BIF's with the GM5

Since getting my GM5 late last year, and selling my GH3 I was really looking forward to trying out my new setup for shooting BIF's, using the 100-300 and RDS (red dot sight).  Sure, the GM does not have the larger grip like the GH, but I am very satisfied with it anyways, and I think it performed very well in the situation.  Went out with my photography group yesterday to do some BIF's.  Nice thing, was after the event was done, had to go to a BBQ, so popped on the 12-32 kit, took off the scope and then used the little GM that evening for casual pics.  Love this setup!

While shooting BIF's I started out at 1/500 shutter to not allow the camera to engage the electronic shutter, as I was concerned about the possible skewing effects, but then soon realized I needed the faster speed so increased but I don't think the e-shutter caused any problems with these.  If anyone sees an issue in my pics here, please don't hesitate to comment.  I did see some issues, when I was following a bird, and there was a building in the background- you could clearly see the effect, but on most of my shots, I don't see the e-shutter as a problem.  I am also very happy with the performance of the GM5 - I would estimate if performs on par AF wise as compared to the GH3, but the GH3 does have a bigger buffer for burst shooting.  The GM5 is a mighty little monster!

Here are some shots from yesterday, thanks for looking.

nice lunch!

Very well done.

…what was your focusing arrangement? Single box, multiple  something?

I am having great difficulty keeping the usual single box focused on the bird.

Know how tough it is to get cormorants - very nice.
Regards, Kurt
--
For some random samples:
www.pbase.com/khoss/
www.pbase.com/susanshaw
www.susanandkurt.blogspot.com
www.slshaw.info

Hen3ry wrote:

…what was your focusing arrangement? Single box, multiple something?

I am having great difficulty keeping the usual single box focused on the bird.

I used AFC, with AF on single box only, but enlarged the box about 3 sizes larger than normal, so it covers a large portion of the frame.  While shooting BIF's with the RDS, I am not looking at the rear LCD, but only through the RDS and trying to maintain my effort on keeping the dot on the bird while burst shooting.  It does not allow me to check for framing until after the shot, but with practice, you get better.  You also get to know your zoom lens better, as it takes some quick guessing and zooming in and out when the bird gets closer.

hifi wrote:

Hen3ry wrote:

…what was your focusing arrangement? Single box, multiple something?

I am having great difficulty keeping the usual single box focused on the bird.

I used AFC, with AF on single box only, but enlarged the box about 3 sizes larger than normal, so it covers a large portion of the frame. While shooting BIF's with the RDS, I am not looking at the rear LCD, but only through the RDS and trying to maintain my effort on keeping the dot on the bird while burst shooting. It does not allow me to check for framing until after the shot, but with practice, you get better. You also get to know your zoom lens better, as it takes some quick guessing and zooming in and out when the bird gets closer.

Does your RDS fit and stay snug in the hot shoe?  Mine seems to move about more than I would care for but I haven't spent enough time with it

Many people seem to think that 7.1 or 8 is the sweet spot for the 100-300; a lesser number suggest not quite going to 300.  These comments are not based on your images but just comments on the lens.  I hope Panasonic upgrades it reasonably soon.

cool shots!

bradevans wrote:

Does your RDS fit and stay snug in the hot shoe? Mine seems to move about more than I would care for but I haven't spent enough time with it

Many people seem to think that 7.1 or 8 is the sweet spot for the 100-300; a lesser number suggest not quite going to 300. These comments are not based on your images but just comments on the lens. I hope Panasonic upgrades it reasonably soon.

cool shots!

I used to own a GH3, and there was a little bit of play with the RDS in the camera hotshoe, but on my GM5, it is in there snug - no play at all.

With the 100-300, I have also heard that - about being a little better at 7.1.  I also normally pull back slightly from 300mm and find the lens is better, as well as focusing a little quicker but this time I left it most of the time at full zoom.  This was my first outing with it and the RDS on the GM5, so I was more trying it out for future events.

I also agree, really hope Pany would make a newer version of this lens!  I could even live with them keeping it at 4-5.6, but would like to see it use some better optics and a much faster focusing mechanism, otherwise, for the price and size - the lens has been great so far.

Jeff Tokayer wrote:

Good shooting. The first one is a winner.

Odd that the exif shows the camera as a GM-1

Forgot to mention - my GM5 EXIF's all say GM1 because I have to change them so DXO Optics Pro can read the raw files.  DXO was supposed to have native GM5 support in February, but it never happened.  It is a very quick patch to change the EXIF's so not too much of a bother, but still wish they would add the proper support soon.

Tom Caldwell wrote:

Well done, I think that the red dot sight will be useful. I have acquired one but have yet to figure out a camera mount. There seems no standard adapter series available. I will have to make my own.

Plaudits are always welcome but sometimes fair criticism can be more useful. I would suggest that you have shown that it can be done and done well. But maybe some practice and technique is needed to be fully refined. I think that there is some movement blur in the shots and the birds eyes are indistinct - possibly also some backighting issue?

Our resident birder Danny is free with his tips and uses very large high resolving lenses by MF as far as I can determine. Also very high shutter speeds and a gimball head on heavy tripod.

I am a potential birder myself but have not had a lot of BIF success despite proably having the right equipment to tackle the subject. Like everything a difficult task such as this needs continued application and practice which I have not found in myself to date. These shots are an inspiration and I look forward to progress on yor part and perhaps getting my own toes into that water.

Many thanks Tom!

For the hotshoe mount, I am using this:

http://photosolve.com/main/product/xtendasight/index.html

I purchased the original model years ago, and after he sold out of his stock, he stopped selling it for a long time.  It was only a relatively short time ago he now lists the ver. 2 of this for sale now.  It is around $25 - well worth it!  I have seen a couple other similar products on ebay, but they would also seem to sell out and not be available any more for some reason.

I agree - these are not my best shots, but this was my first time out with the RDS on the GM5 (used to use it on a GH3, but sold it for the GM5).  For a small body, IMO the GM5 handled well with this setup.  It was not uncomfortable to hold and use with the RDS and the 100-300.  I also want to get back out again and have another try, but continuing to improve my technique.  Also - many of these are tight crops, so not much resolution to salvage, and we were shooting into the sun most cases, so had to use plus EV to get a better exposure, plus did not have the sun to illuminate the bird in some cases.  You are correct - practice and technique development is important - need to keep practicing!

I have seen Danny's works - man, he is doing magic with his gear...  I am amazed that he even gets a lot of his pics with manual focus too!  He is an inspiration for everyone wanting to attempt BIF's for sure.

For you and trying out some BIF's, pick up the Photosolve mount and put the RDS on your camera.  I think you will be highly surprised at the results.  The RDS makes a world of difference for tracking the birds, especially over our EVF's.  Also - I think they would be useful even on a DSLR with OVF, because you are tracking the birds through a non-magnified view.

hifi wrote:

Tom Caldwell wrote:

Well done, I think that the red dot sight will be useful. I have acquired one but have yet to figure out a camera mount. There seems no standard adapter series available. I will have to make my own.

Plaudits are always welcome but sometimes fair criticism can be more useful. I would suggest that you have shown that it can be done and done well. But maybe some practice and technique is needed to be fully refined. I think that there is some movement blur in the shots and the birds eyes are indistinct - possibly also some backighting issue?

Our resident birder Danny is free with his tips and uses very large high resolving lenses by MF as far as I can determine. Also very high shutter speeds and a gimball head on heavy tripod.

I am a potential birder myself but have not had a lot of BIF success despite proably having the right equipment to tackle the subject. Like everything a difficult task such as this needs continued application and practice which I have not found in myself to date. These shots are an inspiration and I look forward to progress on yor part and perhaps getting my own toes into that water.

Many thanks Tom!

For the hotshoe mount, I am using this:

http://photosolve.com/main/product/xtendasight/index.html

I purchased the original model years ago, and after he sold out of his stock, he stopped selling it for a long time. It was only a relatively short time ago he now lists the ver. 2 of this for sale now. It is around $25 - well worth it! I have seen a couple other similar products on ebay, but they would also seem to sell out and not be available any more for some reason.

I agree - these are not my best shots, but this was my first time out with the RDS on the GM5 (used to use it on a GH3, but sold it for the GM5). For a small body, IMO the GM5 handled well with this setup. It was not uncomfortable to hold and use with the RDS and the 100-300. I also want to get back out again and have another try, but continuing to improve my technique. Also - many of these are tight crops, so not much resolution to salvage, and we were shooting into the sun most cases, so had to use plus EV to get a better exposure, plus did not have the sun to illuminate the bird in some cases. You are correct - practice and technique development is important - need to keep practicing!

I have seen Danny's works - man, he is doing magic with his gear... I am amazed that he even gets a lot of his pics with manual focus too! He is an inspiration for everyone wanting to attempt BIF's for sure.

For you and trying out some BIF's, pick up the Photosolve mount and put the RDS on your camera. I think you will be highly surprised at the results. The RDS makes a world of difference for tracking the birds, especially over our EVF's. Also - I think they would be useful even on a DSLR with OVF, because you are tracking the birds through a non-magnified view.

Thank you for the link - I will dig into that mount. With my RDS I had rig up an extra screw and it would wiggle too much within the hot shoe.  I think the 100-300 gets a bad rap all in all, and quite often the issue is air turbulence across the shooting distance.

In another thread Danny posted this: http://birdsinaction.com/thisandthat/index.php?post/2015/03/07/Manual-focus-techniques6

(posted here: http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3839787#forum-post-55764508 )

hifi wrote:

Since getting my GM5 late last year, and selling my GH3 I was really looking forward to trying out my new setup for shooting BIF's, using the 100-300 and RDS (red dot sight). Sure, the GM does not have the larger grip like the GH, but I am very satisfied with it anyways, and I think it performed very well in the situation. Went out with my photography group yesterday to do some BIF's. Nice thing, was after the event was done, had to go to a BBQ, so popped on the 12-32 kit, took off the scope and then used the little GM that evening for casual pics. Love this setup!

While shooting BIF's I started out at 1/500 shutter to not allow the camera to engage the electronic shutter, as I was concerned about the possible skewing effects, but then soon realized I needed the faster speed so increased but I don't think the e-shutter caused any problems with these. If anyone sees an issue in my pics here, please don't hesitate to comment. I did see some issues, when I was following a bird, and there was a building in the background- you could clearly see the effect, but on most of my shots, I don't see the e-shutter as a problem. I am also very happy with the performance of the GM5 - I would estimate if performs on par AF wise as compared to the GH3, but the GH3 does have a bigger buffer for burst shooting. The GM5 is a mighty little monster!

Here are some shots from yesterday, thanks for looking.

nice lunch!

Just catching up with a few missed posts.

Darn good shots, but also darn good work !!. Great to see and good use of that gear. Its a misconception that you need a bulky camera body for BIF's. You simply don't and proved here with the GM5. As you know by now, its all in the weight distributed between the hands. The main weight which is the lens, is held in the hand that's holding the lens, the body is just a guide and a shutter button.

Besides that, going great guns here and excellent BIF shots. Love your Cormorants, totally different to ours and great to see. The white fronted Tern is a great pose and a fine angle to get them on with the 5th shot. Be nice to get the first one more side on or head on, but we take what we get, still a darn good shot. Good shots of the Gull's as well and also head on, never easy.

All the best and really nice going.

Danny.

nzmacro wrote:

Just catching up with a few missed posts.

Darn good shots, but also darn good work !!. Great to see and good use of that gear. Its a misconception that you need a bulky camera body for BIF's. You simply don't and proved here with the GM5. As you know by now, its all in the weight distributed between the hands. The main weight which is the lens, is held in the hand that's holding the lens, the body is just a guide and a shutter button.

Very true - the body is just a guide and a shutter.  Even though it (GM5) is quite small, I did not find it uncomfortable at all with the scope and the 100-300 attached while shooting.

Besides that, going great guns here and excellent BIF shots. Love your Cormorants, totally different to ours and great to see. The white fronted Tern is a great pose and a fine angle to get them on with the 5th shot. Be nice to get the first one more side on or head on, but we take what we get, still a darn good shot. Good shots of the Gull's as well and also head on, never easy.

Really appreciate your comments Danny!  I also enjoy your BIF postings here on the forum and look to them as inspiration.

All the best and really nice going.

Danny.

-- hide signature --

Birds, macro, motor sports.... http://www.birdsinaction.com
Flickr albums ..... https://www.flickr.com/photos/124733969@N06/sets/
The need for speed ..... https://www.flickr.com/photos/130646821@N03/