Olympus 50mm f/2 Macro Zuiko ED

Because of the 2x crop factor of all FourThirds D-SLRs, the Olympus 50mm f/2 offers a slightly narrower field-of-view from some other 50mm lenses.

At 100mm, the Olympus 50mm f/2 Macro Zuiko ED is still a perfectly usable focal length for portraits and not too different to many other 50mm lenses. Doubling as a macro lens (though at a 1:2 reproduction ratio, it’s not ‘true’ macro), there’s a comparatively slow f/2 maximum aperture, though this still produces a nice shallow plane of sharp focus.
It has a sturdy feel and a metal mount to withstand lots of use and there’s a nice large focus ring, the latter having a positive if slightly grating feel in use and taking a lot of turns to focus from near to far, with the front element extending a long way. AF is quite quick and accurate barring very low-contrast subjects, but does whirr a lot.

Specifications:
Street price (body only): £380
Construction: 11 elements in 10 groups
Max aperture: f/2
Min aperture: f/22
Aperture blades: 7
Aperture ring: No
AF/Manual focus switch: No
Autofocus monitor: No
Minimum focus distance: 24cm
Distance window: No
Filter size: 52mm
Dimensions (length x width): 71x62mm
Weight: 300g
Lens mount construction: Metal
Lens mount: FourThirds
Website: www.olympus.co.uk