Head to Head Hockey Shootout - Nikon D500 vs Olympus OMd EM1 mark II

[gryphon1911]

Hey everyone!

February 4, 2017 I attended a photo workshop on sports photography. The payoff was that we got to shoot 2 complete hockey games, one amateur with complete arena access, and one NHL game with us being in a suite at Nationwide Arena. Columbus Blue Jackets versus the New Jersey Devils.

Here is a link to all the detailed stuff and a lot of pictures.

http://bestlightphoto.blogspot.com/2017/02/head-to-head-olympus-em1-mark-ii-versus.html

Bottom line it for you - while the EM1 Mark II and Oly 40-150/2.8 PRO put up a good fight, it was no match for the Nikon D500 and Tamron 70-200/2.8 VC. The Oly has some neat features and did admirably during the amateur game, once the NHL players hit the ice, the Nikon just continued to amaze me in how well it performed. I did not have one OOF shot that was not my fault with the D500. The Olympus struggled in some spots. Not sure if it was the low light or perhaps it was the white ice causing issues. I've noticed in previous outings that Oly has issues with backlit subjects and AF. Wondering if this might be the same issue here.

Anyway. I'll post a few of my favorite images here but the bulk of them will be in the blog post.

First 3 attachments are Nikon D500/tamron 70-200/2.8 VC, last 3 attachments are Olympus OMD EM1 Mark 2 and Olympus 40-150/2.8 PRO

[Akira]

Andrew, all images are exciting.  Each image capture the moving/flying puck, which offers being-there experience to me.  Surprising to see how the stick is bent when it hits the puck (I don't think that it is caused by the jello effect)!  Thanks for sharing!

As for the AF performance of Oly E-M1 MkII, the review of CameraStore TV coincides your findings:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG69QUeOJpE

I would suspect that the flickering of the lighting caused the focus error?

[gryphon1911]

Andrew, all images are exciting.  Each image capture the moving/flying puck, which offers being-there experience to me.  Surprising to see how the stick is bent when it hits the puck (I don't think that it is caused by the jello effect)!  Thanks for sharing!

As for the AF performance of Oly E-M1 MkII, the review of CameraStore TV coincides your findings:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG69QUeOJpE

I would suspect that the flickering of the lighting caused the focus error?

The flickering lights might have, but unsure.  It's still pretty new so lots more experimentation is required.

The newer composites that comprise the latest hockey sticks make them rather resilient and they have a lot of flex.  No jello effect there, just something that usually happens so fast you don't get a chance to see it with the naked eye.