This article features a small collection of Olympus OM-D E-M1X Hand-held Hi Res images captured at Bird Kingdom. Unfortunately there were not as many birds as usual in the public areas during my visit today. This reduced the number of photographic opportunities that were available.

NOTE: Click on images to enlarge.

If you have been reading any of the online reviews on the Olympus OM-D E-M1X you may have noticed the occasional comment that the hand-held Hi Res Shot Mode is not that practical.

Some reviewers have made the statement that this capability has limited scope and is designed mainly for landscape. A few hinted that it was ‘gimmicky’.

I couldn’t disagree more. After creating a few sample images I discovered that this function is fairly easy to use. It also can be applied to a wide variety of subject matter. These include flowers, portraits, birds and other animals, and for a whole host of static subjects.

For photographers looking for ways to add flexibility to their kit and provide more services to their clients, this feature is a bit of a game changer. These hand-held Hi Res images at Bird Kingdom were a ton of fun to create, while also providing some challenge. A great combination for any photographer!

When using the Olympus Hand-held Hi Res Shot mode it is important to choose subjects that are reasonably stationary. Most birds do not sit motionless for any length of time. Success with birds really depends on timing your shutter release during the split second that the subject is motionless.

The Olympus OM-D E-M1X captures sixteen images in rapid succession when the Hand-held Hi Res Shot Mode is used. The IBIS system adjusts between each of those images to allow for the hand movements of an individual photographer.

Needless to say there is a lot that can go wrong if you are not disciplined with your technique. If the camera is unable to combine the images properly, it will display an error message and discard all but the first image of the run.

The Olympus Hand-held Hi Res Shot Mode produces a 50 MP file (8160 x 6120) in both jpeg and RAW. All of the images in this article are straight out of camera jpegs. At this point I am unable to process RAW files with the software that I use. Hopefully DxO PhotoLab will have a camera module for the OM-D E-M1X in the very near future.

There is no doubt in my mind that there is a lot more that can be done with photographs captured using the Hand-held Hi Res Shot Mode, when using RAW files.

Today was only my second opportunity to use the Olympus OM-D E-M1X and I have a huge amount to learn about how to use its various capabilities properly. The Olympus Hand-held Hi Res Shot Mode is something that I can see using on a regular basis. It will take more experimentation to get the most from this feature.

Technical Note:

All photographs in this article were captured using camera gear as noted in the EXIF data. All images were produced using the Olympus Hand-held Hi Res Shot Mode. All photographs displayed in this article are straight-out-of-camera jpegs. They were resized to 1200 pixels for web use. 100% crops of each image are included.

Use of Olympus Loaner Equipment

All of the photographs in this article were captured using Olympus Loaner Gear which was supplied by Olympus Americas Inc. on a no-charge basis. We are under no obligation what-so-ever to Olympus Americas Inc. in terms of our use of this loaner Olympus camera equipment. There is no expectation or agreement of any kind with Olympus Americas Inc. that we will create and share with readers any images, articles or videos, or on what that content may be.

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