Olympus OM 50mm 3.5 Macro

For a while I was fascinated by two things, which I sought out: macro lenses and Olympus OM lenses. Macro lenses: I read about how painfully sharp they were wide open, and how this type of lens is the sharpest you can get.

Olympus OM lenses, for their compact size and build quality. I had just gotten a custom Olympus OM to Olympus Pen FT adapter as well, and was excited to try it with more lenses.

I kept an eye out for this lens, since its bigger brother, the Olympus OM 50mm f2 macro, was a bit too pricey for my taste. In the end, after a few months of prowling websites and frequenting camera stores, I got my hands on one while on a vacation in Germany, together with another much dreamed-of piece of gear: the Olympus OM-2n camera.

Compared to other 50mm 3.5 macro lenses, this one is tiny. It's about the size of a normal 50mm 1.8. Handling is really good, with the focus ring really smooth and a long focus throw for that good, good precision.

The aperture clicks satisfyingly into place. I've come to expect nothing less of OM lenses, to be honest. (Although if you're not used to the aperture ring at the front, it could take some getting used to.)

I haven't had any trouble with flare, since the front element is very recessed.

Bonus points for the 49mm filter thread. I can load up a bag of OM lenses and bring fewer filters!

Sharpness wide open is good, better in the center, as expected. Overall it's much better than most 1.8 fifties out there. If that's to be expected of a lens whose maximum aperture is f3.5, and a macro on top of that, I'll leave that to you, dear reader. You get good overall sharpness wide open, with the corners a tad softer. It seems to be better at closer distances.

If you stop down to f8, the corners get decent, and you get as sharp as you'd get with this lens: sharp enough for landscape, macro, and anything you'd need more detail for.

Colors are a bit on the warm side, which I didn't quite fancy. I only noticed, while editing the batch, that I corrected color more than usual.

Portraits turn out great if you have a tight crop, but keep in mind sharpness might be a bit unflattering to most skin types, making minor imperfections evident. Perhaps for black-and-white portraits that accent the model's face, it'd do wonders.

Contrast was great. Vignetting wasn't anything to complain about. (Perhaps because you usually shoot macro at smaller apertures, to get a wider depth of field?)

Although the way it renders colors doesn't make my heart flutter, I adore this lens. Versatility, great sharpness, a filter thread almost universal to OM lenses, and a small size on top of that? If I carried a macro lens with me all of the time, it'd most likely be this one, instead of the heavier 100mm lenses and 1:1 macros.