Interesting. I own both the OM1 and the Z8 and use both, often interchangeably, to shoot birds and wildlife. The OM1 pairs with my 150-400 4.5 TC lens and the Z8 with my 500mm 5.6 pf (using the FTZ adapter) - or, sometimes, my 70-200mm 2.8 with the TC1.4 or TC2.0, extender. Soon getting the 600mm 6.3 pf as well - yeah, I have a problem. In my opinion, the Olympus kit outguns the Nikon for frame rate (up to 50fps) , pro-capture (raw vs jpg) and AF - although with Nikon finally improving AF with the Z8/9 models it’s pretty close. Nikon wins pretty easily in image quality, DOF and bokeh and ability to crop and enhance in post - however, people who snub the M43 quality are, frankly, ignorant. Interestingly, paired with the 150-400, my Oly kit is slightly heavier because the 500 pf is so light. But both are easily handheld for long periods - I almost never use a tripod and only occasionally a mono. In the end, I find optimizing the “weaknesses” in either kit comes down to my own experience and ability. Good photographers as always will get great results with either one.
I also shoot two different systems, though in my case aps-c and ff. Agreed that there is much overlap, and results in a specific situation are significantly influenced, perhaps even dominated by the photographer. Having said that, so far very happy with the ability to choose for a given shoot, find that more than offsets the hassles of learning / operating multiple systems well.
I think the 2 systems are great. I use the OM-1 with the 40-150mm f2.8 pro for sport and the size and weight as well as the performance is outstanding. I will give Nikon a go in future i think. I was a Nikon shooter until 2018 when i switched to M4/3.
I started with the OMD-1 years ago. I liked the lightweight and size vs the DSLR of the day I still am not sold on OM systems as a company. The OM-1 ll was not much of an upgrade. From my existing OM-1. I suspect at some point I will switch to Sony and probably pick up a Panasonic body for m 4/3 as I am getting into video more and more and have a nice collection of lenses.
I didn't see many images, but what I did see is that the Nikon took better images. but the differences are not huge, but the Nikon images are clearly better. the Om system images are very acceptable. If Omsystems succeeds in improving the sensor, they will have gold in their hands. Both the OM system lenses and camera are of top quality and can compete with the biggest camera brands on earth.
Fun, albeit not exactly rigorous comparison - thanks for taking the time to create. Always about tradeoffs, right? Most of the carry weight seems to come from the lens anyway, so ... at this point I've gone with two systems: Nikon (z8, z9) where I want max capability and not so concerned about size/weight, and fuji (x-s20 atm) when I want lighter, or to be less obvious in use. Have doubts about 4/3, so settled on aps-c for the `small` role. Really happy with the ability to mix and match for a specific shoot. Such a great time to be a photographer!
I'm with you on the less-than-rigourous comparison. It was basically too cold. There was a plan to do locked-off comparison shots at the various focal lengths, and also matching the framing to compare detail and DoF between the systems. But we nearly died of cold instead. Next time for sure. 😂 Nikon Z plus Fuji X-mount sounds like a nice mix. I had one of the X-100 compacts for a while, which was a lot of fun. Were you not tempted to try one of the Z mount DX bodies? It will be more worth it when there's a 'Z 80' I'd imagine?
Awesome video and great comparison. I own the OM 5 and the Nikon Z6ii. I just got the OM 5 and am looking forward to going out and shooting with it. I know for me, I don't mind the weight of the Nikon, but what attracted me to the OM 5 was the night features and the stabilization features. I also do a little bit of light painting and I am interested in checking out the "live view" while I do my pictures. Thanks again for making these videos and look forward to more on the OM 5
Due to age and a dodgy ticker I moved from Nikon FF to Olympus around 4 years ago, I now use a OM1 ,300f4 and a 1.4 tc ,it’s virtually on camera full time.. would I go back to FF not a chance.I now get the shots I always wanted repeatedly and they have the look that gets comments. With over 11 million views on Flickr I must be doing something right 😅
Adding to this - and something we didn't mention in the video - if all you’re doing is publishing photos to Instagram or UA-cam, resolution doesn’t matter as much. Ie, if I cropped those 400mm full-frame shots into 1080x files they’d look like they were shot through a telescope.
Went from D750 + Sigma Sport 150-600 to Oly because of heart surgery / medication and the need for better AV. Now at OM1 + 150-400TC. My shaking isn’t quite as bad as it was but the Oly is great for handholding at 1000mm FF equivalent (the Nikon Sigma Combo required a good tripod for me). A friend has the Z8 and I love it BUT now in my mid 70s there is no way I could handhold an equivalent lens.
I haven't used the OM Systems but I'm incredibly happy with my Z9 and Z8. Definitely I could have saved money with an affordable system but Nikon is great value for money and their quality is second to none in the elements.
I have been using m4/3 system for about 6 months now and so love the smaller size. But at the end of the day full frame still wins out in overal image quality. Not slickly due to the bigger sensor but more the bigger pixels. I wish the manufacturers would stop the silly megapixel race. It’s ridiculous at this point. I use the lumix G9II and with 25mp on a sensor that is literally 4x smaller than a full frame system. The images are not at the same level of my Sonys or nikons with the same 24mp on full frame. Size of those pixels makes a bigger difference than the number of them. I wish I could get a 12mp m4/3 sensor with more dynamic range. But I know that will never happen due to the marketing hype of having to keep up with the jones when it comes to megapixels. But for what I use my m4/3 system for most video it is good enough for now. Plus the G9II has features that only the flagship 6k Nikons and Sonys are just barely getting around to putting on them. Pre burst shooting is a game changer for shooting birds and other fast moving skittish creatures. Shots I would miss due to not having the reaction time required is a thing of the past with pre burst
funny video. while the Z setup is far better when it comes to image quality you are the better photographer. your images are way better than those of kinglsley. kit doesn't matter if you can't make use of it
Interesting. I own both the OM1 and the Z8 and use both, often interchangeably, to shoot birds and wildlife. The OM1 pairs with my 150-400 4.5 TC lens and the Z8 with my 500mm 5.6 pf (using the FTZ adapter) - or, sometimes, my 70-200mm 2.8 with the TC1.4 or TC2.0, extender. Soon getting the 600mm 6.3 pf as well - yeah, I have a problem.
In my opinion, the Olympus kit outguns the Nikon for frame rate (up to 50fps) , pro-capture (raw vs jpg) and AF - although with Nikon finally improving AF with the Z8/9 models it’s pretty close. Nikon wins pretty easily in image quality, DOF and bokeh and ability to crop and enhance in post - however, people who snub the M43 quality are, frankly, ignorant. Interestingly, paired with the 150-400, my Oly kit is slightly heavier because the 500 pf is so light. But both are easily handheld for long periods - I almost never use a tripod and only occasionally a mono.
In the end, I find optimizing the “weaknesses” in either kit comes down to my own experience and ability. Good photographers as always will get great results with either one.
Thanks for the comment and wise words indeed. I'm looking forward to seeing what OM System serve up next!
I also shoot two different systems, though in my case aps-c and ff. Agreed that there is much overlap, and results in a specific situation are significantly influenced, perhaps even dominated by the photographer. Having said that, so far very happy with the ability to choose for a given shoot, find that more than offsets the hassles of learning / operating multiple systems well.
I think the 2 systems are great. I use the OM-1 with the 40-150mm f2.8 pro for sport and the size and weight as well as the performance is outstanding. I will give Nikon a go in future i think. I was a Nikon shooter until 2018 when i switched to M4/3.
I started with the OMD-1 years ago. I liked the lightweight and size vs the DSLR of the day
I still am not sold on OM systems as a company. The OM-1 ll was not much of an upgrade. From my existing OM-1. I suspect at some point I will switch to Sony and probably pick up a Panasonic body for m 4/3 as I am getting into video more and more and have a nice collection of lenses.
I didn't see many images, but what I did see is that the Nikon took better images. but the differences are not huge, but the Nikon images are clearly better. the Om system images are very acceptable. If Omsystems succeeds in improving the sensor, they will have gold in their hands. Both the OM system lenses and camera are of top quality and can compete with the biggest camera brands on earth.
Fun, albeit not exactly rigorous comparison - thanks for taking the time to create.
Always about tradeoffs, right? Most of the carry weight seems to come from the lens anyway, so ... at this point I've gone with two systems: Nikon (z8, z9) where I want max capability and not so concerned about size/weight, and fuji (x-s20 atm) when I want lighter, or to be less obvious in use. Have doubts about 4/3, so settled on aps-c for the `small` role.
Really happy with the ability to mix and match for a specific shoot. Such a great time to be a photographer!
I'm with you on the less-than-rigourous comparison. It was basically too cold. There was a plan to do locked-off comparison shots at the various focal lengths, and also matching the framing to compare detail and DoF between the systems. But we nearly died of cold instead. Next time for sure. 😂
Nikon Z plus Fuji X-mount sounds like a nice mix. I had one of the X-100 compacts for a while, which was a lot of fun.
Were you not tempted to try one of the Z mount DX bodies? It will be more worth it when there's a 'Z 80' I'd imagine?
Awesome video and great comparison. I own the OM 5 and the Nikon Z6ii. I just got the OM 5 and am looking forward to going out and shooting with it. I know for me, I don't mind the weight of the Nikon, but what attracted me to the OM 5 was the night features and the stabilization features. I also do a little bit of light painting and I am interested in checking out the "live view" while I do my pictures. Thanks again for making these videos and look forward to more on the OM 5
Thanks for the kind words. I did a video on the OM5 recently - great camera and very underrated.
Due to age and a dodgy ticker I moved from Nikon FF to Olympus around 4 years ago, I now use a OM1 ,300f4 and a 1.4 tc ,it’s virtually on camera full time.. would I go back to FF not a chance.I now get the shots I always wanted repeatedly and they have the look that gets comments. With over 11 million views on Flickr I must be doing something right 😅
All the video shots were very good… which camera was doing that?!!
Adding to this - and something we didn't mention in the video - if all you’re doing is publishing photos to Instagram or UA-cam, resolution doesn’t matter as much. Ie, if I cropped those 400mm full-frame shots into 1080x files they’d look like they were shot through a telescope.
I’m on the fence about the 100-400 Oly. I’m debating leaving MFT for Nikon but I feel like I should try a faster telephoto first
Went from D750 + Sigma Sport 150-600 to Oly because of heart surgery / medication and the need for better AV. Now at OM1 + 150-400TC. My shaking isn’t quite as bad as it was but the Oly is great for handholding at 1000mm FF equivalent (the Nikon Sigma Combo required a good tripod for me). A friend has the Z8 and I love it BUT now in my mid 70s there is no way I could handhold an equivalent lens.
I haven't used the OM Systems but I'm incredibly happy with my Z9 and Z8. Definitely I could have saved money with an affordable system but Nikon is great value for money and their quality is second to none in the elements.
Thanks for the comment - both systems are incredible and hope you are enjoying the Z9/Z8 combo! :)
I mean OM has an actual IP rating on their equipment, so I guess Nikon is probably second to that.
I have been using m4/3 system for about 6 months now and so love the smaller size. But at the end of the day full frame still wins out in overal image quality. Not slickly due to the bigger sensor but more the bigger pixels. I wish the manufacturers would stop the silly megapixel race. It’s ridiculous at this point. I use the lumix G9II and with 25mp on a sensor that is literally 4x smaller than a full frame system. The images are not at the same level of my Sonys or nikons with the same 24mp on full frame. Size of those pixels makes a bigger difference than the number of them. I wish I could get a 12mp m4/3 sensor with more dynamic range. But I know that will never happen due to the marketing hype of having to keep up with the jones when it comes to megapixels. But for what I use my m4/3 system for most video it is good enough for now. Plus the G9II has features that only the flagship 6k Nikons and Sonys are just barely getting around to putting on them. Pre burst shooting is a game changer for shooting birds and other fast moving skittish creatures. Shots I would miss due to not having the reaction time required is a thing of the past with pre burst
om-1 set up about £3100 nikon set up about £6400.......... should have tested with om-1 and f300mm f4 £4200 would have been fairer
funny video. while the Z setup is far better when it comes to image quality you are the better photographer. your images are way better than those of kinglsley. kit doesn't matter if you can't make use of it
I've used OM-1 and wouldn't recommend it. Nikon or many others would be a better choice.