Gabyto

Is this camera good for wildlife?. I would really appreciate any information from Olympus owners.

OleMe Loc: Montgomery Co., MD

Take a look at reviews / discussion on dpreviews: https://unix.la/5yc51

/Roger

OleMe Loc: Montgomery Co., MD

P.S. Take a look at the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III before you buy. It seems to have some remarkable omprovements.

/Roger

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

With the new Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 100-400mm f/5-6.3 IS lens it should be great! I've been shooting with a Panasonic M4/3 camera and Panasonic 100-400. The Olympus may even be better. The real comparison is with the Canons and Nikons lined up along the road at Yellowstone with 600 mm lenses attached.

John from gpwmi Loc: Michigan

It has many features that make it good for wildlife, e.g. two modes of ProCapture, industry setting sensor IS that works in conjunction with some IS lenses to go even further. Thus, a tri-pod is usually not required and can be left home. It's weather proof so doesn't need protection from rain and snow. Many claim that the smaller, lighter gear make it so much easier to pack and handle in the wild that they end up with more successful shots. However, it has some shortcomings as well, specifically low-light capability and the 20Mp sensor does not leave as much room for cropping. About 1.5x to 2x depending on your need. I have one and it is a fun camera to use. If you do get one make sure to up-date its firmware. This includes some of the features of OMD E-M1x. I agree, it's worth while to go to dpreviews for any camera your considering if they've review it, and YouTube reviews. Since there isn't a perfect camera, you have to weigh the pros and cons to your needs. I've given you the major ones. Note: The new Mark III has some additional features, like hand held 50Mp photos, which won't be very useful for wildlife, except roadkill.

bschafer

We travel frequently on wildlife/nature based trips with Lindblad/National Geographic. A good number of their professional photographers have mad the switch to Olympus. Take a look at the presentations from Ralph Lee Hopkins (day 1) and Jay Dickman (day 2) for some thoughts and beautiful images https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/promotion/15107/optic.html

wildweasel

I have had my EM 1 Mark ll for about 3 years now and I can't say enough good things about this camera and Olympus pro lenses. I have a nikon z6 that I very seldom ever use, the Oly is my go to camera, and I pretty much only use it for wildlife. You can see some of my work here, https://www.facebook.com/RayReederPhotography

GWZ Loc: Bloomington, IN

I have owned the 1 Mk II from January, 2018 onward, and have gotten some excellent images. I use it for BIF as well as stationary wildlife. I use a 40-150/f2.8 and add the 1.4 TC most of the time. This combo is pretty light, so I do not hesitate to grab it and take it with me wherever I go. Procapture feature is great! I use the electronic shutter (truly noiseless) almost all the time.

One feature I really like for BIF or other fast action work is the large buffer for the #1 SD card. Make sure you get the card that has the fastest R/W speed recommended in the instruction book. I am able to get upwards of 75 JPEG/RAW images per burst if I want to before the buffer fills up. If I shoot just JPEG I have never run out of buffer.

I concur with "John from gpwmi" above about low-light capability.

I would also give the 1 Mk III a good look. It has some additional features the 1 Mk II does not that may be desirable in your situation.

You can look at many images I have taken using the 1 Mk II here on this site. Start from January, 2018, onward.

ldmarsh

I know that Olympus is going out of business, at least in Canada. Make sure to check before purchasing.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

"Take a look at the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III before you buy. It seems to have some remarkable improvements."

I do not own one but have read a lot about this new camera. It seems to be a great choice for wildlife.

"I know that Olympus is going out of business, at least in Canada. Make sure to check before purchasing."

Olympus has sold its camera division to Japan Industrial Partners due to a lack of income in the past three years. That does not mean, as has been already told, that the production of cameras and lenses will come to a halt. I have 3 Olympus bodies with Panasonic and Olympus Zuiko lenses and I will continue to use them for as long as I can. Look at the new cameras and lenses Olympus has placed in the market this year. Not bad for someone going out of business.

I have not used any of my Olympus cameras for BIF. My OM-D1 is not their best camera for wildlife but I am sure I can handle like many others did in the past. Due to the confinement I have not been able to use my "new" camera.

Gort55 Loc: Northern Colorado

I'm very happy with my Oly EM1 Mark II and Leica 100-400mm lens.

(Download)

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

Olympus is really not out of the camera business. I did not realize it, but what Olympus is doing something that is similar to what Sony has done. Sony cameras is not a division of Sony anymore. Sony cameras is now a separate company owned by Sony. Sony spun the camera division off into its own company. Olympus is actually in partnership with JIP more than an actual outright sale. JIP and Olympus, in the original memorandum, are generating a new company which JIP has the management of. The question right now is will the Olympus name be retained and what direction they plan to go.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

You should scour this site:

https://naturalexposures.com/corkboard/

Daniel J. Cox is a well-known nature photographer who has used Nikon, Lumix, Olympus, and Sony, among other camera brands, to photograph wildlife. Check out his in-depth coverage of various approaches.

Also read in-depth camera reviews on https://www.dpreview.com.

JFCoupe Loc: Kent, Washington

In April 2019 I took two EM1 MKii's to Tanzania. I used a P/L 100-400 on one body and the Oly 12-100 on the second body. Two lenses and had the equivalent range of 24-800. About 70% on my 15,000 images were with the 100-400. We did have 'bean bags' on the Land Cruisers but still many shots were fully handheld at 600-800 equivalent length. This is a great combination. The P/L 100-400 is about a stop wider than the new Oly 100-400, so that is a consideration in the purchase decision.

The only concern I have and have read about is that the zoom ring on the P/L lens is a bit stiff. For me not a major issue as I seldom try to zoom with the camera and lens in shooting position. I have bad left shoulder, so I generally need to lower the camera to change the lens zoom.

I am sticking with my Mk II s for now, but have read and seen some very good reports on the MK III and the M1x.

John from gpwmi Loc: Michigan

I also believe if you're considering the M1-Mark 11, you should look at the Mark III model. Also, invest in Olympus Pro line of lenses and the teleconverters as you think you need. The glass is the most important part of your investment.