My Wishlist for the OM System OM-5 Mark II to Make it a Better Bird and Wildlife Photography Camera
I purchased the OM System OM-5 as a backup camera for my photography travels. The camera has a small footprint and very light at .91 lbs / 414 grams and has many of the features of the OM-1 (Live ND, High Res Shot, Focus Stacking, Live Composite, etc.)
The camera does really well as a back up or even the primary camera for my travel and landscape photography. However, in my opinion the OM-5 is lacking in several areas for Bird and Wildlife photography. For bird and wildlife photography trips, I leave the OM-5 at home and use the OM-D E-M1 Mark III as my back up camera.
Historically, the 5 series of the E-M / OM line of Olympus cameras has been the middle tier with the 1 series at the top and the E-M10 line as the entry level OM-D. I feel that OM Systems has room in this line for an entry level bird and wildlife camera by enhancing the OM-5.
I understand that these features may require the camera to be a little larger and priced a little higher. But I think there is room for this in the OM System camera line up as the OM-5 is very similar to the OM-D E-M10 in size and weight, and there is a large price difference ($1,200 USD) between the OM-1 Mark II and the OM-5.
OM System hasn’t officially announced the OM-5 Mark II at the time of writing, but here is my wishlist to make the OM-5 a better bird and wildlife camera.
Subject Detection
Subject Detection is a game changer for bird and wildlife photography. OM Systems isn’t the only manufacturer with this technology. Sony, Canon, Nikon, Panasonic, and Fuji all have versions of subject detection.
Adding subject detection to a mid level OM System camera would help entice new users to OM System and provide for a better back up camera for birds and wildlife. The only option today to have a primary and back up camera with subject detection would be get 2 OM-1 Mark IIs or pick up a used E-M1X/OM-1 Mark I. Plus, the subject detection in the E-M1X isn’t as advanced as in the OM-1 cameras.
Multi Selector Joystick
The ability to quickly move the AF Area is important for bird and wildlife photography. With the OM-5, I have trouble quickly moving the AF Focus Area with the Arrow Pad while I’m photographing through the viewfinder. I need to move my thumb too far off the thumb grip to easily move the Arrow Keys. The Arrow Pad Keys are also small and I frequently press the wrong arrow key. With the OM-1, E-M1 Mark III, and E-M1X, the AF Area can easily be moved with the Multi Selector Joystick.
The Joystick on these cameras is also configured to quickly change the shape and size of the AF Focus Area by pressing the joystick and rotating the front dial. On the OM-5, you can change the AF Area by pressing the OK button and rotating the front dial, but once again it is harder to reach and find on the OM-5. This is not ideal for bird and wildlife photography.
Improved Viewfinder
The OM-5 can shoot at 30 frames per second (fps) with the electronic shutter which is fine for an entry level bird and wildlife camera. The problem is the viewfinder can’t keep up. At 30 fps, the viewfinder freezes and skips during the burst sequence. This doesn’t occur with the 10 fps manual shutter.
It appears that all the frames are all recorded, but it is a bit distracting while trying to photograph moving subjects like birds and wildlife.
Multiple Custom Modes on the Mode Dial
For Bird and Wildlife photography, you need to be able to change settings quickly. I use the 4 Custom Modes on the OM-1 Mode Dial to quickly change settings for bird and wildlife photography. Settings that I set to the different custom modes are: Pro Capture, and Single Autofocus and Continuous Autofocus with different AF Focus Areas.
It would be great if the OM-5 Mark II had at least one more custom mode setting.
Summary
You could add more features to the OM-5 Mark II for bird and wildlife photography, but that might bring the feature set too close to the OM-1 Mark II and cannibalize its sales. I see these 4 features as being the top features I would need to use the OM-5 for bird and wildlife photography.
Which features would you like to see in an OM-5 Mark II for improved bird and wildlife photography?
Written by Martin Belan
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5 Comments
Bruce Tolley
I agree with your list. I have stuck with the OMD-Em5 mark 2 for travel but not wildlife because of its ruggedness.
But I would add the stacked sensor which I understand improves a whole range of features. It would seem the more sensors OM- Systems sells, the lower the cost they have to pay for the component.
Martin Belan
Agree. Thanks for your input Bruce!
John Isaacs
Custom modes are definitely an issue with the OM5. But OM Systems should look to Panasonic custom modes as implemented on the GH6 and G9ii. I rely on the Olympus/OM Systems capabilities to recall a custom mode, to assign “Hold” or “Restore” to each custom mode, and to switch to/from a custom mode using a function button.
Until recently, these have been unique to Olympus/OM Systems. But Panasonic has added the ability to recall a custom mode (they call it “Load”).
And Panasonic has several features that make custom settings very usable.
Panasonic supports up to 12 custom modes. Each custom mode can be named, so you don’t need to try to remember what they do. There are 10 custom modes that are accessed on the C3 position of the mode dial, and these are selected by pressing the menu button and then rotating a control dial. So you don’t need to access the mode dial to switch between these 10 custom modes.
Finally, Panasonic can save or load all settings to/from files on the memory card. And these files can be named for clarity.
I dream of OM Systems having this flexibility, but they also need to provide access to the menu with right hand (which they have indicated is coming).
Just to be clear, I don’t think Panasonic have a good design for wildlife because drive mode and AF mode are hard wired controls. This means too many control changes to switch critical settings. But they have really done a good job on custom modes.
Martin Belan
Hi John,
Thanks for the comment and information on Panasonic Custom Modes.
Werner Hofer
Sehr wichtig wäre aus meiner Sicht, die Ergonomie zu verbessern: für die rechte Hand ist unbedingt ein gut ausgeformter Handgriff mit ausreichend Grifftiefe notwendig (wie bei der OM-1). Nur dann kann man die Kamera mit dem 300mm/4.0 gut halten.