Thought this might be of interest to some (maybe not
), but as I'm doing more and more video (as well as stills), I've been really spoiled by my Nikon Z8 and Z9 for video capabilities and AF tracking performance in Video. It's something I've been struggling with for some time on the OM-1. Sometimes it will grab focus and stay with the subject (say a bird), but more often than not it either can't find the subject and I have to manually override the focus to get it on the subject, or else it will grab focus and then just drift off and never really recover. I have also disliked that to shoot in the much sharper 10 bit modes (H265), you only have a choice of OM-Log 400 or HLG picture controls, and all the photo picture profiles are locked out. If the OM-1 MK II had improved the video considerably then I might have eaten my words and upgraded (or added one) to the collection, but as I understand it it's pretty much the same as the OM-1 MK1.
Now don't get me wrong as an image taking machine the OM-1 is brilliant and easily a match in many ways (albeit not in ISO performance and DOF), for my Z8 and Z9 as a birding camera, and we all know the 300mm F4 Pro for it's size and performance has pretty much no peers. In any case after all this preamble, to the point of my post. I wanted a small and light setup that has much better video capabilities but isn't Z8 / Z9 in size or weight for when I'm travelling or on holiday. I tried a friends new G9 II (as I could then use all my lenses), but something about it and its performance just didn't grab me. Cue the Sony A6700. Now I'm like many of you on here I guess, in that I swore I would never own a Sony product (don't know what made me so prejudice towards them ?), but after recently using my little Sony RX100 VII more and loving the AF tracking capabilities as well as the output from this tiny 1" sensor, I knew I had to give it's big brother a try.
Well I ordered an A6700, 18-135, 10-20 and 15mm F1.4 and it arrived this weekend. Part of me really didn't want to like it and return the whole kit (I feel like I'm cheating on my OM-1), but to be honest it's a really nice camera with some caveats. Whilst it's Sony's flagship APS-C model, it's a shame that it only has 1 card slot, only a 2.36mp viewfinder and a low res 1mp rear screen, but that's about where the negatives end. It feels really nice in the hand with a nice grip, is smaller and lighter than my OM-1 (despite having a bigger APS-C sized sensor), is very responsive and crucially the AF performance in video is stunning. Once it locks on to your chosen subject (and it does really quicky) it just sticks to it like glue. I tested it on my two black Cocker Spaniels running around the garden and not only did it track them perfectly, but actually maintained focus on the eyes. I was able to shoot in 50p (oversampled from a 6k sensor), at 10 bit 4.2.2 colour depth and the results where amazing on my screen. I then found Sony's S-Cinetone picture profile and wow...just wow. No more video grading for me as the resultant video files look pretty much perfect to me straight out of camera. It really is night and day from the OM-1.
So for me, rather than add another half stop of IBIS, or add new AI features (as they have with the MKII), if OM Systems concentrated on completely overhauling the video capabilities of the OM-1 bringing it more into line with what other brands are currently offering or surpasses them, then in my humble opinion this would really make the OM-1 (or whatever a future model is called), the ultimate all round camera, which as it stands (for me at least - and I may be a voice of only 1) is only true of the OM-1 (MK I or MK II) in stills mode at present.
I appreciate not everyone shoots video (I didn't until a few years ago), but I'm now really enjoying the process of making mini Movies etc as it's so different from the photo taking process.