Macro lens: Olympus 60mm, or Panasonic 45mm?

I'm trying to work out what macro lens to put on my Panasonic GH2 (eventually to be upgraded to a GH4).

I've been borrowing a Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm F2.8 Macro Lens, and I like it a lot. The only hesitation I have is that being a 60mm, the magnification factor is huge which means the slightest camera movement and I easily lose my subject out of the shot.

I'm wondering if the Panasonic's 45mm would be easier to handle? On the other hand, getting a lens that's "less macro" would seem to defeat the purpose here, so is holding onto my subject just a skill I need to learn in shooting macro?

This issue is probably also exacerbated by the fact that currently I'm using a Nauticam Flat Port 72, which is much fatter than needed.

Other pros and cons of the lenses are:

Panasonic 45mm

Image stabilisation built into lens

Panasonic lens on Panasonic camera may be faster to focus? (Or so say my local Panasonic dealers...)

More expensive

Olympus 60mm

Seems to be nicer bokeh

Environmentally sealed

No image stabilisation

Significantly cheaper

Mostly this lens will be used underwater with strobes (and I presume image stabilisation is less important when you can crank up the shutter speed?), but I'd like to be able to use it topside as well.

Right now, I'm leaning towards to the Olympus, but would like to hear other people's thoughts...

I have and shoot both. In my opinion the Bokeh on the Panasonic is much better than on the Olympus but the 60 is slightly sharper and focuses slightly faster for me (EM-1, Subal Housing). Neither are hard to handle in my opinion but neither are as simple as a 60 on FF. In terms of macro both lenses shoot 1:1 so the magnification (i.e. the macroness) is identical for either lens although adding a diopter to the 60 will get more mag than the same diopter on the 45.

Cheers

Bill

I'm convinced that image stabilization makes a difference even underwater with strobes. So if you're going to stick with Panasonic cameras, get their lens.

I have a panasonic mirrorless and due to cost I decided to get the Olympus 60mm. I am satisfied with this lens however it is challenging for subjects that are not so small in murky waters. The working distance becomes very long and it becomes difficult at least for me to get a clean shot due to the very narrow field of view. On land I never use it as 60mm is too long even for portrait work for me. Focus is also not great and for very small stuff there is quite a bit of hunting also on land. The lack of image stabilisation has not been a problem as long as you shoot at 1/250 or faster. My camera gets up to 1/320.

Agreed on most points. But the 60 is unbeatable for really small stuff and gives a little more working distance which can be useful for lighting.

What do you mean by "focus is not great"? I find it very fast and sharp on an Olympus.

Cheers guys. That's good stuff for me to consider.

I think I need to try a few more tests:

- Topside shots with the Oly lens on the GH2, to check out the lack of IS with a slower shutter speed than I use with underwater strobes.

- Focusing speeds between the 60 and the 45 lenses, to see if a Panasonic lens on a Panasonic camera combo is significantly faster.

What do you mean by "focus is not great"? I find it very fast and sharp on an Olympus.

I've found the Oly 60mm on my GH2 does a lot of focus hunting at the moment, but I suspect that's more an issue with a lack of focus light than anything else. On the occasions that I manage to light the subject with my can-light, the lens focuses fast enough. My strobes have a focus light feature which I haven't yet played with, so that's probably the answer to this.

Really? That's interesting. I'd thought it was the other way around. I know bokeh is somewhat subjective, but what makes you prefer the Panasonic?

Clearly Bokeh is subjective but for me the Leica/Panasonic wins. We were just in the Northern Sea of Cortez and I shot a lot of brown cheeked blennies with both lenses in similar backgrounds, will try to post some later today.

Bill

Hey Bill, I'd be really interested to see these comparison photos, if it's not too hard for you to post them.