The mighty PEN: Hands-on with Olympus PEN-F
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Olympus’s PEN series of digital interchangeable lens cameras has a long heritage, stretching right back to the mid-20th Century, long before digital imaging transformed photography. The company’s latest PEN shows off its early influences in a classically-styled body and enthusiast-friendly handling experience, but in terms of its specifications the PEN-F is very much of its time.
Read our Olympus PEN-F First Impressions Review
The mighty PEN: Hands-on with Olympus PEN-F
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The PEN-F is available in two finishes, black (shown here, obviously) and silver. We really like the sleek-looking black finish but it’s all a matter of taste. We also quite like how the black version pairs with the silver finish of our 17mm F2.8. And how a camera looks is the most important thing, right?
The mighty PEN: Hands-on with Olympus PEN-F
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Well, looking at this camera you could certainly be forgiven for thinking that. The PEN-F is perhaps the most shamelessly ‘retro’ camera we’ve seen since the Nikon Df.
There’s really no need for a physical control point to select color modes, for instance (were the engineers just looking for something to make that dial do?), but we’ll freely admit that the front-mounted dial does look pretty cool. Likewise the generous amount of leatherette that covers the front (and back) of the PEN-F. So much classier than bare metal, or heaven forbid – plastic…
The mighty PEN: Hands-on with Olympus PEN-F
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The large on/off switch on the top left of the camera body is another control point that we suspect was included more for nostalgic reasons than anything else. Recalling the on / off switch on many OM-series film SLRs it moves positively, and with an expensive-feeling stiffness.
The mighty PEN: Hands-on with Olympus PEN-F
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New in Olympus’s digital PEN lineup is a built-in electronic viewfinder. This finder immediately sets it apart from earlier models like the E-P5 and puts the handling experience of the PEN-F closer to cameras like Sony’s venerable a6000. With 2.36 million dots, this OLED finder gives a very clear and crisp view of the world beyond the lens.
Also thoroughly modern is an 800-point contrast detection AF system, with face and eye-detection. This might not be capable of quite the same accuracy when tracking moving subjects as the hybrid system in the OM-D E-M1, but we’ve been impressed by Olympus’s contrast detect AF in other recent ILCs. Initial experience of using the PEN-F suggests that it performs well.
The mighty PEN: Hands-on with Olympus PEN-F
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At the heart of the PEN-F is a 20MP Four Thirds format Live MOS sensor. The Micro Four Thirds system entails a 2X crop factor for attached lenses, meaning that our 17mm F1.8 actually behaves approximately like a 34mm F3.6 lens would on a full-frame camera.
Like its bigger brother the DSLR-style OM-D E-M5, the PEN-F features 5-axis image stabilization, which Olympus claims should offer a stabilization benefit of ~5 stops. In our experience, this type of stabilization is also extremely useful when shooting handheld video.
The mighty PEN: Hands-on with Olympus PEN-F
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The PEN-F’s video specification is pretty standard for an ILC in 2016, offering Full HD capture at up to 60fps, with a maximum bitrate of 52Mbps. Sound is dealt with by a built-in stereo microphone, visible here just ahead of the hotshoe, on the top of the camera.
The mighty PEN: Hands-on with Olympus PEN-F
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By default, video is initiated via the red movie record button on the top right of the PEN-F and both this and most other major controls are pretty familiar, being used in other recent OM-D and PEN-series Olympus cameras. The shutter button sits in the middle of the main control dial (and a thread for a screw-in cable release is a nice touch) and there’s a secondary dial just behind it, jutting out from the rear of the camera. A ±3EV exposure compensation dial can be found on the top right shoulder.
The mighty PEN: Hands-on with Olympus PEN-F
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The PEN-F features a 3″ fully articulating LCD screen with 1.037 million dots, which folds out to the left of the camera body. The screen is touch sensitive, allowing for various features like touch AF placement and shutter release, menu navigation and zoom / swipe image review.
In terms of general handling, the PEN-F feels dense without being too heavy, and its aluminum and magnesium-alloy body gives a distinct impression of quality – an impression backed up by the nicely damped dials and stiff, well-machined dials. It’s a shame that the body isn’t weatherproof, though. That’s something that we did expect for the relatively high MSRP.
The mighty PEN: Hands-on with Olympus PEN-F
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Here’s a clearer view of the rear of the PEN-F showing the screen stowed for normal use. The notched dial to the right of the viewfinder is a diopter adjustment.
The mighty PEN: Hands-on with Olympus PEN-F
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On the right side of the PEN-F under a sprung flap you’ll find USB and HDMI ports. The USB port doubles as a jack for Olympus’ optional RM-UC1 remote shutter release. The camera lacks sockets for an external microphone or headphones. As with most cameras these days, Wi-Fi is built-in.
The mighty PEN: Hands-on with Olympus PEN-F
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The battery and memory card can be accessed from the bottom of the PEN-F, from within the same compartment. The battery is the familiar BLN-1, and this is rated for around 330 shots by CIPA standards.
As you can see, the tripod socket of the PEN-F is central to the lens axis, and far enough away from the battery compartment that it should be possible to swap battery / memory card with the camera mounted on some (if not all) tripods. This is good to see.
The mighty PEN: Hands-on with Olympus PEN-F
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This view gives you a pretty good idea of the PEN-F’s size – or rather of its smallness. Without a lens attached you can see that the camera fits pretty much into the hand of our model. The PEN-F measures 125 x 72 x 37mm, weighs 427g with battery and card installed, and will be available in March for $ 1199.99, body only.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)