Olympus OM 90/2... versus...

piggsy · Joined: 04 May 2015 Posts: 84 Location: Brisbane, Australia

Out of all the photo things I have, the one I wonder about most of all - more than what if I bought a different camera system or whatever - is whether I would've been better off with the Olympus 90mm F2 rather than the Vivitar Series 1 90/2.5 and Bokina. I am pretty good with the Bokina if I say so myself, but I often come across images in the Olympus 90's flickr pool, or elsewhere, that make me think it's also a very nice lens and one I regret maybe not having got instead.

Almost all the image threads here on mflenses for the 90/2 have broken image links, and I can't say I've ever seen a comparison between the Olympus 90 and anything else with the same scene. Or practical data comparisons or anything else either. I seem to remember the Olympus 90 is optimised for 10:1 or so, and I'm not sure how it would really compare vs the Bokina at very close distances where you'd ideally have the matching Bokina macro adapter on it, vs empty extension for the Olympus lens. Most people don't really shoot deep aperture or high magnification macro when doing lens comparisons anyway. But somebody probably has something from an old magazine or an obscure blog or something, surely?

So is anyone aware of a genuine throwdown between the Olympus 90 and the Bokina? Or even the 90 vs something else, which we could then compare it to. And - would you, as a lens enthusiast but not maniacal lens collector, spend $600-1000 or so getting one if you didn't have the other?

hoanpham · Expire: 2015-01-18

OM 90mm f2 macro is not optimized for 10:1.
With auto extension tube, it can reach 1.72x.
Only 20mm macro or 20mm bellow can reach beyond 10:1.

shapencolour · Joined: 03 Oct 2013 Posts: 270

piggsy · Joined: 04 May 2015 Posts: 84 Location: Brisbane, Australia

shapencolour · Joined: 03 Oct 2013 Posts: 270

Thank you piggsy.I appreciate your avatar very much. Smile

Olympus OM Macro 90/2.0 is a "swan's song" of the OM mounted lenses pipeline,just before they disappeared.It has much better microcontrast and more saturated colours comapred to the the older rest ,(otherwise special lenses too),plus the same,excellent sharpness and very smooth out of focus blurr.All that make for an outstanding multipurpose short telephoto.

But one can get similarly satisfactory results with any 90-100-105 macro lens with a little bit of creativity and some PP.

Wink

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

I had several Bokina and Olympus OM and tons of other macro lenses in past, Olympus OM 90mm f2.0 is faster , but I don't think so better or worst than others like kiron 105 etc
I prefer OM 90mm if need to choice , but also beleive trully on macro shoots proper konowledge about lighting, macro sctacking, tripod etc more important than lens. Any of good lens just serve you well.
One of most amazing macro shoots what I seen was done my Meyer Domiplan Smile

10 USD lens+ 10 USD extension ring , subject , lighting most important.