If you are on a constrained budget the 50/3.5 is the
macro to choose as you can find them for 100-150 bucks
on ebay. If money is not as much of a concern try and
get the 50/2 macro as it's a great and incredibly
versatile lens, bleeding edge sharp too. For still
more money the 90/2 macro does a good job, but it's
heavier and more obtrusive, it's still ultra sharp and
it does give you more working range. For about the
same price as a 90/2, however, you can get a 135/4.5
with 65-116 auto extension tube. This lens (which I've
never used) is supposedly very sharp and will give
you the best working range of any of the macros,
however it won't extend as far in magnification.
It all depends on the type of bugs you are trying to
photograph. Winged or fast moving easily disturbed
bugs would call for a longer working distance (the 90
and 135mm macros) Slower moving or small bugs would
call for a greater magnification (50/2 with extension
tubes works very well).
Personally for macro work I think the 50/2 gives the
best results for non people stuff I've taken. It
clearly dilineates colors and shapes and makes images
that are truly stunning in their boldness. The 90/2
has a very different quality, that renders shapes and
people more softly (by soft I don't mean that they are
blurry in any way, the lens isn't 'soft' in that way).
The 90/2 is a great lens for more curvy objects and
softer colors like faces and such while the 50/2 is a
great lens for angles and bright colors. Again this is
just IMO and with only 1 sample of each to compare
YMMV.
Evarything else said the Olympus OM has a wonderful
and complete macro system for any needs. I left out
the 20 and 38mm since those give magnification greater
than 1x and would probably startle even the most
sedate bug.
Mark Lloyd
--- Paul Kraig <PaulKraig@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> If I were to purchase 1 macro lens, which should it
> be? I have never done
> any macro-photography, but think I would like to
> try.
> I would mainly be using it to photograph insects
> that frequent my fly
> fishing haunts. Thanks in advance.
> Regards, Paul
>
>
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