With OM Digital Solutions’ February announcement about OM System M.Zuiko 90mm F3.5 Macro IS PRO, a professional-grade lens with a 2:1 reproduction ratio, macro photography with Micro Four Thirds (MFT) just got a whole lot more enjoyable. A 2x Micro Four Thirds crop factor makes the 90 mm OM System equivalent to a 180 mm lens on a full-frame camera and means a working distance—relatively large—about 3 inches (8 cm) in from the top of the lens.
But if you’re wondering what exactly all of that means for underwater shooters, you’ll want to take a look. Backscatter’s latest video. Backscatter CEO Jim Decker and Media Producer Robin Dodd chat about the lens and compare it to other offerings both in the Micro Four Thirds context and from other systems, including the Olympus 60mm MFT macro , Sony 90mm full-frame macroand also Compact Olympus TG-6—known for its epic Macroscopic Microscope Mode.
After intense training on the lens at the top—with underwater testing to be done as soon as the weather in Monterey Bay improves!—Jim tells Robin about the lens’s working distance advantages. , amazing magnification, impressive sharpness, and snappy autofocus performance. They also provide very helpful visual illustrations of some of these aspects, ending with a discussion of who might want to invest in lenses. (Spoiler: It’s for “super macro junkies”!) Check out the video below.
When purchasing underwater photography equipment like the products mentioned in this article, please support DPG by supporting our retail partner—Backscatter.com.
