A piece of graph paper with ten 1mm fine divisions separated by heavy lines 1cm apart; medium lines 5mm apart was placed on a light box. The camera was mounted on a macro focusing rail which was mounted on a tripod. The shots were made in SHQ mode at f4, ESP autofocus using the remote.

For the super macro shot the lens to subject distance was 1 inch. Using a +2 and a +4 diopter to get approximately the same magnification the lens to subject distance was 3.5 inches in normal focus mode.

It has been stated on discussion groups that the barrel distortion in supermacro mode is noticeable and the close focusing of 1 inch that is necessary makes it difficult to light the subject.
 
 

Observations

• Barrel distortion is evident in Photo 1 (Oly super macro). It is not in Photo 2 (Diopters and normal focus).
• The color difference between the two photos is real and not a matter of exposure. The real color is something between the two.
• The "a" photos are 300% blowups of the pencil index marks in the lower right corners of the photos. Photo 1 looks better. It looks to me like there isn't any better resolution, but more contrast.
• As with everything in life it's a compromise. If you can live with barrel distortion and difficult lighting the built in super macro is a nice, handy feature. If you want a lack of barrel distortion, easier lighting with a bit less contrast and are willing to go to the effort and minor expense, the diopter route is the one to take.

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