Casual birding with the EM-1 + Canon EF 400/5.6

[Tordan58]

I got my hands on a Canon EF 400/5.6 and Metabones Smart Adapter and put this setup to the test with my E-M1 yesterday afternoon.

With the exception of the Grey Heron they were taken in quite lousy light conditions, calling for ISO 1600 and with shutter times 1/125s with wind causing issues. Some motion blur is visible on the Redpoll, but the focus is correct. I think the results are quite promising for this hand-held 400mm setup.



Thanks for looking
Tord

[Olybirder]

Re: Casual birding with the EM-1 + Canon EF 400/5.6

I have been following your discussion on BF, so I am interested to see these Tord. They look very good and I especially like the Tree Sparrow. Have you bought the lens or just borrowed it?

Ron

[Kiwi Paul]

Re: Casual birding with the EM-1 + Canon EF 400/5.6

Very good shots indeed, especially with a 400mm lens handheld.

Paul

[Wee man]

Re: Casual birding with the EM-1 + Canon EF 400/5.6

Very interesting, so is that a 400 straight or 800 when used on the Olympus sensor?

[Tordan58]

Re: Casual birding with the EM-1 + Canon EF 400/5.6

The adapter does not modify the focal length. So 400 to be entered in the ibis settings.

[Imageryone]

Re: Casual birding with the EM-1 + Canon EF 400/5.6

Delightful images, Tord, seems a good working set up.

[Tordan58]

Re: Casual birding with the EM-1 + Canon EF 400/5.6

I have been following your discussion on BF, so I am interested to see these Tord. They look very good and I especially like the Tree Sparrow. Have you bought the lens or just borrowed it?

Ron

Try before buy.

[brian1208]

Re: Casual birding with the EM-1 + Canon EF 400/5.6

thanks for posting these Tord, I have been mulling this option as I used to rnjoy using my 400L back in my canon days and it could prove cheaper than the 300 f4 when it finally arrives.

Is this the MF version or does it provide AF-S as well?

[IanB]

Re: Casual birding with the EM-1 + Canon EF 400/5.6

Very interesting, so is that a 400 straight or 800 when used on the Olympus sensor?

I would expect 800mm equivalent in FF terms

very interesting, TFS. Something I have not thought about considering I do have very good 70-200 f4 Canon. [= 140-400 on the em1 ]

[OM USer]

Re: Casual birding with the EM-1 + Canon EF 400/5.6

Excellent results for handheld snaps. Well done Tord.

[Tordan58]

Re: Casual birding with the EM-1 + Canon EF 400/5.6

thanks for posting these Tord, I have been mulling this option as I used to rnjoy using my 400L back in my canon days and it could prove cheaper than the 300 f4 when it finally arrives.

Is this the MF version or does it provide AF-S as well?

This is the AF-S version. You need to update the adapter FW to version 1.82

[brian1208]

Re: Casual birding with the EM-1 + Canon EF 400/5.6

thanks Tord, have you tried it for flight subjects yet?

[David Morison]

Re: Casual birding with the EM-1 + Canon EF 400/5.6

Excellent detail Tord. The 400 f5.6 is still my favourite lens and I achieved some amazing shots with the E-M1 and MF. This lens was originally designed in 1993 I believe and was never expensive, Olympus could have produced a lens of this quality and reach years ago so why is everyone still having to wait for the 300 f4?

David

[Tordan58]

Re: Casual birding with the EM-1 + Canon EF 400/5.6

thanks Tord, have you tried it for flight subjects yet?

Not yet. The CAF is slow to respond but SAF might work on slow moving subjects.

[Tordan58]

Re: Casual birding with the EM-1 + Canon EF 400/5.6

Here is one more sample. The result is quite remarkable considering the crappy light conditions (heavy overcast, just started to rain) and the amount of twigs in the way. I was surprised the AF managed to resolve it.

Apologies for the less than perfect framing and composition. This is meant to demonstrate the AF accuracy and other qualities of this setup.

ISO 1600
Canon 400/5.6 + Metabones
1/100s handheld
IBIS 1 (did a quite good job I must say)
AF-S, single small point, lock on eye. No MF fine tuning involved.