OLYMPUS M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm F2.8 Macro For Micro Four Thirds System Camera, Weather Sealed Design, Focus Limit Switch Bright

This review is for: Olympus M. Zuiko 60mm F/2.8 Lens This is a great lens. Handling is weird. I have both this lens as well as the Panasonic 30mm macro lens. Optically, they are both absolute jewels. The 30mm get the nod from me for copy work where the shorter working distance doesn't matter but (slightly) sharper corners matter. For nature and non-flat objects, the 60mm gives more room for lighting and is blisteringly sharp. I wish the 60mm handled like the 30mm (simple) but it doesn't. This is where it gets weird. It has a focus limiter switch (pictured) with 3 ranges. Beyond those, the limit switch is spring loaded. It took me awhile to figure out what it was doing: It takes the lens to 1:1. Okay, 'weird' all of a sudden becomes 'genius'! lol Optically, the lens is superb, sharp already at f/2.8. For single-image capture of skittish objects, the greater working distance wins out over the 30mm macro lens. Combined with pixel shifting and the m4/3 sensor, I can obtain crisp images of small objects. With focus stacking, the results are equally satisfactory for small objects (although I still rely on bigger format cameras for larger subjects). This lens and micro four thirds are meant for macro photography. Great lens. Worth considering. Recommended without -- okay, maybe with one! -- reservation!

This review is for the 60mm macro as it might be used in a fairly narrow and specific manner: To shoot insects, amphibs, reptiles, fungus and other small things handheld in the field. For this purpose I feel the lens is a great choice and a deal at the price. Shooting macro in the field is very different from bringing critters into the house and shooting them in a light box. I don’t bother too much with specs — results are what count — and I have no idea how this lens compares to competitors. I’m also not an especially skilled or “ technical” photographer although I often have to shoot very quickly or risk the shot completely since bugs, well, fly. All the insect, amphibians, herp, and fungus shots posted on IG at jeremy.nature.photos are taken with this lens (unless you go back a long way when I was using the lovely nikkor 105mm — but that’s noted in the hashtags). Today, with this lens, I always use flash, I typically shoot bugs at f14 or wider and make only minimal corrections in LR (typically shadows, blacks, whites). Coupled with a micro four thirds Olympus this lens makes it easy to shoot one handed and, for the type of critters I’m shooting in the field, that’s critical since I often need to hold a branch to one side, gently pull down a leaf or brace a stem. You will not get attractive bokeh with this baby (unless there is a trick I don’t know) but you will get nice crisp images. Sometimes I open it up (meaning that I shot at f 2.8) in order to shoot a snake or larger reptile which might spook (or kill me) if I get too close — I’ve no complaints. I’ve observed that this is an extremely popular lens for macro use in the field (handheld). I LOVE the 1:1 wheel on the side of the lens. A flick of the finger and boom — all you have to do is move your body to focus. I don’t use the autofocus much but it is excellent. I’ve travelled a lot with this lens so it has been bounced around a lot. No problems. Overall, for the macro photography style I described, it is perfect. Check the IG address above — one pic is worth a ton of words. UPDATE: After a couple of years, many trips to jungles and forests, almost daily use, and 25,000+ photos I still love this lens! I attached focus lights to it with Velcro, modified the 1:1 control with superglue, never use a lens cap and generally abuse the heck out of it. The little beggar keeps on working!

Such an easy lens to use and fab quality pics!

This is a great little. I’ve used it successfully with macro bracketing.