Important Notes:
1. This is a user experience based review.
This blog entry is a continuation from the previous entry: Part 1 of Olympus M.Zuiko 60mm F2.8 Macro lens review (click).
In Part 1 of the M.Zuiko 60mm macro lens review, I emphasized specifically on how the lens performs in terms of image sharpness and auto-focus reliability in real life macro shooting conditions. In the tests I have performed, most of the images were shot at very high magnification factor, and they were all extreme close up conditions. Therefore, in this Part 2 of my review, I shall do the opposite, use the M.Zuiko 60mm F2.8 lens in non-macro shooting circumstances, or more appropriately put as a general all-purpose lens. At 60mm focal length, this lens can be considered as a medium tele-photo lens.
In this particular compilations of images displayed for Part 2 of the 60mm lens review, I have been shooting at various locations, but most of the images were taken at Pudu Wet Market, Kuala Lumpur. The location of shoot provided me with ample variety of subjects to play around, and I specifically targeted subjects that reveal plenty of tiny details and textures. What other better place than a market with plenty of animals (live and dead), vegetables and fruits to attack. Furthermore, wet market is a place always busy with activities and packed with people, thus opening great opportunities to use this lens for some light portrait shooting. In my Part 1 of the M.Zuiko 60mm macro lens review, we know that the lens performs exceedingly well in macro shooting. Now, how does it fare in non-macro shooting?
Also, in this entry, I shall discuss on a few flaws of the lens (yes there are some) and the things that I wish the lens can be improved on.
As a reminder, allow me to clarify a few items. This review will be written from a photography-enthusiast’s point of view, because I am not a professional photographer. This will be a user experience based review, sharing on what I think and feel as I use the Olympus M.Zuiko 60mm F2.8 macro lens (mounted on Olympus OM-D E-M5) in real life shooting situations. Therefore, this is not a technical review as there will not be elaborative technical explanations, which can be easily accessible on many professional review websites such as DPreview and DXOmark.
The Joy of Selling Petai 1/80sec, F/2.8, ISO25060mm F2.8 as a General Purpose Shooting Lens
I strongly believe that many people who have considered purchasing this Olympus M.Zuiko 60mm F2.8 macro lens would also thought of other usage for the lens outside of just specific macro shooting. Indeed at 60mm focal length, this lens can be very useful for medium tele-photo shooting range, allowing the photographer quite a comfortable amount of working distance between himself and the subject. Furthermore, at widest aperture of F2.8, the lens does seem attractive, though a few other offerings such as the M.Zuiko 45mm F1.8 and 75mm F1.8 would have excelled better in terms of low light shooting and rendering of shallower depth of field, due to the much larger aperture opening of F1.8 vs the 60mm's F2.8. Acknowledging the fact that the M.Zuiko 60mm F2.8 is indeed a specifically designed macro lens, intended primarily for macro shooting purpose, if the lens can perform generally well for any other shooting conditions, surely it would be an added bonus.
Chromatic Aberration Control
One of the things worth noting about this M.Zuiko 60mm F2.8 macro lens is the excellent control of chromatic aberration. I am not sure if it was the lens that was designed to resist the chromatic aberration, or the image has been corrected in camera by processing after the image was taken, but the results from this lens displayed almost no trace of chromatic aberration, which was really impressive. Most other Olympus lenses I have come across, both Zuiko (DSLR range) and M.Zuiko (micro 4/3 system) have very good chromatic aberration control, but still some noticeable traces of green and purple fringing will show in bright contrast areas of the image. Even the 12mm F2, 45mm F1.8 and 75mm F1.8 show very minimal, yet visible colour fringing, but surprisingly this was absent from the new 60mm F2.8 images.
Flare Resistance
Due to the new ZERO (Zuiko Extra-Low Reflective Optical) Coating, Olympus claims that their lenses have improved resistance to flare when shooting against strong light. In my non-macro shooting test, while I was shooting in the wet market, I was constantly challenged with back-lighting conditions, some more severe than others, and in all cases, I have not encountered any flare or hazy image output issue. This was another reason why this new 60mm F2.8 macro lens shines in comparison to the older 50mm F2 macro. If you have shot outdoors extensively with the 50mm F2 macro lens in challenging lighting conditions, you will know how annoying it can be with the hazy soft output and ugly flare the lens produces. All these problems were not present in the 60mm F2.8, and I was very pleased with the flare control. I did not even use a lens-hood to shield the lens !!
Char Kuey Tiaw 1/50sec, F/4.5, ISO200Image Sample 1
100% Crop from Image Sample 1
1/80sec, F/4, ISO200A good example of a not too severe back-lit situation, with good lens flare resistance. 
Burning Prayers 1/200sec, F/2.8, ISO1250
In a Temple 1/40sec, F/2.8, ISO800
Joss Sticks 1/80sec, F/2.8, ISO1250Autofocus in General Shooting
For this particular session, I have set the focus limiter switch to the option 0.4m to infinity. This range is optimized for general purpose shooting which is non-macro. At this setting, the lens performs almost flawlessly, and I have almost not missed any focusing, even when I was dealing with fast moving subjects. I am a single-focus shooter, meaning I half-press the shutter button to lock the focus and then press the button all the way down to capture the image. I do not rely on continuous shooting, rarely have I employed the use of continuous focusing, hence I am not the right person to tell you how the continuous shooting performs. Nevertheless, for single-AF shooting, the focusing was near instant, it was adequately efficient to follow some motion shots.
Again, just for the fun of it, I did turn the focus limiter switch to the option 0.19m to infinity, which is the full range from extreme 1:1 magnification ratio macro range to infinity. As expected, the lens will have problem focusing in some situations, though not often, as it hunts from near full macro range all the way to the far infinity, then coming back to the subject which was probably 2 meters away. Although not frequent when this happened, there is no telling when the lens would decide to misbehave, hence its best not to use the full range 0.19m to infinity option. My suggestion is to recognize your shooting condition, set the focus limiter switch to either 1) 0.19m to 4m for close up macro shooting or 2) 0.4m to infinity for non-macro general shooting There is a reason why the focus limiter switch was built on the lens, and if it optimizes the autofocus performance for the intended shooting purpose, why not use it to its full potential?
I have also brought the M.Zuiko 60mm F2.8 lens out for shooting in the evening on the streets, just to grab some very quick shots. In very low light conditions, the lens has no issue focusing at all. I switched the AF assist light off, and of course I set the focus limiter switch to the right range for street shooting. As expected, all newer Olympus lenses, including the 12-50mm, 12mm F2, 45mm F1.8 and 75mm F1.8 have very good low light focusing capability, when used with newer Olympus micro 4/3 bodies such as E-P3 or better, the E-M5.
Stuck 1/30sec, F/2.8, ISO200Even at F/2.8, the 60mm lens is very sharp. Full size available for download via a link near the end of this entry. 
Mouse King 1/200sec, F/5.6, ISO200
Breakfast 1/200sec, F2.8, ISO200Image Sample 2
100% Crop from Image Sample 2
The End is Near 1/100sec, F/5.6, ISO200Image Sample 3
100% Crop from Image Sample 3
My Hands are Tied 1/80sec, F/5, ISO400
Black Eyed Peas 1/80sec, F/5, ISO200
1/50sec, F/4.5, ISO200Of course, no lens is perfect.
What are the things that I have to complain about this marvelous M.Zuiko 60mm F2.8 macro lens? What are the things that I wish could be improved?
1) No AF/MF Switch
The addition of the focus limiter switch in the lens was a huge welcome, but having another switch for instant manual focus/auto-focus selection would be even more convenient. I understand that many buttons on the OM-D or PEN bodies can be customized for this MF/AF shortcut with just one press of the button, but those buttons serve better purposes for other functions such as AEL/AFL locking, ISO control, and perhaps even DOF preview (for those who do need it). Having a dedicated button of AF/MF switch on the lens itself also saves confusion for normal users. After all, Olympus has been thoughtful enough to include a function (Fn) button on the 12-50mm F3.5-6.3 kit lens, why not have this Fn button on the 60mm macro lens as well? A good macro lens is all about having sufficient control over the shooting, and this button is quite a necessity in my opinion.
2) F2.8 - The Good and Bad
It is no wonder why Olympus would choose F2.8 as the widest opening aperture for the 60mm macro lens, optimizing the lens for performance to weight/size ratio. Having the aperture any wider, say F2 or F1.8, the lens will have to be significantly larger and heavier, which would defeat the purpose of using a micro 4/3 system that has the small footprint and lightweight advantage over other systems. If I were to choose between a 60mm F2.8 and 50mm F2 for my usual general shooting on the street, I would surely opt for the 50mm F2, just for the reason of widest aperture F2 alone. With the wider aperture, I have two important advantages: being able to render shallower depth of field, and at the same time more capable in shooting under dimmer lighting conditions. The 60mm F2.8 macro lens still is capable of rendering very good bokeh and blurring the background, especially when I did close up portraits as shown in this entry. However, we know how much better the 45mm F1.8 lens and 75mm F1.8 lens would fare in similar conditions. Shooting with the 60mm macro lens in the evening, I found the need to push the ISO setting to at least 1600 and even 3200 to achieve sufficiently fast shutter speed for hand held shooting. This was a huge disadvantage as opposed to 45mm F1.8 or 75mm F1.8, where ISO1000 or lower was already adequate. If your only sole purpose of getting the 60mm macro lens was to shoot macro specifically, you will surely not need anything wider than F2.8, in fact most of the time you will stop down the aperture narrower.
3) I have been scratching my head for almost an hour now and I cannot come up with a No.3 !!!
Everything else about this lens have checked all the right boxes of what makes a great macro lens. You mat remember my earlier comment in Part 1 of very slight resolution decline shooting at narrow aperture (at high magnification of 1:1x ratio) was not really valid, because the images were still amazingly sharp with plentiful of fine details.
How to burn a chicken 1/125sec, F/2.8, ISO500
Grinding the coconut - 1/125, F/4.5, ISO200
Vegetable seller 1/160sec, F/2.8, ISO200
Child Labor 1/500sec, F/2.8, ISO200
That looked like it was going to hurt 1/200sec, F/2.8, ISO200
Ice Cream 1/1000sec, F/2.8, ISO200 
Buddies 1/1600sec, F/2.8, ISO200Olympus M.Zuiko 60mm F2.8 Macro Lens Review SUMMARY
What I like:
1) Exceptionally sharp, ability to capture massive amount of details even shooting at wide open F2.8. Even sharper than 50mm F2 macro (from F2.8 to 5.6)
2) Very good flare resistance, almost no chromatic aberration
3) Addition of focus limiter switch was a life-saver, optimizing Autofocus performance.
4) Auto-Focus performance is fast and very reliable, on par with recent micro 4/3 Olympus M.Zuiko lenses.
5) Weather-sealing allows the lens to be used in harsher shooting conditions
6) Lens is small and light (only 185g), yet delivering full 1:1 magnification ratio macro shooting performance.
7) Minimum focusing distance of 0.19m at 1:1 full magnification factor is very usable in most macro shooting.
What I don't like:
1) Noticeable minor decline of sharpness shooting at F8 and narrower, though very good amount of details are still captured. (to be fair I used the legendary 50mm F2 as a comparison, which was very uniform in sharpness even at narrower aperture).
2) Moire can become an issue for some shots, care should be taken to review the shots carefully for crucial works with the lens.
3) No AF/MF switch
4) F2.8, could have been better if it was F2.
As a dedicated macro lens, this M.Zuiko 60mm F2.8 macro surely will deliver satisfactory results, being able to capture massive amount of details, and generally it is a very sharp lens. The capability to shoot at full 1 to 1 magnification ratio opens up a whole new world of possibilities. Certainly, there is very little to complain about this lens when sharpness and image technical perfection are the main concern.
I know there will be questions asking whether this 60mm F2.8 lens is sharper than the current 75mm F1.8 lens (which is considered by many currently the sharpest lens on the planet). Well, I cannot answer that question unless a controlled standardized test is to be performed to compare both lenses side by side. This is out of my area of expertise and I am sure sooner or later some more capable reviewers out there or curious forum members would post up useful comparison data from the two lenses for a better conclusive results. As for now, I can tell you that the sharpness and image quality on the 60mm F2.8 macro is very, very good, and you will surely not be disappointed.
As usual, more photographs are made available for downloads for your pixel peeping pleasures.
60MM NON-MACRO SHOOTING TESTYou can download the selected 10 full size JPEG Images here (click)
Flare and CA torture test, taken close to noon, the KLCC Twin Towers (well, only one of them I can fit with the 60mm lens).1/4000sec, F/8, ISO200Image Sample 4
100% Crop from Image Sample 4In this extremely harsh condition, CA was completely absent, which was unexpected. Flare resistance was very good too, considering I was shooting with no hood attached. 
Ability to render nice circular bokeh 1/25sec, F/2.8, ISO1000
1/15sec, F/2.8, ISO1000Have got to love the E-M5's 5 Axis Image Stabilization. Using a 60mm lens (at 120mm equivalent focal length) and yet I can still get away with sharp image at 1/15sec shutter speed hand held, was a incredible !!
Night Offerings 1/15sec, F/2.8, ISO4000
Shoulder High 1/50sec, F/2.8, ISO3200It is not difficult to see where this M.Zuiko 60mm F2.8 macro lens is coming from. The design and built considerations of this lens was purely made based on the feedback that was gathered from the most revered DSLR lens 50mm F2 macro, with all the flaws and imperfections from the 50mm lens being rectified and improved further upon, in the new 60mm F2.8 lens. The flaws of the 50mm lens included poor AF performance, no focus limier switch, no magnification ratio scale, high succeptibility to flare, and some chromatic aberration isues (not severe, but its noticeable). The new M.Zuiko 60mm F2.8 lens has drastically improved Autofocus performance, which was optimized with the focus limiter switch, has better precise control with the inclusion of magnification factor scale, has newer ZERO coating with good resistance to flare, and of course, having almost no chromatic aberration. It was as if the 60mm F2.8 macro lens is all that the current 50mm F2 macro lens users would ever dream and hope for.
Do not give up on the beautiful, legendary Zuiko Digital 50mm F2 macro lens just yet. Though the lens is very, very old and outdated in terms of digital technology now, the 50mm F2 lens can still hold its own weight. Image quality in terms of sharpness is not that far behind the 60mm F2.8 macro, yet at narrower apertures (F8-11 or narrower) the 50mm macro lens was able to pull out more details from the image. Also, the fact that it has an F2 widest aperture opening added the advantage of rendering shallower depth of field and shooting in low light conditions, allowing the 50mm F2 lens more advantage as a general non-macro purpose shooting lens. Nonetheless, in 60mm F2.8's defense, at F2.8 widest opening aperture it was very respectable on its own, and still is capable in rendering shallow depth of field, as demonstrated by photographs in this entry.
If you are a serious macro shooter (insect macro, food photography, product shooting, etc), and you are currently using a micro 4/3 system or considering to start using micro 4/3 system, this M.Zuiko 60mm F2.8 macro lens is highly recommended for you.
If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to say something in the comment section on this blog entry, or email me directly at hamish7ian@gmail.com
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