Olympus dot sight - Does it live up to the hype? 

nice to see a review of this cool gadget :D . I have it and I don´t use it to track birds on flight, but to find them quicker. Lets say you are hiking with a big lens and see bird jumping from branch to branch, so when you lift the camera to shoot you first find the bird trough the red dot sight which is super quick and then you just get your eye to the viewfinder and shoot. Super helpful specially if you use a big zoom prime lens.

Thanks for the video Fabian. Was always hoping for a review on this little device

❤ This was really helpful. I learned how to track the bird (aircraft) and point the camera directly right. I learned the ups and downs of the dot-sight. I was thinking of buying one, but I now will think again.

I bought one, and overall this is a fair and thorough review which points out some problems I was not aware of. I'll probably keep it, since my bird-in-flight tracking skills without it are abysmal, and that capability outweighs the other issues for me. Plus, I am never quick enough to adjust anything while trying to get BIF shots, so that drawback doesn't matter. One additional issue that probably didn't occur to Fabian is a very USA-specific problem - hat interference. If you are wearing a baseball hat the bill will hit the sight even if it is closed when you try to use the viewfinder in the normal way. You have to bring your head forward higher than normal so the bill projects over the top of the sight and then lower your eye to the viewfinder, which in turn tips your hat back a little bit... Thanks,

Very interesting and very good advice. I think, like you pointed out, I need to get better at pointing my camera first!

I have this gadget and most of your comments are spot on. It gets worse. Every time you use it, you need to recalibrate it as it doesn't stay securely on your camera. Second, because of paralax problem, when using a zoom lens it is only accurate for the focal length that you calibrate it for. Not a big deal as I usually shot at max range. Here is some good news. When i bought this year's ago and tried using it with older Olympus and Panasonic cameras, it didn't really work because the autofocus systems didn't find birds. Now I am trying it again with the OM-1 and Canon systems and it works quite well. You don't have to use the camera at arms length. You can hold it close to your eyes and it works well. I have used it with all Olympus lenses except the fancy 150-400 without an issue.

Nice video! I have one of these and use it primarily for very fast and erratic small birds in flight like Swallows hunting insects on a lake which I often shoot at 1200mm equivalent on an OM-1 with the 300 and 2X TC. I have occasionally tried it for Hummingbird as well with mixed success. It takes quite a lot of practice to use fluidly. For me it was worth the cost to get shots that I probably wouldn’t get other wise.

Very helpful video! I've been wondering if a dot-sight would help my bird-in-flight photography and your demonstration and reasons have save me from wasting my money... so thank you!

You don't have to hold the camera at arms length, you can easily alternate between the viewfinder and dot sight. I'd even say it's more convenient to use the sight closer to your eye, because you don't risk losing the little crosshair.

There shouldn't be an issue if the dot is in the corner or center. Once calibrated, whatever is in the dot is in the center. You can see this in the bush where the dot doesn't mind from the point even when the camera moves around.

I find this accessory essential. The one that made me most difference in the number of shots that get. Ones that I wouldn't be able to get without it. It is most usefull with the longest setups like 400mm on m43 or 800mm on APS-C. I find it impossible to track swallows and swifts in flight without it. Also it enabled me to get shots of small songbirds popping up back and forth from a bush with 600-800mm on aps-c. It is essentially impossible to find and track the subjects in the frame in those scenarios. Also it is helpfull for me to initially locate subject in the frame and then to lock on it or track with EVF. Of course you need to remember you have to calibrate it for different shooting distances, especially for those shorter distances with longer lenses.

Hey nice video, it's nice to have your take on this ! I have it and it's quite useful for tiny birds in flight, especially when they are very fast like the kingfishers or warblers catching a fly. I think there is no way i can track those without a RDS, especially @600-800mm

I use a red dot viewfinder attached to the telephoto lens with a ring made with a 3D printer. Once calibrated I can take it out and put it on the target without recalibrating. I use the camera with a photo rifle so I can turn my body to follow the bird and have the viewfinder very close to my eye. Use an APSC camera with a 150-600mm that is always at 600mm. By reframing with guide with the size of the crosshair circle. It's a shame that Olympus designed a viewfinder for a photo and didn't modify it by projecting rectangles the size of the photo frame instead of the typical circle. Thanks for the video.

Great to see one of the prime bird photographers give a dot sight a crack. I've been using a dot sight for three years now. The PGD tracker. A few differences from the olympus. With this one I can hold the camera right up to my face like you normally do. None of this holding it way out in front of your stuff. It's good for getting the bird in the frame. Then the auto focus has to do its magic. And to maximize hit rates, you need to have the auto focus pre-focused. where you think the birds are going to be at. Or perhaps a bit short of that, so that the focus will extend out and then get your bird in focus. For me personally it's been very good in getting small, very active birds in flight, such a swiftlets and swallows. And also for a snapshot where all of a sudden you see a bird fly and you just give it a crack, just put the dot sight on it and pull the trigger, Maybe you get some, generally you don't, but once in a while, you get some magic. I still try and shoot through the lens for moderate to large birds in flight. I think it's important skill to develop and maintain.

I hold the dot site up to my eye and not out like you do. I find that works better.

It’s ok for prime lenses but with zooms not so good as a faff to set up when I tried one. I think it’s one of those sounds great gadgets but will end up siting in your bottom drawer imho

hi Fabian good and nuanced reviews about this gaget. I see that you are using the flexshooter ballhead, how do you like it?

Thanks a lot for the review! But why do I have to have the arms reached out, meaning holding the cam far away from the body? Does it not work when you hold it somewhat close to the face? Does it really need full reached out (gestreckte) arms?

Olympus have a fixed lens camera with built in dot sight...SP 100 EE(I think) pretty plasticky but it works.24-1200mm plus digital zoom that gets noisy.

Above all, it hasn't been on sale anywhere for a long time. Or at a crazy price

Seems from the comments that, where some people do find it particularly relevant, it's with small, fast moving birds on erratic flight-paths. At the other end of the scale - ostrich, for example - it's probably not so useful.

Ok Now there's a red dot for Cameras ! 😮

As this plastic device is quite expensive, some people have made their own DIY. mostly from gun sights. Very inexpensive.

Wow, that was a lot of downsides.