Micro Four Thirds opinions sought

[daggerfan]

Hello All.

I am using a Nikon D500 (with battery grip) and 200-500mm Nikon lens primarily for birds/wildlife but occasionally for aircraft (though I prefer my D610 and Tamron 100-400 for the latter). However, the D500 combo is a fair weight to lug around, and even seems heavier than usual on hot, sunny days!

With that in mind I'm toying with the idea of trying the lighter micro four thirds system for birds/wildlife, specifically the Panasonic Lumix G9 camera with Leica 100-400mm zoom lens.

There will obviously be pros (eg weight saving) and cons (eg smaller sensor) with micro four thirds, and my plan, if I go ahead, is to have this set-up in addition to, rather than replacing, my D500 combo, for times when I wish to go out and about carrying less bulk. The G9 and Leica lens together weigh about 80% of the Nikon 200-500 alone!

I'd be interested to hear any opinions from micro four thirds users, especially users of the set-up I have in mind.

Cheers.

[TREBAX_RAVEN]

Hi there, I used micro four thirds for a number of airshows and other aviation bits and found it great option, I very nearly decided to make the g9 and the 100-400mm my main set up. A few things which I'm sure you will have considered, with micro four thirds the crop factor is 2x equivalent to full frame so a APSC sized sensor IE. Your D500 With 100-400mm is equivalent to 560mm at the long end. The 100-400mm on the g9 will be equivalent to 800mm at the long end, a big benifit in my opinion. A lot of people say the the smaller sensor will perform badly in VERY LOW light. Something you need to consider, however realistically when are you taking photographs of aviation when it's dark? Overall I'd say it's a great option. Never used the g9 but it's essentially the Panasonic equivalent of the D500, designed as fast sports/action camera. People say that the autofocus system isn't reliable however this just isn't true. I've found it to be quick and reliable. I have personally owned the 100-400mm and it's a great lens,are of metal, very sturdy. Only downside I have about it is that the zoom ring is slightly stiff. If you would like some examples of photos I've taken with micro four thirds let me know.
Hope this helps

[daggerfan]

Thanks for your comments, TREBAX_RAVEN. Yes, I had considered the crop factor. The 800mm equivalent of the long end of the Leica appealed to me, though it's really not much longer than the 750mm equivalent of my 200-500 lens at the long end with my D500. I did reckon the G9's smaller sensor would give noisier results in very low light at high ISO, but I'm unlikely to be taking photographs of anything in such conditions.

What I found tempting with the G9/Leica lens combination was its portability both in terms of the relatively light weight and small size.

[Theo1]

Hi,

I'am a happy user of M4/3 for a couple of years now.
I use Olympus stuff but I think Panasonic is on the same level.
However if you look at reviews the Olympus OM-1 is a better performer with focussing on moving targets. So please check before you go with Panasonic.
Hereunder a link from me what you can achieve with M4/3.
Click on the link, then on the photo. Click "I" (information) and you can see the gear I used for that photo.
Good luck with whatever you choose.
Regards,
Theo

https://www.flickr.com/photos/153188826@N07/

[jimbo]

Hi, I moved to micro 4/3rds from a canon 7d to a Panasonic G9 with the 100-400 Leica. While it’s a very good camera and the image quality is great it does struggle with focusing on moving objects. I mainly “do” motorsport photography and found my keeper rate to be about 50% compared to 70+ with the canon.

[daggerfan]

Thanks for your comments Theo1 and jimbo, and apologies for this late reply. I did settle on a Lumix G9, with battery grip, and Panasonic Leica 100-400mm lens, bought secondhand from London Camera Exchange. I decided on Panasonic because the zoom ring on their lenses turns in the same direction as my Nikon lenses, so there was less scope for me getting confused!

I'm liking the comparative lightness of the Panasonic set-up, but I'm having mixed results so far, with fewer keepers than I'd hoped for. But I've only had the gear for a couple of weeks, and the cr@p July weather hasn't helped. I'll keep trying, but I'm glad I also have my Nikon D500 set-up to fall back on.

The YouTube rumour mill is suggesting there could be a Lumix G9 II on the cards. It will be interesting to check it out if/when it appears.

[PR9]

Even later reply.

I jumped on the M4/3 bandwagon with the Olympus e-m10 mk.1 and the Oly 40-150 (80-300 equiv). I only intended to use it for airshow statics etc but got used to it and it practically became my main set up. Admittedly it is not as fast as my Pentax K30 for autofocus but you can make do most of the time.

Upgraded to a Olympus e-M1 mk.1 and an Oly 75-300mm and feels so much quicker (admittedly the Pentax might still be quicker). I've used this combo at Yorknite last 2 years so it can do some low light if you clean up the noise.

I sometimes still bring the Pentax, but find myself hardly using it due to the weight difference and the fact I have 600mm reach.

[Typhoon2]

If I could add my 2ps worth:

I had the OMD EM1X for roughly six months, couple with the Olympus 100-400, as a bit of an experiment and a delve into the micro four thirds world. I enjoyed using the combo, particularly when it gives you the equivalent of 800mm reach at the long end. The price of the combination was really good value, with the body being picked up mint second hand for roughly £400/500. The autofocus system had an option for aircraft tracking within the submenus which I found to work really well. Bird and wildlife photographers rave about the object tracking systems online and it's easy to see why. However, and this is probably personal preference, I found the noise quite noticeable, compared with the Sony mirrorless systems I had before and after. I understood this would be the case before buying, due to the size of the sensor vs the Sonys full frame sensors, but even at some the lowest ISOs you could see it. Additionally, I found you couldn't really crop too far in, again due to the size of the sensor.

However, the body I had, the EM1X was a fuew years old by that point. Reviews of the OM1 were really good, with its increased megapixels, but that was outside of my budget at the time. With the announcement of the OM1 mk2 it'll be interesting to see how well it performs.

This set taken in the US last Feb was all taken using the above combo- https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAqMDf

[bvdbogaert]

You obviously are not opting for a Canon system. If weight is the issue have you ever picked up an R6 (or so) with an RF800? It might surprise you how thatvfeels and obviously the image quality isn' half bad either.

[B58Hustler]

Never used M4/3 but used the 'old' 4/3 DSLR system for years with the brilliant 50-200.
Noise was a huge issue at anything above 400 ISO, but the technology has moved on since then.
If you check out the' Mach Loop' group on Flickr there's someone using an OM-1 and the shots look superb.
Bear in mind also that the small sensor lends itself to landscape work as there's always plenty of DOF.
Conversely, creamy bokeh for portraits is harder to achieve.
The thing that attracted me to Olympus in the first place was the beautiful fit and finish at the price point and the way the dials and switches 'click' like a Swiss watch. This is something tangible that you don't get when ordering online.
Never held an Oly 4/3 camera but it doesn't look like they've succumbed to the modern practice of cheap and plasticky.
Anyway, whatever you choose, enjoy!
Edit:Just seen that you've opted for the Lumix.Look forward to seeing the results.

[daggerfan]

Thanks for all your replies and comments guys. I have been using the G9/100-400 combo for around seven months now, and I'm not yet convinced the purchase was a wise one. The camera seems to give pretty good results in good light and when the subject is quite big in the frame. However, it struggles with moving subjects. As I said in my original post, this set-up was primarily bought for wildlife photography, particularly birds, and it doesn't do well with birds in flight, in my experience anyway. That is probably due to Panasonic's contrast detect autofocus, a drawback which has now been rectified with the introduction of phase detect autofocus in the G9 II which was released last September Operator error may well play a part too!

I have taken a few aircraft shots with the camera while out and about, working on the old adage that the best camera is the one you have with you at the time. But I haven't been happy with any of them. The pics below might look passable at first glance, but they don't stand up to close scrutiny. The aircraft shots were taken from Lossiemouth harbour with the aircraft over the sea on approach to runway 23 at Lossie, so I was further away from them than I would normally like to be, and maybe atmospherics played a part in the image quality. I did say I used the camera primarily for wildlife, so I hope the mods will allow me to include a bird shot to demonstrate that even that wasn't as sharp as it should be.

I don't think I'll give up on the system yet though. OM System have released an OM-1 II camera now, so I'm hopeful that the prices of secondhand original OM-1 models will come down soon. I'm not into video and I'm told the OM-1 is a better stills camera than the new Panasonic G9 II, and I can still use my Panasonic Leica 100-400 lens on an OM-1. Hopefully I'll make a better choice next time.

Typhoon_four-ship_G9_1021985 by Nikn Mann, on Flickr

C-40A_169792_1010272_FP2 by Nikn Mann, on Flickr

Curlew_and_Dunlin_G9_1032598 by Nikn Mann, on Flickr