First the price for this lens has been set at $499.00 in the US if appears.
Olympus is a company that from the release of the four-thirds system has always been known to think outside the box as they say. The 60 macro is a result of that thinking and it seems that many are having a hard time grasping that type of thinking in regard to this lens. This is the only macro lens to have the focus limiting feature for the closeup/macro end of the lens. By compareison macro lenses like the Panasonic 45 mm macro allow you to set the lens from about 20 inches to infinite but does not allow you to lock into the close range, as a result the lens has to cover a larger range to focus to 1:1 and you get hunting which we all know.
All Olympus has done is allow you to have three ranges rather than two or one limiting ranges. If you still want to shoot from infinite to .19 meters (7.5 inches) which is 1:1 you can set the lens to do that and I expect it will hunt a bit. You can set the lens from .4 meters (about 16 inches) to infinite to shoot larger animals or you can (and this is the best part) set the lens in a range from .19 meters or 1:1 to .4 meters or about 16 inches. In this range the lens should hunt less than any other macro made I would think. You can as some have said turn the control wheel counter clockwise when in the .19-.4m setting and the lens will zoom to 1:1 and hold there.
So without a custom port you can pick a range before the dive and stay in that range. with a custom port/gear I would think you could shift between ranges and perhaps use the zoom to 1:1 feature. Either way you will still be able to get to 1:1 without having to turn the dial.
The Olympus 50 macro is one of the best macros on the planet in terms of image quality and it only goes to 1:2. If this lens is as good image quality wise as the 50 macro it will be an outstanding buy at $499.00.
Phil Rudin
