Birding with the OM Systems OM-1 and 150-400 Pro (Review Part II)

Snowy plover (OM-1/150-400 PRO). The 150-400 offers great reach to appreciate timid, vulnerable, or even dangerous subjects from a safe, non-disturbing distance. As a biologist and animal lover, I always prioritize animal (and people) welfare over getting the shot, and recommend everyone do the same.

It’s been about two-and-a-half weeks now since I’ve started using the new OM-1 (primarily with the 150-400 Pro lens), and in this Part II Review (find Part I here), I wanted to focus on the new OM-1 for birding. While birds are not the only subject I like to photograph, they are one of my favorites because they can be quite challenging and also reliably found just about anywhere. I also think that the skills acquired photographing birds in flight translate well across genres of wildlife photography. It also puts camera systems to the test.

With each opportunity to work with the OM-1, I’ve become more comfortable using the camera and understanding how it differs from prior OM models. In most ways, it has truly exceeded expectations for birding applications. The key areas I feel have been substantially improved include, but are not limited to: a) autofocus, b) controls, and c) image quality. Below, I’ve summarized some of my field notes based on use of the kit on these subjects.

White-crowned sparrow (OM-1/150-400 PRO)

Autofocus

At this point, I feel confident in saying this is the best bird AF system I’ve used on micro four-thirds, and at least on par with, and potentially exceeding all of the other system cameras I’ve tried to date for this application. Perhaps it is unsurprising that the AF system is improved from past OM cameras, but I was actually surprised at just how much improved it is for bird photography.

Here are the key areas where I think this AF system excels for birds:

1. Dealing with busy backgrounds

For detecting birds against busy, contrasting backgrounds like land or trees (which are in my opinion, some of the better bird images), the AF stays reliably stuck on the subject and ignores the background. While it is possible to get great in-flight bird shots with almost any camera, having a confident system in these scenarios equates to more opportunities to nail focus and thus more keepers.

An osprey grabbing some seaweed, I assume for nest building (OM-1/150-400 PRO)

Osprey (locking on against a busy background) OM-1/150-400 Pro

Still locked on…even when the background gets really busy and close (OM-1/150-400 Pro)

2. Subject acquisition

I’ve been impressed with how subject detection works even in situations when I think the camera would be fooled, like the quail image below, where the bird blends in perfectly with its surroundings. If there is a bird in the frame, you can be reasonably certain the bird AI is going to pick it up and track it well.

3. Responsiveness.

The ability of the OM-1 to reliably track fast moving subjects like fast birds-of-prey shows that there is some serious processing power going on here. I’ve also noticed that if the bird turns away for a split second, there is no delay whatsoever in the eye-AF tracking square disappearing and reappearing smack dab back on the eye. The same goes for rapidly flying birds - for the most part, the AF square stays glued-on.

While not infallible, all signs are pointing to the AF system in this camera being in another league compared to its predecessors. Unsurprisingly, proper technique, patience, anticipation and field craft are still required.

Of course, the goal posts keep moving with every brands’ new body and sometimes even new firmware updates, but the OM-1’s AF system for birding is nonetheless solid per today’s standards.

Controls

I posted some of my favorite settings so far in my prior first impressions review. The controls, once set up to personal specifications, are a pleasure to use, and have some great improvements over past models. I set all four custom modes to support some of my most-used shooting scenarios. They all serve as a great starting point from which I can modify settings to suit the scene, then comfortably come back to the starting point when desired. For example, I have C2 set for shooting a stationary bird on a branch at low shutter speeds to minimize ISO, and with a flip of the control dial I’m ready to shoot a bird in flight.

One improvement I continue to appreciate with this camera body is that you can now trigger custom modes via a FN button. For example, I have the AEL button set to switch on high-resolution shooting mode, and AF-ON set to turn off and on subject tracking. I really like not having to menu dive to trigger these modes and have already started using this functionality regularly.

Image quality

I can’t really provide any empirical evidence such as studio samples for this, but I’m convinced that after looking at several thousand image files, most seem to simply look better than I remembered from prior micro-four thirds cameras. I notice it the most when I’m pushing the shadows or dropping the highlights. Perhaps the dynamic range is not massively different, but with past cameras, pushing shadows or dropping highlights was a gamble, as it sometimes led to less than pleasant color tones. Overall, I’m quite pleased in the IQ department, even for “just a 20 MP sensor”. Having a higher resolution body in the future might be a nice for printing large and deeper crops. We’ll just have to see what happens there.

Male California quail (OM-1/150-400 PRO)

Final thoughts

The E-M1X was a great camera in many ways, one being that the ergonomics felt like a better pairing with the bigger 150-400 Pro lens than the OM-1 (especially without the HLD-10 attached). With that aside, there is little doubt in my mind that the OM-1 is a major upgrade, and now my camera of choice for this system. The combination of the OM-1 and 150-400 Pro leaves little to be desired for the birding enthusiast. While the combination will never get the shallow DOF and low-light performance of a full-frame rig with a 600/4, for example, I’d argue it’s way more nimble and practical working with a zoom - especially with birds in flight.

You can find some more samples from the kit (OM-1 + 150/400 Pro) below. As always, free to drop me a line in the comments.

Until next time, take care and happy shooting!

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