Olympus Targets PEN-F at Street Photographers

The Olympus PEN series of mirrorless cameras has long taken its blueprint cues from the company'southward classic line of half-frame 35mm PEN film cameras. The latest model in the series, the PEN-F, takes that to the next level.

The photographic camera includes an integrated viewfinder—it'due south electronic, not optical like the PENs of yesteryear—but information technology is placed in the corner of the camera then right-eyed photographers can go along ane centre on the finder and one eye on the existent world when finding a frame. Olympus is targeting the camera at street photographers who prefer an first viewfinder of a rangefinder-way camera, rather than the centered viewfinder found in SLR designs.

In addition to the 2.4-megapixel OLED EVF—it's a commencement for a camera in the PEN series, having previously been reserved for models in the Olympus OM-D line—the F has a new prototype sensor. The 20-megapixel Micro Iv Thirds sensor is the highest resolution hat Olympus has used to engagement, matching Panasonic'due south GX8.

The F has no shortage of physical controls. There's a colour control bicycle on the front—it allows you to actuate art filters and give photos a color or monochrome motion picture expect with ease. The shutter release is surrounded by a control dial, which is supplemented past a rear control dial. Other acme dials include EV compensation command and mode adjustment, and there's a record button to start and end movies located upwardly summit as well.

The rear houses the vari-angle LCD—it can swing out from the body and face up forward, up, or downwardly. It'southward sensitive to touch, so yous can tap on role of the Live View feed to set focus. Programmable function buttons, a iv-way directional pad, and a rocker switch.

The autofocus arrangement is brisk—information technology features 81 contrast detect points. The F shoots at 5fps with tracking enabled, or at 10fps with stock-still focus when using its 1/8,000-2nd mechanical shutter. Flare-up shooting is increased to 20fps with the electronic shutter enabled.

The sensor is stabilized along five axes, and stabilization can exist extended to not-native lenses. There's a menu selection to input focal length in order to achieve this feat. If you're working from a tripod you can enable the multi-exposure Loftier Res Shot mode, which captures 50-megapixel JPG or 80-megapixel Raw images.

Dissimilar high-end OM-D bodies, the PEN F doesn't comprise weather resistance into its design. Its video functions are on the same level as the E-M10 Mark II, which limits capture to 1080p, and there's no microphone input.

The PEN-F is scheduled to ship at the get-go of March. Information technology's available as a body only, in either silverish or blackness, for $1,199.99 in the U.S. The Canadian price is higher—$i,499.99.