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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Olympus lens for birds in low light! (1 Viewer)

flossiepip

Well-known member
Very happy with my E M5 75-300 lens for most birding situations but when it comes to birds in native bush here in NZ there is a need for something different. Generally birds can be relatively close but the light will nearly always be poor even on a good day. Any suggestions!
 
If cost is no object, the 300 mm F4 prime is likely your best option. It also offers the advantage of dual image stabilization, which allows shooting at lower shutter speeds. (Though I'm not positive that is supported on the E-M5). It also has an extender which converts it into a 420 millimeter lens; though using it reduces the minimum aperture to F5.6.
 
Different class! Different price too.... Up to 300mm I think it looks really good, but I don't like what I have seen at 400, but then, I have been spoiled by my 400/5.6 Canon prime. The only zoom I have seen that does not fade on the long end is the new Canon 100-400 Mark II, but it is a bit more expensive than the Panasonic/Leica. It is every bit as sharp as my prime at 400mm and has considerably less CA off center.
 
Very happy with my E M5 75-300 lens for most birding situations but when it comes to birds in native bush here in NZ there is a need for something different. Generally birds can be relatively close but the light will nearly always be poor even on a good day. Any suggestions!

How comfortable are you with post-processing? upping the iso, shooting raw and get the best out of what you already have might be one way forward. Using ACDSee, I did not find the learning curve as bad as I expected it to be.

Secondly, the lens mentioned in this thread would give you more light but the penalty would be less reach: http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=340433

Niels
 
Very happy with my E M5 75-300 lens for most birding situations but when it comes to birds in native bush here in NZ there is a need for something different. Generally birds can be relatively close but the light will nearly always be poor even on a good day. Any suggestions!

50-200. Gives you f3.5 at 200mm and perfectly usable wide open.
 
I've been using the Oly 40-150 f2.8 Pro, with and without the 1.4x teleconverter on my EM5 II. Had it with me all the time during a month in the cloud forests of Costa Rica. Never even pulled out the oly 75-300 f4.8-6.7 that I had also brought with me.

Someday I will get the the 300 Pro.
 
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