MFT camera and lens for birds

[PatrickO]

I have a Nikon D7200 and 200-500mm lens I use for bird photography. I'm finding my arthritic hands don't like the weight so I'm looking for a lighter alternative.

I thought an MFT setup would be best.

The Panasonic and Olympus 100-400mm lenses would give me a similar reach as my current setup and can be got for £600-700.

Would you recommend one over the other and what camera body would be best if bought used for around £300-400.

It would almost always be used at 400mm and in reasonably good light.

Many thanks

 

[lindsay]

@the black fox is your best advisor on this, who will doubtless recommend the OM1mk2 body, and is a wealth of knowledge about birding with MFT

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

@the black fox is your best advisor on this, who will doubtless recommend the OM1mk2 body, and is a wealth of knowledge about birding with MFT

To give the other side of the story, I use the Panasonic G9 with the Panasonic 100~400mm. It meets my needs well enough but I'm not a "quality at all costs" sort of person. Some examples, all (I think) at the 400mm setting...








Obviously, I'm not a bird person but I hope this gives some idea of what the combination provides.

 

[PatrickO]

To give the other side of the story, I use the Panasonic G9 with the Panasonic 100~400mm. It meets my needs well enough but I'm not a "quality at all costs" sort of person. Some examples, all (I think) at the 400mm setting...
...

Obviously, I'm not a bird person but I hope this gives some idea of what the combination provides.

Very nice images. Shows you can get some excellent quality from that combo

 

[PatrickO]

@the black fox is your best advisor on this, who will doubtless recommend the OM1mk2 body, and is a wealth of knowledge about birding with MFT

Unfortunately, the OM1 is out of my price range.

 

[the black fox]

Unfortunately, the OM1 is out of my price range.

There are plenty of used options although your budget is a bit low a omd 1 mkii can be got for circa £200-£300. And a used 100-400 for between £500-£800 . The camera and lens combined weighs in at exactly 2kg so a bag of sugar weight wise . And is still a very fast useable option .

 

[realspeed]

Nikon camera and lens weight got me as well, so I ditched (P/X) the lot and got the panasonic G9. Then the G9ii came out so got that as well. What a difference weight wise, the G9ii is the better option but cost comes into it.

The question is how much money you have after selling/ P/X your gear

Have a look around this site for prices new and used

Camera Price Buster - Compare UK Stock Prices

Compare genuine UK stock prices for Camera Equipment. New & Used prices.

www.camerapricebuster.co.uk

What I do like is the amazing image stablisation camera + lens. A 100-300mm lens is 200-600 mm in FF terms . Oh by the way I am 80 years old and now can hold these cameras rock steady.

 

[the black fox]

Tbh I had the Nikon 7200 and a sigma 150-600:and due to heart failure had to downsize ,wish I had done it years earlier . ,with the above combo I suggested above you will get hand holdable image stability, shooting speeds of up to 18fps and a 2x crop so 800mm at full reach plus you can add a 1.4 tc that doesn’t effect I.q as well and still hand hold .. obviously the more modern equipment will give better results but there still a formidable combo ..to check out results just input camera and lens info in Flickr and it should bring up what you require will add some pics in a bit

 

[the black fox]

here ya go don quixote by jeff cohen, on Flickr
getting ready for freedom by jeff cohen, on Flickr
purple pain by jeff cohen, on Flickr

 

[Sangoma]

I use a G9 and 100-400, and quite often the 100-300.

I don't like the Olympus ergonomics and menu system, so prefer Panasonic. Image quality is good on both.

 

[mav]

have you considered the the nikon 500 pf which would be approx 1 kilo lighter its a very sharp Lens and takes a 1.4 tc very well or if that's out of your budget the 300 pf f4. and a 1.4 nikon converter would be even lighter


this was taken with the 500 pf

 

[PatrickO]

have you considered the the nikon 500 pf which would be approx 1 kilo lighter its a very sharp Lens and takes a 1.4 tc very well or if that's out of your budget the 300 pf f4. and a 1.4 nikon converter would be even lighter


this was taken with the 500 pf

View attachment 451167

Amazing image. So beautiful. I will look at those lenses