Olympus 50mm f2 Macro Noise

A lot complain about the noise of the Olympus 50mm f2 Macro - and are waiting for a quiet SWD model to be released. I personally don't find it noisy at all, and so put together this short video of the sound it makes. I suppose it does sound terrible compared to the Olympus 50-200 SWD which I also record - which is impressively quiet, although think that my friends Sigma 50-500 is even quiter.

For the sound recording, I was holding the Olympus E-3 with lens attached - only inches away from the built in camera on my Macbook. The sound of the 50mm lens is far worse than it sounds when working with it. Maybe I'm just used to the 50mm and drown out the sound, but I really think that it isn't that bad until you happen to compare it side by side to something like the quieter SWD lenses. What I can say is that I sure wouldn't do without this lens in anticipation of a quieter model coming along - - - just because of the noise (or the speed for that matter - which I also don't find to be a problem in most cases)

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Olympus
• 50mm
• f2
• Macro
• Noise

[trashthedress]

no louder that the kit lenses....

[robertwatcher]

@trashthedress True enough.

[bughykissable]

don't you find the 50mm a little too 'zoomy' on olympus? Wouldn't you prefer a 30-35mm instead of this 50mm? I want to buy a prime but can't decide to go for 30-35, or 50mm.. I'm afraid that on the 50mm I'll be forced the get a lot back from the subject.

[robertwatcher]

@bughykissable A 100mm lens on my 35mm film cameras has always been my favorite portrait length lens. That is what the 50mm on Olympus gives me. With my Nikon D200 and other APS sized sensors, I never used the 50mm as it was too short at about 75mm equivalent focal length. I have never liked the normal 50mm focal length with my 35mm cameras and that is what a 30 to 35mm would give me. To normal looking and too much distortion for portraits. Just my view though.

[Mazsk]

How do I use the 50mm macro ed 2.0 with my 510. ?

Do i set it on auto and manual focus? if I use A or S can't seem to operate it that way and use it.

Thanks

[robertwatcher]

@Mazsk I use my 50mmf2 on my E-510 all of the time. You can use it in AF mode or Manual focus mode - whichever you chose. Also any of the auto exposure modes like A, S, P, or manual exposure - work with this lens.

[garyokee]

Helpful - thanks for posting. I've decided to get one to complement my 12-60, which is a superb lens, but - like your 50-200 - quite heavy while hiking.

[DVL1507]

@robertwatcher

any Olympus lens with SWD marking on it is noise less :D

incredibly quick and noiseless

quick question, which lens would you prefer. 14-35 F2.0 (damn expensive but worthed), or the 12-60 F2.8-4 (good all around lens, not that expensive)

Many of my friends says that the overall sharpness looks pretty much the same, but if you pay attention to hue details, 14-35 will show its true potential with its SUPER RICH colour :D

whats your opinion?

[MWNathan]

Have you lived in dublin ?

[petarSLO]

i like the sound of Zuiko 50mm...and of course, You cant compare 50-200 with it, Zuiko 50 mm is superb while 50-200 is best around 150-170 and not at begining - 50mm.

Got both of them, realy pro lenses.