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 p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · How bad is Olympus/Panasonic BIF in reality? | |
I have a Nikon D500, Sony A7R3 (Just upgraded from A73), Panasonic G9 and EM1.3, and still have my EM1 original. I shoot BIF, along with surfers, airshows and boating events having faster action, but overall it is only 15-20% of what I shoot. Never tried a Sony A9, which most others say is the best, but my Nikon D500 is not that far behind and is generally considered the 2nd best option. Here is my list of the cameras I own as to which is the best and what I believe would be my normal percentages of keepers* with each. I never use the tracking features, as most don't work that well, but usually AF-C at 3-6FPS with a 5 or 9 point AF spot.
~D500 - 75% with Nikon 300mm f4 ED-IF or 70% with 70-200 f2.8 VR1 (15 year old lenses.)
~Sony A73 - 65% with Sony 100-400 f4.5-5.6 GM.
~EM1.3 - 60% with Olympus 40-150 f2.8 Pro.
~G9 - 50% Using my 40-150 f2.8 Pro lens, so no Dual DFD. With my Panasonic 100-300 Ver1 f4-5.6 zoom it is not as good the Oly and does not allow for the Dual DFD either. I give it a 40% rating.
~EM1 (original) - 20% Using 40-150 f2.8 Pro-Have 2 EM1 bodies, same for both. Huge improvements with newer EM1's.
If you look at the BIF pages here on FM, in the majority of the photos the birds are not moving. For those situations the M4/3 is great and usually with much added reach, but with a skilled hand the moving BIF can be done as many posters have shown, you just won't get quite as many keepers. For me I am more than happy with the results of my new EM1.3 given the limited amount of action shooting I do. In fact because the AF is so much better on the EM1.3 vs my G9 or old EM1, I will most likely buy the new Oly 100-400 lens, as the reviews are pretty darn good on it and it does add IS to the mix, even though it is 3 axis and not 5 axis, but still better than none.
EDIT:
* Just so you don't think I pulled these numbers out of the air, back in Jan 2018 I did a 6,500 photo BIF test shoot with my D500, G9 and EM1 and these numbers are generally based upon that. But both the D500 and G9 have had FW upgrades since then, plus I had the D500 serviced, which helped raise the AF accuracy a bit, so this is reflected in what is above and a bit different than the original test. The Sony with the 100-400GM and EM1.3 with the 40-150 f2.8 Pro have been shot at the same test location this year, though not as extensively as in the test.
In case your interested, here is my 2 part test:
https://www.mu-43.com/threads/g9-with-birds.96288/post-1113694
Edited on Oct 19, 2020 at 07:09 AM · View previous versions
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