Falloff of illumination towards the corners of the frame is well controlled for a lens of this type. At f/2.8 the corners of the frame are 1.02 stops darker than the image centre and illumination is visually uniform with the lens stopped down to f/4 or beyond. On distant subjects, I actually found that the OM System 90mm f/3.5 Macro IS PRO outperformed my old M.Zuiko 60mm f/2.8 macro in focus speed, especially in brighter conditions. However, at close focusing distances, the 60mm lens was faster – probably because it didn’t need to examine the whole range from 2:1 to wider magnifications. At Photokina 2016, nearly four years after the release of the 60mm, Olympus announced its second macro lens, the M.Zuiko 30mm f/3.5. Although both are specifically designed for macro work, they fulfil a different set of needs as we will discover in the following comparison. Let’s get started! All shots you see here are done with the Panasonic G5 handheld, so the camera is the same for all, but it does mean no stabilization for the Olympus lens.

I did not give ten points for the build quality of this lens, because it's not build like the 12mm f/2 or the 75mm f/1.8. If it was, the price tag would probably be double of what it costs now. The use of plastic does keep the weight down and of course that is one of the benefits of this micro 4/3 system. For the money, it's build quality is fine. 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.

At the closest distance, shadows from the lens itself can be a problem, and of course it may not even be that easy to get so close to the subject. Here’s a shot of a ruler taken with the Lumix 30mm from its closest focusing distance where it was difficult not to cast a shadow. I’ve put it alongside a shot taken with the Lumix 42.5mm f1.7 which can focus unusually close for a non-macro lens, but the difference in reproduction (not to mention lighting and shadows) is evident. 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 The 30mm is certainly the more specialised product. Its minimum focus distance of just 9.5cm is so short that the lens almost touches the subject, which can easily cast a shadow or scare off skittish living creatures. For this reason, it is best used on inanimate (or fearless!) subjects with an off-camera flash unit or ring flash. Bracelet – E-M1, 6s, f/8, ISO 200 – M.Zuiko 30mm (minimum focus distance)

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 I happen to have both the Panasonic Leica 45mm f/2.8 Macro and Olympus 60mm f/2.8 Macro lenses currently, and I thought there might be some interest in a compare & contrast between the two from a user's perspective. The macro specifications are easy enough: the lens will provide a full 1:1 reproduction at its closest focus point of 7.5 inches (19 cm). The lens features a scale showing the active size of reproduction: as the lens is focused closer to its close-focusing distance (7.5 inches), a red marker on the reproduction scale moves closer to 1:1. It's a vertical scale, unlike most depth-of-field scales which show a readout from left to right.

Ease of Use

As for image stabilization, I kept it on most of the time, and the steadiness in the viewfinder was apparent. That said, the difference was not as noticeable as I’ve witnessed on some telephoto lenses, especially at high magnifications. This is normal for a macro lens, but I still recommend keeping IS on unless you’re shooting from a tripod. According to CIPA measurements, it offers an impressive 7 stops of stabilization. Sharpness

One of the most important, stand-out features of the OM System 90mm f/3.5 Macro is the extreme 2:1 reproduction ratio. Almost all other macro lenses on the market, from OM System and otherwise, stop at 1:1 magnification at the highest. The handful of exceptions are nearly always manual focus lenses. Previously, I have been working for years with the OM System M.Zuiko 60mm f/2.8 macro lens. At 1:1 magnification, this lens manages a working distance of 8.3 cm / 3.3 inches from the tip of the lens. Although this may sound almost as good as the new 90mm f/3.5 Macro, it’s a bit of an illusion. For lighting purposes, the 90mm lens is far easier to use with an on-camera speedlight, because the lens itself is longer. In other words, it has a much bigger “flash to subject” distance than a shorter macro lens. This offers more room for a larger diffuser, which improves the quality of my light substantially. MPB puts photo and video kit into more hands, more sustainably. Every month, visual storytellers sell more than 20,000 cameras and lenses to MPB. Choose used and get affordable access to kit that doesn’t cost the earth.Even wide open at f/2.8, the image quality of this lens is excellent. Good contrast and an amazing amount of detail. I have no complaints at all about the image quality. This lens just delivers the goods. The one place I feel the OM System 90mm f/3.5 Macro IS PRO loses out to the M.Zuiko 60mm f/2.8 macro is the autofocus speed. Although I give OM System kudos for making a 2:1 macro lens which autofocuses at all, it is still on the slow side. And not surprisingly, it gets worse at 1:1 macro and stronger.