Setting up your Olympus cameras for wildlife and nature photography
I’ve recently had a rash of interest from many of our NE Explorers on how I set my Olympus cameras. I was thinking about doing this blog when I got an email from a long-time acquaintance and fellow natural history photographer, Joe McDonald.
Joe and I have known each other for more than 40 years. We started out about the same time and first met at the Outdoor Writer’s Association of America conference in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Joe comes from a teaching background which serves him well when discussing the ins and outs of photography.
Joe has recently published an e-book on the subject of setting up your Olympus cameras for nature photography. It’s titled The Olympus OM-D E-Mark III and M1X Menu The Guide for Wildlife and Nature Photographers.
I’ll be reading it myself and going over some of the settings he thinks are best. I’m confident Joe will have great information that’s already published and ready to go. Let me know what you think and visit Joe’s website for other e-books.
Another educational option is a new video by Tim Boyer highlighting the benefits of the new Olympus Firmware update. This update brings us an option for an autofocus setting just for birds. You can find out more below.
Mark PembertonOn Jan. 10th, 2021 (5 days ago)
Hi Dan. Tim is a brilliant bird photographer here in the Northwest. We worked with him a couple of years ago when he was still shooting with Canon. His insights on bird photography are brilliant. He helped Cathy and I a lot. However at that time we had switched to Olympus and have never been disappointed. Now Tim is a strong proponent of Olympus and micro 4/3rds. If you are interested in bird photography we highly recommend following Tim.
Daniel J. CoxOn Jan. 10th, 2021 (5 days ago)
Thanks Mark. Will take a look.
Joe DotsonOn Dec. 24th, 2020 (3 weeks ago)
Dan, I hope all is well for everyone at NE in this crazy year. So, I just downloaded the new firmware in my Olympus OMD-EM1X. I set up the camera like Tim Boyer suggested. I took the camera down to Conowingo, MD to shoot bald eagles. Although the eagles were not particularly busy fishing, I was able to track a number of birds. I was using the 300F4 with the 1.4x TC. The camera tracked the birds very well and “held” focus if they went behind a tree and appeared from the other side. I think this combination and setting combination is great. I would highly recommend to others interested in BIF. Interestingly, we hear “chatter” about the Olympus menu system. I found it easy to use…just different than Panasonic or Nikon.
Thanks again for keeping us informed and I am certainly looking forward to seeing your review of the new Olympus 150 – 400 lens.
Daniel J. CoxOn Dec. 25th, 2020 (3 weeks ago)
Thanks for your input Joe.