This article features handheld images captured with an M.Zuiko PRO 45 mm f/1.2 during a close up test done around my gardens at home.

The first thing readers may be thinking is “Why do a close up test with a relatively short prime lens that has a minimum focusing distance of 50 cm (~19.7 inches)?” Admittedly this is a rather bizarre thing to do.

To accomplish this task I had to use a 10 mm extension tube and the Digital Teleconverter resident in my E-M1X. All of the images featured in this article are uncropped out-of-camera jpegs. I did some very minor adjustments to these images in post.

NOTE: Click on images to enlarge. To view this article in a range of other languages click on the Canadian flag in the upper right corner.

The reason for doing this close-up test with a lens that is not well suited to this type of challenge, comes down to utilization. The M.Zuiko PRO 45 mm f/1.2 prime is by far the least used lens that I own. As regular readers know I am heavily skewed to using zoom lenses.

I used this lens periodically when I was still doing safety video work for clients. The very fast aperture came in handy when recording video clips in quite dark environments along production lines or in warehouses . It also excelled when doing portrait work for some video projects. Since I haven’t done any client safety video work for a number of years, my M.Zuiko PRO 45 mm f/1.2 lens has been collecting dust in one of my camera bags for quite a long time.

After recently going through all of my camera gear with some periodic cleaning I looked at my PRO 45 mm f/1.2 with a more critical eye. I wondered why I still own this lens.

From a pragmatic standpoint I likely should have sold this lens a number of years ago. I decided to see if I could potentially repurpose this lens given my current needs. Given the fast aperture one of my thoughts was potentially using it for flower photography.

As could be predicted, the minimum focusing distance of 50 cm (~19.7 inches) combined with its shorter focal length made it impractical for the flower photography that I typically do. So I added a 10 mm extension tube. This shortened the minimum focusing distance to about 33 cm (~13 inches).

That was somewhat helpful but did not deliver a lens that was a practical option for my style of flower photography. I then decided to use the Digital Teleconverter resident in my E-M1X to see if I could repurpose the PRO 45 mm f/1.2 for close up photography.

I used various apertures and shutter speeds as I played around with this gear combination. It should be noted that the M.Zuiko PRO 45 mm f/1.2 is not compatible with in-camera focus stacking.

Since I never use focus bracketing with any of my photography there was no practical reason to experiment with that technology during this close up test.

I spent well over an hour experimenting with the PRO 45 mm, 10 mm extension tube, and Digital Teleconverter combination. As you review the uncropped images in this article you’ll probably reach the same conclusion that I did.  This set-up isn’t as practical as a lens like the M.Zuiko 60 mm f/2.8 macro is for this type of photography.

That’s not to say that the M.Zuiko PRO 45 mm f/1.2 is a bad lens. Far from it. As a low light prime, it significantly extends what is possible for video and still photography work. Optically it is very sharp and renders beautiful colours.  For a photographer who does portrait work, or prefers to work with prime lenses, it is an outstanding choice.

I came to the conclusion that it is time for me to sell this lens. And,  either pocket the money, or reinvest it in a different lens that better suits my needs. Coming to a decision about my continued ownership of this lens was well worth the time spent doing this close up photography test.

Technical Note

Photographs featured in this article were captured handheld using camera gear and technologies noted in the EXIF data. All images were created from out-of-camera jpegs using my standard process in post. This is the 1542 article published on this website since its original inception in 2015.

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