Photographing Birds in flight- Comparison between OMD EM1 MII and Lumix G9
For full disclosure, I own both these camera bodies and lenses tested and I do not have any kind of financial arrangement or sponsorship with any camera company (but I wish I did :) )
These findings are based on my personal experience and your experience could vary.
Tests included the following combinations of camera bodies and lenses
1) Lumix G9 with Pan Leica 100-400 f/4.0-6.3
2) Olympus OMD Em1 MII with Olympus 300mm f/4 pro lens
Please refer to my earlier, rather "more scientific " review of G85 and OMD EM1 MII.
https://diminutivelens.blogspot.com/2017/05/daniel-cox-very-highly-accomplished.html
Shooting a dog running at you and a bird flying are two totally different scenarios. I could control at least some of the variables such as direction of anticipated movement, distance from the subject and the background while shooting speeding pups.
With Birds in flight, we can hope to control some of these parameters at times, but often, its just too unpredictable. Hence, percent "pick" rates for excellent pictures significantly drop if the photographer takes the risk and shoots at a high frame rate or misses that great shot (1/50), if he or she is too cautious. Variables such as technique and experience of the photographer as well as predicting behavior of the bird in flight are some of the key determinants for a gorgeous photo.
In my opinion, both these camera/lens combinations do exceptionally well when the bird is in the frame. Any difference between the two systems is purely academic and boils down to personal preference. I have the settings on both these cameras registered to custom menus and they feel identical except for changing 2 levers and one dial on G9 vs 1 dial on olympus to get to "fast action mode". I felt that the G9 is better than G85 in focus tracking especially when the background gets distracting. But again, this is just a guess as the subjects, environment and shooting conditions were different between this test and my prior (which is referenced above).
I have had great luck with my Nikon D800 at 4ps for birds in flight using a 70-200 f/2.8. Its more about light, positioning oneself and anticipating bird behavior. However, the current offerings from panasonic and olympus are definitely a huge tech upgrade in a small form factor for me.
Some sample images below (resized for web). Happy Shooting!
Lumix G9 with Pan Leica 100-400
Olumpus OMD Em1 MII with Olympus 300 f/4 pro
NIKON D800 with Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8
These findings are based on my personal experience and your experience could vary.
Tests included the following combinations of camera bodies and lenses
1) Lumix G9 with Pan Leica 100-400 f/4.0-6.3
2) Olympus OMD Em1 MII with Olympus 300mm f/4 pro lens
Please refer to my earlier, rather "more scientific " review of G85 and OMD EM1 MII.
https://diminutivelens.blogspot.com/2017/05/daniel-cox-very-highly-accomplished.html
Shooting a dog running at you and a bird flying are two totally different scenarios. I could control at least some of the variables such as direction of anticipated movement, distance from the subject and the background while shooting speeding pups.
With Birds in flight, we can hope to control some of these parameters at times, but often, its just too unpredictable. Hence, percent "pick" rates for excellent pictures significantly drop if the photographer takes the risk and shoots at a high frame rate or misses that great shot (1/50), if he or she is too cautious. Variables such as technique and experience of the photographer as well as predicting behavior of the bird in flight are some of the key determinants for a gorgeous photo.
In my opinion, both these camera/lens combinations do exceptionally well when the bird is in the frame. Any difference between the two systems is purely academic and boils down to personal preference. I have the settings on both these cameras registered to custom menus and they feel identical except for changing 2 levers and one dial on G9 vs 1 dial on olympus to get to "fast action mode". I felt that the G9 is better than G85 in focus tracking especially when the background gets distracting. But again, this is just a guess as the subjects, environment and shooting conditions were different between this test and my prior (which is referenced above).
I have had great luck with my Nikon D800 at 4ps for birds in flight using a 70-200 f/2.8. Its more about light, positioning oneself and anticipating bird behavior. However, the current offerings from panasonic and olympus are definitely a huge tech upgrade in a small form factor for me.
Some sample images below (resized for web). Happy Shooting!
Lumix G9 with Pan Leica 100-400
Olumpus OMD Em1 MII with Olympus 300 f/4 pro
NIKON D800 with Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8
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