OM-1 | Osprey | Olympus 300mm F4 Pro and MC-14. Can it deliver?

[@giannimoisson4000]

Congratulations, what you have to remember is the beauty of your story, because behind these photos there is a family life and a very small space of time for photography and you managed to have these magnificent photos.

[@RichardCookphotography]

Thanks so much. What a kind and beautiful comment. I really appreciate this. Thank you👍👍😀😀

[@jameswong3105]

This 300mmf4pro is a gem in the m43 system. It is sharp, fast af and the min focus distance is great for large insect / butterflies. The combined IS stops on Lens and OM-1 is insane! Great wildlife lens.

[@RichardCookphotography]

Yes it is. Thanks for the comment🙏👍😀

[@BrentODell]

Access to interesting subjects is SUCH a huge advantage, well said. I am often frustrated when people fawn over a fairly basic photo of an eagle, a beautiful person, or an expensive car while paying no attention to really well done shots of less 'amazing' subjects.

[@RichardCookphotography]

@@BrentODell Thanks Brent and yes you are right...I often try to focus on the more common species and try to figure out how I can get the best possible shots. And you are right about people loving shots of eagles etc while miss maybe more worthy shots. 🙏👍

[@RichardCookphotography]

Sorry I know the thumbnail is a bit much but thought I would try a bit of a click bait type thumbnail as most people seem to! Anyway hope you like the video...sorry for my manic nature at the beginning, just really happy to see an Osprey!😀😀😀

[@UrbaneHobbit]

Richard! You’ve had another successful outing and with new gear to boot! Coincidentally my old 75-300 broke last week, so I took out my old 50-200 SWD and 1.4 teleconverter out to the harbor here in Yokohama, and within fifteen minutes captured a juvenile cormorant catching an enormous fish. I was laughing out loud at my luck. Thanks again for being the only wildlife KZbinr combining all the know-how with all the enthusiasm!

[@RichardCookphotography]

Thanks so much for the kind comments and 👍👍 about the Cormorant. I never seem to get them with a fish.😀🙏👍

[@UrbaneHobbit]

@@RichardCookphotography I forgot to mention that it was the same one I’d noticed fishing at the same place and time, on two days prior! So a bit of tradecraft involved there, too 👍

[@RichardCookphotography]

​@@UrbaneHobbit Well done. Fieldcraft and local knowledge go along way to getting great shots! 👍👍

[@davidguy6823]

I am a real fan of the teleconverter. I’ve had it for some time but only started to use it recently. Now it rarely comes off the camera so I share your enthusiasm for a great addition to the camera bag!

[@RichardCookphotography]

Yes it's a fab addition to the bag. So small and light but sharp and you don't have to stop it down. 👍🙏😀

[@chrismc2090]

Another cracking video Richard and some great Osprey shots. 👍

[@RichardCookphotography]

Thanks Chris. Appreciate it👍😀🙏

[@susieboard3230]

Hi Richard, I was excited to see you had put a video out early... I've never seen an Osprey so it was exciting to watch your sequenced shots....your photos are brilliant, as always....

[@RichardCookphotography]

Thanks so much Susie. Ospreys are probably my favourite bird. Amazing animals. Thanks as always for your support. Take care🙏👍😀

[@janvangastel6763]

Congratulations Richard. I fully understand your excitement.

[@RichardCookphotography]

Thanks Jan🙏👍

[@PaulAmyes]

With wildlife photography you have to take what you’re given and be thankful for it. Amazing you got what you did.

[@RichardCookphotography]

Thanks Paul. I totally agree😀🙏👍

[@narinthip3058]

I hear your Richard both about MC14 quality as well chances. You did fantastic with just few seconds you got. I am in the same boat. There are Ospreys migrate to the lakes during spring and fall but I consider myself super lucky if I get one or two dives opportunities in one sitting. Usually I could wait for hours then the bird might fish elsewhere. The lakes around my area are quite large so I couldn't really follow the birds. Anyhow, yes I recently just went to Sebastian Inlet in FL about a week ago. Unfortunately, the first time there weren't many Ospreys and they didn't dive. The second time, I was on my way back to the airport and had about 30mins. Weather was fairly bad but there were about 6-7 Ospreys and in the matter of that half an hour, there were at least 10 dives! Some were close some were far away. My focus of that trip was at the Blue Cypress lake not for the dive. If you happen to come to the US, you should visit this place as well as the Blue Cypress lake around Mid May. The Blue Cypress Lake is where you get really up close to the nest and there should be lots of babies during that time. If you only focus on the dive then the early winter and fall would the perfect time at Sebastian Inlet in FL. Anyhow good luck with the Osprey. I hope it shows again for you. Look forward for more good footage from you. Cheers.

[@RichardCookphotography]

Thanks so much. Would love to photograph Ospreys one day in the U.S. Fingers crossed👍🙏😀

[@smkunder1]

I keep trying to justify the money on that 300 F4 Pro, you sure make it look good. Well done!

[@RichardCookphotography]

Thanks Steve. Is definitely a good lens for sure 👍😀🙏

[@chickadeecentral]

Once again a fantastic video where you get immaculate photographs with an Olympus while using a teleconverter. Well done!

[@RichardCookphotography]

Thanks very much. 👍😀🙏

[@Chrispitchwildlife]

great photos! I would have been that much excited too. 😀

[@RichardCookphotography]

Thanks Chris. Appreciate it🙏

[@Owen-gc8yc]

great video expressing what we all go through,....many of us dream of such a shot and put ourselves in the right location but get nothing .Its great to see it pay off!!!

[@RichardCookphotography]

Thanks Owen. Appreciate it😀👍🙏

[@paul--b]

Have all the same gear, just need the skills and opportunity now. I dream of getting shots as nice as these!

[@RichardCookphotography]

Keep practicing and the skills will come. I'm not sure where you are based but photographing Ospreys is probably my favourite thing to do 🙏👍 They tend to be quite widespread. I definitely feel lucky I get to see them at all!

[@paul--b]

@@RichardCookphotography I’m in NZ. I don’t think there are any here. I do visit Japan fairly often though, so will try to see if I can get near some on my next visit.

[@rreichar1]

Great video! I would be just as excited. I have seen one Osprey this year and it left without diving. I have both Olympus TCs and they both work great with the 300mm. I use the 2X more than I ever expected but I do use the 1.4X probably 85% of the time. If there is a loss of IQ I haven’t noticed it. For tiny birds the 2X is very useful at an equivalent 1200mm. It requires decent light at F8. Depending on the size of the birds I am looking for I will sometimes with the 2X and as the light fades in the evening, when I do most of my birding, I will switch to the 1.4 and a few minutes later the bare lens. I don’t love changing the converters in the field so often will compromise by using the 1.4 on all the time. I would love to have the 150-400 at some point with it’s built-in TC.

[@RichardCookphotography]

Thank you Rod. Yes the 150-400 would be lovely. Looking forward to using the teleconverter more😀🙏👍

[@eljayr4669]

I have seen that Osprey guy and his shots are amazing. Considering how unprepared you were your shots did come out well. Once you are up and ready with your next subject It will be interesting to hear your verdict on the 1.4. Nature is very unpredictable so it was a good day for you. I am in Italy at the moment and it is cold and windy, most unusual but I am still getting shots. Looking forward to the next one.

[@RichardCookphotography]

Thanks Eljay. Lucky you, would love to go to Italy again. Where abouts are you?

[@eljayr4669]

@@RichardCookphotography In the mountains of Northern Italy. I am staying on my nieces farm near Bologna, it is like a wildlife reserve.

[@RichardCookphotography]

@@eljayr4669 That sounds AMAZING! On the way to the airport, will be there tomorrow morning😀😀👍👍

[@AguilaDeOnix85]

I'm really happy you were able to get that (possibly) last osprey encounter for the season. They're just coming back around in my area as of earlier this month. I'm waiting to get a really clean one of it right before it crashes into the water. My absolute favorite diving shot was one I had with the 75-300. I definitely want to save for a 300 f4 or Panasonic 200 2.8 (the birds come super close in my neighborhood). That, or I'll get the 1.4 teleconverter back. Anyways, I love exciting moments like that!

[@RichardCookphotography]

Thanks Blaine. Yes those really unexpected, exciting moments don't come around that often and it's the expectation that today might be the day, that keeps us going out and tolerating those really slow days.👍🙏😀

[@michaelbertelsen7994]

Awsome shots congrats 🎉👍

[@RichardCookphotography]

Thank you Michael. Appreciate it🙏

[@2ShoesPhoto]

I tried the new 150-600mm lens from OM this week, and it was so big, heavy, and slow, that I struggled to get good shots of a Peregrine Falcon in a tree out behind my home, and even missed out on any shots of it taking off because of these reasons. I just returned it and ordered the 300mm and an MC14 for bird shots. I also have the MC20 that I use often on my 40-150mm f2.8 Pro.

[@RichardCookphotography]

Can't comment on the 150-600 but I'm sure you will be happy with the 300mm. Cracking lens and with the extender making a great combo🙏👍

[@alandearson1270]

I have the same set up and my MC-14 never comes off the lens,its great for stills and video.

[@RichardCookphotography]

Yes I agree. It's a great combo. 😀👍🙏

[@Swaggerlot]

Did some testing today with the MC-14 on a 100-400 lens. Target was some text, with the converter it was definitely slightly softer than without it. Not massively different, but the text edges were perceptibly softer. My MC-14 was pre-used, but I don't see any mechanical or other issues with it.

[@RichardCookphotography]

Yes there will definitely be some degradation in image quality. How much there is, is what differentiates a good teleconverter from a regular one. 🙏👍😀

[@jeffslade1892]

Excellent and what a turn up. Wildlife rarely obliges with having the light in the right direction, which is dashed unsporting. Which is why I like to change the metering mode on the fly and have the compensation dial under my thumb. You can probably use that lens wide open because (a) it's a jolly good lens and (b) f/5.6 will give you just about enough DoF to get the whole bird in acceptable focus. We may well find that a mighty f/2.8 lens does not have enough DoF for this job. These top lenses are sharp in the centre when wide open but you may notice a little softness in the corners, that can be for the good as it helps the viewer concentrate on the subject. The PL100-400 will do this too albeit at f/6.3 on the G9 but burst speed for continuous focus is only 20fps unless we hop into the video modes at 60fps (still with raw). A little trick there is to drop resolution to 3:2, crop becomes 2.1 and the 400mm becomes 840mm equivalent. Well done.

[@RichardCookphotography]

Thanks Jeff for the kind words. Never knew about the crop adding range, very interesting. 🙏😀👍

[@eelco6587]

Congrats these are exceptional photo's! Ospreys are on my list too. Currently too many interessting birds are seen. Hard to decide which bird to choose. If you ever can get your hands on it, I'm sure the 150-400 would suit you well too!

[@RichardCookphotography]

Thank you and would love to try that 150-400 for sure someday👍🙏😀

[@thailandwild4897]

Very nice stuff Richard... well done. I have thought about doing some behind-the-scenes stuff for my videos. In fact, I have shot a lot of 'to camera' footage but haven't turned my hand to editing them into a story yet. It is sometimes possible to get osprey at Kaeng Krachan reservoir by the way.

[@RichardCookphotography]

You should definitely try .it is definitely a bit of a mental hurdle at first putting yourself out there for everyone to see but once you get the first couple out of the way, any anxiety or self consciousness goes away😀😀

[@tonigenes5816]

Cool ! Good to hear MC-14 works good for BIF. I only have MC-20. But it slows down the focus speed and it's hard to keep the bird in the frame. Ussually the birds of prey don't come to close, so MC-20 makes sense. I still got some nice BIFs with MC-20 even it is slow.

[@gregm6894]

Nice video, Richard -- excellent Osprey shots. I have a suggestion you might want to try, if you haven't already. Ditch the teleconverters and use the DTC (Digital Teleconverter). You get a 2X crop, resized to a full res file, and you don't lose any lens speed -- your 300mm essentially becomes a 1200mm f/4 equivalent lens. I think you will be surprised at the quality Jpegs it will produce -- you can shoot RAW + Jpeg and it will save the uncropped RAW file, if you wish. I have used the DTC for years with great, printable results. Professional wildlife photographer, Andy Rouse, recently posted a video about using the DTC -- he's pretty pumped about it.

[@RichardCookphotography]

Hi Greg. Thanks for the suggestion. I half finished a video a while ago about the digital teleconverter and wasnt over keen on how some of the images looked. I may have had the settings wrong. I will definitely try using it some more. My concern with flight shots is that there is some computational stuff going on and not sure how that would work with a moving bird. I will endeavour to try. Take care😀🙏👍

[@braddersclash]

I think Andy Rouse advised only using DTC for perched birds not bif, I tried the mc 2.0 with the 40-150 2.8 but found I couldn’t hand hold and get sharp shots, the lack of stabilisation on the lens didn’t help. The 300 is a great lens, I regret swapping mine for the 40-150. I thought 2.8 would help in low light in the UK but just haven’t got enough reach with it. I love your enthusiasm, Richard, you come across just like most of the guys I come across using Olympus gear. You tubing isn5 easy but I’m always impressed with your honesty and you do get great shots, keep shooting and posting, it’s appreciated.

[@HokKan]

Great photos

[@RichardCookphotography]

Thank you🙏😀👍

[@gotto510]

I also bought an OM-1 camera. I want the Olympus 300mm F4 IS Pro lens. Your video was very interesting. thank you. from Japan

[@RichardCookphotography]

どうもありがとうございました。 日本のどこにいますか？

[@davidlawrence7540]

I have the same set up, plus the mc20. I’ve been experimenting lately with the in built digital converter. You can only shoot jpeg which is annoying, but you get 1200mm with the 300mm at f4! If you shot raw plus jpeg you get the raw file as well at 600mm! So you have nothing to lose using it. Set the jpegs to sf and tinker with the sharpest coming out of camera etc, and you can end up with a very good 1200mm image. Anyway interesting video, just subscribed.

[@RichardCookphotography]

Thanks David. I did start filming a video and used the digital teleconverter in it, haven't edited it yet though. Take care👍😀🙏

[@gregm6894]

I use the DTC regularly and get excellent results. I've had people post disparaging comments about that in the past, but recently Andy Rouse did a video on using the DTC for his wildlife photography -- he was pretty enthusiastic about it. I have mine programmed to my 'Video' button on my E-M1X, so I can quickly toggle it on or off. The beauty of the DTC is that you do not lose light, and it crops to the center of the frame, which is the sharpest part of any lens.

[@craiginthemud7086]

Amazing shots Richard. I'm often finding myself at 800mm equivalent and sometimes feel like I need more reach or better light. I'm so tempted to trade my pl 100-400mm in towards the 300f4 and 1.4 Teleconverter. I'm lucky to have the pl 200mm f2.8 and another thought could be to get the panasonic 2x Teleconverter for it. Any thoughts? Thanks for another great video.

[@RichardCookphotography]

Thanks Craig. The Panasonic 200mm does look like a great lens but with birds we always want more reach plus if paired with the OM1 the Panasonic won't be able to do some of the things that the Olympus lens can do. Take care👍🙏😀

[@stehlealexander]

Good choice 🫶🏻✌🏻☺️🇨🇭

[@RichardCookphotography]

Thanks so much. Have a cracking day💪👍🙏😀🇯🇵🇬🇧

[@richardfink7666]

Hello, your photos are great. `m tempted to say that the OM1 is almost on par with a Sony A1 or a Nikon Z9, and that for 2000 euros.

[@RichardCookphotography]

Thanks so much Richard. It definitely is a good deal when compared with the competition.🙏👍😀

[@paul--b]

I doubt you are losing any noticeable sharpness with the TC, just some light, and DxO makes that a non-issue. The only time to avoid the TC would be low light situations I guess where you need the speed for auto focus performance and for the ISO to not be crazy high.

[@RichardCookphotography]

I think you do lose a little sharpness but not much at all. DXO does help but nothing beats a nice sharp image to start with. 🙏👍

[@robertvanempel5810]

The MC-20 is great too, but I would not recommend it for BIF.

[@RichardCookphotography]

Yes I have read alot about it. I am more interested in using it for close up stuff like butterflies and dragonflies. Thank you🙏👍😀

[@vermis8344]

"Sorry about the overexcitement like a child who's had too much sugar!" If an osprey dived in front of me, in a _local park,_ it'd probably be 10-15 minutes before I could say anything other than 'Oooh!' and 'Aaaah!' into the camera. Anyways, I think this has hardened my resolve to get a 1.4 TC for my own 300mm... and maybe an OM-1 for it too. Job's a good 'un.

[@RichardCookphotography]

Yes it was exciting. Christmas is only a few months away... why not get in early and buy them both now.. Save Santa a trip 😀😀

[@tim1398]

Guy in Florida is probably Mark Smith - he is in prime Osprey territory and has top end gear as well, but he is also fantastically talented and puts in the hours. Hope you don't mind my sharing his channel: www.youtube.com/@MarkSmithphotography

[@RichardCookphotography]

No problem. Oh yes he definitely knows what he's doing. Bird photography paradise to have that many Osprey diving all around you.🙏👍😀

[@formermpc10]

Yes, the 300mm does good work for m43. The EM1.2 is still the best m43 camera out there but, alas, it's m43 so ... I got similar Osprey shots with my Canon S2IS These birds are fun to watch.

[@theflyingdutchman7127]

Hi how are your photos not good?, they are indeed not good, they are great.👍😇🙏

[@RichardCookphotography]

Thanks so much. Have a great weekend!!!🙏🙏

[@tgnelson7534]

Sorry, at the start the flashing back and forth background upset my stomach too much.

[@RichardCookphotography]

I apologize about that. I do have difficulty standing still when I talk.👍

[@HokKan]

I sold my Panasonic 100-400 after I got the 300mm Pro. Much sharper lens.

[@RichardCookphotography]

I was always happy with my PL but yes it is a sharper lens 👍😀🙏

[@HokKan]

@@RichardCookphotography I wasn't very happy with mine, but I am extremely pleased with the 300/4. One day, I'll get the 150-400.

[@RichardCookphotography]

@@HokKan Sounds like a plan 👍👍

[@ThomasReed-c1w]

Congratulations, you got some great shots. 40. The 40 to 150 F2 .8 the 300 F4 two great lenses I’ve got them both outstanding lenses did purchase the 150 to 400 F .5. Very disappointed with this lens soft images if it’s wide open at 400 mm your wasting the image quality will be so so poor. I’m just warning think twice before you buy this lens, don’t listen to the hype listen to independent reviews.

[@RichardCookphotography]

Thanks very much. Yes I hadn’t considered buying the 150-400, I’m fine with the 300mm. Thank you again👍🙏