How many here bought the Olympus 30mm F3.5 Macro lens when it was 99 dollars on a Black Friday sales?

Honest and objective review! Thank you Robin for always being an Olympus review reference.

Thanks for the great review! 😃😃

Robin Thank you for this comprehensive review of the 30mm lens. I have been contemplating it for some little time and I think that you have just persuaded me of its capabilities !

Best value macro ever! I bought it because I needed a macro lens to "scan" my film negatives/slides and did some "regular" shooting with it - it is marvelous! For scanning 30 mm is perfect, because the repro stand doesn't need to be that high (for larger formats the 60 mm might be already too long). This lens is one reason why my Sony A7 is now on the way out - to get a similarly good macro I would have to pay much more money, and the Olympus macro just does the job perfectly! You absolutely nailed it in your video, I just wanted to bring up some "fringe use case" for this lens.

"Liked" for being honest right upfront. I have the 60mm and hadn't considered getting another. This video was very helpful

I was one of the lucky ones to buy this lens for $99 during Olympus' Black Friday sale a couple yrs ago. This was my first macro lens (on any system) that I have ever owned and it is outstanding. I've used this lens to take pictures of insects, flowers, my dogs, my daughter, and the images this lens produces is on par with any of the top M43 lenses. Olympus did a great job with the 30mm macro especially when it comes to color and contrast, beautiful!

Love this little lens, not just for macro purposes. Great for general use too.

Thanks Robin. Great info.

One of the main reasons I bought this lens is because it is one of the few lenses that can be used with focus stacking. A good selling point since this lens is one of the most inexpensive lenses from Olympus that can be used with in camera focus stacking.

The 30 mm is a great lens for indoor shooting, extremely sharp and VERY close focus. I'm delighted with mine. I chose the 30 mm as my working space is very tight.

Thanks a lot for your review. I think it´s a great and versatile lens for a reasonable price. If you want to discover macro photography this is the lens you definitely should buy/try.

Even if you can’t get a $100 deal there are some good value examples on eBay. I paid £155 which is much less that the 60mm f2.8 and am very happy with the 30mm. I’ve only just started to use it but coupled with my E-M10 mkii it performs amazingly with either off camera remote flash or a cheap ring flash I received at Christmas. Highly recommend this little beauty and thank you Tobin for an excellent review and other ideas for its use.

I really love This Lens, macro are awesome with it.

One of the reasons I got the 30mm was to copy all my old slides to digital and it is very good for that purpose as it is very sharp and has excellent geometry. I have a 3D printer and made my own copier that attaches to the front of the lens, holds the slides perfectly parallel and makes it quick and easy to change slides.

I don't have the 30-mm f/3.5 macro, but my son does. He really likes it. I have the 60-mm f/2.8 macro as well as the 35-mm f/3.5 and 50-mm f/2.0 macros from the 4:3 era. I will eventually replace the 35-mm f/3.5 with the 30-mm f/3.5, but I won't part with the 50-mm f/2.0. It's rendering is almost magical. Also with and without the 1.4x 4:3 teleconverter, it is my favorite portrait lens....for those rare times I do portraits. I do a fair amount of "table-top" macro photography of things like coins, backlit leaves, backlit agate slices, etc. I use a very small copy stand with a focusing rail to hold the camera in the vertical position over the object. With this setup, I have about 10 inches (250 mm) vertical travel distance available to position the camera and lens. The longer working distances with the 60-mm f/2.8 and the 50-mm f/2.0 cut into the bottom end of the available travel distance. But, the 35-mm f/3.5 (as would the 30-mm f/3.5) let's me use almost the entire range of vertical travel distance. This is a distinct advantage for the short focal length macro lenses. On the other hand, this can make front lighting more difficult, which is why I have the STF-8, an off-brand ring light, and some small LEDs I can move around. For backlighting, I have a 5 inch by 7 inch (125 mm by 175 mm) "light viewer" that I bought years ago to look at my Kodachrome slides with a loupe.

Lovely!!

I have both the 30mm and 60mm macros. The extremely low price of the 30mm macro might make people think it's a cheap lens, but it is pretty amazing. It's great for getting a bit more DoF in your macros, and the handshake (esp when holding with one hand!) is minimized.

Hey Robin, thx for that video! I bought this lens second hand some month ago for my Lumix GX880/GF10 camera and I am super satisfied with the results and the handling! Super sharp and fantastic small and light for daily use! Ok f 3.5 ist not so great but for lowlight I have the 1.8/25mm, an excellent lens too. Take care and bye😊

I have buy recently the 60 mm, and I love it. Amazing lens.

Olympus gave it to me for free in a deal when I bought my camera. I planned to sell it, but when it arrived, I couldn't. If I could keep only one lens, it would be this one, autofocus is fast, it's incredibly versatile and images are beautiful out of camera. I love it!

I have that lens! I love it for macro and portraits!

I have one of this I just love it.

This is a fantastic lens. I'm not sure why it isn't weather sealed (other than to keep the price point down), but other than that it is great. I use it for underwater macro photography in a dive housing. It has been great for that. Yes, I also agree f2.8 would have been nice too.

Robin nice points! Because of one of your previous videos I decided to get 60/2.8 Macro, I never have been taken macro shots before, so I was blown away by quality of macro lens and especially how it works in synergy with IBIS. 30/3.5 is nice and easy way to world of macro but 60/2.8 is exceptional lens.

I didn't realise how tiny that lens was. The image quality looks really good overall - at least the sharpness is there, even if the bokeh is perhaps a little bit busy. 30mm is a nice focal length for a walkabout lens too. I had been looking at this some time back, but thought I'd probably go for the 60mm macro when the time comes. I'm not so sure anymore, since this one seems to cover a lot of bases. The obvious solution is to just buy both, of course.

The 35mm f/3.5 4/3 macro lens was always the step kid to the the 50mm f/2 macro. I own the former and it's one of the most versatile lenses in my kit. More working distance can be handy but you can work around this limiting factor.

Great video, this has me seriously considering switching to mft. I think I'll need both + 12mm f2

Excellent video. I now have the Olympus version whereas before in the past I had the LUMIX 30mm G OIS macro. That’s a great lens too but after only a short time using the Olympus 30 f3.5, I really like it. It has the advantage of being smaller too. I had the 60 in the past also but felt it was too long for casual macros ie, without a tripod. The 30 is better as a walk around lens with superb sharpness and colour rendering. Having also used the Fujifilm 60mm macro, the MFT 30mm is preferable. MFT is better for casual macro as the focus is quicker and more useful at macro distances.

Back in the 60's I had a 35mm Canon FT film camera and I made a set of extension tubes to get the 50mm standard lens up close for macro work, it was reversed and mounted on the tubes by the filter thread......I'm going to search for some for the Olympus OM10 mark 111 I've just bought.

This has become a general hiking lens for me due to the focal length and decent autofocus speed. As long as I keep the exposure up, the autofocus is great, but it definitely hunts if things are too dim. My impression is also that that it tends to make blacks very dark, so bright sunny days stay nice from a contrast standpoint but I struggled with definition taking pics of an all black alpaca. I have found that it captures great micro contrast and highlights, though, and I have taken to using a 1/8 black diffusion filter with it for hiking and Summer photos and it creates a very film-like quality due to the combination of contrast and black handling. Of course, the flexibility to go so close and the level of detail is amazing and it gets nice use from a macro standpoint, which is part of why it's a go-to for me in those nature-oriented settings. Definitely pros and cons, but it's a fun and flexible prime.

I seen some macro shot with the 300mm f4 they were incredible

I bought it to use with the Nikon film duplicator. I need a scale of 1:2 and with the 60mm that requires a long tube between the lens and the film holder. The 30mm is perfect for me.

When I think ‘macro’ lens I don’t think street photography so thanks for taking the people shots. It’s on my list of lens and I’m glad it’s small and light.

I have the 60mm but I can see why this lens might be a nice option, it is cheaper and a more useful focal length for general photography. Before I had the 60mm I used the 45mm f1.8 and macro converter, that is an excellent combination too, more so for someone who wants to use their 45mm lens more.

I've shot with it a couplo of times, it's a great little lens and when was on sale or even free with some camera I think it was a great deal, don't know why it's no very popular.

Would you happen to know the name of the song at 6:00?

Hi Robin. Thank you for this review, I find all you youtube content very useful. A QUESTION FOR YOU... At the beginning of the year, I have upgraded from my old trusty OM-D E-M5 to the OM-D E-M1 MkII, with the 12-40 f2.8 PRO Lens. And I have just bought the 40-150 f2.8 PRO Lens, with the MC-14 teleconverter. I am looking at selling some of my lenses to help the bank balance. I am amazed by the "macro-like" performance of both these lenses. I like to photograph flowers (mainly wild Orchids), mushrooms & insects. I have the 30mm F3.5 macro lens, but find the colour & sharpness on my two new PRO lenses to be much better. I have also found the very close range of using the 30mm F3.5 macro lens challenging when in the field.... insects simply fly or jump away and I have to be very skilled to get the best possible natural lighting (no flash), so that I do not shadow the subject when the camera is so close. I have been amazed by the sharpness of the 40-150 f2.8 PRO Lens, with the MC-14 teleconverter, plus the ease of shooting at 75cms rather than 10cms. The 12-40 f2.8 PRO seems great too for flowers & even flying honey bees. So I am now considering selling my 30mm F3.5 macro lens. I have been shooting with my beloved 25mm f1.8 prime lens, as my main travel lens, so I do not need another small prime lens. I also have the 45mm f1.8 portrait lens that I will never sell. Do you think that I should persevere further with the 30mm F3.5 macro lens ? Or will the two PRO zoom lenses do a good enough job for photographing flowers, insects, lizards, butterflies etc ?

Loving this lens 👍. Had the 60mm a few years ago but I didn’t particularly like it. Personally I prefer the 30mm as its more versatile and smaller. I often use my 300mm plus 1.4 extender as a macro for bigger subjects like dragonflies.

Interesting video. I'm currently trying out the Olympus 35mm f3.5 Macro (Four Thirds, not MFT) lens with the electronic adapter (on an E-M1). This is quite slow to focus and the whole kit (lens + adapter) looks massive in comparison to the 30mm lens!

I have the 60mm which is great for taking pictures of "bugs" in or around home. But it's rubbish for taking out on a walk on the off hand you see a "bug" you want to take a snap of. Sure, it's great for just *specifically* that. But if you want a picture of anything else then it's far too tele for landscapes and no where near tele enough for most birds or other wildlife. So totally agree with you, 30mm is still a bit long for landscapes, but even with that compromise it's still far better than the 60mm for that sort of thing, so it's on my "list" specifically for that purpose.

if you do ambitious hand-held macro , a fast AF is a must if you don't want to take so many to get one right. This lens gets so close that i don't use a hood, just a protective filter in case of contact. Some will critic the f3.5 max aperture but it is only a limitation for non macro use. I pair it with a 45mm f1.8 ; the 30mm takes over when more magnification is wish for.

I own the 30mm macro. A year or two back I had a small list of lenses I was wanting which included the 17mm, 25mm, 45mm and a macro lens. I don't shoot bugs so I figured the 30mm macro covered both the 'normal' range and macro and seemed the best compromise for the money. (I ended up buying the 30mm and 45mm at the same time) The 60mm would have been good but not a focal length I would use much for anything else. I haven't been disappointed with the 30mm. As for the slower aperture, I haven't had any of the issues I thought I might have had. I took my kids to a model train show, inside a huge hall with a mezzanine floor in it. Even with the lights not being great and very high up in the ceiling, (we were on the ground floor), I still had no problems focusing or shooting the little scenes. It locked straight on every time.

How funny.. literally bought it yesterday before your video

Hi Robin! I am alway inspired by your teaching (shoot raw, entered marco world with 60mm f2.8, correct way of using ETTR, live composite, etc x1000). Can you give us tips how to best utilize ProCapture? When should we use ProCapture L& H?

For those that don't use an external flash, but rather one on the camera I would assume the magnification factor would have a big effect on how the flash worked? So macro photo taken from a distance will be more likely to have a black background while macro photos taken up close will be more likely to have reflections, right?

Great review as usual. Since you are a Oly visionary I had a question related to weather resistant (couldn't find a comprehensive answer online). I frequently shoot in light drizzle so prefer the 60mm on my E-M1 because of the weather sealing. But my question is if you attached the on-camera flash included with the original E-M1 does it comprise the extent of weather sealing ?

Hi Robin, another great video. In comparison with the 60mm, when working at a 1:1 ratio do you find the 30mm offers more depth of field (with both lenses at the same aperture)?

Hi Robin, Sorry to use this vid commentary to ask you an unrelated question, but I'm having an issue with the high res mode files from my new E-M1 III in Lightroom. Basically, no matter the mode (tried tripod, hhhr, different megapixel settings, etc), the raw file (ORF, not the ORI, as Lightroom seemingly can't read the ORI anyway, and I know that's not the composited file anyway) when viewed in Lightroom is very soft. No amount of sharpening will get it detailed. I've also tried it in Luminar, same result. But the jpeg created by the camera during the process is sharp, and when I load the files into Olympus Workspace, they look sharp as well and I can generally get them even sharper than the jpeg the camera gives me, so it seems to be a software problem and not a camera issue (cam is functioning completely fantastic otherwise as well). Tried some different settings such as delayed shutter release just in case it was me; doesn't seem to be. Do you know if Adobe doesn't currently fully support high res raws from the M1 III yet? As I said, they open, they're just soft. Also, Live ND raws look great, so it seems like it's an issue with raws where pixel shift is involved specifically. Adobe says they support the raw files from the M1 III, but no way to tell if all support is the same or if there can be only partial support for a raw file type... I tried the forums but no response yet. Anyway, if you don't have time to answer (or don't know), that's no problem! I totally understand. I also wanted to say great vids! Really enjoying your content and getting a lot out of it. Really appreciate your straightforward and positive attitude as well. Thanks for posting content for us! =)

I'm still trying to decide between the 30mm and the 60mm :D

Nice video! And I'd like to know about AF-C tr. Could you tell me the best setting for AF-C tr?of course Burst shooting. Thanks.

I bought this lens (30mm) in 2019, after being frustrated with the 60mm slow focusing , I had used the 60mm for underwater macro, the 30mm is much faster in focussing and this matters a lot underwater . However the bokeh with the 60mm is beautiful, and I still use it topside ....

This is a very good review but for a macro lens it is just not the central sharpness that is important but more importantly center/edge sharpness and the flatness of the field ( lack of distortion ). How does the lens perform with regards to the point mentioned?

Sir, can u make a video of in- built focus stacking using Olympus om de m5 mark iii in real life situation ( in garden insects macro shooting)? Thanks in advance

From my experience of shooting “close-up” (not macro) I find that f4 is the bare minimum for any kind of depth of field. I often shoot f/5.6 or f/8 to get several subjects in focus, and if you are very close to these subjects you still get nice blurry backgrounds! So, f3.5 is fine with me for close-up shooting.

Can I use it for focus bracketing in my em10-mk2 and epl9 and post process in the Olympus workspace?

Prefer the Olympus 30mm to the Panasonic Leica 45mm f/2.8 (that drew me to MFT photography in the firs place), because of the very fast focus. Also like that the the 30mm gives me more DoF than the Olympus 60mm. I use it mostly for flowers and minerals, so the closer focusing distance isn't a problem. Am starting to use it with in-camera focus stacking.

What do you recommend me for food photography the 30mm 3.5 or the 25mm 1.8? Thanks in advance

Hi, i have two questions, IS the Lens work with the Lumix G80 ans IS the Lens worth it for video ? Like packshots

There are a number of portrait and people shots. How close did you get to take the head only type portrait shots, and in real life why would you use a macro lens to take shots of people in alleys/sidestreets?

I bought a 25mm 1.8 this week to try and see can I see a difference between the Panasonic 25mm 1.7 for photography on my g85.

It may seem weird but I have been using macro lenses (Canon 50mm F2.5 on 6D ) and Olympus 30mm f3.5 on my G9 as... portrait lenses. They are true stars in my portrait photography :) Love both of them.

Wow! If it were available at $90 I'd definitely find room for it. Sounds like some people got a good deal. 👏

hi mr robin, boleh review lens ini dengan Panasonic macro 30mm f2.8?

Is it a good option for product photography for small business?

@Robin Wong I am still indecisive to get 30mm or 60mm, i would like to take photos of both plants and bugs, spiders. So its better to get 60mm?

Hi Robin...while I agree that it would be nice if the 30mm was f2.8 instead of f3.5, it would change the lens size and weight significantly. I guess we can't have everything..lol!

What is with Bokeh ? Is this Oly good for Pictures with bokeh-effect?

Robin, would it be advisable to use extension rings with the 30mm f3.5 macro in order to extend the distance to the subject(eg insect). I do understand the lost of light,but a flash can be use then?

👍

To my opnion a 60 mm FF macro lens is not very useful, in general. For macro (1:1) 60 mm is too short and you are too close to the subject. Either you disturb the bugs or the shadow from the lens disturbs. I think the 60 mm (m43) would be much more useful for macro work. Also for macro autofocus speed is not important as the depth-of-field is too short and you have to focus manually by changing the distance between the subject and the lens. For normal life a standard prime (50 mm FF) can do the same job as a macro lens (60 mm FF). To shoot stamps or reproduce negatives etc a 60 mm equivalent macro lense is very good .

U said this is not tech review...but actually it was 😀 Anyway, great vid, very helpful like always. Thanks!

Never understood why the front element was so small in comparison to the actual out lens size, or the 60mm f/2.8. Wonders of physics or something that the front element is way smaller than the back one...

It’s not a bad lens Just that the 60mm is so much better. Faster, supports stacking takes nice portraits as well.

And what about 70-150 with rings for macro?

Unfortunately, I got tricked by KZfaq ads and bought this lens. The photos are low quality, and it doesn't focus well at all.

I think its 125% not 250%.

Not useful for wildlife.

Thanks for the great review! 😃😃