The extended 90mm focal length allows macro photography at greater distances from the subject as compared to the Olympus 30mm and 60mm macros (or any other shorter focal length macro for that matter). The larger gap allows better positioning of artificial lighting and configuration of the tripod.

If you don’t round up to the nearest ounce you could say the Olympus 90mm f/3.5 macro weighs less than one pound. In any case, it’s the lightest weight lens in its class and tips the kitchen scale at 15.97 ounces (453g) without lens cap, rear cap and lens hood. If you want incredible close-ups, especially outdoors, buy the OM System 90mm f3.5 Macro IS Pro. It’s not utterly flawless, but it does what few other lenses can do. The ability to create 4x macro images with autofocus is incredible. And, it’s weather-sealed and reasonably lightweight.The price is steep for casual snap shooters, but it’s well worth the dollar for serious amateurs and professional photographers. Want a new Macro Lens? Look no further! The OM System M.Zuiko ED 90mm F3.5 Macro IS PRO Lens, designed for Micro Four Thirds System offers up to 2x magnification. Ultra-high magnification shooting and more magnification than on any lens we’ve ever made. Increase that magnification up to 4x2 with the addition of the optional MC-20 2x teleconverter (sold separately) to capture an unseen world, invisible to the naked eye. At 180mm (equivalent) this Olympus macro lens creates too much feature-compression to be used as a standard portrait lens, although the published focal length of 90mm may suggest it. Of course, it can be used for portraiture, but expect some natural distortion. That said, the bokeh is excellent and neutral.

In particular, when shooting at2x magnification with the OM System M.Zuiko 90mm f/3.5 Macro IS PRO, the tip of the lens is about 6.5 cm / 2.5 inches from the subject. At 1x magnification, this distance increases to 9.5 cm / 3.7 inches. Previously, I have been working for years with the OM System M.Zuiko 60mm f/2.8 macro lens. At 1:1 magnification, this lens manages a working distance of 8.3 cm / 3.3 inches from the tip of the lens. Although this may sound almost as good as the new 90mm f/3.5 Macro, it’s a bit of an illusion. For lighting purposes, the 90mm lens is far easier to use with an on-camera speedlight, because the lens itself is longer. In other words, it has a much bigger “flash to subject” distance than a shorter macro lens. This offers more room for a larger diffuser, which improves the quality of my light substantially. The image stabilisation mechanism in the lens and the camera body work together to achieve 5-axis sync IS, which delivers up to 7 steps of shutter speed compensation. Furthermore, the90mm F3.5 Macro features an acceleration sensor on the lens that precisely detects motion blur for correction of shift, which has a significant impact on macro shooting. No need to bring a tripod, the powerful image stabilization functionality allows the user the flexibility, even for handheld high-resolution photos. This is one of the sharpest lenses I’ve ever used. I was capturing details I never knew existed on animals I have photographed countless times for years. Even after cropping my images significantly, the details remained clear. In fact, the lens is sharp enough that the OM-1’s 20 megapixel resolution was the limiting factor for sharpness, rather than the glass.The Olympus 90mm f/3.5 Macro is one outstanding lens. It’s a 2X (4X with converter) Macro and a fast mid-range telephoto. It offers exceptional performance, stunning images and versatile features. The other thing OM System does well, besides telephoto, is stabilization. While we don’t yet know all the details on the upcoming macro lens, OM System has confirmed it will be stabilized. Stabilization is incredibly important for macro lenses. The closer the subject is, the more exaggerated any camera shake will be. In-lens stabilization and in-body stabilization are a big plus for macro work. As I mentioned above, the focus limiter switch on the lens is well thought out and very practically placed on the lens barrel. When photographing I often want to capture the essence of my subject as well as the details, photographing the whole subject and then going in closer and closer for the details… The OM System 90mm macro is compatible with both the Olympus 1.4x Teleconverter and 2.0x Teleconverter. Both the Olympus 60mm and 30mm Macro lenses are not compatible with teleconverters. Adding a teleconverter to the 90mm Macro will give you up to a crazy 4X magnification. Longer Focal Length with Increased Working Distance

I agree with @Quiverbow that even making it something like 25% cheaper wouldn't attract millions of additional buyers. Also we do have to consider, like it or not, that OMDS does not (and, in the foreseeable future, will not) sell as much as Nikon or Canon or Sony, and lower quantities enforce higher prices to break even, it's as simple as that, unfortunately.Manual Focus Clutch mechanism allowing rapid transition from AF to manual focus. Also features a guide shooting magnification for use when shooting with manual focus.