A few eagle photos with Olympus OM 350mm f2.8, OMD EM5

I have just returned from an extended road trip in to the far reaches of Northern Ontario, predominantly in the area north of Lake Superior. (one of my most favourite areas on this planet)

One of the subjects I go to this area to photograph is the bald eagle. Once almost wiped out in this area by rampant pesticide use in the 1960’s (remember DDT?) they are now making a very healthy comeback throughout northern Ontario.

The introduction of salmon in to Lake Superior staring in the 1950’s and 60’s has introduced a new food source in the Great Lakes area which has also greatly benefited the resurgence of the eagle population.

The salmon spawn and then die in many of the major rivers and streams flowing in to Lake Superior and the eagles congregate on the rivers to take advantage of the food source.

Primarily a photographic trip and I took a full Pentax 67 kit, and an OM 35mm kit for film and digital kit including 2 E-5’s and an OMD-EM5.

I have to admit the OMD is quickly becoming my favourite camera and the E-5’s ended up being relegated to backups that did not get used at all.

I have just started processing some of the eagle shots and thought I would share a few.

These were all taken with the OMD and OM 350mm f2.8 mounted on a very sturdy RRS tripod and ball head. All were taken from a blind and are uncropped except the one as noted.

(Note:Before anyone replies that I am posting in the wrong forum. I own an OMD but do not own a single M43 lens. OM and 4/3 lenses only. The OMD is my “bridge” camera until the E-7 arrives or the systems merge or whatever else may happen in the future. The way I see it there will soon be a need for a merged Olympus only m43/43 forum. This will be due to the eventual merging of the systems and other players joining the 4/3 consortium. I am not really interested in Panasonic or any of the other offerings)

Distance was approximately 35 feet - just an awesome bird to watch from close range (or any range for that matter)

These images are all of the same immature eagle.




A big strong juvenile




In the blink of an eye, this sequence shows the eagle approaching the blind and you can see the clear inner eyelid (nictitating membrane) closed in the second frame and close up in the cropped version.

This membrane is like a windshield wiper for their eyes clearing any dust or irritants from the eye while still allowing them to see. It also gives them an ominous sort of look when closed and the angle of the light accentuates the membrane. The nine FPS of the OMD certainly helps here.







More in reply

Take off sequence:

5 frames of a take off, very hard to keep in the frame at this range, impossible not to clip the wings. Again 9 FPS really helps here.











Couple more in next reply

Vocalizing

Eagles are a very vocal bird, continuosly talking (shouting?) to one another up and down the river. They are quite loud at times and have quite an array of vocalizations. Wish I knew what they were saying



Although sometimes you can sort of figure it out….



The OMD even without a mirror still needs to be quieter, now only about 30 feet away this one has clearly heard the shutter. (Even behind blind material and with the camera wrapped with three layers of towels, when the wind dies down the shutter can sound like a hammer dropping in this wild and silent place.)






Gary

Vicious isn't he?




I hope to be taking up birding again as soon as the illuster E7 will reawaken my 150f2/ec-20 combo from its deep sleep in the closet.....

Nice captures, always a joy to watch your postings




Chris

All excellent. Really like the second image in the first reply where the eagle is just starting to flap its wings and all are within the frame. An electronic shutter would be nice but will require mirrorless design. That would help in the noise department since there should no longer be any mechanical machinery to make noise, only the photographer. The OM 350 appears to work very well on the digital body.

Those are really quite good, and convey "personality" along with being good technical bird photos. (Note to self: find fat, happy eagles somewhere in California for photographic subjects.) The lens acquits itself quite well--clearly a nice alternative to the rather less-than-affordable ZD300.

I don't know about you, but I've found it easier to shoot legacy lenses on the E-M5 than on the E-series, especially faster or longer lenses requiring precise focus. It's given new life to quite a bit of my dusty old glass.

Cheers,

Rick

Outstanding images Gary. You caught this bird very well.
The low sun angle gives a dramatic affect.

That lens is a marvel.

Peter

Gary,

Wonderful closeups of the Bald Eagle. I opened my Sibley Guide to Birds to see the colors of the juvenile. I've held that lens before. I met a guy who used to own lots of OM gear. When Olympus introduced the E-1 he eventually had a Nikon mount built onto his OM legacy lenses and was shooting with a FF.

Here in So Cal we've had a similar transition with die-off of the bald eagles on the 8 Channel Islands due to the production of DDT in Los Angeles. Large amounts were dumped into the LA River and have now covered the ocean floor surrounding our coastline. The DDT has a very long life and is still there today. As it breaks down it turns into other equally poisonous, dangerous hydrocarbons. The debate still rages about whether we should try to clean it up or cover it with sediment.

Golden Eagles invaded the Channel Islands for many years. They were invasive, eating the Catalina Island Fox and other endemic species. We (the State) had to live-trap and relocate the Golden Eagles long enough for the reintroduced Bald Eagles to adapt and dominate the territory. Today we see the Bald Eagles soaring high overhead when we're out on dive boats.

Your posting on the wrong forum. I'm glad you did. I always enjoy seeing your photos and B&W renditions.

Excellent photo series. The OM lens would be a wonderful alternative on my OMD. I'll think about it. But that lens is very rare.

Jakop

Hello Gary,

Have you any encounter with using Nikon AF ED 300mm f2.8. Used price is quite tempting. Don't mind the manual focusing on the EM5.

Jakop

Fantastic series Gary, as usual you demonstrate great skill in using that lens. Very interested in your comments regarding using the EM5 as opposed to the E-5. Would you care to elaborate on your shooting experiences with the EM5 and why it is now your preferred camera.

Alos would love to see a photo of your setup.

Please keep posting photos using this combo on this forum as I for one welcome seeing them here.


Cheers

Dennis

Vicious isn't he?

Chris

Thanks for looking and commenting.

These birds didn’t make it to the top of the food chain by accident!




Gary

Andrew,

Thanks for looking and commenting. That second image is my favourite as well and might just make it to my monitor’s wallpaper section. Olympus just keeps giving me better and better bodies to hang the old 350 o, can’t wait to see what they have up their sleeves next.




Gary

Rick

Thanks for looking and commenting. Been shooting these guys up here for a couple of years now. They are a very animated bird when they get in to congregations like this and there is lots of social interaction so their personalities do show quite a bit. Lots of opportunities for unique shots.

(Note: I know a great spot for fat, happy eagles in Northern Ontario and have hooked up with a lodge owner to guide 5 day all inclusive packages for photographers, email me if you know anyone that may be interested)

You are right about the EM5 it is the best body yet for manual focus lenses, in particular the long lenses.

I keep the magnify function assigned to the top function button, position the magnify rectangle where it will do the most good, hit the function button, focus, shoot. This is very quick once you get used to it and dead on accurate with the magnification feature.

Gary

Peter

Thanks for looking and commenting. A very cooperative model helps.

Gary

Dave,

Thanks for looking and commenting. The juveniles do go through some nice transitions before getting their adult feathers. I have some shots of one slightly older immature that is likely on the last phase, mostly white head with a bit of brown mixed in. (apparently it takes 3-5 years for the complete transition)

Watched a TV special on that issue with the golden eagles on the Channel Islands – very interesting.

Gary

Jakop

Thanks for looking and commenting.

The OM 350 is pretty rare but well worth the investment if you can find one and don’t mind manual focus.

Don’t have any personal experience with the Nikon 300 2.8 but a lot of the old Nikon glass was top notch. That’s the thing about old glass – if it was good then it will be good now.

Here’s a link with some history:

http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/nikkoresources/telephotos/300mm.htm


You probably can’t go wrong buying one as there will always be a good market for it with all the adapters that are available now to mount them on digital bodies.

Gary

Dennis

Thanks for looking and commenting.

Re: EM5

Having just bought two E-5’s I hadn’t really considered the EM5 for my own use. I recommended one for my son as he was looking for a lightweight travel camera with better image quality than his P&S. (He already had one of Olympus Tough series P&S cameras)

He liked the looks and specs and bought one for a trip to Australia. When he got back I made the mistake of borrowing it, picked up a few adapters and tried it out for a week or two.

Quite an eye opener that was –

Pluses over E5

1) Electronic viewfinder – my biggest reason for dismissing the camera and I ending up really liking it. This alone makes it the best body yet from Olympus for MF lenses.

I keep the magnify function assigned to the top function button, position the magnify rectangle where it will do the most good, hit the function button, focus, shoot. This is very quick once you get used to it and dead on accurate with the magnification feature.

Bought one for myself for that feature alone – way more accurate than an optical viewfinder, particularly with a lens like the 350 2.8 where DOF is so thin. Also great for macro work.

Add to this the fact that it shows your exposure + compensation and you can see why this is the way of the future. How many times have you fired away at a critical subject only to realize you had changed a setting and either exposure, compensation, ISO or some other setting is way off – happened to me more than once with an optical viewfinder. Can’t happen with the EV – as soon as you put it to your eye you know if the settings are off.

You can also set it to display highlight/shadow warning, level gauge, alignment grids, control panel – whatever suits your shooting preferences - very versatile.

2) Sensor – the extra resolution and high ISO performance are quite noticeable. Landscape work shows lots of detail, the E-5 is pretty darn good but this is noticeably better. Wildlife – used it up ISO 3200 so far and the results are very clean.

3) 9 FPS – didn’t think this was really a necessity but it does get you some shots you will miss at 5 FPS. The eagle take off sequence is a good example – I would have missed the second and fourth shots (if the sequence was started at the same point) at 5FPS and the second turned out to be the best of the lot I think. I had similar results with hummingbirds this summer as well.

Minuses

Electronic viewfinder: Not quite as good shooting in to very bright light, or in very dark conditions but I can live with this given the pluses.

Size – it is small and I prefer a larger body but again I can live with this. Bought the HLD-6 with it which helps a lot – could put a big old L-bracket on top of the HLD-6 and it would be just about right.

Don't have any photo's of the 350 on the EM5 just on the E-3 with 1.4 TC






Gary

Gidday Gary

Gorgeous bird. Gorgeous shots. Wonderful bit of kit that OM f/2.8 350. I have seen other shots from it. One of the classic lenses of all brands/time, I reckon.

I will never get to see these birds in this environment.
Your pics are the next best thing. Thanks.

John,

Thanks for commenting, hope all is well with you.

It would be quite a trip for you to get to where these birds are for sure. Glad you enjoyed the photos & not giving up my 350 any time soon.




Gary