Bird Photography With The OM-1 MK II: Trying out its best feature

Thanks for the video, Brent. I’ve been using Olympus/OMDS cameras and lenses since 2008. I presently mainly use the OM-1 w/ the 300 and 150-400 PRO lenses for wildlife and bird photography and I believe your experience and comments on the system are actually spot on and align with my experience. I feel you have been giving it a fair review. I’m sticking with the system for a number of reasons, mainly being there are some real innovative features in the bodies, like Pro Capture and others, I have a lineup of beautiful M. Zuiko lenses, I commonly will hike over 5 miles during a bird shoot and the system travels on planes really well. And most importantly I just really like carrying and using the system. It makes photography enjoyable to me. Thanks for your reviews.

Was a Canon shooter starting way back with AE-1. Switched to OM with release of OM-1 primarily for wildlife photography. Very enjoyable system to use.

Camera lady is excellent at her job.

Pro Cap SH2 @ 25 fps in the cross pattern sensitivity at +2 Pre 15 images and total of 25 so as not to deal with too many images - remember you can't control the direction the of the birds departure flight..... use in a BIF custom Mode and enable the mode change from static birds by remap the depth of field button the the front of the camera ......C - AF + M.... this is my fourth camera with ProCap E-M-1 Mk II and Mark III then OM-1 and MK II presently, it took me a year to come to final settings for the 150-400 f/4.5 using the 300 f/4 is just as good 'cept for the foot zoom though , it is sharp ! when you get the settings right, you'll be happy more of the time......it's so customizeable......

Thanks for taking a look at the OM-1. I shoot the Lumix G9 and 100-400mm lens and have found that camera more capable than commonly thought in YouTube circles. That said, however, I have to admit I don't like using the camera above 1,000 ISO unless I can fill about 50% of the frame with my subject and buttery smooth backgrounds are hard to achieve. However, it's surprising how seldom these limitations have been a problem for me and I can always count on my kit to be lighter than full-frame gear. I'm looking forward to trying out the G9 Mk2 in the near future.

The OM-1 II & the 150-400 is a fantastic kit. Can carry it around all day. Pro capture on the m4/3 system is amazing. Recommend that you carry the kit by the lens foot. Holding by camera is putting a lot of stress on the camera/lens mount. I have taken images at 8000 ISO and with noise reduction have amazing images. No focus system is 100%. I am not good at keeping birds in frame all the time, but pro capture focus works very well. I sue to use Canon from 2007 to 2017. in 2019 switch to m4/3 and no regrets. I got some really good images of a Belted Kingfisher with the OM1 with 150-400 tc1.25 and the MC-14 using pro capture. In my case, the operator messes up way more than the gear.

thanks for the video! do you cull the pics in camera or do you just download the all and then cull them? that would fill the hard drive with a bunch of unwanted files wouldn't it

Very nice pictures that you did capture. Get a hat dude.😊

Use AF continuous with only subject detection. Turn the tracking off. That is Lee Hoy, an OM Ambassador and birder recommendation. Also, your hesitancy to crank the ISO to get a fast enough shutter speed might be part of the softness issue. IMO, the built in GND is the coolest feature and eliminates the need to bracket.

7:00 and make sure you are in continuous shooting mode, I made that mistake Tuesday I went to shingle shot for a couple flower photos a d forgot to change it back to continuous and missed a nice shot of a cardinal.

It is interesting hearing your comments and experience with the OM-1mkII and the monster 150-600. All m43rds cameras have had this type of 'pro' or 'pre' capture for some times. As did my Fuji X-T3/4 and H-2S. I changed recently from the Fuji system and I would have gone with the R7+100-500 but for its awful implementation of its pre-capture system (as you mention). Once you've experienced good pre-capture it is difficult to do without it. I just hope that for Canon users like yourself the R5II comes with a similar easy to use pre-capture function. I will admit that the other main reason for going Olympus is size and weight. I am about 30 years further on that you are and the weight and dimensions of the Olympus system are a relief after so many years of toting heavier gear on hikes. That is the main reason why I would never use the 150-400; way too heavy! I like my OM-1 with the 300f4 and although as you point out the AF is inconsistent, when it all comes together the results are fantastic. Keep making these great videos, Brent. Even though I am not a Canon shooter I enjoy your work very much.

What camera and lenses would you recommend for a beginner photographer who is interested in astro and landscapes?

I think you answered a lot of your own questions about the OM1 vs Canon R5 especially AF.

The main reason for the micro four thirds is the weight and size, so for example I can easily ride my motorcycle with the system slung round my neck and quickly stop if I see for example finches darting along the field and get the shots, or if I do tree climbing for a canopy shot. So it has its place as a versatile photographic companion when on the go.

I haven't really used pro capture myself, but I suspect that like learning to capture birds in flight it takes some practice to get good results.

A very fair review I think although I feel there are some things you could have done to get a better experience. AF on the OM-1 can be dramatically sped up using the in-camera AF Limiter feature. Not many people are aware unfortunately. It's a feature not found in other camera brands AFAIK. It's allowed me to take very sharp pictures of very small and fast birds in flight like swifts anf swallows. Also I use ProCapture even for regular birds in flight photography, not just for those "take-off and landing" photos. Helps to capture instances of unexpected happenings (e.g. other birds crossing the frame, bird suddenly dropping its catch) that would be almost impossible to catch on other systems. Also DXO PureRAW is indispensable when it comes to processing the generally noiser pics from m43 systems. It beats most other NR software I've tested by a mile.

Thanks for that as a R6ii shooter l actually like the precapture set up Canon have implemented as a half second is about perfect and the way puts the images in it's own file is great as you pretty well know which images you want so you just pull them out of the file and put in with all the rest of your shots instead of having hundreds of images to go through, but what makes it unusable is the dreaded Canon buffer.

I was in NC for work and headed to a wildlife preserve..hung out for awhile an got quite a few common yellow throats and blue-grey gnatcatchers!

Ive had owls flying towards me and AF has picked it up all the way. did you use +2 on the tracking, I only use +2 for flight shots coming towards me, the rest of the time +0

Thanks for that video. Loved it. Yep, you complained a bit about the softness of some of your pictures. However, I am still impressed with them. Myself I slowly get the knack with big birds in flight because, well, they are big and (usually) slow. But these little effers? That's a whole other story and I admire everyone who gets decent BIF shots with the kind of little birds that you took pictures of.