ROBIN WONG : Happy New Year 2020 & Olympus M.Zuiko 60mm F2.8 Macro Lens Talk

Happy New Year 2020! I hope you have had a wonderful holiday season and an awesome start to the new decade. A few comments on this blog as well as from my YouTube channel have requested me to share my thoughts on the Olympus M.Zuiko 60mm f2.8 Macro lens, which I have used extensively over the years. I personally love to shoot insect macro photography just for fun. So I thought why not start the year with a video showing off some of my insect macro shots I have accumulated over the past years. I do believe the Olympus M.Zuiko 60mm f2.8 macro lens is the best macro lens for Micro Four Thirds system!

The Olympus M.Zuiko 60mm F2.8 Macro has an equivalent 2:1 magnification ratio, allowing super close up shots on the tiny creatures, and for most of the insects or bugs that I am shooting, that magnification was sufficient. I did not have to add on extension tubes or additional converters, though I can't say the same if you are aiming for just the insect's eyes, or even tinier insects. The image quality has always been excellent, super sharp in fact, revealing incredible amount of details and contrast and when the images are in critically accurate focus I was always impressed with the results.

Another advantage that I must mention having the M.Zuiko 60mm Macro lens is the longer working distance, about 19cm from the front of the lens to the subject. This is an important benefit because a lot of other macro lenses, including the Olympus 30mm F3.5 and Panasonic 45mm F2.8 lens require you to move much closer to the subject to gain sufficient magnification, which in turn will scare some of the more sensitive creatures away. Having further focusing distance, yet achieving high magnification is helpful especially in insect macro photography world.

Using the Olympus M.Zuiko 60mm Macro lens on Olympus OM-D cameras allow me more OM-D specific feature benefits, one in particular I must highlight is the 5-Axis Image Stabilization. 5-Axis IS not only helps stabilize the shot but during shooting it makes a whole world of difference with the stabilized preview, either through LCD screen or EVF. Without stabilization, shooting extreme close up shots will have horribly shaky view, dealing with this for long hours will definitely cause discomfort and viewing difficulties. Shooting experience is important, if the experience while composing the shot is improved, I can enjoy the whole insect macro session much better. The 5-Axis IS helped produce a smoother, steadier preview each time I half-press the shutter button. I don't get nauseous or headaches anymore after an intense half-day insect macro outing anymore.