Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)
Olympus E-M1 II, Panasonic 100-300 II
214mm, f/5.6, 1/40s, ISO200
#bird #BirdPhotography #birds #pelican #photo #photography #UrbanWildlife #wildlife #darktable @birding
this post was submitted on 21 Jan 2024
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@IMALlama I think the E-M1 II really excels at features for the money, being about 500 USD/EUR on the used market right now. If you value high burst rates, a pre-burst mode and outstanding stabilization along with a used lens market that favors buyers then I recommend it.
I've also used the Mk. III and the OM-1. The III adds a joystick, USB charging, handheld pixel-shift high-res, and live-ND (in-camera frame averaging to do long exposures in bright light). I didn't find any of those worth another $350 when I bought it, but the difference may be less now.
The OM-1 is definitely an upgrade but it's priced like it. I like that it no longer restricts continuous autofocus pre-burst to Olympus lenses and has fairly effective bird detection, but it does limit burst rates with third-party lenses and the 90 image buffer is a bit small for the higher burst rates it can achieve. I think the Panasonic G9 II may be the better camera but I have yet to use one.
Olympus does have a free trial program if you're near one of the US cities with participating dealers: https://testandwow.getolympus.com/
Thanks a lot for taking the time to reply!
If I'm being completely honest, what I value most right now is the ability of the camera focus on my young/hyper kids as they do young/hyper kid things. I'm not looking for super fast burst rates, but I am looking for good AF-C. I've been spoiled a bit by my A7III - it makes it very easy to focus on faces/eyes and gives me more opportunity to frame the shot vs make sure the AF point is still on top of one of them. Yeah, I can achieve good focus with my D5300, but it's a bit more work - I get the best results with single point AF and I have to keep that point on them.
As for the non-AF features of the III and OM-1: the joystick is nice to have, but if you can move the focus box around with the d-pad that will do. HHHR is something I might use occasionally for landscapes, and USB charging is kind of nice (but not worth $300 as you said). Everything else is unlikely to get a lot of use in my current stage in life.
If I like the AF-C performance of my A7III, why am I even talking about other systems? The A7III is a fine camera, but it's one I use - not one I love. The mechanical shutter is very loud, it can be slow to turn on, the IBIS unit clunks around at my hip when I walk with it on using my peak design strap, I wish that it remembered its last phone provided GPS location like Fujis do, etc.
I had no idea Olympus had a loaner program. Interestingly, nearest location is a place we frequent for vacation/holiday. Maybe I will pick one up this summer if I haven't made up my mind by then. Thanks for the tip.
@IMALlama I haven't used an A7 III to compare, but it's my understanding the Sony's autofocus is more likely to do what you want when using a wide area, and better at tracking.
I wouldn't bet on it being a better fit for your use case than your Sony but the loaner program is a great way to find out. I bought my E-M1 II after testing the E-M1 III that way.