Steve Babbs
Well-known member
I can't wait for stock to arrive!
-
Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.
Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
New OM-1 (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Steve Babbs
- Start date
C B Allen
Chris Allen
Got back yesterday from 17 days dawn-to-dusk birding in Costa Rica absolutely thrashing the OM-1 (95% with 300mm f4 mostly with MC1.4, rest with 100-400mm), 2000km travel & over 150km on foot with no issues with camera even ignoring the inevitable tropical rain "showers". Still to review most of the 10k+ pics on a proper screen but very happy with what I've seen so far even without DxO post-process support for the RAW's until later in June.
From a practical point of view it's still the big deal that I find I can sling an M4/3 and long lens over my shoulder and carry it all day not bothering about the weight or weather. I'm sure ultimately you might get "better" pics from full-frame but for the "final" size I EVER use I just don't need better (by default if it's good enough to eBird, twitter and view on a 28 inch 4K monitor that's fine).
I've enjoyed using the EM1.2 & 1.3 for the last 2 or 3 years but the OM-1 - at least for bird photography - is on a different level. The 3 things I wanted (or) improved: autofocus, EVF & subject detection are all there. It is just so much more "usable". Plus with the already excellent IBIS it just makes a superb practical birding camera: for example, I was able to get workable shots of Scaled Antpitta in deep cover, in virtual dark with the 300mm f4 + 1.4TC at 1/5 second hand held ... sample attached along with a Prong-billed Barbet hand held in the rain at 1/160. Lastly a male Green-crowned Brilliant (also in the rain & poor light)
From a practical point of view it's still the big deal that I find I can sling an M4/3 and long lens over my shoulder and carry it all day not bothering about the weight or weather. I'm sure ultimately you might get "better" pics from full-frame but for the "final" size I EVER use I just don't need better (by default if it's good enough to eBird, twitter and view on a 28 inch 4K monitor that's fine).
I've enjoyed using the EM1.2 & 1.3 for the last 2 or 3 years but the OM-1 - at least for bird photography - is on a different level. The 3 things I wanted (or) improved: autofocus, EVF & subject detection are all there. It is just so much more "usable". Plus with the already excellent IBIS it just makes a superb practical birding camera: for example, I was able to get workable shots of Scaled Antpitta in deep cover, in virtual dark with the 300mm f4 + 1.4TC at 1/5 second hand held ... sample attached along with a Prong-billed Barbet hand held in the rain at 1/160. Lastly a male Green-crowned Brilliant (also in the rain & poor light)
Attachments
Steve Babbs
Well-known member
Great shots. Hoping to get this before I go to Uganda in a few months. Probably with the 100 - 400 lens. What ISO were they taken at?
C B Allen
Chris Allen
By default I left ISO at 3200 to enable me to get more usable shots of forest birds which often ended up with between 1/10 and 1/60 shutter speeds. Aperture was invariably wide open with or without a TC but then I'm happy using both the 300 & 100-400 that way and pre-tested using ISO 3200 before we went that the noise level is fine for my use (and knowing DxO will improve the RAW's anyway once supporting the OM-1). I did back off to ISO 800 (which I tend to use by default in the UK) in open country when I thought about it or noticed shutter speed had gone over 1/8000!
Not having to worry about being out in the rain a big plus from my old Canon days. If you're interested (& I remember!) I'll mail you a link to my Flickr pages once I've got some loaded. Enjoy Uganda: we were booked to go there back in the 1990's but unfortunately that was the year of the terrorist attack on the gorilla camps so cancelled & went to Bolivia instead. Perhaps one for the future depending on how my decrepit knees hold out.
Steve Babbs
Well-known member
I'm even more convinced that - when I can get my hands on one - this justifies the rather large hit to the wallet.
Last edited:
On my Pana camera, I have a setting of Auto-ISO with a max (currently set at 6400) which is what I always use. Is that an option on the OM1?
Niels
C B Allen
Chris Allen
Yes, there is the option to set auto-ISO (& with setting a max) but I chose to stay with setting ISO and (usually) max aperture and letting the shutter speed "float" as that's the way I normally shoot. The OM-1 was still pretty new to me before this trip so for the most part I stuck to the settings I had been using before going. I'm sure I'll experiment with other settings before our next trip now it looks like travel is back on the agenda.
C B Allen
Chris Allen
There have been a lot of comments on how the OM-1 compares to E-M1.3/E-M1X since release and I can entirely understand why there is some criticism that for many users it isn't a big step forward but in my (and other) opinion for bird/nature photography it's a huge improvement. I've always been first a birder with photography just incidental but since switching from Canon (APSC) to Olympus about 3 years ago I've found myself doing much more photography: mainly the combination of portability and IBIS with the E-M1.2 then E-M1.3 that mean I pretty much always carry a camera when birding. I took a bit of a gamble on the OM-1 by pre-ordering on the day of release (after reading the spec and viewing a couple of the early reviews) but have no regrets even though I know I've got much more to get out of it and I'm hopeful that the areas I (& others) still have issues with should be fixable with firmware upgrades.
For me, BIF's have always been a problem - even to the point I've often avoided them. With the OM-1 I'm finding them easy even against messy backgrounds. Bird detect mode in a lot of cases is excellent - but with the proviso that occasionally despite apparently locking onto a bird the shot can be thrown off by branches/foliage in the foreground (sure this must be fixable in the future?) so in complex rain forest situations where it struggled I fell back on standard AF without subject detection. Either way I mostly got usable shots and to be able to hand hold an effective 600mm or 840mm lens at sub-1/50 was something I couldn't have expected to work. Yes, it is a big hit on the wallet but then compare it to the top of the range Canon/Nikon/Sony bodies ...
The full review from DPReview is out:
www.dpreview.com
Niels
OM System OM-1 review
It says Olympus on the front, but the OM System OM-1 is about the future, not the past. It may still produce 20MP files, but a quad-pixel AF Stacked CMOS sensor, 50 fps shooting with full AF and genuine, IP rated, weather sealing show OM Digital Solutions' ambition. See what we thought.
www.dpreview.com
Steve Babbs
Well-known member
I feel any reviews are just to tease us at the moment.
C B Allen
Chris Allen
Hi Steve, currently just started out going through the 12k+ photos from our recent Costa Rica trip - all on the OM-1 (I had a 1.3 as backup which never saw daylight). Can only say that by the end of the trip I was totally comfortable with the new camera as there is nothing better than using a new piece of kit every day for 2 or 3 weeks for getting to really understanding it. For bird/wildlife photography it's on a different planet to the 1.2/3/x & only wish I could re-do the trip knowing what I do now (no doubt, success rate improved throughout the trip). I've just started loading a few examples into the gallery on BirdForum over the last few days & will eventually load lots more onto Flickr. If you've ordered one, good luck & hope it arrives before your Uganda trip. Can't wait for our next trip now it seems the world is opening back up.
Got editor's choice at ephotozine
Niels
Niels
I've been using OM-1 for a few months including a birding trip to Varanger in Norway. Bird AF increased my keeper rate for birds in flight. For birds-in-the-bush, I don't use it - having the smallest AF target and finetuning using manual focus works better for me. The AI stuff finds the bird behind the twigs, but then it focuses on the twigs in front anyway.
In terms of noise, I see an improvement but it's not ground-breaking.
The new menus are easier to use.
In terms of noise, I see an improvement but it's not ground-breaking.
The new menus are easier to use.
Steve Babbs
Well-known member
Does the OM-1 take third party spare batteries? The OM ones are expensive and seem to be as hard to get as the camera. In the unlikely event I can get a body before Uganda, it's not going to be of much use without a spare battery.
Steve Gantlett
Norfolk Birder
Well, I hope so as I've just ordered one from Amazon, and a Charger,
Did canon include a D in their mirrorless series? (no, not even to the R7 which seems to be the follow up to the 7D series). I think OM correctly realized the D would be superfluous and if included, they would have been seen as being behind the times.
Niels
C B Allen
Chris Allen
There appear to be a few BLX-1 clone batteries around: I've never had any problems with using clones for my older bodies so would hope that to be the case with the OM-1. I got my OM-1 in the first batch with the "free" spare battery so haven't bought any clones so far but will almost certainly get the JJB twin-battery charger (about £12) as I'm not keen on the in-body charging and the long-term wear on the cover over the charging point. At least the OM-1/BLX-1 combination doesn't seem too battery heavy: in Costa Rica I only had 1 day when I changed batteries - after 900+ photos but lots of waiting on birds using IBIS etc. On another day I took 2500+ images and still had 40% battery when we finished! Fingers crossed you get a body in time: it sounds like there is still a massive backlog of orders (as with other brands) ATM.
