Lumix G9 Small Birds in Flight

[@jasonnewton9889]

Hi Marlene, I just watched your “Lumix G9 Small Birds in Flight”. I really appreciated your observations on using 6K and Burst modes. I’ve adjusted my G9 setup to add Burst shooting on my Control Dial settings. I’ve summarized my updated Control Dial settings to share with you and anyone who may be interested. These Control Dial settings are very easy to setup. I included directions for each setting along with background information. My G9 setup has the Control Dial set up as follows: TOP/UP set to Image Size to easily change magnification (1. press button 3 seconds for menu to setup, 2. Scroll to Picture Size on page 5/19, 3. Press Menu to select) LEFT set to Burst Mode to change burst rate (1. press button 3 seconds for menu to setup, 2. Scroll to Burst Shot Setting on page 5/19, 3. Press Menu to select). To activate, turn shooting mode dial “1”. Make sure that Burst Mode is on the Q-Menu. RIGHT side set to 1 Shot “6k/4k Photo. This allows me to quickly switch from photo to 6/4k for one shot. I set my choice of 6/4k mode in the Q menu. (1. press button 3 seconds for menu to setup, 2. Scroll to One Shot “6K/4K Photo” on page 4/19, 3. Press Menu to select) BOTTOM/DOWN set to Exe Tele Conv that I keep Photo with TeleCov on, Video Off (1. press button 3 seconds for menu to setup, 2. Scroll to Ex. Tele. Conv. on page 8/19, 3. Press Menu to select) Now that the functions on the dial have been set, it’s easy to switch modes for shooting on the fly. Here’s how this works. 1. I always shoot with the Quality set to Raw & JPG Fine with 4:3 aspect ratio 2. I always keep Exe Tele Conv (Control Dial BOTTOM/DOWN set to ON for Photos and OFF for video. a. Depending on the distance from the subject, I adjust Image Size as follows: Large which does not use Ex Tele Conv; b. Medium which increases the magnification by 1.4x (e.g. my 300mm lens now is a 420mm lens); c. Small which increases the magnification by 2.0 (e.g. my 300mm lens is now a 600mm lens). d. The increased magnification is from a crop of the center of the LARGE image. e. If I don’t like the crop at Medium or Small, I have the Raw image to recrop to my satisfaction. f. The use of the Ex Tele Conv function set to Medium allows the 100-300mm lens to produce a jpg similar in quality to the 100-400mm lens! This is based on samples from my own testing of the two lenses. 3. When shooting Raw/Jpg, I can select the shooting mode/Burst Speed from the Control Dial LEFT button to select the burst rate from the menu. 4. When I want to switch to 4K/6K, I press the Control Dial RIGHT button that now allows shooting in the 4K/6K mode that I have selected from the Q-Menu for 4K/6K modes. a. I select 6K/Pre-Burst when I don’t need any additional magnification. b. I select 4K/Pre-Burst when I want additional magnification. The Ex Tele Conv adds 1.6x magnification to 4K photos. So, my 300mm lens becomes a 480mm equivalent lens with the added magnification. Add the 2x crop factor and you have a 960mm full frame equivalent field of view! c. Pressing the RIGHT button, allows the next shot to be in the 4K/6K mode that was selected using the Q-Menu. d. After the shot, the system reverts to regular photo mode. e. The option to switch for a shot in 4K/K mode allows you to set up the shot in regular photo mode and then use the 4K/6K mode to capture a sequence of photos. f. You can jump back and forth between regular photo and 4K/6K photo modes with a press of the thumb! This setup has worked well for me so far! Thanks, Marlene, for sharing your experience and helping us to discover the potential of our G9 camera! Regards, Jason

[@ImageMaven]

Wow, thanks for sharing all of your detailed testing and settings Jason! I’m sure lots of folks will find the information very useful, especially the tele with the 100-300 and 100-400 comparison. I’ve thought of using the 2x tele. Now I definitely will! Cheers and happy birding!

[@jasonnewton9889]

@@ImageMaven Yes! You'd do a geat job demonstrating the use of ex tele conv! Makes the 100-300 a killer long lens that can hold its own against the 100-400. Keep up the great work. We're off to climb our mountain and try my new-to-me Lumix kit: G5, 14-42 Power Zoom and 45-175 Power Zoom. Love the light weight, range and power zoom!

[@joy579]

Danke! I have only had my G9 for a short time (FZ1000 II was my former camera). Thanks to your video I was able to photograph jumping salmons in a waterfall. I‘m so hapoy about this! Thank you very much for your explanations! Coffee is on the way. 😊

[@ImageMaven]

Great to hear! And thank you so very much for the Coffee - Super Thanks! I really appreciate it. Enjoy your new G9. I still love mine after 6 years.

[@joy579]

@@ImageMaven Thank you. And all the best for you. Your tutorials are great for me as a beginner with the G9. 👍 btw: In a german tutorial Panasonic named the pre-burst modus „fortune teller mode“. 😆

[@ImageMaven]

Haha, I like that, fortune teller mode. All the best to you as well.

[@mfarmarco]

Thanks!

[@ImageMaven]

Thank you so much Michael!! These Super Thanks always slip through the comments on mobile, so I just saw this now! Cheers!

[@hVF8KZuQPeCc8u]

Glad you were able to use the coffee money for your Rode wireless microphone. I want one of those! Thanks for this video. Gives me more to try out with my G9. We have a big bird feeder and get all sorts of critters: all kind of birds, squirrels, an occasional racoon etc. etc. That will give me good target practice. I am appreciating your dive into animal photography!

[@ImageMaven]

Hi Steven, I’ve been struggling with my audio for a long time. I thought it was the perfect gear to spend the coffee money on, as it will directly benefit those of you who have supported me. Glad you like the birds and animals. Sadly I didn’t get any super colourful birds for this video. I did try, but lately the pretty birds are hard to find. Maybe all the forest fire smoke. And I didn’t want to wait even longer to get this video out. Thanks as always for your comments and for watching! 😊

[@rajeshbalsotra]

Thanks

[@ImageMaven]

Thank you Rajesh! 🤗

[@oldschoolwarrior]

This was an incredibly helpful video. I just recently photographed some birds at my feeder in the back yard. I used both settings to capture them but haven’t gotten them off the camera yet. Knowing how to do it for the times I used 6K mode is extremely helpful. Thank you. Those are incredible “straight out of camera” shots, by the way.

[@ImageMaven]

Happy to hear this. Hope your photos turned out great.

[@DrStedder]

Hey, here's an idea for a future video, maybe. How can you do day-for-night shooting in camera with the G9? I'm thinking of the kind of dramatic filming John Ford did in "My Darling Clementine," for example.

[@ImageMaven]

Haven't seen that movie. But, I did this with transparency film about 30 years ago for a client who made reflective safety clothing. Short answer, underexpose by 3 stops.

[@ThePhileasch]

Many thanks Marlene for all your videos! I own a G9 since 2 monthes, a 100-300, and a leica 12-60, all second hand. I'm very happy with them, and your marvellous videos help me a lot! I am in a group of amateur ornithologists, and we go in many interresting places for birds (migration : Pyrénées, seaside : Atlantic Ocean, island : Ré... all in France, I live near Bordeaux). I invite you for a coffee!

[@ImageMaven]

Merci pour les cafés Philippe! Sounds like you have a fun group to go birding with. I'm happy to hear you are enjoying your G9 and lenses. I hope you find lots of interesting species in this years migration. I spent a couple of weeks cycling not too far from Bordeaux, in the Dordogne about 8 years ago. It was amazing, especially La Roque Gageac. Cheers!

[@ThePhileasch]

@@ImageMaven We went in La Roque Gageac two years ago, to see a nice bird : the "Tichodrome échelette" (Tichodroma muraria - Wallcreeper). Very nice place! ;-) I learned this afternoon the pre-burst mode, and I shot the robin in my garden just after, it'magic! Thanks to you!!!

[@rayjenkins2754]

I apricate this videos' topic & timing. Lots of mornings, after letting our 3 chickens loose, I'll sit on the back deck & shoot birds at their feeder with my G9 & Leica 100 ~ 400mm. I've considered both the High Speed Burst mode as well as the 6 K Photo mode & your detailed presentation has helped me decide on the 6 K Pre Burst & pull the ' good ' image or 3 out of the collection. Again, thanks.

[@ImageMaven]

Hi Ray, I suggest you test both methods and see what works best for you. I find I switch between the two pre-burst methods I've shown in this video. You will learn what method works best for you and for the different shooting situations. Enjoy your birds. Hopefully you have more species than I had for this video. Most of the breeding birds have already moved out of my area. Cheers!

[@rayjenkins2754]

@@ImageMaven Magpies, yellow breasted finches, blue jays ( lots ! ) robins, doves, hummingbirds, the occasional blackbird, & rare red shoulder hawk on top of the power pole. When the hawk arrives our chickens dive for cover & the feeding birds scatter ! Have you tried changing any of the cameras sensitivity levels for AF ?

[@ImageMaven]

@@rayjenkins2754 Wow you have a lot of species. How fun for you. Yes, I have changed the sensitivity. My next video will include info on that.

[@timsn3064]

Hello Marlene, where can I get the bigger red video-release-button? (04:01) Thank you :)

[@ImageMaven]

Hey TimSN, It's called a ProDot. I got a package of them a few years ago. customslr dot com

[@koolkutz7]

Great demonstration Marlene. The 2 methods look great for fast-moving small birds. You also proved that you would probably miss the action using a traditional method of shooting :-)

[@ImageMaven]

Fast small birds are the hardest to shoot. I'm curious, what do you the consider traditional method of shooting?

[@koolkutz7]

The traditional method I meant simply was to shoot with any camera that has not got a pre-burst buffer function, like with my Nikon DSLR I have to anticipate when the bird will fly off and start taking pictures which is normally too slow!

[@suzmot5661]

Thanks again for another great video. I've been using my G9 and 100-400 taking shots of the local birds, but your video tips will hopefully help me capture them more successfully in fight! :)

[@ImageMaven]

Hi Suz, Yes, the small birds are tricky when they're flying! Hopefully you have enough light to use a fast shutter speed. Have fun!

[@billwolfe7244]

I'm late to the dance with the G9. Just getting familiar with all the features. The manual doesn't make it easy.. Love your work here.

[@ImageMaven]

You're never too late to the dance with the G9. This camera is having a long shelf life. Yes, the manuals are never super easy and they give you very little functional info. Lucky for me because it gives me a lot of topics to make videos about. Enjoy your new camera!

[@Ferda1964]

Hi Marlene, you've convinced me and I did get the 100 - 400mm lens.. It's fantastic. Thank you.

[@ImageMaven]

Great to hear!! Enjoy.

[@luciegagnon1238]

Excellent video! Clear and informative! Thank you!

[@ImageMaven]

Great to hear this Lucie. Thank you for watching!

[@MrFirstdance2000]

Excited about your new brew off coffee, Rode. Make sure to do a small video on your take for this. Great video as I love to catch the many birds on my back deck! Thanks for the tutorial.

[@ImageMaven]

Yes, I'm excited too. But I'm no expert on audio, that's for sure. (Steep learning curve for me.) I needed something that requires very little, or no audio editing. I will go in and tweak the sound in future videos, but just wanted to get this one out before the weekend as it's been awhile since my last video. Thank you for watching, and for all your support. 😀Have fun with your little birds.

[@nankurubiker1000]

Thanks for your videos they are teaching me a lot with my G9. You are fantastic.😘

[@ImageMaven]

Hi Antxon, Great to hear this. Cheers!

[@youssefelkarkri]

Can you maybe do a video about different lenses and best of them? Just curious what kind u use

[@ImageMaven]

Short answer: For birding I now use the Lumix/Leica 100-400mm. For making my KZbin videos I use the Leica/Lumix 9mm and 15mm f1.7 lenses. For skateboarding videos I use the Lumix 7-15mm f4 and the 9mm f1.7. For the long list, you can check out the gear I use in the video description.

[@michaelellard4664]

Nice to you again. I have learnt much over the years from you.

[@ImageMaven]

So kind of you to say Michael. :)

[@ttbirds1082]

Great comparison of the high speed photo modes.

[@ImageMaven]

Thank you for watching!

[@tsk-jsk4226]

Amazing content as always!

[@ImageMaven]

Appreciate it! Thanks for watching!

[@K7.2023]

Thanks for this video! Made my day!😃

[@ImageMaven]

Glad you enjoyed it! And thank you for letting me know!

[@joeyret.617]

Hi Marlene, New subscriber here, I have a G85 for landscape pictures and video which I love and also just added a g9 and the Panasonic/Leica 100-400mm to my gear for wildlife photography. Question: what name brand and type of SD card you use to get results as shown in your video for 6k burst mode. And 2nd question you're using a tripod, right? Can you get the same results on the move in handheld mode. Bought you a coffee for the very clear explanation and technics shown thanks again.

[@ImageMaven]

Awesome! Thank you for the coffee Joey. I am using 64GB SanDisk Extreme Pro U3 10 SD XC 170MB/s. Hopefully you can get all the specs from that. As for a tripod, I usually use one in my demos, as I'm showing the camera settings etc. but I don't often use one when I'm out and about in nature. I like to travel as light as possible, especially when using the 100-400mm lens. I will occasionally take a monopod, but more often than not, it gets left in the car. If I'm shooting video I try to use it. But for photos I typically don't need one, and I mostly shoot photos. Hopefully that answers all your questions today! Cheers.

[@jackjstrange]

Hi Marlene! What a terrific tutorial! I especially appreciated your discussion of the 'file deletion issue' when shooting high speed raw. You also have encouraged me to use the 6K capture mode on both my G9s. I almost never use it and that's a mistake. All the best! Jack PS - Be sure to visit the Calgary polo club before the season ends in August and also be sure to bring your 100-300!

[@ImageMaven]

Hi Jack. Great to hear from you again. Ah yes, I must get to the polo club! I will work on making that happen! Thanks for the reminder. Have fun with your 6K trials. I suggest you try both 6K and the SH1 burst or pre-burst to see which you prefer. You can still shoot SH1 as jpgs, but still lots of files to deal with. UGH. I'm still going through all the thousands of mediocre shots I took for this tutorial. Cheers!

[@jackjstrange]

@@ImageMaven Hi again! Marlene when focusing using human/animal detect do you know the difference between the green, yellow and white rectangles?

[@ImageMaven]

@@jackjstrange Hi Jack, There is very little documentation on the difference in the colour of the squares. As far as I can determine from my research and testing, White and Yellow show the camera detects the humans/animals/birds and Green square shows what's in focus. If you're in the "left most" focus setting of Human/Animal detect, it will show you multiple subjects with white / yellow squares and one with Green - if one of those subjects is in focus. You can change the "target subject" by using your joystick to move around to the other squares. In the 1-Area Human Animal focus (Far right setting) you only get one target, so you get yellow boxes to show that the camera detects the subject and green if it's in focus. You don't get the white boxes in that setting (at least I never have). Hope that helps!

[@jackjstrange]

@@ImageMaven My goodness, that does make sense and yes there is little doc on the function. You have been a terrific help, thank you Marlene!

[@PedroJimenez-dg3gu]

Fantastic Marlene 🙌 Thank you very much

[@ImageMaven]

Glad you liked it Pedro!

[@steveschnetzler5471]

Well explained, thanks. I have not played/worked with these modes is a while, I will have to try them.

[@ImageMaven]

Have fun! I just love the Pre-burst options of both methods. Thanks for watching.

[@heinihefti8969]

Your videos are really helpful - you should be paid by Panasonic - thanks! Heini

[@ImageMaven]

I appreciate hearing this so much, Heini. And also thank you for the coffee!

[@AmyiReport]

Hi there, I don’t recall when was last time I pick up my G9! Lol. Great tips as always. I wish I can see that many beautiful birds in my backyard.

[@ImageMaven]

Hi Amy, Well, you better grab your camera this weekend! Words from your bossy KZbin tutor. I definitely spent a lot of time waiting for birds to make this video. I usually have more variety of birds in my yard but it seems they have moved off for the season. I was hoping to show off the beautiful American Goldfinch, but they only visit for about 30 seconds, once or twice a month. Thank you for watching. I hope all is well with you!

[@AmyiReport]

@@ImageMaven Hi, Marlene, I will do that. I always enjoy your content. Appreciated all your hard work. Have a wonderful weekend.

[@sarahwelsh8157]

Wow I just learnt a lot 🤯 can’t wait to try these modes

[@ImageMaven]

Have fun Sarah! Burst modes are great.

[@robinbarnes3050]

Hi Marlene. Help please? When i set my g9 to shoot raw the teleconvertor option is greyed out. Is this just how it is or can i do something please. Robin

[@ImageMaven]

Hi Robin, That feature only works with jpgs as it crops the image. If you use jpg+raw you can use it, but the effect will only be applied to the jpg. Hope that helps.

[@robinbarnes3050]

@@ImageMaven your a star. Coffee on its way.

[@Glueckskeeks]

thank you, this was really helpful! :)

[@ImageMaven]

Great to hear! Thank you for watching. 🤗

[@brucegraner5901]

Thanks for taking the time to delve into area of wildlife photography. Were you happy with the animal tracking 2.4 upgrade for the G9? Small birds are an incredible challenge. Have you worked with larger birds? i'm considering the G9 for raptors and herons.

[@ImageMaven]

Hi Bruce. Yes, I am very happy with the 2.4 upgrade. I have worked with large birds in flight, too. I was actually working on that video while making this one, but I want more sample photos. It's harder to find accessible large birds in the wild where I live. Takes a lot of patience! So I decided to put this one together first. I have a couple of recent videos on the Firmware update 2.4 if you're interested. And they use a variety of birds as subjects as well. Thanks for watching!

[@howardchud9097]

How does the camera know to take photos before you press the shutter? Got it - Pre-burst will enable you to shoot the exact moment you want in fast movement scenarios. While the option is [ON], the camera records 4K videos constantly and when you press the shutter release, the camera will allow you to select from the last 30 frames taken before that button press, enabling you to select the exact frame you desire.

[@ImageMaven]

You got it Howard!

[@joellelourdelet7469]

thanks Marlene for your good video. First time it is clear for me . Your explanations are perfect about using these fonctions. It was always difficult for me to take photos of birds flying. I need to make more tests and they should be ok now (hope so). I've got the lens 100/300 and 100/400 as well. I did really appreciate what you said. bye

[@ImageMaven]

Hi Joelle, It definitely takes some practice. I am also working on a video with larger birds in flight. Just need some more sample photos. Should be done within the week. Thank you so much for watching!

[@mikesphotography7185]

Well done again amazing as always!

[@ImageMaven]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@walterzannoni]

Very interesting. Thanks. I use Photolab DXO to correct the noise. But it works only with raw file, but with photolab is very fast erase the bad pictures

[@ImageMaven]

Hi Walter, Thanks for sharing. I always like to hear what software others use. I just started using Topaz DeNoise myself. Makes a world of difference!

[@walterzannoni]

@@ImageMaven try Photolab DxO for free for 3 weeks and compare. You can’t believe 😉. Have nice day

[@ImageMaven]

I have checked out DXO, but I don't shoot raw files anymore so I'm sticking with the Topaz suite for now. Thanks for the tip though!

[@walterzannoni]

@@ImageMaven a pleasure! 👋

[@martinsmith4047]

Hi Marlene, I've been watching your content for some time now and recently came across this high speed burst tutorial for shooting small birds in flight. I followed your examples re the settings,etc but find that the images are quite pixilated when I zoom in. The image in jpeg is 4.5mb so plenty big enough but just too pixilated. Can you advise me what i'm doing wrong please?

[@ImageMaven]

The only things I can think of are: You're not using the largest sized jpg. Or you're not at the BEST quality jpg. Check the pixel dimensions of the file on your computer - eg: 5184x3888 (or whatever your camera maximum is). The size of the jpg file doesn't tell you much as that will vary for each photo depending on the colour and detail in your images.

[@martinsmith4047]

@@ImageMaven hi Marlene, thank you. I took 2 pics with the same lens, the first single shot and the second on his burst. They are both 5185 x 3888 but the first is 7.22mb and the second 2.99mb. both at 180dpi. The first I can zoom in to 100 no prob, the second is very pixilated at 50, I'm going to try again with jpeg and raw and check the raw files, any other suggestions please? Martin

[@ImageMaven]

Thanks for clarifying. I would look into your pdf full version camera owners manual for the burst settings of your camera, and read the fine print. You never said which camera you were using. I have a feeling that the burst setting you're using is defaulting to a lower quality - perhaps due to the HS mode. Or perhaps there is another setting that makes the burst mode use the lower quality.

[@martinsmith4047]

@@ImageMaven thanks Marlene, I'll read the book. Camera is g9

[@TheMattchooo]

awesome video marlene, subbed :)

[@pvannuys]

Thanks Marlene for this very helpfull video 🌝💥👌

[@ImageMaven]

Glad it was helpful, Paul! Thanks for watching.

[@howardchud9097]

Can I use this method for surfers? Or should I treat them as large birds?

[@ImageMaven]

Ooh yes! I think Pre-burst (in either 4K/6K or SH1 Pre) should work great for surfers because the action is super fast, and you never know their next carve so you won't miss a shot. Let me know how it goes!

[@timyaralli4065]

The 6k/4k is pretty straight forward but how do you extract from SH1 Pre Burst? Is this only possible once you've moved the files to computer?

[@ImageMaven]

If it works like the G9 and my other Lumix cameras, you can extract frames from the resulting MP4 file right in the camera. Works similarly with HS burst. Your camera manual has instructions. But I also made a video about it. I’ll go fetch it….

[@timyaralli4065]

@@ImageMaven Thank you

[@ImageMaven]

Hi again Tim! So I looked at the video I made (5 years ago) and also just did some tests and the quickest way to get a frame from the SH burst modes is to export via wifi to your phone or computer. Otherwise, yes, you need to go through each image. But luckily if you use LR there's key commands to speed up the process. So the moral of the story... Use the SH burst modes sparingly! Here's the video. If you watch around 5:50 it shows you how to do that: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hmiwepprqax2q9k

[@timyaralli4065]

@@ImageMaven Again,thank you so much.

[@viharsheth9132]

I might have missed it but did you use back button focus?

[@ImageMaven]

Hi Vihar, I did some BBF and some Shutter Button focus. I preferred the shutter button focus for the small birds that move quickly. For some reason my reaction time was faster. And I kept the shutter button half-pressed while I was waiting for the action to commence, keeping my eye on the green square around the bird. Thanks for your question!

[@PtakiKujawiaki]

Is shooting on Lumix g80/85 much harder ?

[@ImageMaven]

Not sure as I’ve never used that camera. But much depends on focus settings and the light on your subject.