Best Settings for Birds in Flight for the Olympus OM-1 & Video Montage at Conowingo Dam ep.440 

Lol.. seeing the before and after photos reminds me that it really doesn't matter WHAT the camera photo looks like... with today's software and a bit of tinkering, so long as the photo is SHARP, the end result will be just fine. Add in DXO's magical noise reduction - and shooing with 126000 ISO seems practical!

Very nice video Rob, thanks! I used to be a diehard fan of your videos when I shot with an em1 Mkii. Unfortunately I shoot the Canon R7 and R6 now. I live next to Conowingo so I am there a lot and I was there yesterday. It would have been great to meet you! I loved the format of the video and how you showed the editing and the montage. The Shad are just coming in so maybe two weeks and it will get VERY active at Conowingo! I always thought you were the hardest working man on RU-vid with how much time you took and the detail you provided. Thank you so much!

On shooting sequential at 20 FPS vs SH2 at 25 FPS. The big difference is that SH2 will let you see through the viewfinder without the flicker. Not having the flicker makes it much easier to keep on target with the bird. BTW, SH2 allows for C-AF while shooting, SH1 is focus for first frame.

Outstanding presentation, Rob!🎉❤ you explained your choices and options exceptionally well and anyone from beginner to expert should be able to follow your lead and make good settings decisions. Thanks for all the effort you put into these.

Wonderful images, Rob but the first one with the cormorant..is my favourite!!! Great work, thanks for sharing.

I ended up changing a few of my setting for birding. Thanks Rob for another great video.

Well done, I use similar settings, I have C1 for BIF and C2 for birds on a stick.

Thanks, Rob great video with practical examples. Learned quite a few things and interesting clips at the end! 😊

Thank you Bob for sharing, I just used your recommendations to set my OM_1 for birding.

Great video!🎉

Great tutorial for BIF and the OM-1. I'm currently using M1X and this is the first time I've seen the new menu layout and looks like OM did a good job on the restructure.

Well done presentation that made it easy to understand suggested settings to use and why. What impressed me most was the aggressive crop used on some birds in flight photos and the end results you achieved.

Thanks for the assist. I've been shooting birds with my R5, but wanted a lighter kit. I'm thrilled with my OM1 and 300mm.

Hi Rob, thanks for the excellent video and for all the others regarding the OM-1. That really helps to get going with this amazing camera.

Thanks Rob for helping me learn my camera, I can't wait to get out this spring 🤠👍

Fantastic video Rob. That's really going to help me out. Thanks

Danke!

Nicely done Rob!

Thanks for sharing Rob. Nice work and your PP skills are just great!

Very impressive photos Rob. Well done!

Terrific video Rob I enjoyed each aspect of your vidio very much, the tutorial, the editing and Images all on the button for me. You can do no wrong. I am to try my luck again at clean images of kite surfers soon, with the G9 and 200mm, your system guidance on exposure and metering will be very helpful along with everything else. Thank you again Rob.

Excellent so helpful, and obviously a lot of work. Thank you.

Thanks for taking the time to go through this - I'll got them in my camera and will give them a try when next I'm out and about. I recently was out scouting landscape location and saw a wedge-tailed eagle (slightly larger than the bald eagle and native to Australia) or two just gliding on the air currents and I'd love to get some images of them. What marvelous images, too! And seeing snippets of how you post-process, was also quite informative. Just one thought: when I first got my OM-1 and I looked at the C-settings, I decided to assign them in alphabetic order: Birds, Family, Landscape, Macro. Because although camera manufacturers give us the ability to have programmable settings (Fuji go up to 7!) labels for them aren't quite so common.

Great photos, Great video, Very instructive, will use setting on my next outing !

Rob, May I suggest u do more shooting in your backyard, with an open outdoor background it's more pleasant to watch, and your backyard is beautiful. The lighting is better (sure it's more inconvenient for u)

Hey Rob. Thanks for a great video. I live within a half hour of the dam and go from time to time. I've been twice this year. First with the OMD EM-1 and 40-150 with an MC14 attached. Photos were fairly clear. The second time with the OM-1 and 300f4. Couple of comments. The photos didn't seem to be as clear and when I crop to the size you are cropping the pics are pixelated. I'm hoping your settings will help me take clearer shots. My settings were way off compared to yours. Thanks for including the post processing in your video. I'm a babe in the woods there. Time and patience - along with some creativity may get me there. Take care.

Thanks!

Rob, I am hoping you can shed some light on the correct settings for image stabilization on the M.Zuiko 100-400mm lens with the OM1 camera. I have been given several conflicting versions from multiple sources - the first is that I should set the lens IS switch to "ON" and the internal menu setting Menu 1/8, "Lens IS Priority, to "ON". I have also been told the opposite - Turn off the lens IS switch, and set "Lens IS Priority" to "OFF". One source said it was distance dependent, and that for longer range shots at 400mm I should use the first setting option - lens IS switch "ON" and Lens IS Priority "ON" settings. Since I am hesitant to spend the $7500 to upgrade to the 15-400 lens, I need to wring the best results out of my existing lens:). BTW, I have taken numerous shots with these settings, and while I think I can see a preference for the second combination in close (10 Meter subject distance), I cannot see any consistent difference in field conditions, usually shooting birds at 10 - 60 Meters distance. Thank you, Reply

Hi Rob, many thanks for the good video where you explain how to set up the OM1 for bird photography. You also show how to edit your bird photos, but it goes very quickly, is it possible for you to make a video where you show the editing more slowly.

Thanks

Excellent video. Great images.

Fantastic video, so helpful! Thank You

❤love the show great ideas on settings

Many thanks for the interesting video . and you got some great shots.

Hey Rob, didn't know you were so close to my stomping grounds. I go to Conowingo a lot. Maybe I'll see you there sometime.

Great montage!

Thank you for the tips. One issue I have found is that the upper limit of ISO is capped at 12800 when using the SH2 drive mode and annoyingly when you switch your drive mode back to mechanical or EFCS the ISO upper limit remains at the 12800. So you have to manually go in adjust it

¡Gracias!

I read one comment and I would like to ask how to set different settings for half press and AF-ON and prioritize face detection or birds in half press and prioritize target AF when using AF-ON button. Thank you

Thanks for your educational videos! I am retired, in Sweden, with limited finances. For shooting larger birds with my Olympus E M1 markII I can get good pictures. But less fast-flying birds it becomes difficult. One can have acid strategy to compensate it, with today's requirements, right slow continuous and the following focus. The question is, is it worth upgrading to OM 1? For all other photography, my Olympus is more than enough. /Bosse

First off, great video. I like both your and Mathieu Gasket's channel. Though his is more of a gear review channel. I have the 75-300 as well and love it when I go out on my bike and don't want to carry the 300 or even the PL 100-400mm. Help me understand why you shoot in Shutter Speed priority mode as to posed to M. With the 2 dials you can control both S and A and you can change the exposure compensation with a button. Perhaps you want faster control of your +/-? But how do you control your aperture? I just bought the OM-1, but I have been shooting for years with a couple of EM-1s. With those I found that using the AF limiter control say 20-30 meters (for puffins in flight) improved my keeper rate tremendously. I hope that the OM-1 improves my keeper rate. My wife shoots with the Canon R5 and her keeper rate and ability to crop is in another league. I am too heavily invested in the m4/3 system to make the switch.

Rob! Thanks for this video. I have been watching your excellent tutorials for years and learned a lot about Olympus cameras from you. I was at Conowingo Dam twice in November-December this year for 2 complete days and there were no eagles fishing. Your pictures are amazing. But I was even more impressed with your edits. It would be great if you could make a brief tutorial on how you edited some of your eagle pictures with DXO Photolab 6 Elite. I also use OM-1 with 300mm F4 and fall in love with this combination in about 2 years ago. I also leave in Maryland. Have you used any teleconverter with the lens? In my experience it works reasonable with the1.4x, but I do not like the results and focus speed with the 2x. Thanks for all your efforts!

Wonderful Rob !!! Could you please upload editing videos ?

Good video. I’m interested in why you have len is priority off though when you have pro lenses ? I was under the impression if having a pro lens that needs to be on

Very informative although I have an OMD M1 Mkiii and an Olympus 75-300 lens. I think that you may have made a video about BIF with the OM-D in the past. I have been trying to get good BIF photos of Brahminy kites near my home on the Gold Coast, Australia but without great success. I have taken hundreds of shots but none that I could describe as crisp. Am I flogging a dead horse in this effort and need to go to a 150-400 or 300 f4? It would be a big step up in my budget to do so, or trust that the bird God's eventually puts a kite in the perfect position in the future.

May I ask what editing software your using.Thanks Hoping to see in Conowingo one of this Day.

Great vid Rob :). I was trying to follow your work flow but went too fast then I realised you use another process. Do you have a video on the similar process but in Lightroom : Subbed :) many thanks Mal - UK

Great tips Rob and great images, DxO photolab 6 is the best there is but in SH2 can't you set that to 25fps instead of 50fps?

Hi Rob!

How did you like the 300mm? I have one also and love it.

Hi Rob, thanks for all the great information. Is the 75-300mm any good for birds in flight with the OM-1

hi i have the Olympus OM-D M 1 MarkIII is this a different menu because mine is very different from this, great instructions but I'm finding it hard to follow

What editing system are u using Rob.?

On the OM1, in silent sequential shooting mode, no shot confirmation sound is heard. Would it be possible to set a sound to confirm that a photo has been taken?

I see below there is a comment that addresses my question I think.

Can I join your Conowingo Club? I am new OM-1 user coming from Nikon z system. I am not professional who needs help in learning.

Why lens IS priority off?

Great Job Rob! What a difference post makes though. (I hate you! 😇).

Good evening, Rob. Yet another of your highly informative 'how to' videos. Yes, I'd agree with most of your settings, but I'd always caution people to set objectives for each photo shoot - beautiful wildlife pictures of resting birds or birds-in-flight - NEVER both on the same shoot. You're being greedy, which separates the amateur from the professional. Your day's objective should be one or the other. There will always be another day. That's how to raise your image captures from good to superb. My own speciality is aircraft-in-flight. On that basis I'd challenge a few of your recommendations. 1. Image Stabilisation should be OFF. (We've had this conversation before, and you really do need to get your head around why IS is a very bad idea for anything-in-flight!) 2. Setting Auto-Focus on birds-in-flight. Why would you need Auto-Focus? The object is approaching infinity, so all you're doing is slowing the camera processor with unnecessary calculations. Turn AF to MF. 3. Even worse (for birds-in-flight) is setting eye recognition focusing. It'll really slow your camera down in B-in-F shooting. I repeat "Setting too many objectives for a single shoot". Decide whether you want beautiful wildlife Stills or Birds-in-Flight, NOT both. Your images of birds in trees are impressive. I salute you, Rob. But you'll be far more successful in your Birds-in-Flight photography if you learn why Auto-Focus must be OFF, as the human body provides its own stability if you're following a moving object. Also, switch off ALL of your camera's clever gimmicks unless they're absolutely necessary. Tip: this is why I use a much simpler OM camera body (which has very few gizmos) and invest my money in the best possible lenses*. Rick *one exception being when I need "small and lightweight" for extreme expedition photography.

Great video Rob. I do alot of videos about bird photography with the OM1 on my channel, if you are interested👍😀

Danke!

Thanks!

Thanks