Om1 -2 Settings for BIF's

 Down to 1/500 to capture the spray ISO2500

Birds on the ground are much easier to photograph and you can use a slower shutter speed so less noise

ISO 12800 F5.6 1/1000

These are the settings i use for birds in flight (BIF)

1. AF- C  (continuous auto focus)
2. all focus points
3. bird Identification
4. Eye focus
5. sequential shooting settings
6. SH2- 25fps
7. Pro capture SH2
8. ISO auto-to a maximum of 12800
9. RAW
10. 1/4000 to 1/5000 second
11. IS - on
12. Exposure compensation +0.3
13. silent shutter
14. Lowest F/number
15. at least a 128GB card (high speed) you will take lots of photos

Point the lens towards the subject and keep in frame, it is difficult, so practice needed as it is a narrow field of view.

Press shutter 1/2 way to engage Pro capture and full press to take photos, i normally set this to 15 before shutter is pressed and 20 afterwards- be prepared to take lots of photos but as it is set for silent shutter it doesn't count  as shutter activations so less ware and tear.

The smaller or more active the bird the higher the shutter speed should be set. Photos will be much better in good light which will also result in a lower ISO. Try 1/4000 for BIF and 1/1000 for birds on the ground, they are still moving feeding, preening etc

Always be ready and keep the bird in fame then follow it on take off, try for a clean background if possible.

all 1/4000 second F5.6 ISO12800

ISO 12800 F5.6 and 1/4000 second

All sanderling photos cropped by 25% and noise reduction (DXO) used

Olympus OM1-2

Does the Olympus OM1-2 give you an advantage over a Full frame camera. I would say yes. They say you cannot crop on a 4/3 camera and still get a quality photo

Using Pro capture & 50% crop

                                                                           50% crop
 

Full size image before crop

Crop from above 75% so photo about 5m pixels

ISO 25600 1/4000 F5.6  using pro capture

ISO 25600 1/4000 F5.6 using pro capture

some of the features of the OM1-2 

• Pro capture
• Live ND filters built in
• Starry sky focus
• Focus Stacking
• IP53 weather sealed 
• 8.5 stop stabilisation
• Double buffer size
• Black out free shooting
• High resolution up to 80mp
• Live composite
• Super sonic wave filter
• Improved AF
• Dynamic range

Pro capture- this is great for action shots such as the Black Redstart above, 1/2 press the shutter and it remembers a number of photos, press it fully down and you get these and a number of photos after pressing the shutter. so say 50 photos- 15 before and 35 after pressing the shutter. Be prepared to have 1,000's of photos from a photo outing. Make sure you shoot in silent mode so it doesn't record on the shutter count.

Live ND Filters. No need to carry around a number of filters and holders, this can be set up to ND128 and you can see it live.

Starry Sky Focus-  focusing on stars is a big problem but this automatically focuses on the stars, a massive bonus for Astro photographers, and it works.

Focus Stacking- If you are into Macro this is an automatic focus stacking system to ensure the whole subject is in focus. Takes 15 photos at various points then combines them in camera.

IP53 weather sealed which is great if you are in Shetland and you can go down to -10

8.5 stops of stabilisation, the best on the market as far as I know. Don't forget you need a speed to freeze the action. This is good to reduce camera shake, no need for a tripod

double buffer size. - this has doubled in size so when taking lots of photos in can download onto card and hold the remainder in the buffer with out stopping the shooting sequence.

Black out Free sequential shooting. In addition to the existing 25-120fps, they have added 12.5fps and 16fps for better shooting of static subjects

High Resolution shooting @ 14 bit, 50mp hand held or 80mp on a tripod

 

Live Composite in camera stacking, great for star trails and light painting using a series of photos and combining into one photo.

Super Sonic wave Filter dust is a pain for all camera users with inter changeable lens. The OM system combats this with the filter vibrating the sensor 30,000 per second 

Improved AF system This works great for birds in flight and is even stickier than the Sony system. Human AF has also been introduced. Auto focus is super fast even with the teleconverter in use, ease to track birds in flight. The bird eye focus is excellent with around 99% in focus.

Dynamic Range out performs several FF cameras

I am pleased that it performs reasonably well in poor light (Black Redstart) we don't get much more than a couple of hours good light in Shetland during winter. Looking forward to a sunny Spring.

You can still use a high ISO, the Black Redstart photos were taken at ISO 25600 and using noise reduction is very usual. Again using a high ISO is a no, no with a 4/3 camera some people said don't go above ISO1600 the noise will kill the quailty. Not true !

The three photos above of the Black Redstart are around 60% crop taken at ISO 12800 on a slightly better day and closer views, using Pro capture.

Still plenty of features to try out.

I will provide full details of my settings on the next blog

The big white one- 150-400 mm Olympus lens

For many years i have been offering photo training courses covering a beginners course and 28 individual subject courses. Like many others i started with a crop frame camera, moved to full frame DSLR, Mirrorless Full frame and now Olympus Om1-2. For some people this may seem like a backward move as a full frame camera seem to offer the best quality.

Rock pipit with 10% crop (ISO12800)

For health reasons i had to find a lighter system and having spoken to several Olympus users, read many reviews before i traded in my Sony A1 and 200-600mm lens and bought the 150-400mm Olympus lens to use with the OM1-2 camera.

More on the camera later, this review will concentrate on the 150-400mm lens, which is expensive but the ultimate quality. I am not getting paid by anyone to do this review and all the photos are my own work, photographing wildlife in Shetland.

Compare to the Sony 200-600mm the Olympus lens seems a lot better balanced, the Sony lens a bit front heavy. It is also lighter and shorter at 1870 g compared to the Sony 2118g and is completely weather sealed carrying a IP53 weather sealed rating, the Sony is not fully weather sealed. 

I used the Sony lens with a 1.4x teleconverter, which gave a reach of 840mm where as the Olympus at 4/3 sensor is working at 300-800mm and has a 1.25x built in teleconverter making it a 1000mm lens, other teleconverters can also be added to increase the reach. No need to having to change the lens/ converter in the field. The IS is the best on the market at 8 stops where the Sony is only 5.5 stops so no need for a tripod. Having used the Nikon 800mm lens which needed a tripod, this lens will give you more freedom, quicker shots and less weight. 

Sharpness is the key to the Olympus Pro lens, considered the best on the market at this range using the lens wide open at a constant f4.5 or f5.6 with the teleconverter. It was F9 on the Sony at 840mm so also better light gathering resulting in a lower ISO.

Auto focus is super fast with the OM1-2 even with the teleconverter. At 1000mm the angle of view is very narrow so it may take time in finding the subject. 

The other advantage is the close focus, it is 1.3m, and  it is 1875g making it lightweight compared to the range. It is 12.4 inches in length 

Canon is 2.6m and is 3100g it is 17 inches long

Nikon 5.8m (has 1.25x converter built in is 4566g)  it is 18.2 inches long

crop photo of a Shetland Starling 

 A further crop of the Shetland Starling from same position 

The quality has been maintained and is very sharp

Over all i am more then happy with the lens and although expensive £5000 it is still cheaper and has more reach than the Canon (£19000 -800mm)  and Nikon (£19000 -800mm) big lenses, although these are not zoom lenses.? 

Out of 5

Build / Quality  4.9

auto focus          4.9

Stabilisation       5.0

Image quality     4.9

Reach                 5.0

Weight                4.9

Close focus         4.9

Weather sealing  5.0

Cost                     4.5

If you want the best you have it here.

These are just my thoughts

OM1-2 with 150-400mm lens

 A new era for me as i move from the Sony equipment to Olympus. This is down to have a heart operation and the Sony equipment being too heavy. Now the lighter OM1-2 and 150-400 will be my main equipment for wildlife.

Over the coming weeks I will be testing the kit and will do a review, for the time being here are some of my first photos on the new equipment, so far so good.

Radio Shetland interview

  Listen to an interview i gave Radio Shetland about my new book `Mirrie Dancers' which is available now at £35+ postage. See a short video about the book on my Facebook home page at the top.

BBC Sounds - Radio Shetland - Schedules - copy and go to Good Evening Shetland

many thanks

New book- The Shetland Mirrie Dancers - aurora

New book, just published - Mirrie Dancers

 

This book is the result of 5 years research and photography. The aim of the book is to provide you with information on how active the aurora has been in Solar Cycle 25 and allows comparisons to other Solar maximums in Shetland since 1947.

You will find out more about how the aurora is created, new auroras found, SAR arcs and STEVE. It is a hardback A4 sized book with 214 pages and over 140 photos with 26 diagrams and graphs. You wont get a more comprehensive book and it makes a great present for those interested in the aurora, night sky or Shetland.

Buy it now £35 + £4.95pp (UK) can post Worldwide, send an email to shetaurorabook@gmail.com. Signed copies available.

Shetland- two great white egret

Two Great White Egrets arrived at the Sandy Loch near Lerwick a couple of days ago

They were mainly seen in a burn at the north end but today spent sometime at the south end of the loch

I had just made it to the north end spotting Redshank, Snipe, Curlew, Greylag, Skylark and meadow pipit

Another birder was already walking the burn and although he had seen them earlier they had disappeared

News then came in they had flown to the south end and could be seen on the east bank. They flew a few times but just managed a couple of photos