Changing my mind about the Olympus 100-400 (but getting disappointed by EM1.3 CAF/SAF)

Focus through a tangle of foliage, or other scene clutter, is going to be an issue regardless of camera-lens and I agree sometimes taking over via MF is not just the best way, at times it's the only way.

E-M1iii AF is the best AF Oly-Olympus produced, while the M1X subject detection can be considered separately. OM-1 is the obvious next step up, but setting subject detection aside, the M1iii is on par for many uses. I continue using them as a pair.

Birds looking good!

Cheers,

Rick

Yannis1976 wrote:

As a side note, DXO seems to perform better with m43 whereas Topaz with Fuji...

Agreed.

The camera (module) and lens corrections work a lot better the M43 than with Fuji X and XF lenses. Sometimes PhotoLab results are no better than Fuji out-of-camera JPEG. But with many M43 combos I've tried, the Lens Sharpness switch seems to make the difference between looking out-of-focus vs in-focus.

Moreover, X-Trans takes longer to render with Deep PRIME.

One little known feature of the E-M1iii is that you can have 5 separate focus settings accessible with up to two function buttons or one function button and function lever switch.  And you can also have two separate shutter speed/ISO/aperture settings.

I use C3 to set my fast moving target settings, and C4 to set my slow/stationary moving target settings.

I set C3 with Custom Mode Save Settings to Reset, and I set  C4 with Custom Mode Save Settings to Hold.

I define a function button to toggle C4.

I set C3 and C4 to M mode.

I recall C3 settings to M mode, and shoot with M mode and toggle to C4 with a function button.

I set function lever position 1 to small target AF settings, and function lever position 2 to large target AF settings.  I also set Home Position to set AF mode and AF target mode, but not AF target position (this is important for this to work).  Usually, I have C-AF settings on both function lever positions in both custom modes C3 and C4.  And I have S-AF with small target point set in Home Position.  Finally, I set the joystick center press to the Set Home function.

I usually have ProCapL drive mode on C3, and Continuous Low drive mode on C4.  But I can change these with the C3 settings recalled to M mode and the C4 settings (because Save Settings is set to Hold).

I also have S-AF set to activate with AEL/AFL button instead of shutter for focus/compose.

Finally, I have MF Assist turned on, and peaking assigned to a function button, and magnify to another function button..  This is because it can be hard to see a bird in the bush if peaking is active, so I want to be able to disable/enable it quickly.

Glad you sorted it out.  Like I said in your last post em1 AF a s hit and miss.  I guess only the om-1  improves it pity it took so many years.

DA

I've not had any issues with my 100-400 Oly lens being sharp at it's long end. If I have any focus issues I simply set the focus point to single point to discern between the subject and leaves or branches or anything else that might get in the way. The OM-1 I have is particularly adept at nailing focus this way. I had issues with a former Panny/Leica 100-400 so sent that back for the Oly and never miss a shot anymore.