Olympus OM-D E-M1 III - Birds in Flight Review & Tutorial (also for E-M1X, E-M1 II and E-M5 III) 

Correction: "C-AF Center Start" and "C-AF Center Priority" are available on the E-M1 II since firmware 3.0.

Great information, Mathieu. Thank you for sharing the comprehensive settings.

Excellent video. Thank you so much for your work! Using the lens button as AF Start is brillant!

Thanks Mathieu, most informative. I’ve reset my M1 Mk2 and I’m looking forward to trying it in the field.

This video is of great value, thanks so much

Mathieu so great you are the best.... thank you.. I use olympus since 2013 what a nice system.. merci beaucoup encore

Dear Mathieu, it is really nice to see you did such a detailed BIF analysis on the Olympus body, especially under the any sensor but M43 and full frame hype era.....

Very useful. Thanks! I’m saving this for future reference as well.

i just got my EM1 mkIII for wildlife and thanks to your intuitive video im all set up, thank you for sharing.

Incredibly helpful and interesting. Thanks again Mathieu!

Mathieu, you made the best and most complete reviews about OMD focusing systems. Congratulations and many thanks for the tips ! I have one comment about AF limiter. Is good not only to keep the focus away of the background, but it also helps to have a much better visibility of the subject in the viewfinder when the subject is out-of-focus. So when you set-up a range, the bird will be already visible in the EVF before you even focus on it or...if the focus is lost, you still see the bird.

The video provides detailed explanation of the AF settings. It is super helpful. Thanks!

Very helpful for someone new to birding& using EM5iii. Merci beaucoup!🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

I learnt again something, thank you very much Mathieu!

Interesting article. Af limiter is huge with swallows and closer subjects. I have 0 - 7m, 7 - 30m, 27m - infinity. An example of where the af limiter is especially amazing, butterflies close up, another option i have set, is pre focus. set to 0, which is extremely useful when doing a close up. The best advice for anyone, learn your camera and you will find what works for you.

Great work!

Very helpful information, thanks a lot...

Saludos desde España y muchas gracias por sus interesantes videos

Great video . . . I just purchased the 100-400mm and I'm looking forward to using these sets on my M1M3. Thanks. '

Excellent video. Thanks a lot.

Awesome, been wondering about the EM1iii in comparison to my G9 for wildlife/action. This was comprehensive enough for me to get an idea on menu settings/performance without having to rent it and figure it all out myself.

Great video, really helpful.

Excellent, thank you.

Great! Thanks a lot!

Mathieu, this video is a keeper.

Merci beau coup Mathieu. The settings worked very well on my EM1 mark II, with the bargain Olympus 40-150mm f/4-5.6. Just letting you know.

Thank you Mathieu! I Love my em1 iii. I‘m also very curious about the new Z6 II and waiting your review!!

Well done 👏 👏👏

you are one of the best.. congrats...

Wow, very good video! Sounds to me like a person just looking at Olympus, would not be giving up a lot by starting out with the Mark ll version.

Hi there and 🎉 for this great tutorial! When engaging IS in-camera, should I disengage IS on my lens (Olympus 100-400)?

Not watched you guys for a while, you get better and better 👍🏻 if i ever see you around wales, I’ll buy you both a drink 😁

Dear Mathieu, thanks for the tip on the focus point 5x5. I didn't change any of my other settings at all. I have been using 5 points and All area (with AF-ON2). With 5x5 I tried it the other day and improvement was noticeable when using 300mm f4 IS with TC14. I didn't have much of an issue with my previous setting w/o TC14. So, I can only imagine that with 5x5, my hit rate using just 300mm F4 will only be better. Cheers

Hey Mathieu. Great video, excellent information, thank you very much. I'd like to add that the "C-AF Center Start" and "C-AF Center Priority" options are available in my E-M1 Mk.II's (Custom Menu A1, firmware 3.2). Check your video from around 06:11. Keep up the good work!

Very nice and informative video. I have a E-M10 2, so a little different to the named camara's. Still a complex AF menu and to much settings. AEL/ AFL. Did not know what to set. This video makes much sence. I did change some settings because i have a lot of problems with the AF point running around the frame all the time and i had to focus again and again. Did not know what i did touch or do to make that happen? Thanks!

Are you going to do a video showing the setting up of the camera for general bird photography?

Thanks for the excellent tutorial. I may have an explanation why shots with busy backgrounds have a better keeper rate. I was at Gigrin Red Kite Rehab Centre recently with the same kit - what an amazing place! It was a new experience for me, so was only focussing on getting kite photos with sky background. I thought the AF was great, my problem was a few underexposed shots - now after seeing your video, I'll know to try S-OVF and smart-metering instead of spot, so thanks for that. Regarding the AF, it was pointed out to me that the OM-Ds will analyse the first few frames of a burst to determine the front of a moving subject, and so having some background detail will help the processor determine this and thus improve the speed of correct focus acquisition. The downside is that often the first 1-3 shots will be OOF or slightly OOF so it's a good idea to ride the buffer and get on the shutter button early. With that taken into account, not as good for % keeper tests (unless you were to take a lot more photos) but I found it a dependable BIF system that stuck to my subject once it figured it out, and stayed shooting all day and have around 3000 images to sort and edit! :)

Very helpful video, thank you. The Pro capture feature is a good reason to have this camera as it allows you to capture birds that are very difficult to otherwise get. Not necessarily in flight, but when you want to capture them as they leave the perch they are on.

Thanks this is very useful I will try out your suggested settings as they are slightly different from what I have been using. You are right so many AF settings on the Olympus system, I have had many missed shots from accidentally changing an important AF setting to the wrong thing!

Great Video Mathieu, I have a Nikon D500 and it is amazing for birds in flight, however I have just purchased an Olympus EM1 MK2 with pro lenses. My keeper rate is not as good as the D500, but the overall enjoyment using the Olympus is in my experience much better. I have learned a quite a few things from this video so hopefully my keeper rate will improve. I won't be selling the D500 but I can see me not using it as much especially when hiking. Once again great video, thank you:-)

Dear recently Olypmus em1 mark2, sony A6400 and panasonic G9 so i am considering 3 of these camera for video mostly i have canon 80D but its i need 4k which 80D does not have so which one should go with ?

Great imformation but I stil prefer olympus one reson light ps.I am 70 yrs old still going because olympus thank you

Thanks!

Hi great video very informative and easy to follow instructions on all the modes that are a “minefield” love the EM1 mk 3 which baught recently I was particularly attracted to the stary sky AF feature because of my interest In getting into Astro photography however I’ve still not quite sure how to use it. Be great if you could do an in-depth tutorial on this feature because there aren’t any on RU-vid that really go into detail on exposure or settings such as manual mode or aperture priority ext?

Hi Mat, we can also use C-AF+MF, C-AF Center Start and C-AF Center Priority on the E-M1ii since FW v3. See the pages 199-200 in the manual. I hope that OM Digital Solutions will release AF-C update for the E-M1iii in 2021. Good work as always!

Top video Mathieu: thanks a lot. I own an EM1X and EM1 mark III (I've returned to Olympus having previously owned a Sony A9 and A7R4) and some of my settings were slightly different to yours. I have changed my settings in order to give yours a go. I have to say that in practice, I don't find a huge difference in keeper rate between my Olympus and Sony cameras. I am still able to capture Swallows flying just above the ground and Dragonflies in flight quite readily. I am really pleased with my my EM1X and EM1.3, but I look forward to the release of the bird recognition update for the EM1X.

How is the battery life on this camera? I know they increased the size by a bit compared to my 1st gen EM-1

good Mathieu

I had hoped Olympus would score higher against other makes eg Sony. It was a v interesting and useful video, particularly as there big changes hoping on wit Olympus. I have the OMDE M1 M2 and had hoped their latest cameras would be better.

Have you tested the Cannon 90 D for BIF ? Or the M6 ?

4-16-21 photography & video em1x 1st track meet 99% sharp photos With a Tamron 70-300mm via VILTROX adapter Im selling all my Panasonic gear canon and fuji gear to fund the 150-400mm Have not read the em1x manual No custom settings yet No my menu set up I love my new em1x focus was fast enough for long jump Continues focus work Video worked Tracking worked And I have no clue how to go into the new menu to refine my settings Im very impressed with the new supper control panel.

An excellent video, Mathieu. Your settings are about 50% different to mine, so I will give yours a try. I have recently changed to BBF. Do you simply hold the button down whilst pressing the shutter button, or do you effectively alternate? The lens button BBF is an interesting idea - I might have to give it a try too. I must admit, my slightly soft proportion is much higher than yours, but my panning skills are not so good yet. I possibly haven’t had a fast enough shutter either.

Great job! Will you test the EM1X again now that it has Bird tracking in the latest firmware?

Thank you Matthew. Very helpful video on BIF. I have tried a number of settings for BIF with little success so I am looking forward to trying your settings. Just one question - are you in Manual/Aperture/Shutter priority? Apologies if this question was answered in the video or the comments section.

Pretty good review. Don’t agree with all of it, but that’s fine. The thing I’m surprised you didn’t suggest was to set up one of the Custom Dial settings with these parameters so you just turn the dial to that setting and the camera is ready to go. Of course with the EM-1 Mark III you can also configure that custom setting to either stay fixed at those settings or automatically memorize any adjustments you make while using that custom setting option. It makes all this “complexity” of settings a one time thing. I don’t think it is any more complex than Canon and I shoot both systems.

Isn't there a new firmware coming out in December for Birds on the EM1 MKIII ???

Thank you for your video, very clear and interesting. I'm a sports photographer (volleyball) so I shot at fast shutter speed and high iso with the 40-150 f2,8 pro. The only problem is that the caf sometimes lost the focus acquired on the first frame. I use a separate button to activate focus. Probably the problem is to choose the right AF c lock (+2 +1 0 +1 +2) could be?

Thanks for this excellent Video! Do you have experience with using all AF fields with C-AF and cluster AF for bif? Is the camera fast enough for tracking the bird?

I wonder what the keeper rate is for the E-M5 II (my camera) and surprised you haven’t reviewed the mzuiko 12-45 f4. Thanks for the video!

A question, What is the best overall lens for bird photo and wild life photp (sharpness) for omd em1 series? Maybe the 300mm f4? I was considering the 100-400mm but im.a bit confused

Great video Mathieu, very well made and very informative, thanks !

How do you delete a large number of pictures at once? It is only one at a time or on the computer .

That is a singularly magnificent review of functionality and settings of that Olympus product, and also quite useful in comparing it to other brands. Especially useful information throughout all the video. Very important to look at the tack sharp Vs. soft images ratio as you did. Thanks for the information. One wonders how the R5 will do, especially with those new fixed aperture plastic lenses. One does wonder though, given the crop factor with m43, generally perhaps subject size in the image, even at 20MPX, that M43 may give one a larger subject i.e. bird than the other sensor sizes and when one is done cropping the larger sensor image to get the same size you get from M43 -how does the detail look? I can see that you may actually get more detail with the M43 since it needs less cropping, depending. Best wishes, really nice video and review. Thanks!

Do you think the olympus e-m5 mark iii could be a great sports photo camera as great as a Canon 80d for example? With enough light fore shure, it could have a AF as eficient than the canon?

I came back to Olympus because of your Grey Seal video. I am impressed with this tutorial! Amazingly on spot.

Olympus urgently needs to update their approach with tracking if they want to keep up with the competition. The afc + traking is decorative. Hopefully so, if not I will have to think about changing the system and I do not want to because I love it. Greetings and great video

Great review. Do you think this camera performs better than Panasonic G9 for birding and general action based auto-focus?

Do you think it's a fair to compare hit rate percentages at different effective focal lengths? Would be interesting to see the keeper rate of the other cameras you mention at 600mm - 840mm.

Have you done a test with the cluster af function enabled, I've seen comments that it's the best for birds etc? Stay safe and well.

Thanks Mathieu Nice job where was your first AF POint? are these pro capture or normal bird photography?

Mathieu with the current pricing of the E-M1 lll with the HLD-9 grip vs the E-M1X, which would you get for BIF? Thanks

Thank you Mathieu. I don't understand 1 Function: D1) LV-Off-Info what doesn't mean?

Can you please do a comparison between E-M1 iii and E-M1 X with the new "bird recognition" firmware update? Is ti worth getting the E-M1 X instead of the E-M1 iii for that purpose?

Hello Mathieu, I own the OM-D E-M1 III + M. Zuiko 40-150 F 2.8 PRO with the MC-14. How to procede with the firmware updated ? Please explain me how to do (Camera Body + Lens or Camera Body + MC-14 + Lens ?)

Great tutorial. Thanks. It appears you also have the Face/Eye Detect set to Off. Was this a result of your testing?

What i do not understand about the "25 area focus" is that surely you need to focus on the eye of the bird not somewhere else in the 25 area?

Be interested to see your testing with the EM1 X with the new bird in flight algorithm.

Dear Mathieu, this settings works orso in "Shutter - priority mode" ?

Great content! How in your opinion Olympus 100-400mm compares in terms of optical quality to Olympus 300mm? I am in the market for wildlife lens for my E-M1 II but have limited budget. I was thinking about Leica 100-400mm (it tends to be cheaper in aftermarked that Olympus 100-400mm) but in your comparison it seems way softer and zoom ring stiffness worries me. I wonder how much a compromise in IQ would be Olympus 100-400mm over 300mm. BTW I already own 40-150mm and considered buying MC-20 as in some tests it produces much better results than simply cropping in post from 150mm.

Excellent review Mathieu. I look forward to you doing a follow up review of the E-M1X with the new Bird AF tracking which was released to the public today - December 3rd 2020. Would be good to see if there's an improvement in the figures you have published.

Does this work with the mark 5 iii

Nice sharp images but the background separation is not good. I guess it's caused by the smaller sensor.

You maybe recount the score after olympus em1x firmware update to new v2. 0 with bird tracking

Thanks! But how do you engage exposure compensation when shooting in manual?

so does a6600+FE200-600 ($1000 less expensive than E-M1m3+300f4 pro) perform better while being more flexible and offering more reach?

Would have loved to see the keeper rate with the Panasonic G9

Wasn't it tested in - 30 degrees, without problems?

Do you have an E-M1X on hand to test the new AI Bird Detection AF?

can the mk2 do 60fps?

What about the bird AI with the EM1X ?

Wow, what an overwhelming mess of settings to learn, consider and test! I love your conclusion to want a better AF system with less variables to try, for it to just work.

Kann man das Video auch in Deutsch übersetzt haben

I tried birds in flight with my em5-i

Still a better camera than the OM-1.

Very good explanation, thanks, but I would love it if you could speak a bit more slowly.

Honestly that «slightly soft focus» category sucks. You want perfectly sharp images that's all

:(. Useful video but How disappointing.