Robin has his say !

[Dave in Wales]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPDRKV38xdw

[ronidog]

An interesting view from Robin as always. He makes some good points based on other reviews, My opinion is similar.

I have to agree that I have not seen any jaw dropping photos taken with the lens. Most of the ambassadors seem to have made adverts for the lens which give very little real life experiences. I would like to see some photos from dedicated macro people like Geraint etc.

My understanding from the reviews so far is - it is a large heavy lens which needs lots of light to work at higher magnifications. The close focus distance does not seem to be a great improvement either for the price. It also seems very expensive.

Obviously I would like to try it but camera shops are hard to find these days!

I should point out the photography is a hobby for me and therefore I can happily play with what I have and dont really need the latest gear!

[wornish]

This lens is not on my wish list have to say.

I do have the 60mm f/2.8 which delivers all I need.

Seems a strange choice to release.

[RedRobin]

This lens is most definitely on my list to buy.

I tried and tried and tried to master the weird modus operandi of the 60mm F/2.8 Macro and lost so many shots in the field trying unsuccessfully, so I sold it.

The 90mm F/3.5 Macro offers everything I need for shooting live mini-beasts - Reach is everything. It ticks all my boxes and especially in the ways it works with the OM-1.

[Ross the fiddler]

It would be except I can't justify more expenditure (at this time) even though it is selling at the same initial price of the 100-400 lens. That lens has come down but I doubt this 90mm macro lens will come down in the future (except for certain discounts & promotions).

[wanderer]

I started watching Robin but when he said he had not handled the lens, I turned off.
I have seen some other reviews which all seemed positive, but as said above no images to write home about.

[RedRobin]

@Darkroom
I don't agree with you at all when you say "Similarly to sing the praises of an item you intend to purchase, but haven't, is also rather pointless".

Any praise of the new 90mm Macro, or indeed any other product, is based on long experience in-the-field and hence a real-life practical understanding of the features described as being on offer and already present and experienced in other OM System products - Do I really need to list them? (I already have done on this forum). I shoot hundreds of frames 7 days a week on Olympus/OM gear.

I praise the fact that OM have developed and now launched this lens and am very confident indeed that it will meet my expectations and needs. And if it doesn't, I'll sell it, as I did the 60mm Macro it will replace.

Describing expectations and already familiar features, praising them, criticising them, are all very helpful when deciding whether or not to buy something.

Any comments which respected photographers make about a new product are valid and have some worth when the commentator knows what he/she is talking about but of course you can hold back if you prefer.

[Ross the fiddler]

RedRobin, Chris McGinnis loved his 60mm macro lens (& still does) with the ability to 'dial in' the focus to 1:1 (maximum magnification). His first impression with the 90mm macro lens with a short limited time to test it & with no instructions, was "why no dial?", but then he realised the focus clutch does it instead, only better, showing the magnification ratios where 'focus distance' is shown on other Pro lenses with a clutch ring system. So now he can manually preset the magnification before reverting to AF, just like one can with the other Pro lenses with a focus ring clutch. The MF clutch ring is great for using a preset focus distance with a quick flick (slide) of the focus ring so that AF can quickly get back to the subject within the nearby focus range, in addition to the setting of the focus limiter switch. These possible features can be something easily overlooked, but Chris's comments have now highlighted its use on all the Pro lenses with this system for me.
Many users not enjoying the 60mm macro lens were often not allowing for the actual distance to achieve AF & may have been trying to focus too close. My method when trying for maximum magnification is to adjust to 1:1 then move in to see the subject in focus then back off slightly so AF could then do its thing. That was how I used my 4/3's (DSLR) Sigma 150mm macro lens as it could be pre-adjusted like the 50-200 SWD lens. Chris's comment about the 90mm Pro macro lens was that it focussed faster than the 60MM macro lens, so that should make using it a more enjoyable experience.

[RedRobin]

@Ross the fiddler,
Thanks - That's good to read and all good reasons why I am confidently expecting the new 90mm Macro to suit my needs far better than the 60mm did. For me, that physical dial on its side was a nightmare! It regularly let me down by having to fiddle about with it and consequently lost me many shots.

[blackfox]

Many years ago I had the sigma version I.e the massive 180 f3.5 .. in all honesty and I’m not really a macro shooter ,although have dabbled it’s a weird focal length to use . Never got the results from the 180 that had the wow factor , there 150 mm macro which I’ve also had left me feeling the same way .. the optimum user length and apeture does really seem to be the 60mm f2.8 though due to having to stop down macro lenses to get the best results .. just my own thoughts on it so may well be far off the mark , but over 1k for a macro lens does seem excessive in todays financial climate

[RedRobin]

@Ross the fiddler,
Personally, whether any lens is 2:1, 1:1 or 100:1 is purely academic for me - I only care about what I see through my viewfinder. 90mm is better than the 60mm reach and one of my tick boxes was whether the new 90mm Macro would accept either the MC-14 or MC-20 or not and it can.

Both my 40-150mm F/2.8 Pro and 150-400mm TC Pro have obviously valuable reach and my Flickr albums demonstrate my successful mini-beast close-up work with them - I don't care whether people call it 'macro' or 'close-up'. But the 90mm Macro would offer me a very desirable shorter MFD.

[Ross the fiddler]

Saying it is just academic is just silly. You either want & need a high magnification macro lens or you don’t. Maybe the 300mm f4 Pro lens might achieve more for you. It’s more expensive though.

[RedRobin]

@Ross the fiddler,
I wrote that "PERSONALLY" the magnification ratio is academic "FOR ME" (my actual words) and furthermore I have described my close-up work in this forum discussion several times and shared which lenses I use and have used. I used to own the excellent MZuiko 300mm F/4 Pro and sold it to help buy my big white lens.

I have also written at length why I confidently believe that the new 90mm Macro will suit my needs perfectly due to so many features which are already well proven onboard Olympus OM System camera gear.

I am "serious" about all my photography but I wonder what you think makes a photographer "serious" in your opinion. Unfortunately quite a few macro photographers are somewhat anal in their attitudes, rather like pixel-peepers. Oh, and also 'birders'. But each to their own.

[pdk42]

I’m not a macro shooter but have owned the 60/2.8 in the past and taken some half decent images with it. It seems a very good lens and gives very sharp results. I guess a longer working distance would be helpful, so I assume that’s what this new lens is all about. But f3.5 seems slow for a 90mm prime on m43, esp at this price. OIS is a welcome addition though.

[Ross the fiddler]

F3.5 for macro is going to produce a rather thin DoF for a macro subject & why a bright lens isn't so necessary, except for focussing. For most macro shots it would be necessary to stop down considerably more.

[RedRobin]

Paul, considering all its features and their consequent advantages why are you questioning its price?

I shoot living mini-beasts close-up rather than micro macro and want the reach. I tried and tried and tried to get on with the modus operandi of the 60mm Macro and sold it after a year - Excellent image quality but so many shots lost.

[Dave in Wales]

I’m not a macro shooter but have owned the 60/2.8 in the past and taken some half decent images with it. It seems a very good lens and gives very sharp results. I guess a longer working distance would be helpful, so I assume that’s what this new lens is all about. But f3.5 seems slow for a 90mm prime on m43, esp at this price. OIS is a welcome addition though.

The extra working distance at 1:1 is I believe, a paltry 1.1cm

[Ross the fiddler]

The extra working distance at 1:1 is I believe, a paltry 1.1cm

1.1cm is not that much of an issue in that respect, but it would be considerable better than the 60mm macro lens with extension tubes to achieve 2:1 macro though.

[Ross the fiddler]

I feel the negative comments are from people who are not really 'macro' photographers & don't really appreciate where this lens actually shines. I'd like to see a comment from alfbranch here (he has already commented elsewhere in another thread).

[RedRobin]

Ross the fiddler, for online publication I output my final RAW images as 2048px longest side as JPEGs. I would have to search through thousands of images to check my original RAW image to possibly see how much it was cropped. Again, what I care about is the result as a picture rather than a technically perfect photograph.

[Ross the fiddler]

I was curious to know how much you cropped it to achieve that result & since you don’t allow downloading then I wondered why a reduced size upload.

[RedRobin]

Ross, I do all my RAW conversion (I don't shoot JPEG) and editing in ON1 2023 and I used to use Capture One 2022 - Both are non-destructive as you probably already know. Rather than have lots of different outputs for different applications and consequently creating extra storage, I output everything at 2048px longest side which is adequate for Flickr hosting and also Instagram and Facebook. If a client wants to buy a hi-res file or Giclee print I resize in ON1 Resize AI from my original RAW file. I have had no problem with files for prints as large as A2 from my edited RAW files.

I see no reason for me to allow my images to be downloaded. I only supply my image files following payment.

[Ian]

An interesting view from Robin as always. He makes some good points based on other reviews, My opinion is similar.

I have to agree that I have not seen any jaw dropping photos taken with the lens. Most of the ambassadors seem to have made adverts for the lens which give very little real life experiences. I would like to see some photos from dedicated macro people like Geraint etc.

My understanding from the reviews so far is - it is a large heavy lens which needs lots of light to work at higher magnifications. The close focus distance does not seem to be a great improvement either for the price. It also seems very expensive.

Obviously I would like to try it but camera shops are hard to find these days!

I should point out the photography is a hobby for me and therefore I can happily play with what I have and dont really need the latest gear!

Here is another Chris McGinnis shot taken with the new lens:

[Ross the fiddler]

Here's a start RedRobin. https://learnandsupport.getolympus.c...n-the-ordinary

[Ross the fiddler]

https://www.youtube.com/live/chMH097Phh4?feature=share

[Ross the fiddler]

Here is Chris's video.

https://youtu.be/wPIHliKmiRI

[Ross the fiddler]

Here is 'THE' video.

https://youtu.be/wPIHliKmiRI