Whatever choice you have made, it's always the Mike Lane behind the camera that takes the picture. Experience and a long life of loving birds and nature, that makes the difference. It's not only the possibilities, it's how you use the possibilities.

Equipment aside... Mike, your channel is absolutely fantastic. I thought I was reasonably knowledgeable where fieldcraft goes, but you really know your stuff. Please, please keep it up. Although I am a professional photographer doing commercial and equine photography, my hobby is wildlife work. It keeps me sane and is so rewarding when you get the shot that you want. Thanks for all the effort that goes into these videos. Your channel is the only one have notifications on for!

I’m very happy with my OM1+300f4 (and the complete PRO line). I’m also a Nikon user but I almost never use Nikon anymore. My Wife continues to use Nikon. After more than 25 years as a professional Photographer I could not be happier with my equipment!

Great stuff Mike, I was confident all along you'd go back to Olympus. Regrettably I've flitted through camera systems and nothing has felt as good and inspiring as Olympus cameras to use. Their ergonomics as you say are superb, their pro series glass is stupidly sharp and I never had to clean the sensors. Also I loved how I was able to carry my 300mm f4 and a landscape lens in the bag, do a long hike and not feel the weight

I switched from Nikon to Sony recently and the dust was insane. I had dust on my sensor the first day I got my a7riii. So that is amazing to hear about the om-1. Goodbye dust! I got the om-1 mostly for macro of insects so the increased dof is going to be HUGE for me as well. An excellent, well informed video my good sir!

Great video Mike with all the fearures from both cameras covered thoroughly Your bird and wildlife videos put nature first and show the reality of what's needed to achieve the wonderful images you provide and that comes across always. I am pleased you have chosen the OM camera and hope their are more of your videos to come. Thank you.

Super video. Very clear and informative but with a nice dash of your understated humour. I've been following this series with great interest to see which you would finally choose. A nice choice to have to make. Look forward to your future films with the OM-1.

This was such a refreshing review. Focusing on what matters and not focusing on megapixels 👌🏻

Thank you very much for sharing your decision making process, Mike. I can't imagine you'll ever have buyers remorse for choosing the OM-1 because you did do such a thorough process in making your choice. That only leaves us to look forward to each of your new posts now.

I have the OM-1….best bang for the buck, period!

Thanks for the video Mike. As always, your logical approach is always worth the time and I (we) appreciate the effort you put into these KZfaqs. I would imagine this is very useful to many either sitting on the fence or like me to get that extra confirmation that I made the right choice. Now all needs to happen is that OMSystems need to increase their output, I would exchange my EM1x for a second OM-1 if they were readily available in the shops.

Interesting analysis. As always I enjoy your humour and thought process as you work through the systems benefits.

Congratulations Mike! I am sure that you will be happy with your decision!

Wow! That was one of the best camera comparison videos I have ever seen.

Excellent comparison video with attention to details. I'm a huge fan of the channel. Thanks for sharing.

I just hope sony design and tech department watch this video! Good luck Mike and all your points were so true.

After watching the rest of the video I see that you made a very intelligent and well-thought-out decision. Thanks for describing the different features and shortcomings of each camera setup. I currently have a Sony and an R6 and I really hope they will add that pro capture feature somehow in a firmware update.

Well done Mike you took your time and made some good points to finalise your decision, true wisdom! I am sure the OM 1 will continue to serve you well! I am looking forward to Fuji announcements with the new 150-600mm and X-H2s & X-H2. I will soon see if their focus system will be up to scratch for birds in flight and keep up with the rest of the latest cameras! I hope so! Kind regards Anthony

Having had opportunities to borrow and shoot the Sony A9/A1 with 400/2.8 and 200-600 for the past couple years, along with my OM System cameras, I was of a mind similar to you, Mike, and once I got the OM-1, I was very surprised with how comfortable the handling is compared to previous OM System bodies I used as well as the Sony bodies. It is the most comfortable camera body I can recall every having the pleasure of using. My second body will arrive next week so that will be great to have a two body kit for wildlife and sports event work. I enjoyed your series very much and learned quite a lot from your many tips and experience you have. Much appreciated.

An excellent real world discussion of how these two cameras worked in your hands. At the very end you brought up the OM-1's Pro Capture feature, and wondered why other manufacturers hadn't yet incorporated it on their cameras. A good part of the answer has to do with that 20 MP sensor that so many people (not you!) complain about. The data processing and temporary storage is 2.5 times greater on a 50 MP camera than on the OM-1. With that comes extra heat generation, which is already a major issue with image processors jammed withing the confines of a sealed camera body, perhaps requiring additional (noisy) cooling fans; higher costs for faster processors and bigger/faster RAM modules to handle the imaging workflow; and faster draining batteries which are called on for that processing. There are more than weight advantages in OM Systems keeping the size and pixel count low with their new camera line. I'm reminded of the words of Colin Chapman, the creator of Lotus sports cars: "simplify, then add lightness;" that magic formula doesn't just work for race cars.

Fantastic process review. I look forward to more.

Fascinating insight into your camera choice journey Mike. I think it is wise to stick to one system for a good while as you get to learn all the settings, buttons etc and a real sense of what the camera can do. And this is crucial for wildlife photography as you are then well placed to have the correct settings for any scenario that unfolds quickly.

Such a refreshing video on committing (in your case re-committing) to a brand / system. I like how you used a natural process to help you choose the camera (it became your "go to" camera).

Nice. Great point on needing to shoot at f8 on a full frame. There are great values in additional depth of field, of which m43 is at an advantage. All else equal, you can shoot at 2 stops lower iso for the same DOF, which close in on the "quality" gap. Also, bokeh are the easy thing to adjust "fake" in post, especially with birds, where the background are often very non distinct. It would still be nice if OM can make for example, a 200mm f1.4, which will render in image like 400mm f2.8 on FF. Not far fetched I think, since they will only have to design around the much smaller image circle of m43. Meanwhile, I am still waiting for OM1 to be in stock.

I'm delighted that you chose the OM-1. I will be getting one myself and it won't be a huge loss to me for not getting the A1 because I can't afford it. LOL

Mike, not sure you have noticed. The Pro capture with CAF now works with Panasonic and Sigma lenses now. I am not sure whether all of them will work but I have tried many of them and they all seem to work. Just another advantage and that Panasonic Leica 200 F2.8 could be a special use case in some scenarios.

Great video content Mike. I’m just starting my birds in flight journey. Purchased the OM-1 and 75-300 and getting some good results but not consistent. Would love too see a video on your settings for BIF. Thanks for your time Mike.

One way to compare the two is financially. If I wished to have the OM-1 I'd be looking for US $2,000 for the camera. Whereas if I wanted a Sony A-1 I'd be needing $6,500 for the camera. The Olympus Zuiko lens would be $7,500. Whereas the Sony 200-600mm would cost $2,000. The two rigs are almost mirror images of each other! Only reversed.

Thanks for your painstaking research!

Another great video Mike, as a proud OM1 user it really does everything OM Systems promised it’s a great camera.

Very interesting video. I appreciate your logic and your humor. You have given me a lot to think about, and I like that. Lovely shots of birds, too. Thank you.

You showed up on my KZfaq feed over a year ago Mike and I've enjoyed them all

Quite instructive decision making process. Cheers!

Thanks for great and detail explain.

Great work again, Mike! The OM-1 must be a fantastic camera to make you switch. I'm sticking with my Sony A1 and 600mm f4, it's the best set-up I've ever used. I'm sure you'll get a quick sale on the Sony A1...brilliant camera for my birds in flight work. A real bonus is that it takes a 1.4x teleconverter beautifully. Barely no degradation in image quality and autofocus speed is still super fast. Looking forward to seeing more of your work with your new set-up.

Thanks for the very helpful video. I have the OM-1 on order largely because of the lighter weight of some of the lenses. Also, the price point versus the Sony a1 is very attractive. I currently use a Fuji X-T3 and Sigma 150-600 lens with adapter.

Fantastic... the new Olympus - OM SYSTEM camera is a very good choice... 👌🏻👍🏻💪🏻 ; I will still continue with the fantastic Olympus OM-D E-M1X ... (besides , I'm sure they'll do some new Firmware update more fine-tuned for the E- M1X ...) 👌🏻👍🏻💪🏻💖💖 Greetings from Spain

great critique of your choice ,,,, so much of what you say is why im an olympus fan

Thank you great review!

I'm so sorry Mike that you have lost a lot of your fan-base (Sony ones)! The OM-1 is quite simply an astonishing camera and the OMDS AI modes, e.g. ProCapture, Focus stacking and Live Composite are features that most OMDS (or Olympus) haters do not want to talk about. I use them very often and they are simply game-changers for my photographic requirements. Thanks for a very impartial review.

Well done Mike, now that is over it is upwards and onwards and look forward to your next video - on anything you like :-)

I really enjoy your honest and down to earth videos and also appreciate the great results you always show. As an OM-1 owner I would like to say that if I were in your place, then I would for sure keep both the Sony A1 and the OMD OM1 - both are great tools in their own way.Expensive solution ? Yes but spending a minor fortune on a new camera only hurts once. Regarding Pro-capture: You are spot on, I simply don't understand why Nikon,Sony and Canon don't offer Pro-Capture for full Raw and neither does my good friend who use the Canon R5. He is very annoyed at Canon as he thinks an Olympus style Pro Capture mode on his Canon would make it almost perfect. I hope to visit merry old England (UK) one day for a 2 week birding trip (Kingfishers,Red kites, eagles etc.)

2 years back I made the same brand decision: Sony vs. Olympus (by that time the OM1.3). And I agree, the AF was so superior (not the same ballpark by that time) - but the weight difference, the price and - of course - the PreCap mode plus the much better menu system (which improved further) made my decision. And - a lot like you - I was short to regretting because of all the bad news. But now I purchased finally the OM-1 and I am absolutely eager to starting using it.

Great explanation and reasoning. Btw, the G9 does preshoot mode as well. Looking forward to your OM1 shoots 🍀👍❤️

Great videos Mike. I was going to go high end on my wildlife kit but ended up with a Canon R6 and the 100-400 f8 RF lens. That OM-1 looks great and I considered it but strange as it seems that Canon RF 100-400 f8 at $650 shoots way way above its price point. However I don't need the reach for most of my subjects and cropping to 8mpx and using DXo Pure Raw gets me where I want to be even at ISO 6400 on the R6. Love your videos and always look forward to the next one.

13:04. Wow! Now THAT is a great photograph. Subbed for that alone.

An excellent well thought out video Mike ... even has a devoted Canon R3 user I enjoyed every minute of your internal debate has to your final choice. All the very best on your photographic journey ... best regards .

Thanks so much for this very thoughtful and balanced video.

Thank you Mike, you made a lot of very well reasoned and coherent points in this video. One consideration I have always had when thinking about camera gear is the fact that camera bodies generally get a much shorter production lifespan than the glass that they attach to and although lenses have all sorts of wonderful features these days, the quality of glass and construction of the lens elements stays as new for a lot longer than any camera body. Bodies and lenses come and go but I suspect that the OM-1 will have a much shorter life in production than the 150-400mm. What I am trying to say is that it is makes a lot more sense to put cash into lenses and change these a lot less than camera bodies which by their nature will/should get better at each relatively frequent update. For what it is worth, you have made an excellent choice I think.

Tails never fails! Thanks for another great video Mr. Lane. Really happy that you’ll be sticking with OMDS. Wonder if you could do a video comparing 300 vs the 150-400? I’m dreaming of the day I might purchase the white cannon, but for now will have to keep dreaming. I love my 300 and it produces excellent results. But the versatility and IQ of the other is probably tough to beat.

nice to hear a photographer talking and also knowing what he is on about cant beat some great experience. subbed

I can't imagine you'll be sorry you made this choice. I'm just envious, as I don't have either the OM-1, nor the wonderful 150-400mm. That said, I'm very happy with my E-M1X and 100-400mm. I went out a few days ago and got a great shot of a Great Blue Heron flying off with a huge perch he had just caught. You're right about Pro Capture too -- it's another Oly innovation that will eventually be in every high end camera.

I love the 4/3 system. Mike I know you made a very good choice. on the other hand Olympus is a camera very resistant to water and dust.

Thank you for sharing this information

Joy 🤩 Good reasoning and decision .

BTW, I can tell you why no other manufacturer has pro capture in their flagships. With their larger RAW file sizes, it's impossible for a full frame camera to provide a meaningful frame rate for pro capture, a meaningful buffer size for RAW files and the processing power required to flush the RAW files to storage while doing RAW processing at the same time. The Z9 may be a monster of a camera, but it can do only 20fps for RAW, if you want 30fps you only get jpgs, if you want faster rates, you end up with 120fps and 11MP jpgs. Pathetic. The OM1 can hold more than a 100 RAW files in buffer before writing to disk regardless if you use mechanical shutter or electronic shutter. The other issue is more practical. Fast SD storage. These full frame, high resolution RAW files cannot be written to disk fast enough. The fastest cards available and supported in flagship cameras do up to 300MB/s. That's barely enough write speed to handle the OM1 files at a reasonable frame rate. The OM1 RAW files are 18MB to 20MB from what I can tell. The fastest SD cards will average writing about 15 such files to disk per second. Assuming a 47MP full frame camera would even support comparable frame rates and buffer sizes/speeds (impossible today), it would struggle writing the files to disk fast enough, being bottle-necked by ~5 frames per second write speed to the fastest SD cards. You'd take a sequence of shots with pro capture on your A1, then wait three times as long compared to the OM1 before the camera is available again because it's stuck with writing files. You'll miss moments and it would be an extremely frustrating experience. The other practical issue is fast SD storage size options. I went out whale watching with my E-M1 III and the 100-400mm. I only had dual 128GB cards with 300MB/s. I only went out for a couple of hours and shot for a fraction of that time and I managed to get pretty close to filling up the card with pro capture. I bought 256MB cards with 300MB/s now, but it's not cheap. For stills wild life photographers, the E-M1 III, E-M1X and OM1 are the best choices once you accept that 20MP is sufficient.

thank you, Sir , very informative!

Good decision! Though I really like Sony, having owned an A9 and A7R4, you are absolutely right about dust on the sensors. I am enjoyng my OM1's and as far as I'm concerned, the OM1 is the best wildlife/macro camera for me, regardless of price. I'm looking forward to your to seeing what you accomplish with it over the next 12 months. I have picked up quite a few tips from you, Andy Rouse, Roger Hance and Derek Forss, and it's marvellous that you all use the OM1.

I just made the same decision around two weeks ago, and I sold my Sony a1 and 200-600 with several GM lenses.One of the reasons of my decision,I didn’t like the IQ of 200-600mm.It wasn’t even close the 600mm GM quality.Unfortunately I had two brain surgeries last two years and It was really difficult to keep carrying the 600mm f4 all day long.With the help of a lady In Poland who works for a big photo shop,she arranged for me the OM-1 with 150-400 f4.5.I loved the lens at the moment I hold it in my hands.IQ of this lens not far from the Sony 600mm f4,it is much more versatile with 1000mm FF equivalent and I can use it handholding with shutter speeds I couldn’t dream it wit any FF cameras.My hit rate on BIF is not better than Sony a1,I don’t know what I am doing wrong, but I would like to get your help if you can share with me,which setting do you use for your BIF photography.If you can make a video for this it will be perfect.Anyway thanks for series of nice KZfaq videos.

Great video! You’re an amazing photographer!

brilliant as usual mike

Fantastic comparison...thank you Mike!!! You are absolutely correct about the dimness of the OM-D EM-1 viewfinder. Part of the reason I bought it was to film owls...AT NIGHT! I did find a workaround though. I put the camera in Bulb setting, manual focus and frame the shot, and quickly switch to Shutter or Manual setting to take the picture once the raptor looks my way. I look at the viewfinder (or LCD screen) of my friends with the Sony A1 and it is BRIGHT...but some of my shots rival theirs. If you are deft about it and know your Oly camera in the dark, you can do quite well. Thanks for the comparison!

Thanks for all the work. I’m a long time Olympus shooter. My first was the EP1. I was hoping the original OMD-Em1 would be my new sports camera. Sadly the auto focus wasn’t up to the task. I’ve had ever version of the OMD except the X. What I find strange is the OM1 does so well on tracking birds. But, not people in sporting situations. On a DP review the compare the OM1 with the Canon R6II for sports tracking. OMD told the reviewers not to use tracking. They tried and it failed. I just find it strange the tracking works so well on small birds but not people.

Excellent review Sir, a serious reason to change brands now, thank you.

I had thought you would choose the OM-1. I'm still sold on Canon but love these videos comparing different cameras.

Great overall review only spoiled by the irrelevant mid roll non skip ads. Will be getting the OM1 soon to go with my full Leica lenses.

interesting take Mike. I really need to try one of those OM-1 systems.

Hard choice both have such great features and l do wish my Canon had pro capture.

👌👏👏👏How well explained. Thank you. For me weight is a deciding factor. It is a matter of taking care of the health of the back, joints, etc. In addition, the micro four thirds system, by using less volume of material for the construction of objectives, is even MORE ECOLOGICAL. Personally I would have made the same choice. I personally believe that most of the manufacturers of classic cameras and Sony (which bought Minolta) have known how to create in the consumer the need to keep the old 24x36mm format, but not to do photographers a favor, the favor is for the manufacturers themselves so that they can continue to take advantage of the old optical designs of the 35mm format...

Another great video Mike! As an A1 shooting and following the observations you make I would have gone with the A1. Image quality and cropability are high on the list for me over procapture. I’m sure whoever goes with the OM1 won’t be disappointed and l look forward to many more of your brilliant videos.

An excellent if surprising video. I’m really pleased I opted for the OM1 now all I need is to receive the one ordered in February from WEX Photographic. 😟

Olympus procapture is amazing. I've used it on em1iii with great success.

Excellent video I'm just waiting for my om1 👍🏻

Wow, great video with some astonishing results. I've found it while looking for any (very early) comparisons between OM-1 and Canon R7, but if it crushes giants such as Sony A1 or Nikon Z9, the R7 probably doesn't even stand a fighting chance. And already at today's prices OM-1 with good Oly lenses (like even the lower grade M.Zuiko 100-400mm F5.0-6.3 IS) is cheaper than R7 with better native lenses like RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L!

Thank you for your assessments what a great review from someone who owns both systems there’s also a big price difference between these 2 systems

I just sold my Nikon equipment and switched to "Olympus". And because I don`t have the patience to wait for the OM1, I bought an EM1 III for the meantime.

You got me with the toss !!

That is a great video - I am ordering one now, and I will sell my Nikon gear. This is a big decision for me, because I DO like the files from my Nikon Z6 and Z7 mk 2. But if you want the best full frame is an expensive way to go - here I think about the lenses. So I will start with The 300 mm pro F4 - and hopefully I.can pick up a OM-1 You helped me decide - Thanks

The never ending Arms/Camera race! What will be the next leap frog de jour be? What counts for me is that someone shows how to go about taking beautiful pictures and video. The tips of learning bird behaviors and good composition are as important as photography technique. Thanks for providing all these in an integrated way.

Yes, I find that I shoot wide open for many things any more. The Oly pro lenses areexcellent even wide open. Even the kit lenses are fairly decent.

Great review

I’m so plsd Mike - I was v nervous watching this video. 💫

Wow just now found you friend been waiting you tube photography for years

Excellent video Mike, I have recently swapped from Canon to the OM-1 and must admit its a real learning curve for me, i simply cant get the results that everyone else appears to be getting, your Lesser Repoll and Woodpecker shots for instance, how about now you have chosen the OM-1 a video on the settings you use, that would be most helpful.

Hello from Oz. I recently purchased the 100-400mm lens and thought I'd just use it as is before trying out the ProCapture. That's the next step on my agenda. I would love the lens you've been using but the one I bought is lighter and that's important when you have a busted shoulder.

Nice video Mike. Last week, I shot kingfishers with a 900 dollar mint 600 mm f5.6 ais Nikkor I got from Ebay. Works fine on full frame and m43. Wonderful😊.

Good video, thanks...

Everything you say is my opinion. But I chose the E-M1X instead of the OM-1 first because it saved me $ 1,600 for the price I bought it for. Once you add the Battery grip and extra battery to the OM-1, something the EM1X has. The next thing that tipped the scales between the two cameras is the E-M1X wonderful automatic focus with the new bird update. Yes OM-1 is certainly better, but I come from the world of Canon where it's pretty bad. I use E-M1X in combination with 300mm F4 and sometimes 1.4MC and appreciate the lightness of this combination compared to my Canon lens which is twice as heavy. Finally, the OM-1 will be available at the end of June. I made the order in March and I am glad that I canceled it after the long wait. The E-M1X is all I need so far.

Pitty I really would like to have bought your Olympus 150-400😉. Thanks for the great and extensive comparison. I've used the A7 IV, A9 and the A1 on a demo for several hours. I was surprised how good the OM-system keeps up. If you don't need the higher resolution there is no need to switch IMO. None of them feel as comfortable, professional and rugged as the OM-1 for me.

I've been using pro capture on small birds in my backyard with the 75-300mm for a long time, it is excellent

I agree with the dust issue with Sony.

Well done, I had the EM1 MK11 and had the 150-400 ordered, impatience got the better of me and I cancelled the order and bought the R5 and 100-500. Looking back I wish I had waited or even bought the Sony

Nice review.

I was leaning towards OM-1 as well as I already have a Lumix G9 and would like better autofocus. However I think I'm going to wait a few more months to see what the final specs on the Canon R7 is, especially regarding the electronic shutter...being non-stacked sensor will readout speed remain at only 1/60s like the R5 or will they be able to push it to 1/120s. Also whether or not it has some sort of pre-burst function would be the two specs that will weight my decision. If the R7 comes in at under $2500 which I assume it will, combined with the 100-500 4.5-7.1 L that's going to come in $5400 about $4k less than the OM-1 with 150-400 4.5. Both would be 800mm FF equivalent. In terms of light gathering and depth of field in FF equivalent terms the OM setup will be about 2/3 of a stop faster but the R7 (if rumors are true) will have an extra 12.5mp of resolution to crop in with which is greater reach than the built-in 1.4tc will net.

We have the same kingfisher statue at home, just with a slightly different foot... Interesting video - glad you were able to decide on one of these cameras - sometimes it's not easy to choose - the competition is high. But in the end there is always that one brand that fits best ;) - Best regards

Good video Mike .

Hi Mike I thought about the sony when I changed from Nikon but I'm very please I went with Olympus first the 5 and then the 1 mk11 and now 1 mk 111, I'm waitning to have the bugs ironed out of the OM-1 then I will buy one. thanks for sharing.

Surprising choice. I expected the Sony to be a better camera although it seems that OMDS is the preferred market for bird photography. As for the computational stuff I only have the EM1 II and have only used Pro Capture. Never tried any of the other modes. I like that feature and the other cameras I am interested in Fuji have something similar.

Hello Mike, first of all, thank you for your videos. Love the style and your content. What i love most in this video? Easy ;-)

Funny, I did the same thing you did, Mike. When Olympus was in the process of selling their camera division, and I needed a newer camera, I wound up buying a Canon EOS R. A couple years later, and after getting my old E-M1 repaired (it's more than six years old now), I almost always pick up the Olympus. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to sell the Canon kit and double down with OMDS.