Two points I would make are: 1. Even though the OM 150-600mm is a heavy lens by m4/3's standards, it is still 'small and light' compared to any FF lens that gives you a 1200mm field of view. The Canon 1200mm f/8 prime weighs 3 lbs more and costs $20,000 -- no hand holding that puppy! 2. While the Synch-IS of the 150-600mm is not doubt an advantage over the 100-400mm, it is a mistake in my opinion to use the Lens IS on the 100-400mm. I have mine turned off, and use only the IBIS in my OM-1 for bird shooting because the Lens IS takes a second to stabilize, whereas the IBIS is instant upon half shutter press.
Thank you for these instructional videos! I bought the Sony RX 10 vi about 6 months ago for my travels. Heading to Tanzania in 2 months so trying to get comfortable with it. This helps.
I appreciate this very insightful and well reasoned review. Having owned and used the 100-400 for a few years with the 1.4x tc, primarily for motorsport and wildlife, I was very curious about this new lens. The single greatest advantage is that 1200mm effective reach. To offset the inherent IQ and noise disadvantage that the m43 sensor has against FF cameras, I try to achieve perfect composition in-camera every time. Even when shooting fast subjects, the relatively long reach of m43 lenses enables me to keep cropping to a minimum in post-processing. So this new lens is right in line with that thinking. However, as you correctly noted, the size and weight of the 150-600 goes against the whole point of using a smaller size sensor camera in the first place. It is simply too great for all day carry and international travel, and that 150mm on the short end is too limiting. In fact, my favorite telephoto zoom is the diminutive 40-150 f/4, which pairs up nicely with the 8-25 f/4 for when I'm not using the 12-100 f/4. I will continue saving up for that 150-400 f/4.5, as I prefer to have a faster lens over greater reach for my nature and wildlife photography.
U can skip the first 27min. Nobody buys a $5000 setup without knowing how to get to the menu. Subject detection, back button focus, saf caf, that's all u need to know.
Hummingbirds built a nest on my front porch several months ago. I was able to snap some pictures of the chicks with my OM-1. They’re long gone now, though the nest remains.
Thanks for the interesting comparison, I have the 100-400. I hope they one day make a 100-400 MkII with sync IS as the 150-600 is too big and heavy for me. Even more expensive in Australia.
Thanks for creating this video. Just a few minor comments. The lenses are F5-6.3, (not f4.5). I only shoot in RAW to get the best processing power for my images. Using the focus limiter helps a lot to snap onto your subject. The 150-600 is coming on safari with me later in the year. I will also bring 300mm pro, 40-150 pro, and teleconverters. Hubby will likely have one of our 100-400mm as back up. (Other one will be for sale). Suggest that you hold the 150-600 further out and push/pull the lens in and out on the smoothest setting. I had no problem with camera movement when using this technique.
Thanks for the comparison Stephen - very helpful as I have neither lens at the moment but do use the 300mm F4. Towards the end of your review you mention that if you want the reach, the "150 - 600 is the only game in town" I wonder how the 300mm F4 would compare with the 2x converter, from an image quality standpoint. Appreciating of course there is no option to zoom out with that setup?
I really enjoyed this review and have wondered about the real differences between the three lenses you mentioned. I own a Lumix G9 and the Lumix 100-400mm lens. Recently I had the opportunity to photograph nesting eagles and their chicks. Keeping a very respectful distance with other photographers I found my 800mm = reach and 20-meg sensor not really up to getting closeup shots of the chicks and decided to employ the 2x converter in the menu of the G9. To my surprise, given good light and low ISO use, the 1,600mm = closeups of the eaglets came out far better than expected, much better than enlarging into my 800mm images. Like you, I shoot JPEGS and, perhaps the 800mm reach, would have given me more cropable images had I been shooting RAW. However, I do value the light weight of my MFT gear and wonder if you've ever tried the 2x digital converter in the menu of your OM-1? I came to Lumix through the Leica V-Lux 114 (based on the Lumix FZ1000) and found its I-Zoom feature very usable, doubling the 400mm reach of that 25-400mm equivalent lens with processor enhanced images. I think this would be a big selling feature for both Lumix and Olympus if they could enhance the performance of this feature in their menus.
I agree on the digital tel converter. I used it occasionally on my Sony RX10iv and have used it on the OM-1 and OM-1 Mkii. It works well, but could be better with some more processing power and AI put behind it. However 100-400 plus digital tel converter does not come close the the 150-600 at 1200mm equivalent. :)
Thank goodness I found this video! I was deep in the throes of buyers remorse until I found this tutorial. I think you just saved my African safari vacation from becoming a major let down. With your help, I was able to set it up quickly and correctly. The 300 page manual from Nikon's website is overwhelming for someone like me with limited photography knowledge. Many thanks for being generous with your time and knowledge.
I forgot to ask you, you put the ISO to fast without saying, what that means! The rest of the ISOs I understand, but, I do not understand what FAST, SLOW or MEDIUM means, please, can you comments on this? Greetings from Germany! Alfredo
The ISO fast, slow, and medium set how quickly the camera increases ISO as the light level changes. Fast means that the camera will favor higher shutter speeds over keeping the ISO low…so in low light situations the ISO will increase rather than the shutter speed going down…which is what I want when shooting active birds. Slow would keep the ISO as low as possible while decreasing the shutter speed to compensate. Medium…well somewhere in the middle.
You can set your minimum shutter speed to whatever you think is needed. For most birds 1/2000th will freeze both body and wings. For hummingbirds 1/4000th might be needed. 1/1250th will freeze the body of even the fastest bird if you have good panning technique.
Thank you for the best video ever made that really explains what to do. I have a P950 but use my P1000 most of the time. With the settings above and my bird is a Raptor (I specifically take photos of my Raptors/Hawks, etc in flight) will the shutter speed be fast enough to get the perfect 'frozen' shot of a Hawk in Flight? I've read that the shutter speed should be near 1/1000 but more often than not, it is 1/2000. So, do I need to change something else so that I get that super fast shutter speed or will those settings you used automatically detect what the shutter speed should be? I hope my question makes sense.
The settings in the video are for birds on a stick, as they say. For Birds in Flight, you will need to use Shutter mode on the main dial. Set your shutter to 1/2000th. Use Auto ISO. You can try Subject Finding auto focus, but you can also try Tracking. Subject finding might pick up the bird against the sky better. With tracking you have to get the focus area right on the bird to begin, but then it will track. I should say that the neither the P950 or the P1000 are the best cameras for Birds in Flight…but with practice and patience they do work. For Hawks you can also try Sports mode…but often it will give you too slow a shutter speed. Have fun!
How would the OM1 II with the 100-400 cope with aviation photography. With airliners on an easily predictable approach I think it would be no problem, but not sure about an airshow scenario where the jets perform aerobatics and can you need to be quick to get the shot. I ask you because you used the setup for bird photography which is not exactly the same but somewhat similar. Both require good autofocus and tracking to track both birds and jets.
Since the camera has aircraft recognition it should work as well as it does with birds. I have been shooting Least Terns in flight over our local beach, and that should be very similar to shooting air shows…perhaps even harder as the flight patterns are harder to predict. :)
Hello Sir, thank you very much for your review. I am currently evaluating several options, including the Kiwi Ears Quintet, LETSHUOER x GIZAUDIO GALILEO, ThieAudio Legacy 4, and Sennheiser IE 200. My primary interest lies in the clarity and detail of the music and instruments. Could you please provide your recommendation? Thank you in advance!
You said it has Bluetooth. Or did I mis hear you. It doesn't.. I use this, with the alternate firmware installed, it's very nice. Good note weight, rich mids..I don't like the Ess stuff I have, I only use this now..
Hi Stephen, I just found your channel. New to the IEM world and currently own the Thieaudio Elixir which I enjoy very much. A few years younger than you and my hearing is still excellent. I would love to know more music you enjoy as it looks like we have similar taste in music. Listening with the Elixirs is like a rediscovery of music I thought I knew and with my Tidal subscription an unending exploration into new music. I just listen plugged directly into my Samsung tablet now although I bought a Hiby FC4 today and will see how that improves things when it arrives... Any suggestions on getting into this awesome hobby would be most welcome. All the best.
Hi Stephen, I just found your channel. New to the IEM world and currently own the Thieaudio Elixir which I enjoy very much. A few years younger than you and my hearing is still excellent. I would love to know more music you enjoy as it looks like we have similar taste in music. Listening with the Elixirs is like a rediscovery of music I thought I knew and with my Tidal subscription an unending exploration into new music. I just listen plugged directly into my Samsung tablet now although I bought a Hiby FC4 today and will see how that improves things when it arrives... Any suggestions on getting into this awesome hobby would be most welcome. All the best.
I am not sure how this whole sharing playlist thing works but here is my Apple Music current listening :) music.apple.com/us/playlist/trip/pl.u-xlyNNa3t3v2dj
I don’t photograph planes, but my recommendation would be to use my birds-in-flight settings but with the small focus area. Or turn off auto focus altogether as the planes are going to be at infinity focus most of the time. (Use the mountain focus setting).
This is an interesting approach. But I have a question on it. I have a Nikon P900. When I set it to Active D-Lighting, it changes the focus metering to 'Matrix'. For bird photography, I think 'Center-weighted' works better. Is it possible to have both?
Is there some library where presets can be found? I noted there are such attempts for older EM1's It would be quite nice to circumvent this manual settings ( and saving ) and have a local library via PC/Mac and of course your phone.
