exposing to the bright end of the histogram and need to use DXO Pure Raw 2 to reduce noise. Even then, the 500pf lenses that I had were sharp at f5.6 according to FOCAL and the 100-400 is not quite as sharp @ 400MM.

In terms of dynamic range the D-500 and the OM-1 are equivalent, about 1 stop less than a top-of-the-line FF camera.

However,.........

The OM-1 will automatically focus on the bird's eye while the D-500 in GRP AF mode will focus on the closest part of the bird making the image appear sharper. If the photographer can get the SP AF mode of the D-500 on the bird's eye while in flight, then the D-500 will produce a slightly better image. If not, the eye in perfect sharp focus means that the OM-1 will produce a shot that is more pleasing.

Put the 500pf on a Z-9 you will get a better picture but less reach so you must crop. I can't say which is better.

Tom

 

[AlfC]

Of interest is that I am working with the Olympus 100-400mm lens. I haven't done anything with the 300 f4 except check it out.

Most evaluators are using the 300 f4 or the 150-400 f4.5 but my wife and I prefer the light weight and flexibility of the zoom. The issue is that now I am using a f6.3 lens, not a F4-4.5 and high ISO becomes a problem if I want the shutter speed that I typically used on the D-500. My standard shooting setup is F6.3, 400mm, 1/3200 sec and 0 exp compensation. With this setup I need to pay attention to high ISO while I wouldn't with a F4 lens. I could drop the shutter speed but if I do so and the bird takes off my shutter speed would be slow.

The solution seems to pay attention to the histogram, keeping the image bright but not blown out. If this is accomplished, then initially running the images through DXO Pure Raw 2 seems to create a good .DNG file for further processing. This is why my wife and I have been focusing on changing the exposure compensation while viewing a bird-in-flight in the viewfinder. Our solution to date:

1-The OM-1 has small buttons and wheels. It is relatively difficult to press, hold and rotate. The back wheel is much easier than the front wheel as it protrudes further and does not have a ridge that gets in the way. That means that either of the two front buttons need to be programmed for exposure compensation. My wife likes the lower button. I like the upper button. It all depends on your hand size.

2-Even with the right button programmed and significant experience at press-hold/rotate, we can't get the EXP COMP changed fast enough to get from 0 exposure compensation to what is necessary for either a white bird or a black bird as it pops into the frame. Our solution is to program C2 to electronic shutter 20 f/s, 1/3200 ss and +1.3 exposure compensation and C4 to the same and -1.3 exposure compensation. These buttons are push on-push off buttons and are easy to use. Typically, we find these values close for the Snowy Egrets and Red Wing Blackbirds we practice on.

The value of this is that we get confused less. The ISO button adds 1.3 exp comp or whatever it was last set to and the AF-ON subtracts 1.3 exp compensation or whatever it was last set to while a no Custom Mode engaged starts at 0 exp comp and is adjusted to normal conditions. We have three separate exposure compensations starting settings and one doesn't interfere with either of the two others.

One may ask why I am using two of the four custom modes for such mundane adjustments when the camera has so many cool features. The answer is that BIF is what I want to shoot. I have C3 set tp ProCapture but in that mode I typically have time to adjust the exposure compensation via press-hold/rotate.

With a F4 lens none of this is probably necessary. It wasn't with my D-500/500pf f5.6 but with a higher f/stop and greater crop factor getting the histogram correct appears to be impotent.

Regards,

Tom

Thanks, Tom. That is a very interesting approach to controlling exposure fast when you have to. I will have to give it a try. It seems to me that OMDS (and other camera makers) are still not giving equal importance to the three exposure factors: aperture, shutter speed and ISO. We get easy fast control of SS and aperture but not ISO. Furthermore, we are more likely (for fast action birds) to want to alter the ISO, either directly or by exposure compensation, than aperture which I would be perfectly happy to have to control via a button hold and rotate. But so far as I know there is no way of swapping ISO (or compensation) to the front wheel. An better method, requiring a re-design of the body would be to add a third wheel to give equal importance to all three factors.

 

[fsi22]

Thanks, Tom. That is a very interesting approach to controlling exposure fast when you have to. I will have to give it a try. It seems to me that OMDS (and other camera makers) are still not giving equal importance to the three exposure factors: aperture, shutter speed and ISO. We get easy fast control of SS and aperture but not ISO. Furthermore, we are more likely (for fast action birds) to want to alter the ISO, either directly or by exposure compensation, than aperture which I would be perfectly happy to have to control via a button hold and rotate. But so far as I know there is no way of swapping ISO (or compensation) to the front wheel. An better method, requiring a re-design of the body would be to add a third wheel to give equal importance to all three factors.

Not sure, if I’m misunderstanding you but both dials can be swapped between ev, iso, wb, av/tv depending on mode, for each mode.

The Switch ( don’t know the official name ) can also be assigned to different exposure control. I used to use that on the ii/iii and X but now use it to switch between Small and ALL Focus Points.

I have my iso setup in 1 stop increments, but my Shutter does 1/3 stops. Back dial iso, front Shutter in Manual mode. I don’t use Aperture or Auto ISO in manual.

A 3rd wheel would be great but more than that, a Custom Hold setup like Sony has would be even more useful because then it frees up the Switch, which can then be used with Exposure settings.