Olympus has added another entry to its Pen Micro Four Thirds camera range, this time by resurrecting the name of one of its film-based rangefinders. The Olympus Pen-F is a retro-inspired camera that uses the styling of the original version, but combines it with modern components, including the company’s first 20-megapixel Live MOS image sensor without a low pass filter combined with a five-axis image stabilization system, and the TruePic VII image processor.
Capable of an ISO range of between 80 and 25,600, with the image stabilization able to compensate for up to five steps of shutter speed, the Pen-F has a fast shutter release time lag of 0.044 seconds, a shutter speed that can go from 60 seconds down to 1/16,000th of a second, and is able to shoot RAW images at 10fps, 20fps when using the electronic silent shutter mode.
Autofocus modes range from a Magnified Frame AF using over 800 AF points to an 81-point Focusing Point selection mode, as well as face detection and eye detection AF modes. Focusing is assisted by an AF targeting pad via the rear display, and a focus ring to activate Live View image magnification or focus peaking when manually adjusting.
Built from aluminum with metal dials, the Pen-F looks quite similar to the first version, but on the back is an articulating three-inch LCD monitor with customizable buttons and a 2.36 million-dot OLED electronic viewfinder with a 100 percent field of view. Though it can only achieve a 1080p resolution for video, it does offer the ability to create 4K-resolution time lapse clips using up to 999 automatically shot images, and Wi-Fi connectivity is offered for remote control functions and content sharing.
Shipping in early March, the Olympus Pen-F is expected to cost $1,200 for the body alone.
