Joined in 2023 
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I would recommend the 60mm for macro up to 1 to 1. Great lens to have in one's armory.. When you seek closer magnification you are into a micro world and there you are out of the realm of any autofocus I am aware of. No I do not pretend to have done this kind of work. At f/4, the 60mm becomes even sharper and does a better job of extracting the fine details in the grain of the wooden bracelet. The 30mm isn’t far behind, however. The foundation of my kit is four essential items: my camera, macro lens, flash, and diffuser. Since 2017, I have been shooting with the OM-D E-M1 Mark II. Besides its beautiful image quality, this camera is really compact, weathersealed, has incredible IS, and produces greater depth of field than traditional DSLRs. I also love how customizable it is. By custom setting the C1 position on my Mode Dial, I have all of my favorite macro functions right where I want them. The Olympus 60mm ƒ/2.8 Macro is a solid little lens which does not add much weight to the camera. The lens has 13 elements in 10 groups: of these, one is an ED lens, two are HR lenses and one is an E-HR lens element. The lens features a seven-bladed circular aperture which stops down to ƒ/22, and as previously mentioned, takes 46mm filters. The lens is marked as splashproof, providing some level of weather resistance. Sell the kit you’re not using to MPB. Trade in for the kit you need to create. Buy used, spend less and get more. Buy. Sell. Trade. Create.
The only reason I would suggest to look elsewhere is if you are looking for a super macro lens that grants a higher reproduction ratio than 1:1, in which case the Venus Optics Laowa 50mm f/2.8 2X Ultra Macro is worth a look. The Leica Macro-Elmarit 45mm f/2.8 ASPH is a high-quality lens if you don’t mind the shorter working distance. Finally, adapting lenses is also a possibility if you have unusual requirements.
Olympus 60mm f/2.8 M.Zuiko Digital ED User Reviews
We haven't yet tested this lens: it offers built-in optical image stabilization as well as full 1:1 reproduction. Although the overall quality is nowhere near as good as the full-frame Pentax (largely a fault of the Canon’s dated APS-C sensor), the little setup is a welcomed relief from my usual Pentax K-1 setup, which weighs in at a whopping 2,200 grams! I also appreciate the simplicity of the lens: it has no shake reduction, no autofocus, and no electronic coupling. These things are nice, but just add weight and cost, and are not necessary to take nice macro photos. Sharpness was sometimes an issue at extreme magnifications, but not due to the sharpness of the lens – instead, it was due to the depth of field. At high magnifications, depth of field is always an issue because it’s inherently narrow. You’ll need to stop down to apertures like f/8, f/11, and f/16, which have increasingly more issues with diffraction. All of this will sound familiar if you’re a macro photographer, because it’s true of every macro lens.
Optical Quality – Through the lens E-M1, 1/5, f/8, ISO 200 – M.Zuiko 30mm E-P5, 1/60, f/7.1, ISO 400 – M.Zuiko 60mm Apochromatic lenses have special lens elements aspheric, extra-low dispersion etc. to minimize the problem, hence they usually cost more. This isn't a review as such; I've not had the lenses long enough to write a real world review after extended use. However, I thought I'd note my initial impressions of the two lenses in use for both macro and general use photography.Levels of chromatic aberrations are reasonably well-controlled, just exceeding half a pixel width towards the edges of the frame for most apertures. Stopping down beyond f/16 results in a marked increase in fringing towards the edges of the frame, so care may need to be taken photographing high contrast subjects using very small apertures. Very nice review and nice shots, Nicholas. I own the Venus Laowa 50mm f2.8X Macro, and I believe there are also some advantages of this lens over this newer 90mm f/3.5 and vice-versa. I do think both are very close in sharpness, except that based on your review I feel that the OM System is a bit better at handling a loss in sharpness near 2:1. With the Laowa, I have tested that past f/5.6, it starts to degrade more rapidly. Next I tried a further shot. This was set up at a range where the 60mm macro was focused at about 0.6m. Again, the camera was moved to account for differences in focal length so that the two lenses framed the same scene identically.
Finally, near silent and smooth autofocus makes this lens perform well for video. DC-G9 + OLYMPUS M.60mm F2.8 Macro @ 60mm, ISO 500, 1/100, f/7.1 Weaknesses To my eye, the Olympus is ever so slightly sharper, but the differences are close enough that it’s really hard to say for sure that the Olympus is better here. Close focus test – Full image There’s very little to point at when it comes to weaknesses of the Olympus M.Zuiko 60mm f/2.8 macro. Notably, the lens does not have any in lens stabilization ability, although this is not too much of a concern for macro presuming you’re using a flash. Likewise, you may have a M4/3 Olympus camera that already has IBIS. Although there are a few other macro lenses available for Micro Four Thirds shooters both from Panasonic and OM System, none of them are true competitors to the 90mm f/3.5 Macro. After all, none of them focus to 2x magnification, and the 90mm focal length is also unique. This lens is clearly the flagship macro lens for Micro Four Thirds today. The lens offers a good combination of features. One of the most useful controls at your disposal is a focus limiter, which is a spring-loaded, four-position switch on the lens barrel. As seen in the image above, the options are 0.4m to infinity, 0.19m to infinity (full range), 0.19m to 0.4m and 1:1, i.e. fixed at the close-focus point. The focus limiter is extremely useful for cutting down on focusing times and minimising focus hunting when working in a specific distance range.I also find that the 50mm FOV on MFT is ideal for me for both portraits and landscapes, so it’s really a nice lens to have on my camera all the time. Finally, this new lens is more than twice as heavy as the Laowa. At the close-focus point of 19cm (7.5in) the lens offers a maximum reproduction ratio of 1:1. This means that you can fill the frame with a subject that measures only 17.3x13mm – the same size as the active area of a Four Thirds sensor. Being a telemacro lens means that you get a reasonable working distance of about 10cm (4in) from the front element, even at maximum magnification (and quite a bit more when shooting at a reproduction ratio of 1:2 or 1:4). The photo below, which shows a close-up of a battered CompactFlash memory card, shows just how close you can get with a 1:1 macro lens on a Micro Four Thirds camera.
So now that we’ve found an insect we want to photograph, what comes next? How do we translate this dewy insect into a photograph? All in all, I was extremely impressed by the OM System 90mm f/3.5 Macro in terms of sharpness. It wasn’t just in this test above – in every photo that I took with the lens, regardless of focusing distance and aperture, it was sharp from corner to corner. Bokeh Getting close to the subject is a breeze with the M.Zuiko 60mm lens. The 60mm is a macro lens with a full magnification of 1:1 (that’s the magnification I shoot at 90% of the time). As the intended purpose for this lens, it's no surprise that Olympus has put some heavy thought into how to best optimize the lens for macro work. Optically, I haven’t experienced any significant weaknesses on the 90mm f/3.5 Macro. The sharpness is breathtaking, even compared to the M.Zuiko 60mm f/2.8 Macro that has always been my sharpest lens. Not to mention that the working distance of this lens is comfortable, and the image stabilization works as it should.What’s more, it can even double up as a casual portrait lens thanks to its focal length, excellent sharpness and 2.8 aperture. E-M1, 1/1250, f/2.8, ISO 200 – M.Zuiko 60mm Speaking of the front element, you’ll notice that the 30mm’s is much smaller and as such, a little less vulnerable to flying debris than the 60mm. The front element of the 30mm is smaller than that of the 60mm One thing to remember. As you move your basic lens closer to the subject and farther from the image plane, the amount of light gets lower according to the square root law and thus the focus system will strain to have enough light for contrast detection. Which means that the finest adjustment will likely require moving the camera body as magnusus describes. In the field, you will likely strain for more light and may need flash supplement. I usually settle on a magnification ratio. You can probably get the first go at super macro by adding a closeup lens diopter - I use the Nikon 5T but I guess Raynox has good reputation- to your basic macro....and I can use as well my long zoom lens 35-100mm. with the two element diopter filter gizmo with step up adapter or step down I forget... Remember too that is is OK to crop insome.( We won' t tell.). Mainly, i ssuggest try a bunch of suggested options if you like close up critters. (Me, I hate bugs, hate em like Indy hates snakes I love flowers though.) This is my first foray into macro and may not cover items of interest to more experienced users. If there's anything I can add or answer, just ask :smile:
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