At their respective fastest apertures – 2.8 on the 60mm and 3.5 on the 30mm – the 30mm appears a little softer than the 60mm but the difference is negligible.

Usually, I don’t use the full power of the lens because 1:1 magnification is often overkill for my subjects. That’s why many of the sample photos in this articles are close-up photos rather than “true” macro photos with 1:1 magnification or greater. In any case, it’s a highly practical lens, and a great performer, as you’ll see in a moment. At its closest focusing distance of 10cm, the Lumix G 30mm will deliver 1x magnification, reproducing subjects at actual-size on the sensor. Since the Micro Four Thirds format employs sensor measuring around 17x13mm, that’s the minimum area this lens will capture. The Lumix G 30mm f2.8 becomes the shortest macro lens in the Micro Four Thirds catalogue, delivering an almost ‘standard’ field of view that’s equivalent to 60mm in full-frame / 35mm terms. In contrast, the Leica 45mm and Olympus 60mm deliver 90 and 120mm coverage respectively, taking them into short telephoto territory. Ok, on to some images. Each set is the 45mm first and the 60mm next, framing as close as I could get it to the same.Before I delve into the close-up performance, here’s a few around-town shots demonstrating the lens for general-purpose use. Given how old my copy of this lens is, it’s likely to have taken a hit in sharpness over time. Even so, it remains one of my sharpest lenses. Here are some crops to help demonstrate how sharp the lens is for macro photography: DC-G9 + OLYMPUS M.60mm F2.8 Macro @ 60mm, ISO 160, 1/250, f/11.0 The Olympus M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 60mm f/2.8 Macro Lens is a Micro Four Thirds lens compatible with Olympus mirrorless digital cameras. Being a dedicated macro lens, it lets you take shots at close range in true (1:1) life size, as well as offering you continuous focusing from this distance to infinity. Built with incredible precision, it features an internal focus system with floating lenses that is capable of producing equally high image quality when shooting macro, landscapes, portraits, and more. Create shallow depth of field effects with its open aperture and really show off the contrast between razor-sharp details and circular bokeh that this lens creates. Unfortunately, at the time of writing (December 2012) third-party lens manufacturers such as Sigma and Tamron have only recently gotten on board the four-thirds train, so alternatives in the four-thirds macro market are a bit slim.

For larger subjects like the ones I tend to photograph, thereis enough space to work comfortably with a flash and diffuser.I almost always shoot with an external and diffused flash, so it’s important that I have a decent working distance. To that end, the longer the focal length of the macro lens (and the smaller the size of the lens), the better. The M.Zuiko 60mm f/2.8 is good in both respects. DC-G9 + OLYMPUS M.60mm F2.8 Macro @ 60mm, ISO 400, 1/80, f/10.0 Sharpness A weakness with all macro lenses is that, with extreme magnification, the effective aperture gets narrower. Specifically, at 1:1 magnification, the maximum aperture on the lens is effectively f/5.6, resulting in a darker image if you don’t compensate for it. This darkening effect begins to look noticeable around 1:4 magnification.How does this compare to the M.Zuiko60mm f/2.8? Below is a comparison photo from f/14. To my eye, it looks worse than the f/22 image above! I find this performance very impressive by the 90mm f/3.5, especially considering that the M.Zuiko 60mm f/2.8 was, before now, my sharpest lens. OM-1 + OLYMPUS M.60mm F2.8 Macro @ 60mm, ISO 200, 1/200, f/14.0 All in all, macro photography (and close-up photography in general) is one of the biggest strengths of the Micro Four Thirds format. You don’t give up much image quality compared to bigger camera sensors for close-up photography, and you gain a lot of maneuverability. DC-G9 + OLYMPUS M.60mm F2.8 Macro @ 60mm, ISO 800, 1/160, f/5.6 M.Zuiko 60mm f/2.8 Macro Lens Specifications

Despite the use of plastic, I don’t doubt the lens’s durability. In particular, theweather sealing is advertised as dust-proof and splash-proof up to IP53, meaning extensive protection against dust and splashing water. It’s the same rating given to the rugged OM-1 itself. By comparison, I’ve used my M.Zuiko60mm f/2.8 for years of intense conditions. It doesn’t appear to have an official IP rating, yet has held up better than any of my other lenses. The new 90mm f/3.5 should improve on it even further. This is one of the sharpest lenses I’ve ever used. I was capturing details I never knew existed on animals I have photographed countless times for years. Even after cropping my images significantly, the details remained clear. In fact, the lens is sharp enough that the OM-1’s 20 megapixel resolution was the limiting factor for sharpness, rather than the glass. I don't tend to take table top type shots but on the creative side of things different angles and perspectives are often fun. You will notice that the distance from the subject makes a difference to the perspective you see in the final picture. Perspective is a function not of focal length but of distance to the subject and things that can give the same subject a different look relative to other things in the frame (if there are any) or even from one point on the subject to another are the angle you shoot from and the distance the shot is taken from. What you can do is either take the shot from close distance or from a greater distance and crop post capture. The two pictures, focusing from near and further away, can have quite different perspectives.

Collect at Store

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. Second is the lens hood whose innovative design allows you to retract it over the lens barrel when not being utilised. When extended to its full length, it is long enough to protect the front element from damage while mitigating flare and ghosting.