Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Macro ED Zuiko Digital Lens for Olympus Digital Cameras (Four Thirds System)

Comments about Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Macro ED Zuiko Digital Lens:

A great lens for the amateur photographer like myself. I am still learning about macro photography and loving the world I am entering into While I am not getting things as pin sharp as I want, I think at this stage its more the person than the equipment but its just a matter of getting out there and using the lens. Well worth investing in.

Comments about Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Macro ED Zuiko Digital Lens:

Food For Thought: With this brand new Zuiko 50mm f/2 acting like the leading superstar of the ice rink, my beloved 12-60mm sadly stays on the bench more often than not... Slightly noisy AF mechanism, original front cap too tight, maybe!? On the other hand, all pictures stemming from the 50mm f/2 seem to benefit greatly from strong micro-contrasts, very high sharpness, and brightness galore, almost to the point of looking like 3D images right from the back LCD of the camera! Overall, it is pure bliss already: such a handy, powerful, yet discreet little 4/3 lens! B&H has been part of the nice experience once again, thanks to a combination a factors such as prompt shipping, safe packaging, very competitive prices.

Comments about Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Macro ED Zuiko Digital Lens:

This lens has been reviewed before. Wow. This is one of those things in life that you didn't know you wanted until you got it & then, Wow. OK!

Comments about Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Macro ED Zuiko Digital Lens:

I love the way 50mm f/2 Mecro ED Zuiko Digital Lens by Olympus see things..
An other dimension..!!!
Love it..

Comments about Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Macro ED Zuiko Digital Lens:

As others have mentioned, the AF is a bit slow and problematic at times, but it focuses nicely manually -- even for this amateur. For full frame head shots, I was able to capture some fine detail (skin texture, fine hairs, etc.), in fairly low light situations. Very happy with this lens.

Comments about Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Macro ED Zuiko Digital Lens:

I used this lens on Olympus E3 and Panasonic GH2. It's nice sharp lens. Unfortunately AF is way too slow, even with E3. I expected to be slow on GH2, but not with E3. Olympus, fix this! I returned this lens.

Comments about Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Macro ED Zuiko Digital Lens:

I purchased this lens to go along with my 3 other lenses for my Olympus 620 camera. This prime 50 mm, macro lens is a great addition to my camera collection. I use it to do macro photography of small wild flowers. I have had it only one week but have already I have gotten some great shoots. My only wish is it was a faster lens either a f1.4 or a f1.8 lens. I really wanted a piece of fast glass without spenting over $1,000 dollars.

Comments about Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Macro ED Zuiko Digital Lens:

I bought this to use on a micro 4/3 camera, the Olympus EP-2. I already had the adapter for another lens so didn't need to get another. This is probably the best lens I have for the system. It is compact and the lens hood fits nicely in the reverse position.

Comments about Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Macro ED Zuiko Digital Lens:

I'm shooting this with an e-510. So far I have been very impressed. I'm a very amateur photographer so I don't have technical data for this review. The lens is extremely well built. It makes you wonder what kind of junk they put in the kit lenses. The photos are extremely crisp and the bokeh is great. All of my pics have an extremely professional look to them now. I use it mostly for taking pics of my kids. The only problem I have is the lack of a focus stop which can make the lens slow to focus if it doesn't grab focus immediately. If you plan on keeping your olymypus, this is a necessity.

Comments about Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Macro ED Zuiko Digital Lens:

I have a love and hate relationship with this lens. The lens optic is superb! Sharp even at f2.0. The problem is, you seldom can get the autofocus to work properly on your first try! The lens front & back focus and stop in between. Then, you press the second time and it's in focus. In low light, this lens search back and forth its full focal length and it's loud and undecisive. Sometimes it just hang there and is unresponsive. Yes, manual focus works but I just don't like that focus by wire, it provides no feed back and you could be turning the focus ring for nothing. I still like this lens because it is really sharp and produce good colour. However, this is not a lens you will use for action or even portrait photography. I use it in taking baby pictues and it's painfully slowwwwwww and hard to lock in autofocus. Better try it if it is to your liking, don't get sold on its F2.0!

Comments about Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Macro ED Zuiko Digital Lens:

I purchased the lens to mainly do close ups of flowers, bugs outdoor things. So far I like it. the pictures are crisp and clear, just takes getting use to how far to stay back to get the picture I am looking for. Some people say it works great for face close ups also. Will give it a try. I have always had Olympus back in the film day and now with digital. I am hopping my next lens will be a 12-60.

Comments about Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Macro ED Zuiko Digital Lens:

This lens in good light will produce excellent image quality like the Olympus lenses do more often than not. However, in low light, the focus runs back and forth searching wasting too much time. I think one is better off using manual focus for macro work. I read about the slow focus, thought I could live with it. I couldn't, [...]

Comments about Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Macro ED Zuiko Digital Lens:

I couldn't wait to get my hands on this lens based on most all the positive reviews from others. I bought the E-5 at the same time and together they are by far the best macro pictures I have ever taken. The lens is fast focusing and produces the sharp results as expected. It is also the perfect lens for portraits - I'm sure it will be one of my most used Oly lenses.

Comments about Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Macro ED Zuiko Digital Lens:

I've been using this lens for macro photography of flowers mostly, but other stock macro photography as well. Detractors will say that it is loud, and it is, but for studio work and macro, it hasn't affected me at all.

I've done a few portrait shots as well and it has been brilliant in that regard as well and the noise factor is certainly less as the AF has less "travel". I also find that the AF for portraits is fairly quick.

Comments about Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Macro ED Zuiko Digital Lens:

I use the 50mm F/2.0 with my Olympus Bodies (E-510, E-3 and E-5). The output is consistent and the clarity exceeds what I've been able to achieve with other Zuiko lenses.

I've done a few test videos using this lens with the E-5. However, the noisy manual and autofocus is picked up by the on-board microphone. You'll need to use an external mike that will not pick up focus noise. Or, you'll just have to set focus so it will not have to change during recording.

Comments about Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Macro ED Zuiko Digital Lens:

Lightweight lens that works very well for macro photography - a great field lens. First rate for botanical photography

Comments about Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Macro ED Zuiko Digital Lens:

I bought this lens mainly as a 50mm prime with a good F stop. The intention to use for general out and about snaps. But I decided to try a few nature macro shots and was excited by the quality. Sharp and with lovely out of focus backgrounds. I think it focuses quick enough and not worse than other auto focus products. I recommend this lens.

Comments about Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Macro ED Zuiko Digital Lens:

great portrait lens

Comments about Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Macro ED Zuiko Digital Lens:

Another brilliant Zuiko lens.
Like all their pro grade lens not a cheap one, but worth every cent.
Image quality is fantastic, images are razor sharp even wide open. And 2.0 aperture provide wonderful, shallow DoF, fantastic for portrait and still macro work.

Bokeh is fantastic.

Large aperture enables capturing great images even indoors.

In low light and low contrast situation focus is sometimes quite slow. Since there is no focus limiter, in those situations lens extend from minimum focusing distance to infinity and back, and this takes time.
Some people find this unacceptable, but for purposes I'm using lens, this is not a big problem.

I read many reviews, choosing between 50mm and 35mm macro (which is true 1:1 macro). Any other option would be Sigma's 150mm macro f2.8, but 150mm is to short for telephoto, and to long for portrait and any other uses except macro.

Final decision was based on larger aperture, weather sealed body, and slightly better image quality, though 35mm image quality is excellent.

The only other lens I've seen capable of delivering such wonderfuler results are Pentax Takumar f1.4, but since this lens is functional only in manual mode, and due to extremely shallow DoF, it is very hard to capture proper focused image.

Excellent lens, highly recommendable if you are not looking for true macro (1:1), and if you are not bothered with sometimes very slow focus.

Comments about Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Macro ED Zuiko Digital Lens:

Only used this lens for two days with E-P1 body and DMW-MA1.
So far I can say that portraits look good, but
Pros:
Very good image resolution, even wide-open.
Fast lens.
Creamy, smooth bokeh.
Sturdy, feels solid.
most aberrations are correctd very well.
Macro and portrait at the same time.
Cons:
Strong sphero-chromatic aberrations. When doing close-range shots wide open, high contrast areas get very noticable green or purple tint, depending on distance. only all bright stuff in foreground goes purple, while background highlights are green.

Very slow autofocus. Body has latest firmware, lens didn't have any firmware updates as far as I know.

Autofocus is unreliable in low-light, requires manual correction for portraits and macro anyway.

Focus ring literally reacts to a slightest touch and triggers MF assist zoom function.

No C-AF function, of course.

While shooting video you can change focus only by rotating MF ring and motors noises are quite loud.

Heavier and bigger than dedicated close-range macro lens or most manual focus primes.

Conclusion:
This glass is really a mixed bag.
When AF is so unreliable and MF is awkward to use, why can't I use cheaper, faster , smaller and lighter manual-focus lens instead?
I believe these lens can make beautiful photos, but won't work for all subjects and lighting conditions and can be the source of frustration from time to time.