OM System 100-400mm MK II - some lessons learned

I mentioned in my recent post that I'd acquired the Mk II iteration of the OM 100-400mm for it's sync IS.  I also mentioned that I hadn't had that much chance to use it to it's full potential due to the weather being pretty rubbish.  It's still early days but now I've had a better opportunity. with sunny conditions, a visit to Lopwell Dam, where the tidal waters of the Tamar meets the fresh water of the River Tavy, and a couple of hours spare to try some bird photography.  Missing was a great variety of birds but there were a few around.  And a few lessons were learned.

Lesson 1:  Working with 400mm

I was working from the bank and these Canada Geese were on a low tide island about 50 metres away.  Hand holding with both arms supported on a fence rail gave me reasonably sharp shot at ISO 800, 1/1250 sec, f6.3 (wide open).  I've cropped in a little but not excessively.  Examined closely I'd have been better upping the ISO to 1600 to give a slightly sharper - less motion blur - shot at 1/2500 sec.  No wonder other photographers routinely use higher ISOs to keep the speed up, albeit with an increase in noise..

Another part of the flock were on the water, a little closer, allowing me to get some reflection images.  Same settings as before but the goose was larger in the frame giving a little more detail on the feathers.

Again, I've cropped a little to give a better framed image.

The lessons learned?  Even for big birds 400mm on a wide estuary is only just enough reach unless they come close.  Without the camouflage of a hide, most don't.  And 1/1250 sec shutter speed is barely enough.  Take a hit with higher ISOs and noisier images to sharpen the shots.

Lesson 2: Lets try the 1.4x teleconverter

Want more reach?  Add a teleconverter.  As I only own the Olympus 1.4x that was my only choice. 400mm became 560mm; hence more pixels on the birds. That's the upside.  The downside is that that I'm down to f9 wide open, f10 for preference to allow for the slight reduction in wide open image quality from the extra glass.  That means higher ISO to keep shutter speeds up.  Is it worth it to get capture images where more distant birds appear larger in the frame?

Yes.

I'd added the teleconverter when, on the distant bank opposite, a cormorant landed to dry it's wings.  ISO up to 1/1250, f10, 1/1600 sec and shot taken.  I'd popped the camera on a tripod for this as I'd previously found that adding the 1.4x was a bit much for my shaky handholding.  Here's the result:

Lessons learned?  The 1.4x works - but it has a cost, particularly on a slow lens such as the 100-400mm.  With modern noise reduction (more on this in a separate post later) it's worth the risk but there's always that downside.  

Although it can work very well...

Lesson 3:  Try baiting

As photographers do, we chat.  By chance I met up with a more experienced bird shooter and after some conversation he suggested trying a bit of baiting on a fence rail by the estuary bank.  He had some seed, put it out, and within a minute I had a Dunnock landing for a feed.

Then a male chaffinch.

Followed in quick succession by a cock pheasant who'd sauntered down the road in greedy anticipation.

I still had the 1.4x teleconverter on so I had to go to ISO 1600.  Even that was marginal for the Dunnock at 1/320 sec though the detail is certainly there.  As for the pheasant it's not hard to imagine the delight when their flamboyance was first introduced to the UK.

Lessons learned?  Baiting works if done regularly.  The spot these final two shots were taken is regularly baited by other birders.  I'll be joining their number and carry seed with me next time I'm at Lopwell.  Secondly, although I didn't need the 1.4x - straight 400mm would have been enough - it actually held up very well at closer range.

A satisfying day,

Robin preening

Been a bit busy lately, catching up on some much needed work in the garden, but my resident robin redbreast (Erithacus rubecula) decided to interrupt me by going through a preening ritual while perched on the handle to one of my larger shrub pots.  How could I resist.

Poor thing looked rather disheveled. I know a pair are nesting in the garden and this must be one of the adults looking rather worn out with parenting duties.

All shot with the EM1 Mkii and Olympus 40-150mm f2.8 Pro.at ISO 800.  There wasn't a lot of noise but I used the Adobe DeNoise in Lightroom just in case.  The dark backgrond helps to emphasise the bird though it did need -0.7EV in exposure compensation to illuminate the bird correctly.  I never fail to admire the resolving power of the Pro lens and camera combination.

Photographing birds with the Olympus 40-150mm f2.8 Pro - Part 2

In Part 1 of this pair of posts I looked at my - rather inadequate - efforts photographing birds with the Olympus 40-150mm f2.8 Pro lens.  Even with the 1.4x teleconverter attached to give an effective 420mm f4 (ff equivelent) it's hardly long enough for any birds in the wild that are neither large nor accustomed to humans.  Yes, I can crop, quite heavily in some cases, and still retain a small but useable at web size file, but that's hardly adequate for my needs.

For example, the little wren above was singing his heart out on a telephone wire at the end of my garden when I crept out and captured him at 210mm, f5, 1/4000sec.  The image is fairly sharp and detailed but, to get good framing I had to crop down to 3.6Mpx from the original 20Mpx, way below Alamy upload requirements.  Put simply, I didn't have enough pixels on the subject, even at 420mm equivelent.

There are three solutions to the problem:  

• Firstly, buy a longer M43 telephoto to give me more reach and a larger subject in the viewfinder.  Even sticking to Olympus lenses there are 4 options: the 150 - 400mm f4.5 (very expensive), the 300mm f4 (expensive), the 100 - 400mm (not as good as the previous two and still quite expensive), or the cheaper 70-300mm - but that's not really good enough at the the long end.
• Secondly, use an adapted lens.  When I switched to M43 I bought a Viltrox Canon EF to M43 adapter to try my 70-300 f4-5.6 L lens to get me out to 600mm ff equivelent.  It had a fair bit of reach but the autofocus was way too slow to be of use for anything other than static subjects.
• Thirdly, lure the birds to the photographer rather than go hunting them.  In other words, feed them and/or provide bathing and nesting facilities. Definitely the cheapest solution but you are limited to what visits in your locality.

Given my budget limitations it came down to Solution 3.

With feeders and bird baths in both front and rear gardens, all visible from our windows, it's been fascinating to watch the birds come and go.  Yes, I'm generally shooting through glass but that's nothing a little post processing in Lightroom won't fix.  Here's some results:

Male blackbird on a bird bath

Great tit on a feeder

Robin in flight to a feeder

Sparrows on our improvised bird bath

Starling on a feeder support

It's well away from my usual plant and garden photography but it's fun and occupies a few hours.  I'm even thinking of getting a hide so I can get even closer and without window glass in the way.  Meanwhile, I've seen blue tits investigating our nest boxes.  Pro capture opportunities for 2024, perhaps.

Photographing birds with the Olympus 40-150mm f2.8 Pro - Part 1

I am not a bird photographer.  To be honest I've never been that interested in them and I've never had the budget to afford the long, fast telephoto lenses required to do the job properly.  But, like any wildlife / nature photographer I'll take the opportunity to get a shot should chance permit.

Stover Park, near Newton Abbot in Devon, is a 114 acre nature reserve centred around a large lake that attracts large numbers of migratory birds in winter,  Because there is a flat road running round the lake it's ideal for Maria's mobility scooter and we can enjoy a day out together.

Now the Olympus 40-150mm f2.8, even with the 1.4x teleconverter fitted, is not, by birding standards, a long lens.  420mm ff equivelent, though great for picking out flower details at the back of borders or capturing butterflies feeding without spooking them, is not really long enough for small, shy birds in distant treetops.

But it's just long enough and fast enough for waterfowl aclimated to human presence.  Water fowl such as this flock of coots...

...or a red billed moorhen.

Of course, bigger birds are even easier, as exemplified by this mute swan juvenile enjoying a wing stretch.

But all too often the bird is just a dot in the viewfinder and even the sharpness of the lens isn't enough to produce useable images.

But there are circumstances when even shy birds will tolerate human closeness.  During my regular days at The Garden House I'm often followed around by one of the resident robins.  They're quite happy to get close and even pose.

Of course, they're looking for food, hoping the human will turn up a tasty morsel at ground level. It's what gardeners do, after all.  Mind you, the need to search for food can certainly overcome caution, as with this song thrush hunting for snails amidst a hard early winter freeze.

Hopefully it found something worthwhile.

Regular feeding, as anyone who's put up feeders or bird tables knows, will always attract birds and some of my better shots have been taken on the feeders in my own back garden.  But that's the subject for my next post...