Olympus Zuiko OM 50mm f/1.8, Garden Close-Ups

Cameras and Lenses: Images with a vintage legacy Olympus OM Zuiko 50mm f/1.8, widely acclaimed as one of the sharpest standard lenses ever made, a 100mm full-frame equivalent on the Olympus Pen E-P5.

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I could have very well used the Olympus OM Zuiko 50mm F3.5 Macro for these close-ups, but on this occasion, I opted instead for the nifty-fifty Olympus OM Zuiko 50mm f/1.8. While both lenses have similar 50mm focal lengths, the 50mm f/1.8 is more of a general-use lens with a minimum focus distance of 0.45 meters instead of 0.25 meters of the 3.5 Macro and comes with a wider minimum aperture opening.

As the norm, Olympus lenses are known for their good build quality and performance. The same could also be said of the 50mm f/1.8, with the accolade that the 1:1.8 is even sharper than the 50mm F1.4 itself. Over its production run from 1972 to 2002, six (6) different iterations of the lens were produced.

Olympus E-P5, Olympus OM Zuiko 50mm f/1.8

Production started with the 6-element in 5-group Olympus M-System F.Zuiko Auto-S 1.8/50, which is available in three (3) different versions, including an intermediate version with a silver nose. Later versions included the Olympus OM-System Zuiko MC Auto-S 1.8/50, Olympus OM-System Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f/1.8, and the much sought-after Olympus OM-System Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f/1.8, which is also embossed with the 'Made in Japan' lettering on the front lens rim.