bobbytan
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Jack Kelley wrote:
bobbytan, I'm not seeing so far any answers to your (Page 23) questions about Silent Shutter mode or IS on tripod. I hope they'll get answered as more people use this lens. Meantime, a couple of questions for you (and anyone else who might wish to weigh in) if you don't mind:
* Have you switched from monopod to tripod? If so, why?
* Some of your photo sets that appear to have been shot in the same time frame show a mix of 300mm and 420mm. Are you adding/removing the MC-14 in the field? Or do you just go out with it on or off and leave it?
* At one point, I think you said you want at least f/5.6 in good light with this lens for better DOF. Still feeling that way? It looks like maybe you went back to f/4 at 300mm.
*Do you yet have any strong feelings about the MC-14 one way or the other?
Not intending to exclude anyone from this inquiry. So many terrific and experienced shooters here. I'm grateful for whatever info users of this lens are willing to share. ...Show more →
Hi Jack
I have since discovered that silent/electronic shutter eliminates vibration caused by a mechanical shutter, so generally your images particularly at slower shutter speeds are almost always sharper than using the non-silent anti-shock 0 mode. Check out this report in Imaging Resource:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/lenses/olympus/300mm-f4.0-is-pro-ed-m.zuiko-digital/review/
Some excerpts:
"We tested all three primary shooting modes with the E-M1 (single-shot, anti-shock and silent modes), and found the Silent mode did indeed provide the sharpest images with the Olympus 300mm. Testing this again handheld with I.S. enabled, we also found similar results, with Silent mode producing better images when using a slower shutter speeds (1/125s for our handheld tests, for example)."
"To back-up our findings, we re-shot a series of tripod-based tests with the 300mm ƒ/4 Pro against the older Olympus 75-300mm ƒ/4.8-6.7 II at 300mm in order to rule out any issue with the 300mm Pro lens itself. Testing both with and without IS enabled, we shot a series at 1/80s with both lenses, and we found that with either lens, using Silent shooting mode produced the sharpest images. We observed shutter-shock blurring with single-shot and anti-shock modes from both lenses.
While the Olympus 300mm ƒ/4 Pro is certainly a very sharp lens, care should be taken to either use a faster shutter speed or opt for Silent mode (or Anti-Shock mode at least) if critically sharp images are desired."
But there are downsides to using the silent shutter mode - like the rolling shutter problem, etc. Check out this article:
http://www.juzaphoto.com/article.php?l=en&t=mechanical_and_electronic_shutter
• Monopod vs tripod. I am not much of a monopod user, mostly because I find it quite tiresome to have to hold the monopod all the time, and a one-legged monopod is not that much lighter than a 3-legged tripod. Also, often times I would have my lens trained on a perched bird just waiting for some action to happen. Doing this a lot easier if your camera is mounted on a tripod - as you can lock focus and composition and step away from the camera - and use the LCD to monitor the bird rather than having to stare into the VF.
• Yes, I have my TC with me all the time but will only use it when I need it. Most of the time I prefer to not use it, as IQ and speed is being compromised.
• The MC-14 is great if you need a tighter crop or more reach - certainly better than shooting at 300mm and cropping the image.
• f5.6 is the sweet spot of this lens, so this is my default or go-to f-stop. If I need more speed and/or less DOF I would shoot it wide open.
Cheers,
Bobby
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