Olympus 100-400mm: better results?

[plantdoc]

I have started using my Oly 100-400mm with an OMD1 mk2 and the results have been frustrating. I know the lens can be sharp at 400mm because I took some test pics using a robust tripod, self timer, no IBIS, no lens IS, and detailed sign about 150 ft. away.Nice results. Used 1/1000 and f8. In the field, the pics are less satisfactory. I have used a combo of lens and camera IS, burst with CAF, hand held, and monopod. Or, camera IBIS only. Faster shutter speeds up to 1/2000. Usually, a slower burst with AF of about 6 pics will yield 1 or 2 with good sharpness. I have not been able to determine what settings seem to be more reliable. Trying to follow a moving subject, even slow speed, vs static gives poorer results. Those pics that are slightly soft can be fixed nicely in Topaz Sharpen AI. Any user suggestions for better results based on experiences and/or testing? Thanks

Greg

 

[UrbaneHobbit]

I have found that when shooting with long lenses, consumer and pro tier, I get much better (sharper) results if I turn off all stabilization when my shutter speed is 1/1600s or higher and I am following a moving subject. Otherwise I get a very characteristic blurring that looks almost like a slightly offset double exposure. My theory is that there is some sort of harmonic interference between IS and faster shutter speeds, which may be triggered when the camera and/or lens is reacting to my panning.

I do have the Olympus 100-400 and shoot it with my OM-1. The cooperative IS (not the full Sync IS) in that setup works well for more static subjects.

Note that I shoot JPEG only, at low ISOs up to 400, and will drag the shutter as slow as 1/30s to get enough light onto the sensor. I do very little post-processing. My objective is to capture as much natural detail, especially when photographing birds. I only shoot handheld, with several custom modes based on Manual mode.

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Enjoy your small world of photography

 

[Stu CC]

Having experimented for about 8 months now, first with EM5ii then EM1 X. I have concluded that it's mainly about initial focus lock and shutter speed when you are at 400mm.

Your shutter speed really needs to be higher than you may think. And as you say, try short bursts too.

I have tried all the possible IS combinations and conclude that at speeds over 1600 it makes liitles difference so, I turn off IBIS and amd leave the OIS on to stabilise the viewfinder view to acquire focus more easily.

Also use as small a target area as you feel comfortable with and use centre priority.

Recently, following an old rumour, I tried the high viewfinder refresh rate and I suspect focus acquisition and tracking seems more reliable. Am still experimenting with this however.

Also try the mechanical shutter to rule out read out artefacts?

For bif I try to use speeds over 2000th, get rid of noise in pp.

Will feed back when have verified the refresh rate issue.

Cheers

 

[Trevor Carpenter]

post some examples and you will get better responses

 

[Danielvr]

Usually, a slower burst with AF of about 6 pics will yield 1 or 2 with good sharpness. I have not been able to determine what settings seem to be more reliable.

Have you tried the "Burst mode image stabilization" setting?

When set to "IS Priority", the camera will re-center the sensor before shooting each frame, so that IBIS can direct it into any direction required to stabilize the image. This can reduce your maximum frame rate a little, but it will make IBIS more effective, especially when used with long telephoto lenses.

(of course, when panning, you must also use the horizontal-only or vertical-only IBIS mode).

 

[Woody Meristem]

I'm using the Olympus 100-400mm with an E-M1 ii and have found that the sharpest images ar with the lens' OIS on and the camera's IBIS off. When I've used that lens on an E-M10 ii the results are better with IBIS on and OIS off -- who knows why, not me. My base ISO is 1000 for almost all shots with the lens wide open and about 60-70% of the time with a teleconverter. As I get older and older I'm less and less steady and use the lens with a monopod whenever possible or lean against a tree and try not to shoot while standing unbraced.

 

[Skeeterbytes]

Usually, a slower burst with AF of about 6 pics will yield 1 or 2 with good sharpness. I have not been able to determine what settings seem to be more reliable.

Have you tried the "Burst mode image stabilization" setting?

When set to "IS Priority", the camera will re-center the sensor before shooting each frame, so that IBIS can direct it into any direction required to stabilize the image. This can reduce your maximum frame rate a little, but it will make IBIS more effective, especially when used with long telephoto lenses.

Not a bad idea. Also, release priority off. C-AF and AF pattern settings on the OM-1 series are vast and take time to wade through and then, knowing how to match them for subject and conditions. It's an iterative process that takes time and experimentation.

C-AF sensitivity very important when burst sequences show the subject moving in and out of focus.

(of course, when panning, you must also use the horizontal-only or vertical-only IBIS mode).

I've never found this necessary, leaving the IS on the automatic setting. I could see if panning race cars or aircraft, etc. while dragging the shutter to get the magical prop/wheel blur, that horizontal/vertical panning comes into play. For more chaotic typical subjects like critters and sports, automatic setting works.

The OP's shutter speeds are at the edge of what's needed for 400+mm to eliminate motion blur (camera or subject motion), and it can be a challenge to delineate between them in the pictures. (If some elements are sharp and others blurred, then it's focus.) Samples will be very helpful. Also, the Workspace focus point tool is very helpful for this kind of forensic evaluation.

Both of the 100-400mm zooms are demonstrably sharp zoomed long, so this is a setup and technique issue. The static tests prove lens is in spec.

Cheers,

Rick

 

[drj3]

I am never sure what sharp means for different photographers. If you mean what Mirrorless Comparisons considers sharp, then 1 or 2 out of six would be a very poor result. If you mean absolute best sharpness, then it is not really that poor a result.

If you post examples, it would be much easier for others to potentially help with the issue.

There will always be camera/lens focus variability. If you shoot a distinct target with the camera on a tripod, every image will not be focused at exactly the same distance. They should be close to the same and look very much alike when viewed from a normal distance at a normal viewing size. However, at 100% view there will be small differences in resolution.

This is why Lenstip, makes multiple shots at each focal length and aperture for each lens and chooses the best result for each focal length/aperture for their resolution graphs.

 

[Stu CC]

When at 400 mm many environmental and physical issues are in effect. However the 'double image' blur referred to earlier are in fact slight de focus. This can be seen with the 100 400 especially in objects just in front of the plane of focus.

In my opinion, the 100 400 is not brilliant at obtaining initial focus on a moving subject, unlike the 300 f4.

So, the solution is to either, track and re acquire, or burst shoot and hope for the best.

The 100 400 can undoubtedly get sharp images but, for bif, it may be compromised on the AF motor / feedback front.

Still a hit rate of 30% tack sharp is acceptable for a lens in this price range and given the things we are expecting it to do.

I have only got the EMI x and E M5ii to compare, but I have very sharp bif and aircraft shots from both.

The X is just much better but not as good as the OM 1. Perhaps OM1 users are expecting too much?

No offence intended and good luck.

Cheers

 

[plantdoc]

At 400mm, I tried a variety of settings while shooting from my window at a detailed sign about 150 ft away. 60f and windy so no atmospheric distortion. Used window frame to brace me and camera. Better than a Monopod. At 1/1000 f8, CAF, combined lens IS and camera IBIS gave the best results than either lens or camera alone. As indicated in a previous post, increasing the shutter speed to 1/2000 gave worse results with lens IS. Interesting. Maybe camera IBIS, would be ok. But no IS from lens or camera seemed best but difficult to hold focus point on target. Didn’t have a moving target, but panned across the face of building at slight angle. Again, combo IS at 1/1000 or even 1/750 worked best with 1/2000 and no IS slightly worse. Neither lens or camera IS alone worked well. Maybe a different camera would produce different results. A challenging lens to use. If I wanted consistent results with a static subject, back to old school.. tripod, no IS, remote shutter release

Greg

 

[Skeeterbytes]

At 400mm, I tried a variety of settings while shooting from my window at a detailed sign about 150 ft away. 60f and windy so no atmospheric distortion. Used window frame to brace me and camera. Better than a Monopod. At 1/1000 f8, CAF, combined lens IS and camera IBIS gave the best results than either lens or camera alone. As indicated in a previous post, increasing the shutter speed to 1/2000 gave worse results with lens IS. Interesting. Maybe camera IBIS, would be ok. But no IS from lens or camera seemed best but difficult to hold focus point on target. Didn’t have a moving target, but panned across the face of building at slight angle. Again, combo IS at 1/1000 or even 1/750 worked best with 1/2000 and no IS slightly worse. Neither lens or camera IS alone worked well. Maybe a different camera would produce different results. A challenging lens to use. If I wanted consistent results with a static subject, back to old school.. tripod, no IS, remote shutter release

Greg

What drive mode are you in? I typically use SH2 with the OM-1 for continuous drive.

Confess I'm baffled as to best practice for the 100-400 on an Oly body, because it's not full sync Is like all the other Oly OIS lenses. Does switching the lens IS off disable the whole system, or can you pick just IBIS?

I can't easily acquire and track at 420mm and not at all at 600mm without it, so switching IS off isn't an option for me but it also doesn't intrude in IQ. Not owning the 100-400 I can't guess what the quirks are, but see lots of good work from it here.

Cheers,

Rick

 

[plantdoc]

I was using the Olympus omd m1mk2 with CAF and manual shutter burst mode of about 8 frames per second. Anti shock also. With both lens and camera IS on, about 2/3 of the pics were quite good at 1/000 or 1/750 f8. Increasing the SS usually made poor results for some reason. Turning off lens IS doesn’t change the camera. If I needed a very fast SS with this camera, I would try camera IS alone but a different camera may be different. No IS would difficult to hold on target but does work ok. Unfortunately, a monopod is helpful but I still sway a bit. The window frame was better in that fix

greg

 

[CarlosU]

Any pics to show what's soft for you? Everyone has different expectations.

And beside signs, to see what you shoot. Things with large details or small. And distance.

I never expect the same of an object 50 meters away, than 8m. If it's birds, try to get as close as you can. And if it's possible, monopod, or use what's at hand for support. And practice, practice, practise. Small burst...

I have another lens, and shoot with 2 tc's almost all the time. at f8. Many blurry ones due to bad light and not correct iso (too low too often - 800) this gets me blurriness due to bird movement (and me), but with the burst you tend to get a few when they stop moving.(not in flight obviously).

Here a northern lapwing trying to lure me away by pretending to be injured... 20 meter ahead or so... many blurred ones due to wing movement and him/her not standing still.

But I got a few good ones as well. Handheld, standing.




Playing sick

 

[rz350]

OM-1 and EM1-2 are 2 quite different cameras as far as AF is concerned. I found when I had the lens with an EM1-2 that shutter speeds had to be 1/1600 and higher for BIF. When I started with it, I always shot it stopped down to f7.1. After a while I shot it wide open at f6.3. For focus, I used the diamond pattern as the general all around pattern for focus. And as an aside, it seemed to me that the 100-400 was better on the EM1. To me, it was good up to 300mm At 400mm it was softening. On the OM-1, I wasn't in love with it and sold it. As I have mentioned before, the 3 screws around the front collar have a tendency to loosen and should be periodically checked. One of mine fell out and the other two were loose. Fast shutter speeds are your friend. I never shot mine with the mechanical shutter, always with electronic shutter. No chance of shutter shock. There is slight rolling shutter with the EM1, but it didn't bother me.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Stu CC]

When it's good it's good enough!



Cheers