It will be interesting to see how sales of the PEN-F compare with those of Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-GX8. It is after all very similar in terms of key specification – probably the same sensor, enhanced touch functions including touch-pad AF, the same viewfinder position (minus the articulation) and the same lens range to choose from. In fact, the bodies are so astonishingly similar that the PEN-F looks more like a stylish adaptation, or a flattering imitator, than a competitor – but to my eye at least the PEN, with its contours, layers and more rounded feel takes the beauty pageant rosette. The designers have done a great job.
http://www.dpreview.com/opinion/9256567720/design-looks-and-desire-olympus-does-it-again
Even if video features are not well implemented here (or not implemented at all) I see the new picture control feature like a very interesting and potentially powerful tool for low.budget works when you need (or want) to make "in-camera-grading". It is very liberating when you get (more or less) the look you want on stage....less time editing, and less postproduction / grading with these thin 8bit images, which translates in less banding/noise/artefacts problems. Video recording in these devices is like "jpegPhotography" somehow.... I still use the first em-5 in some of this type of works only because of stabilization and the ability to tweek the profiles with the s-curve, so I can imagine a lot more "space" to play with this custom picture profiles, specially the black and white one. (but I still don´t know if this is even possible in movie mode). Sometimes (for me) the best grading is the one that I don´t need to do at all, and working with log profiles I feel creatively more constrained than liberated...it is a paradox
On the base of the camera, the tripod socket is right up at the edge below the lens mount. Given that there's not much space between the lens mount and the base of the camera, the placement of the tripod socket can make it difficult or nearly impossible to mount larger lenses, such as the 12-40mm or 7-14mm Zuiko PRO lenses for instance, while a tripod plate is attached. Smaller diameter lenses, like a number of their compact primes, work just fine with tripod plates, as they don't encroach below the edge of the camera.
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/olympus-pen-f/olympus-pen-f-field-test.htm
The entire design concept behind the PEN-F is aimed at JPEG shooters who are active on social media. There's nothing wrong with this as it enables a traditionally-styled camera to meet the needs of the modern user.
The addition of a decent EVF, which is built into the camera (rather than offered as an add-on) makes the PEN-F the first ‘serious’ camera in the PEN range. Hitherto, PEN cameras have been essentially snapshooters' cameras, albeit at a 'prestige' level.
http://www.photoreview.com.au/reviews/advanced-compact-cameras/interchangeable-lens/olympus-pen-f
This strange front wheel...
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