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Olympus PEN E-P5, Minolta AF 50mm f/2.8 Macro (RS)

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Olympus PEN E-P5, Minolta AF 50mm f/2.8 Macro (RS)

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Vintage Camera Marketplace by ImagingPixel

Malaysia's Online Marketplace for Vintage Film and Digital Cameras, Lenses,
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Olympus PEN E-P5, Minolta AF 50mm f/2.8 Macro (RS)

Digital Moments: Image making with the super-sharp Minolta AF 50mm f/2.8 Macro (RS), on the Olympus PEN E-P5.

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Strange bedfellows for the vintage enthusiast, which, for the occasion, works. A combo shoot with a super-sharp sleuth, the 1993 Minolta AF 50mm f/2.8 Macro (RS), a very fine lens capable of 1:1 reproduction ratio at its closest focusing distance (developed for the Minolta AF 35mm SLR film camera system), mounted on a premium mirrorless digital from 2013, the Olympus PEN E-P5, a camera praised for its excellent image quality, good handling, and classic retro design. The lens was mounted via a third-party M4/3 lens adapter, which has a ring for lens aperture control. Focusing is fully manual, with peak-focusing assist on the E-P5.

A rejoice for the enthusiast. The mirrorless digital and AF macro are, of course, vintage, with mint or near mint, or even hardly used conditions frequently available on auction listings at affordable prices.

The 'RS' or 'Re-Styled' version of the Minolta AF 50mm f/2.8 Macro, launched in 1993, is a substantial upgrade of the original iteration launched in 1985, and came with a new rubber focus grip and a Focus Hold button, while maintaining its credibility and core functionality as the world's first autofocus macro lens. The original 7 elements in 6 groups design and construction of the lens was retained, as well as the number of aperture blades, and the size and weight of the lens.

The lens, though intended to be controlled electronically by the camera body when it was designed for, does not work like so when fitted (via the adapter) to the E-P5. With the electrical system redundant, the lens is equal to any other manual focus lens fitted, with a caveat. The lens has no aperture ring, and as used, the aperture of the lens opening can only be managed by the short-throw aperture control ring on the body of the lens adapter. With the aperture scale neither indented nor numericized, determining the aperture to set is, at best, a guesstimate or manually adjusted to the visual apprehension of the scene.

Focusing is fully manual as well, with the focal length of the lens first registered with the camera's IBIS (In-Body Image Stabilization) registry index (click here for the How-To). Manual focusing (best done with peak-focusing assist), with the AF 50mm f/2.8 Macro (RS), could be slightly cumbersome, though, as the lens has only a very thin manual focusing ring located right at the front end of the lens, backed by a slightly wider lens barrel. The ring, however, smooth and well-damped, is indexed with the magnification ratio settings for the lens. Image sharpness, though with the peak-focusing help, can be less precise than the pinpoint accuracy of modern digital AF lenses.

On the 2x crop sensor E-P5, the lens field-of-view is equivalent to a 100mm prime on a 35mm full frame camera. Aside from being excellent for what it was intended for, a macro lens, the focal length can also be used as a versatile portrait lens, with beautiful background compression and bokeh with minimal facial distortion, and just as well for product and food photography with its ability to highlight textures and details, and pet photography. While the magnification ratio of 1:1 is the same on any sensor the lens is used on, a crop sensor will capture a smaller portion of the object, making it look twice as big as seen on a full-frame sensor.

Olympus PEN E-P5, Minolta AF 50mm f/2.8 Macro (RS)

The Olympus Pen E-P5, though with initial hiccups on its inability to correct image shake at slower shutter speeds (addressed it with Firmware Update 1.4), is recognized as one of the better digital PENs produced by Olympus, applauded for its 16MP CMOS sensor first seen in the E-M5, solid and reliable design, with image quality, focus speed (with Micro Four Thirds mount lenses) in a strong package, especially when paired with the separate VF-4 Electronic Viewfinder. The digital mirrorless also features a 1/8000 second top shutter speed, an advanced 5-axis in-body image stabilization system, 9 fps continuous shooting, and a 1.04 million dot 3-inch tilting rear touch screen.

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Canon EOS Kiss Digital X, Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM

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Vintage Camera Marketplace by ImagingPixel

Malaysia's Online Marketplace for Vintage Film and Digital Cameras, Lenses,
and Camera Accessories. Follow ImagingPixel on Facebook, Pinterest, and X.

Photo of the Day

Canon EOS Kiss Digital X, Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM

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Vintage Camera Marketplace by ImagingPixel

Malaysia's Online Marketplace for Vintage Film and Digital Cameras, Lenses,
and Camera Accessories. Follow ImagingPixel on Facebook, Pinterest, and X.