Townsends Warbler

What technical feedback would you like if any?

Any

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

Any

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

(If backgrounds have been removed, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)

Captured this image up in the mountains east of my home a couple of days ago. One of my favorite spots for warblers, vireos, chickadees, etc. The Townsends warbler is not the most common bird there, but does make an appearance every now and then. I only had one opportunity with this one for about 30 seconds so I captured quite a few frames. Happy with the look of the bird and the fact that it was nearly parallel so DOF wasn’t a big issue.

This is full frame.
Olympus EM1-X, 300mm f/4 with 1.4x TC
1/400 @ f/5.6, ISO 1600

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Keith, this is gorgeous! Super gorgeous. Details in the yellow and black are fascinating. I love the background, too. I Would reduce the contrast (or even clone out completely) that OOF green stem right below the bird’s tail, but other than that, this is pretty much spot on.

PS. How do you like the EM1-X btw? I have been thinking about the EM-1 Mk II for a lightweight “840 f/5.6” combo but not quite sure about high ISO performance and also for BIF.

Excellent, Keith. amazing to get that close to any warbler. Composition and exposure are excellent.

You asked about the EM1-X and referenced the EM-1 Mk II. I own both. I also own a full Canon system so I have a good reference point for noise and AF performance between those systems. On the Canon side I have a 5D Mark IV and a 7D Mark II.

Not surprisingly, the 5D IV is the best at high ISO performance, but I want to make sure that is understood as a relative statement. All of my cameras are more than capable of producing great images at high ISO with proper exposure. All of them fail miserably with poor exposure and high ISO.

The micro 4/3 system is routinely bashed by Youtube pundits and others about high ISO performance. My experience does not support the ramblings of those who have never shot the system. I’ll attach a file here that is a straight export from an untouched RAW file at ISO 16000 (that is not a typo, you might think I meant 1600). It was just a quick snapshot of my daughter and our dog on the couch. The file is from my EM-1 Mark II. I’ll let that speak for itself about high ISO and proper exposure.

Birds in Flight: The EM1-X is a touch better than the EM-1 II, but not by much especially after the 3.x firmware update on the EM1- II. I would say both are very very good, but maybe not quite as good as my 7D II or 5D IV, but not enough to matter, especially when considering the giant size difference between the 2 systems. Being able to carry and quickly maneuver handheld in nearly any circumstance is liberating. Doesn’t mean I don’t use a tripod when I can.

Here’s a link to a couple of quick examples of BIF with the EM-1 II

I am not trying to make a sales pitch, just sharing my experience with the system. People should shoot with any camera that makes them happy.

Here’s the ISO 16000 frame:

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A beautiful bird, Keith, and an excellent capture of it. Wonderful details. You did good under a short 30 seconds to capture him.