Any concerns that the Digital PEN series might be finished as Olympus increasingly concentrated on its highly successful OM-D line-up appear unfounded as the company launches its best compact mirrorless model yet.
The new PEN F pays homage to the half frame 35mm SL from 1963, arguably the camera which first established the Olympus brand in the minds of enthusiast shooters…especially as a maker of rather small, but highly-featured models.
Like its spiritual ancestor, the PEN F is elegantly styled with a high reliance on traditional dials for control. It features an all-metal bodyshell and is the first Digital Pen model to incorporate a built-in electronic viewfinder… an OLED panel with a resolution of 2.36 million dots. This is supplemented by a tilt/swing adjustable LCD monitor screen with touch controls and a resolution of 1.37 million dots.
Also new is a higher resolution 'Live MOS’ sensor with an effective pixel count of 20.3 million and, most likely, the same device as is used in Panasonic’s GX8. It’s accompanied by Olympus’s latest ‘Truepix VII’ processor which enables continuous shooting at up to 10 fps and Full HD video recording at 50, 25 or
24 fps (progressive scan). The PEN F also has Olympus’s latest-generation five-axis sensor-shift image stabilisation, and the ‘Hi-Res’ shot mode – which also uses sensor shifting – to create 50 megapixels JPEGs or 80 megapixels RAW files.
The in-camera image processfunctions available on the latest OM-D cameras the ‘Highlight & Shadow’ and ‘Colour Creator’ controls have been further expanded via a new ‘Monochrome And Colour Profile’ controller which is accessed via a front-facing ‘Creative Dial’.
The profile control provides user customisable tone and saturation image presets which simulate the look of classic colour and B&W films. The monochrome profile mode even enables digitised ‘film grain’ to be applied to an image. Olympus says there’s an increasing demand for more Photoshop-style adjustments in-camera as many more images are being uploaded directly while in the field, via WiFi, rather than after post-camera editing. The PEN F’s ‘Creative Dial’ also provides quick access to the ‘Art Filters’ effects and the ‘Colour Creator’ adjustments.
In keeping with the style of the new PEN F, Olympus has released a range of bespoke accessories, including a limited-edition leather bag and a premium leather shoulder strap. An optional handgrip which cleverly incorporates an Arca-Swiss type tripod mounting plate is also available.
The Olympus PEN F is available in either balck or silver finishes and comes bundled with the compact FL-LM3 accessory flash unit. It’s priced at $1799 for the body only or $1999 when packaged with the M.Zuiko Digital 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 powered zoom.
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