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Measuring just 32mm and weighs merely 165g (5.8 oz), this standard lens is extremely compact and it is the most lightweight version among all ZUIKO standard lenses. Naturally, it is also the most affordable in this series and has sold in big numbers over the years as a bundled lense for any new purchase of a OM SLR.
With a simple, straight forward optical formulation of 6 elements in 5 groups, Its optical design provides superb definition for maximum edge-to-edge sharp images throughout the focusing range. Its closest focusing distance is maintained at 0.45m throughout the years since its introduction. Other than it can be used as a high performance day to day lense for general photography, manyOM photographers also take advantage of its high resolving power as a good, cheap alternative bellow lense for close-up photography.
This Zuiko lense has a long history where can trace back to almost 30 years ago and has only gone through an update probably occurred in 1982 with an entirely different optical configuration. Strangely, Olympus has not been very keen on highlighting any technological advancement applied to the update neither it has addressed some sensitive issue pertaining to the lense coating used in these lenses. For an instance, up to a very late stage, many of the 50mm f/1.8 still have not been identified whether it carries any MC (multi-layers lens coating) despite the fact most of us know, it is. On the other hand, all Zuiko AUTO-S 50mm f/1.4 produced after 1984 have added a "MC" identification in the lens data.