This article shares 14 consecutive test images of a heron landing at 1680mm EFOV. These were captured a couple of days ago at Hendrie Valley. The past few months have been a challenge for me in terms of getting out with my camera gear. So much so that I was sadly in need of some practice.
NOTE: Click on images to enlarge.
When I arrived at Hendrie Valley there wasn’t much going on with only a modest number of birds in the vicinity. There were some herons off in the distance flying back and forth across the open water. These would not normally be anything that I would try to photograph. But… it occurred to me that one of these distant birds might be a good test subject for my M.Zuiko 150-600 mm f/5-6.3 IS coupled with the MC-14 teleconverter.
The following 14 consecutive images were captured with Pro Capture L (at 18 frames-per-second) in combination with Bird Recognition AI Subject Tracking. As is my standard practice I used a single, small AF point.
My E-M1X estimated this heron was roughly 169-189 metres (~554 – 620 feet) away. Given this distance I wasn’t expecting to get anything very usable… if at all… from this photographic attempt.
There was some interesting learning from this in-field test. I was quite pleased that the Bird Recognition AI Subject Tracking on my E-M1X was able to pick up this heron in-flight very quickly… especially given the significant distance (i.e. 169 to 189 metres / 554 to 620 feet).
Obviously the quality of these images isn’t great… but I wasn’t initially expecting that I’d get anything even remotely usable from this attempted image run. Especially since I was almost two football fields away from the subject heron in-flight.
As can be expected it does take some practice using a telephoto lens/teleconverter combination with 840 mm (efov 1680 mm) of reach. The Sync-IS in the M.Zuiko 150-600 really helps to stabilize the lens once a photographer is ‘on a bird’ and makes panning with it easier to do at this long distance.
I won’t be changing my shooting style and make photographing distant birds a common practice. From a practical standpoint the MC-14 is the right teleconverter to use when additional reach is needed for distant birds-in-flight. For my own style of shooting, I think larger birds in-flight no more than about 85 metres away represent the pragmatic outer limits of my shooting range with the M.Zuiko 150-600/MC-14 combination.
Technical Note
Photographs were captured handheld with the camera equipment noted in the EXIF data. All images were created from RAW files using my standard process in post. Pro Capture L was used for all of the images in this article. I used a frame rate of 18 fps with my Pre-Shutter Frames set to 15, and the Frame Limiter turned off. I shot handheld using a single, small AF point with Bird Recognition AI Subject Tracking. This is the 1,409 article published on this website since its original inception in 2015.
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Bonjour Thomas
Merci pour cette étude terrain du Zuiko 150-600 très controversé par d’autre surtout en France. Et surtout, vous êtes le premier à en parler avec le MC14 et le MC20, ce que j’attendais depuis un moment afin de réfléchir à son achat.
Actuellement j’utilise pour la portabilité et réactivité le Panasonic G9II et son 100-400 mm avec ou sans multiplicateur 1,4 (moins de 2kg). Pour le lointain, j’utilise l’OM-1 avec le 300 mm F4 + MC20 pour sa portée à 1200 mm et son Procapture mais le poids avoisine 2,5 à 3 kg l’ensemble. (j’ai eu aussi OM1X que j’adorais tout comme vous)
Lorsque les plans sont à plus de 50 mètres, j’utilise aussi un monopole bricolé où l’axe de porté est 1/3 sur l’objectif à l’avant (idem sniper). Les flous étant du le plus souvent au mouvement de balancier avant de l’optique et non au mouvement du boîtier.
Le traitement ou flux que j’utilise c’est :
– 1er stokage dans Photo Mechanic Plus, trie et sélection.
– 2e usage de DXOpureRAW pour les corrections auto optique, le bruitage, piqué, des images retenues export DNG
– 3e CaptureOne pour le masquage auto sujet/fond et traitement sélectif des DNG
Souvent je réalise des images entre 100 et 200 mètres et c’est pour cela que j’envisage le zuiko 150-600 + MC14 et/ou MC20.
Merci de France pour votre approche philosophique de la photographie et bien plus.
Mes album ici : https://www.flickr.com/photos/webjonction/albums
Thank you for this field study of the Zuiko 150-600, which is very controversial by others, especially in France. And above all, you are the first to talk about it with the MC14 and the MC20, which I have been waiting for a while to think about buying it.
Currently, I use the Panasonic G9II and its 100-400 mm with or without a 1.4 multiplier (less than 2 kg) for portability and responsiveness. For the long distance, I use the OM-1 with the 300 mm F4 + MC20 for its range at 1200 mm and its Procapture, but the weight is around 2.5 to 3 kg for the whole thing. (I also had the OM1X, which I loved just like you)
When the shots are more than 50 meters away, I also use a homemade monopole where the range axis is 1/3 on the front lens (same as sniper). Blurs are most often due to the front pendulum movement of the lens and not to the movement of the camera body.
The processing or flow that I use is:
– 1st storage in Photo Mechanic Plus, sorting and selection.
– 2nd use of DXOpureRAW for auto optical corrections, noise, sharpness, of the selected images exported to DNG
– 3rd CaptureOne for auto subject/background masking and selective processing of DNG
I often take images between 100 and 200 meters and that is why I am considering the zuiko 150-600 + MC14 and/or MC20.
Thank you from France for your philosophical approach to photography and much more.
Bonjour Frabrice,
Merci pour vos commentaires sur mes articles M.Zuiko 150-600… très apprécié !
Je trouve généralement que la distance focale native est suffisante pour mes besoins, mais j’utilise le MC-14 pour les oiseaux un peu plus éloignés. La brume de chaleur et les particules dans l’atmosphère peuvent être des problèmes lorsque l’on essaie de photographier des sujets à longue distance, c’est pourquoi je n’essaie pas souvent de photographier des oiseaux qui sont beaucoup plus éloignés que 100-125 mètres environ. https://smallsensorphotography.com/m-zuiko-150-600-with-mc-14
À titre personnel, je trouve que la portée offerte par l’utilisation du MC-20 dépasse mes capacités de prise de vue à main levée en termes de suivi efficace d’un oiseau en vol éloigné. https://smallsensorphotography.com/m-zuiko-150-600-with-mc-20. J’utilise le MC-20 avec le M.Zuiko 150-600, mais généralement lorsque je souhaite obtenir plus de pixels sur de petits sujets qui se trouvent à 15 mètres ou plus près de moi. Cette approche me permet souvent de remplir plus que le cadre de ma composition avec un petit oiseau et de créer une sensation plus intime dans les images. Je vais bientôt rédiger un article qui illustre cette approche.
Tom
Hello Frabrice,
Thank you for your feedback on my M.Zuiko 150-600 articles… much appreciated!
I typically find that the native focal length is sufficient for my needs, but I do use the MC-14 for birds that are a bit more distant. Heat haze and particulates in the atmosphere can be issues when trying to photograph subjects at long distances so I don’t often try to photograph birds that are much further away than about 100-125 metres. https://smallsensorphotography.com/m-zuiko-150-600-with-mc-14
On a personal basis I find that the reach provided when using the MC-20 is beyond my handheld capability in terms of effectively tracking with a distant bird-in-flight. https://smallsensorphotography.com/m-zuiko-150-600-with-mc-20. I do use the MC-20 with the M.Zuiko 150-600 but usually when I want to get more pixels on small subjects that are 15 metres away or closer to me. This approach often allows me the ability to more than fill the frame of my composition with a small subject bird, and create more of an intimate feeling to images. I have an upcoming article that illustrates this approach.
Tom
Sorry for the add-on question : Did you do any post-processing on these? The clarity is so good I was just wondering if you used topaz, DXO, LR?
Hi John,
Yes, all of the images on my website have been processed in post. I took these files through some very quick adjustments in DxO PhotoLab 7 with includes a pre-set for the 150-600 which includes DeepPRIME at a value of 15. I then exported a DNG file into an old copy of PhotoShop CS6 for some minor adjustments, and did any final tweaks needed in Topaz DeNoise AI and/or Topaz Sharpen AI. In the case of these images I used Topaz Sharpen AI. I really dislike working in post so I keep my adjustments to a minimum so I can process a file in post in about 3 minutes maximum. All of the files in this article would have fallen into that approximate 3 minute time frame which would include computer processing time.
Tom
These are remarkable at that distance! Have no fear that your technique has withered due to the inactivity you mention. These suggest to me that the 150-600mm/MC-14 is definitely superior to my 100-400mm/MC-14 (even allowing for significant operator inferiority on my part and mentally adjusting for the extra 200mm of native reach)). I enjoyed your writing on the 100-400/150-600comparison. Do these shots confirm or even strengthen your conviction that the 150-600mm is far superior?
Hi John,
It is my experience that the M.Zuiko 150-600 is a much better performing lens than is the 100-400. To my eye the 150-600 is sharper and has better colour rendition. I also think that the handling is much better with the push/pull focal length adjustment. There is a trade-off of course in terms of size, weight and cost. The Sync-IS of the 150-600 is terrific and makes a noticeable difference when shooting the 150-600 at slower shutter speeds.
I spend less time in post with my 150-600 images than with files shot with the 100-400.
Tom