This will be a user experience based review, sharing on what I think and feel as I use the Olympus M.
Therefore, it is extremely crucial for a macro lens to be as sharp as possible to be able to capture and resolve as much details as possible. While reviewing the images shot on the camera backscreen, it was evident that the 60mm F2.8 lens is sharper than the 50mm F2 lens, perhaps by a small margin, but the difference was visible, and there was no slight hesitation for me to have a strong impression that the 60mm was the winner.
This was just a quick mental comparison I made while I was shooting on the field, and may not be conclusive at this point, because no side by side real comparison at 100% view on gigantic computer monitor screen to justify such claims. Moiré pattern can be seen on the butterfly's eye and dragonfly's eye respectively.
Using narrower aperture could be the cause of the slightly softer images. I was shooting at 60mm (equivalent of 120mm in 35mm format) with a single hand, at full 1:1 magnification.
As much as I believe that the magical 5 Axis Image Stabilization system can work miracles, sometimes being practical, I cannot be entirely sure that there was completely no hand shake.
Do bear in mind that the following technique is only employed for high magnification images more than 0.5x magnification on the Olympus M. 4) General camera settings: Shutter Speed from 1/60sec to 1/125 sec (to capture a little bit of ambient light, if possible for a more natural look), Aperture from F/5.6-F/14 (to control and maximize depth of field required), ISO200.
The wonder of macro photography is the ability to reveal the tiniest of details, opening up a whole new world that the human naked eyes cannot see. When I was shooting with the 60mm macro lens, I almost thought I was using the 50mm F2 macro lens instead (probably due to the very similar focal length, 60mm vs 50mm).
I have rarely encountered such issue when I was shooting with the older 50mm F2 macro lens (almost never).
The good news is, we can be very reassured that this 60mm F2.8 lens is indeed, undeniably, exceptionally sharp.
Zuiko 60mm F2.8 macro lens perform in comparison to its older sibling, the much revered Zuiko 50mm F2 macro lens?
Before we dive right into the review, allow me to clarify a few items.