M.Zuiko Digital ED 90mm F3.5 Macro IS PRO tele-macro lens, Micro Four Thirds water-resistant lens, compatible with Olympus, OM SYSTEM and Panasonic MFT cameras, capable of ultra-macro magnification

Product Information

Taken with an Olympus OM-1 and OM System M.Zuiko ED 90mm lens, 1/160 sec. at F5, ISO 400. Photo credit: Amy Davies.

This will be the brand's furthest reaching macro for Micro Four Thirds and the only one to carry the 'Pro' distinction. When the EVF Auto Switch is set, you can now select how the viewfinder is displayed when the monitor is open. Thousands great macro shots of insects done with shorter focal lengths somehow show that 180mm is not needed. The only "problem" is the high price of this lens, but perhaps people which are really deep into macro will still find this lens attractive.The 90mm F3.5 Macro IS PRO lens is equipped with an in-lens image stabilization system. When combined with a compatible camera body, 5-axis sync-IS is supported, delivering up to 7 steps of shutter speed compensation. A full-frame equivalent 4x magnification is ludicrous – most dedicated macro lenses max out at 1x magnification. Other more extreme macro lenses from the likes of quirky lens specialist Laowa are manual focus-only lenses, but the OM 90mm macro lens utilizes a powerful autofocus system.

IP534 splash & dust proof capabilities with a fluorine coating for unbeatable all-weather performance The lens is built with a metal mount.There are three switches on the side. The top is a focus limiter with three positions: Macro, 0.25-0.5m, and 0.25-infinity. Below is the image stabilization switch with On and Off positions. Below it is an L-fn button which can be customized to your needs. Whether you have an OM camera from OM SYSTEM or an Olympus OM-D, PEN or any other compatible camera, you'll benefit from all that the Micro Four Thirds (MFT) standard has to offer: a camera system boasting compact size, light weight, more shooting freedom, high image quality and ease of use, you name just a few.

For macro it is a choice. How big equipment do you want to have? A 50 MP FF camera has much more resolution than a 20 MP m43 camera. Of course, and can, in principle, take more detailed macro images. But the lenses will be bigger. Taken with an Olympus OM-1 and OM System M.Zuiko ED 90mm lens, 0.77 sec. at F8, ISO 200. Photo credit: Amy Davies. If your object is smaller - say, 12x18mm - it will be 1/4 of your FF sensor. So only 5MP of the 20MP sensor. 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.

Wholly unsurprisingly, distortion is not a problem with this lens – but it’s not something we’d expect from such a long focal length. Vignetting also doesn’t appear to be a problem, even when shooting at the widest aperture. Chromatic aberrations don’t seem to show up while shooting in bright or high-contrast situations, which is excellent news. OM System M.Zuiko ED 90mm F3.5 Verdict In some cases, the smaller MFD could actually be an advantage also. In certain positions like small insects on trees, I actually like to get a bit closer so I can brace the lens against the tree. In a few other awkward “bracing” situations, I find this smaller MFD to be useful also, which is why I think a larger MFD isn’t universally superior. Sorry for the confusion, flash does not change the minimum focusing distance. I was noting how a greater minimum focusing distance allows for more lighting flexibility so that the lens does not get in the way of a large diffuser.The other thing OM System does well, besides telephoto, is stabilization. While we don’t yet know all the details on the upcoming macro lens, OM System has confirmed it will be stabilized. Stabilization is incredibly important for macro lenses. The closer the subject is, the more exaggerated any camera shake will be. In-lens stabilization and in-body stabilization are a big plus for macro work. All things considered, those are minor points, and I’ll finish by saying that I have just found my favorite macro photography lens. OM System 90mm F3.5 Macro IS PRO: Price and availability On2: The eye sensor does not operate while the rear-panel monitor is open. Press the button to switch between the rear-panel monitor Live View display and Super Control Panel display. It’s the kind of lens that, if macro is your bag, it will make you fall in love with the genre even more – especially once you get used to how it works. Being able to get super close to your subjects and record them in stunning detail, all while shooting handheld and benefiting from such a high level of magnification means you can quite easily get lost in miniature worlds. I have not tested it as a tube lens yet, but my impression is that it would be overkill, besides probably costing more than a new Mitutoyo M Plan Apo. As a tube lens it would only cover Micro 4/3 (and perhaps cause a Mitutoyo objective to vignette), but a Mitutoyo M Plan Apo on a good 200 mm tube lens already matches the resolution of a 20 Mpixel Micro 4/3 sensor. So I cannot avoid wondering what practical use there would be for the added lp/mm resolution of pushing the objective down to less than half its nominal magnification with this 90 mm as tube lens.