OM SYSTEM 90mm F3.5 Macro IS PRO M.Zuiko Digital ED Lens (Micro Four Thirds)

“I’m comparing the 90 mm to the 60 mm which I have used for 10 years. I bought it primarily for hand-held focus stacks of insects at magnifications higher than 1x and to get more subject to sensor distance.

What I like: The AF/MF clutch and numbered dial is a delight. Being 2/3 stop slower than the 60 mm is not a limitation since I’m usually stopped down to at least f4 anyway. Size and weight pair up nicely with the OM-1. Auto Focus works well although sometimes at the edge of the focal limits (such as 0.25M or 0.5M) it might hunt a bit. The image stabilizer works well.

What I don’t like: There really isn’t anything to dislike about this lens. It performs well. Especially at 1x or lower magnifications. The problem is expecting it to do circus tricks at 2x magnification. It can’t. And that is because of natural physical and optical limits, not the lens itself. This lens will test the limits of your camera.

A comment on S-Macro: Don’t buy this lens thinking 1x-2x shooting will be easy. It isn’t. It takes a lot of light. Depth of field is extremely shallow and while AF and focus stacking work, they are not as impressive as at 1x or lower magnifications. There is simply no escaping the fact that high magnification photography is difficult. As noted above, sometimes there is focus hunting that slows things down and the insect escapes. I find C-AF is more appropriate than S-AF but I'm still experimenting to find the best way to hand-hold this lens while focus stacking at extreme magnification.”