WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY | Olympus OM-D E-M1x field review 

Thanks Jason. Glad you enjoyed the video. Have a good new year. 👍

Hi Tony, thanks for the comment. Glad you enjoyed it and that the balance was right. I was impressed with the system and may form a complimentary setup when I want to be mobile. 👍

Thanks Nick. The kit wasn't mine. It was lent by Olympus so I could review it. It's now gone back so back in my canon gear.

Thanks very much Moritz that's really nice of you to say. Glad you enjoyed the content. All the best..

Thank you Jeroen. All the best..👍

Hi Mike, thanks for your kind message. I'm very open minded when it comes to cameras and technology and I was pleasantly surprised by the Olympus. If you consider the price difference between the two system which is around £12k it's certainly not 12k worth of difference. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of my canon gear and I've invested heavily in it over the years but the Olympus gave me good mobility which was great. As much as I like my big glass and pro body, it can be a real pain to lug around so see it more for project work as apposed to going out with camera in hand walking and enjoying nature. I prefer images which for me are planned but when going out with my wife for a walk, having a mobile system is very attractive. 👍

Thank you very much, I really appreciate that and thanks also for subscribing. 👍 All the best..

Thanks Andrew, glad you enjoyed it.

Thanks Peter. 👍

Peter, have you followed Espen what's his name from Scotland...? He's also using this system and he's pretty amazing. I ended up buying the 40-150 lens.. Plus a converter. .. it's nice for a beginner such as myself. When I get real serious, I'll invest in this 300.. Thanks so much for this Simon Wantling..

Espen Helland... ;)

@@janm2473 Great guy, sold some great Canon gear for a song and bought some expensive Oly gear just as they announced "We are broke and selling to an asset stripper". I like him, but what a decsion.

Thanks Lee. Glad you enjoyed it. It is a very mobile system and does open up a lot of opportunities. As mentioned in the video, I really do like my canon gear so won't be getting rid of that anytime soon as it's amazing BUT at the price of weight and the need for a tripod etc. In low light situations I think the canon will come into its own, but the Olympus is pretty good. If you consider the price difference between the two systems is roughly £12k - the quality difference in images is not vastly different to be honest, and that's coming from someone who is extremely picky..

If you add in the built in 2 time multiplier it’s nice in a pinch

Thanks for the suggestion Vince. I will do my best.

Thanks Alex.

Thanks Elise.

No problem John, glad you found it useful.

Thank you Bernd and I'm glad you enjoyed the video and found it a balanced review. I was very impressed and although I've invested hugely in my canon big glass and pro bodies, the Olympus was surprisingly good and I saw no issue at all with M43 sensor at all. I really like my canon gear as it's never let me down and produces great quality images but I found the Olympus put some of the fun back into wildlife photography on the days when you simply don't want to lug the big heavy gear around. I definitely think that's the way it will all go and canon need to release light weight lenses for their mirrorless technology. All the best.

300mm on a tripod? Maybe these photographers should spend a few hours each week down the gym if a 300mm needs a tripod

Doghouse Riley ... means 600 to 840mm in full frame. That is heavy...

Thanks Espen 👍

Thank you - glad you liked it and really appreciate the feedback.

Thanks very much for the comment. Really appreciate it..👍

Thank you.

Thanks a lot Stephen. All the best.

I do agree with you. The issue is that Olympus chose not to set the SCP as a default setting. To set it, a newbie need to learn how to dive through the settings first and it is not always advertised or written in the manual as an "essential" function. I have bought used Olympus cameras and find it strange that the owners had set up all sorts of custom menus, etc, but not the SCP as a default!

No problem 😊

Hi Paul, thanks very much for your comment. If Olympus are willing to give me the Em1X again along with that lens then I'd be more than happy to pull a review video together. It was a nice system so let's hope the guys at Olympus get in touch again... Thanks again.

Hi Paul, I spoke with Olympus today and once they release the lens we should be able to pull a review video together which will be very interesting. Thanks

@@SimonWantling Awesome :)

Thanks Tim. All the best..👍

Thanks Martin. It is a nice setup. It's always good if you can borrow one to test but I guess that's always not possible. The photographic section of Olympus was of course taken over but another companies some months ago now as I'm sure you will have seen but hopefully they will keep going as a company as they have a good following.

Thanks very much. Apologies for the late reply. Only just seen this comment. All the best.

Bokeh is just a made up issue. If you know your photography, like you do, you'll know how to separate your subject from the background using composition, lighting, colour separation and aperture setting.

Thanks Marc. Indeed weight does get an issue when you get older. I'm certainly feeling it. 🙂

It was only in one country (so far) they are closing down. If I remember correctly it was in South Korea. But sales keep dropping everywhere for all brands, so more countries may follow. The latest version of Canon 600/4 is a lot lighter, but still a beast compared to the Olympus.

No problem glad you liked it. All the best..

Thanks very much. Glad you liked it. All the best..👍

Hi Nigel, that's definitely on my list. I would keep my 1Dx2 and 600mm prime anyway regardless of whether I'd get another system. Thanks

Thanks very much. Really appreciate the comment as always. 👍

I agree that the bigger camera and lens are an effort to carry around BUT I do love the unbelievable AF-C speed and just amazing capabilities of my D500 with a 200-500mm lens.

Thanks a lot.

Thank you Frank for the kind comment and very pleased you enjoyed it. Yes, I was very impressed by the Olympus system and can see why people are using it. Being light weight its a great travel setup but as mentioned, wouldn't replace my big Canon glass. As much as I liked the Olympus, we all have limited funds and given that I have invested in Canon heavily over the years with lenses etc, I have gone for the new R5 which looks great, albeit with some heating issues which I can live with.

Hi Sean. On a normal day to day operation then the image quality is comparable except with the Olympus you won't get that nice out of focus background if it's too close to the subject compared to a try f4 lens on a full frame camera. Saying that you can just account for that in your composition plus most people would hardly notice. Also low light photography isn't the same as a full frame camera but honestly with all the post processing AI software now, noise isn't an issue anymore in my opinion. That setup I shows I think was around £4k where as my canon gear is £18k. Is the difference worth the extra £14k - no it isn't. Hope that helps. Just note - Olympus photography have been brought out by another company now.

It is very tempting isn't it. I'm often caught up about buying one which I haven't done yet.

Already gone back but I'm thinking of it.

@@SimonWantling You do know that OLY has been sold to an asset stripping merger and acquisitions company?

Yes I heard. Shame but may be good news for them in the end.

@@SimonWantling The death knell I think. This Merger & Acquisition company have an "ineteresting track record". On a better note: Canon R5 and R6 are out?!

Doghouse Riley they’re ok brands they own still releases perspective products

Sorry Ant, I missed this. I can't quite remember exactly but the image is frame filling to no crop really. Maybe 20 meters but not much more.

Thanks for the comment Gary. I know what you mean with the big 600mm f4 lens. Fantastic glass and I love mine but now iny mid 50s and bit by bit it's starting to get heavy. I'll never part with it though but I have just ordered the canon 100-500mm as a lighter walk about setup. I'm probably not the best person to advise on Olympus but if it was me I would 100% go for the new OM1 because from what I hear it's a great camera and paired with the 300mm f4 it's a nice light setup. I even contemplated getting that setup instead on the 100-500mm canon glass but decided to stick to canon. It was tempting to try something different though. It might be worth contacting Espen Helland as he's a true Olympus man and would advise I'm sure as he's a really nice guy. Thanks

@@SimonWantling thank you! Once you have the background quality of a 600mm II lens (and the unbeatable 1.4 and 2x quality, especially the latter at f10) I can imagine how difficult it is to go down to anything else. That’s my experience anyway. We work hard to get our equipment but it does spoil us!! I think the lack of blurry backgrounds and high noise from the Olympus may bother me too much, so I was debating a 400mm DO II canon lens for my R6 to bring while traveling. It’s probably a hood in between. I do own the 100-500L and while it can be excellent especially for landscapes and mammals, for birds it’s a bit difficult unless it’s flight shots. The backgrounds have to be really clean and I am very picky while some photographers don’t care, I’m a real stickler for nice backgrounds. At f7.1 it’s possible but you have to really work your subjects. For getting low at the beach or flight I think it’s really good. Thanks for the feedback and you will love the 100-500 I’m sure. It just takes getting used to.

That's the one thing with the 100-500mm that is putting me off also. I'm holding off now to see if canon bring something else out. You're right about the 600mm f4 glass and like you I'm a perfectionist when it comes to the photos and love those blurred backgrounds. Honestly 99% of my photography is project work as I'm generally on private land from popup hides so the big glass can't be beaten. I did buy the 800mm f/11 to play with. It's ok but far too slow although in the right conditions and with good enough distance between the subject and background, you can actually get some nice images with the compression the 800mm brings. It's all money to keep up with it.

@@SimonWantling yeah, I’m tempted to sell the 100-500 and just get a 70-200L for my landscapes to complement my wide angle lenses. I think you are smart not to get it. But if you end up shooting bears in Alaska or mammals it’s really great. I think if we are patient, canon will come out with the new 200-600 f5.6 L or one of the other versions. There are some patents out I’m sure you have seen.

Hi Andrew, no I didn't mention that. Sorry. Yes the autofocus is very good indeed and locks on really well. I wouldn't say it's as quick as the canon body but again it's not going to be I think as that's a £5k camera. Saying that, in the time I've had the gear, it's been very good. Hope that helps.

@@SimonWantling great stuff simon, cheers.

Hi, thanks a lot. It's a prime lens.

@@SimonWantling Thank Simon much appreciated .

Hi Jesse, thanks for your comment. I think a lot depends on what type of phoyography you want to do. The beauty of the Olympus system is it's portability in that it gives you an effective 600mm focus length on a 300mm lens as the camera has a 2X crop. There is a lot to be said it being mobile, getting gear on the plane etc which is why a lot of people are switching. My big Canon glass although probably one of the best lenses out there comes with a huge price tag and weight. I'm now in my 50's and honestly it's a real lump to carry around so the Olympus system was a very pleasant surprise. The main downside of the system was the DOF because although it's an F4 lens it's equivalent to F8 at 600mm so the background blur isn't the same as an F4 on a full frame camera. Some people would say you can get the same quality image using a micro 4/3s camera but I don't tend to agree. Most good images come from the skill of the photographer and often not the kit plus if you consider my canon setup is £18k compared to a max of £4k for the Olympus there certainly isn't a massive difference between the two systems. Yes the noise control isn't as good in low light but again I wouldn't get to hung up on noise as it's easily rectified in post if you need to. For me to switch is hard as I'm very heavily invested in Canon so for me I'm probably looking towards the new R5 or R1 in the future. I don't have much experience on video for the Olympus system so it would be better to get a more reliable response on that from someone who has more knowledge than me. I think Epsen Helland using it for video so maybe connect with him on that. Hope that helps...

Thanks Jeff, I can send you an email address if you like. I'm sure they might help.

@@SimonWantlingyes please, that would be great - I think it'd be an interesting comparison and I'd be happy to have a crack at it..

Hi Geoff. If you email pro.loan@olympus.co.uk they may be able to help.

@@SimonWantling Awesome - I'll do that :)

Cliff Day. Tim Boyer pro bird photographer switched to Olympus EM1x & EM1iii from Canon full frame .....as have a number of pro wildlife & bird photographers. Also the EM1ii was greatly improved with major firmware updates but the EM1x & EM1iii have superior autofocus.

@@cliffday1183 i think they are all payoffs unfortunately.

Cliff Day try out the gear and compare. It is hard to be honest. To get the shot you need a mobile system. And pro capture. Noise is unimportant, only for pixel peeping. And to get a reason to have spend the money.

@@cliffday1183go watch his videos, he actually demonstrates side by side images with a Canon and Olympus. The difference is so small as to be of no consequence. Give examples where you think his work has deteriorated?

@@cliffday1183 wow your imaging requirements must be extraordinarily high. I'm really keen to see your photography portfolio. Care to post a link?

I think they are the ends of the detachable camera strap

Yep, they are for a detachable peak design strap.

I've had a loaner from Olympus and it was amazing, being able to get up to 60 shots even before I press the shutter button! Beware though, you'll run out of memory before you know it! Set up with the electronic shutter and in high burst rate mode, I just cannot miss the action! BTW, enquire with Olympus if you can get a free loaner from them, just like what Simon had.

Wrong! You get a DOF of a 300mm lens with a 600mm FOV. The lens is still f4

@@MuertoInc Truly tragic when so many people have been fooled by the RU-vid bokeh madness brigade. A competent photographer will know how to use composition, lighting, etc to separate the subject matter, just like how Simon does here. In addition, it is always important to have the background separated enough by blur, not not so much that it is a complete mess that you have no idea where the subject is. An image tells a story, not just an image of the bird, etc. Just look at Toneh Sony Northrup. All his videos are a complete mess of blur.

Hi Ian, totally agree. My canon gear isn't going anywhere plus I've invested massively in canon anyway. The Olympus as mentioned would just compliment it as a mobile system if I decided to buy one 👍

Micro 4/3 is a 2x crop sensor, so that f4 lens has the equivalent depth of field as an f8 on a full frame camera. Shallow depth of field is not possible.

@@GapBahnDirk no it has exactly the same DOF as a 300mm f4 lens on a FF camera (if you crop down the image to the same field of view as the m43)

@@justinholding02 It has the DOF of a 600mm f8 lens on a FF camera.

@@GapBahnDirk you need to stop watching Tony Northrup 😂

@@justinholding02 Just remember, multiply the F stop by the crop factor to get the equivalent DOF.

In pro capture mode, the camera is taking 35 shots and rolling them thru memory, when finally taking the shot, all past 35 shots are recorded to memory card, sort of a time machine :)

They do, and it is brilliant for wildlife photography.

My G9 has features like this as well. Very nice for certain situations.

@@Fluxion11 the g9 use a inferior 4k mode. On tve olympus you get full RAW images. Not even close.

@@Makta972 ahh, that's good to know. I shouldn't have assume that Olympus did this with jpgs. You'd think that Panasonic could implement a raw version of this through a firmware update.

Thanks Robert 👍 good luck with your photography..

Simon Wantling picked it up yesterday just need to learn that new menu 😊

I'm sure. It's not that bad, just takes a bit of getting use to.

I have issues with the menu as a long time user. 😃 One thing to note is that the the letters are intended to represent the topic, eg "a" for af, "e" for exposure etc. I've noticed that Olympus video presenters have started mentioning this regularly in recent videos.

Thanks Jonathan and totally with you on the noise and putting the fun back into it. I didn't find the noise an issue on the limited time I had it but it was never going to be as good as the pro full frame bodies. When it comes to low light situations then I will certainly be on the 1DX2 but still considering the Olympus. Also waiting on the R5 out of curiosity 👍

So less than the R5? mmmmmm

@@doghouseriley4732 Canon exaggerates, the E-M1X blows away the R5 in stabilization!

Regarding the part about learning new technologies - mirrorless cameras don't really shoot differently than digital SLRs. They certainly can have more noise in low-light but they generally do well nowadays.

@@wilkgr. Cheers Jack, I'm sure you are correct regarding the new technology and I guess the real issue is a reluctance on my part to embrace change. I think that all cameras these days are becoming more complex, not necessarily a bad thing but my point is that my granddaughter is usually required to set up a mobile phone for me....!! Technology is advancing at a rapid rate and I suppose the limitations that I observed some time ago (such as poor electronic viewfinders) have been, or will be, improved. However, for those of us on a very limited budget, if the equipment we currently have does the job then I see no reason to change. When you have a camera system it is surprising just how much ancillary kit you collect, flashes, remote releases, cables etc etc. All this represents quite a hefty investment so to change systems is no small decision. At the end of the day it is being out taking pictures that is important. So I guess I will stick with what I have for now. Thank you for taking the time to reply and who knows, if my lottery numbers come up tonight perhaps I will overcome my reluctance and give mirrorless photography a go. Take care.

@@robertlawrence7958 of course, you make very good points. And the limited budget is so true! I'm shooting on an E-M10 (Olymous' cheapest model) and buy my lenses second hand. And yes, I do agree - cameras have picked up a lot of features and settings along the way. At the end of the day, it's about enjoying yourself. I hope you have many great shots :)

Hi there.

8X10 just like the Canon EOS-1Dx Mark III & Nikon D6.

thanx. for the price, i can get a d500 or xt4 with kit lense and should have better low light performance and dynamic range, right?

@@sergiollag1 The benefits on m4/3 are lighter, better dept-of-fields & IS. It's actually behave like a 40Mega camera and out performed the 1Dx Mark III & D6. Yes, that is correct. We tested all three. The OM-D E-M1X is sharper & has greater depth-of-field than the other two cameras. If you cut the 1D & D6 sensor in half, the quality will be below M1X

Thanks , yes you're quite right. 👍

Light gathering is still f/4 only DOF is equivalent to an f/8

@@gregs4163 That's great info. Thank you, Gregory.

This "equivalence" thing has to do with depth of field, not aperture. It got tiring long ago, folks.

Thanks for your comment. I can assure you you'll never find me sitting in a paid hide, that's doesn't interest me at all. I'm much more into spending time with the wildlife in the field. I don't have an issue spending £18k on my setup, but I do admit the attractiveness of a mobile setup which was very good. For me, a system like the Olympus would compliment my work and primary equipment rather than totally replace it. I've not used the Panasonic but I've heard good things about them. Thanks.

@@SimonWantling Like I say I am not in a position to judge its just my thoughts. Kudos for a fair and impartial review. Comparing an 18k setup to a 4k one could only really go one way so good to see you admit the strengths and weaknesses without siding too much with a pre conceived notion that smaller sensors are dreadful which I hear a lot of.

@@JoeMaranophotography no problem. Honestly Joe, I was really surprised. I also own the 7D Mark II and that Olympus was so much better than that. In my honest opinion the only real time my big canon gear would be better is in low light but apart from that and the odd tricky focus situation you'd struggle to see the difference. DOF was different but a minor thing and you can just adjust your field craft to account for that. Really impressed. Good luck with your photography Joe 👍

@@SimonWantling That would be my thoughts too. It's for that reason I keep eyeing up a Sony with the 200-600 or going for a 200 2.8 which works out cheaper. They will work out the same for noise and depth of field but the Panasonic is cheaper but loses the reach and Sony AF. Until some money rolls in I can't justify either though. There is more to photography than gear and my shopping list is still endless 😂

I have the Mark II.

@@SimonWantling I have the 400 2.8 ver 1 try walking with that all day !!

Hi Andrew, yes I had it on a two week loan. The have a pro loan scheme which you could use and test the equipment. Not sure what the latest situation is with that now though since their announcement last week. I can share the details if you want me to. Thanks

@@SimonWantling Thanks. I borrowed before buying my Olympus gear. Just wanted to make sure people realise anyone can borrow this kit ("Test and wow" scheme). Sounds like it is business as usual for the moment. Nice review by the way.

Thanks. Yes unfortunately I didn't get a lot of time to use it as I had to travel but noticed the same option on the Fuji XT3 recently which was good to find. Thanks for mentioning it. 👍

She's pretty good. It might involve doing the house work for a considerable amount of time 😉. Don't get me wrong, I'm not moving away from Canon in the slightest. The big prime I have on the 1dx2 is amazing plus I've invested far to much in them to shift over completely. They also have the R5 coming out which I'm extremely interested in. The Olympus is attractive based on its lightweight, so good for travel has pro capture and the IS is simply amazing. That's purely what I'm looking at it for but not as a replacement. If they were to offer me one I wouldn't say no 🙂

Possibly 🙂 not sure I could ever part with my canon gear though 😉