Olympus Pen F
-Hands on-
Welcome to the world of mirrorless camera and this one could be the sexiest one of the year 2016. In this hands on, I’d say about my feeling when using the camera rather than spec sheets. So there are no graphic or numeric of benchmark at all.
“Feel it”
Olympus Pen F is came with the rangefinder design(no triangle head on the middle) instead of SLR like other friends, OMD series. Anyway, PEN F’s design is still eye-catching retro style, remind me of those past PEN film cameras. It has a premium design & build quality. With the most popular material like magnesium alloy and contrast with the leather look. The black one is matte so it’s quite hard to see the fingerprints and scratches while silver represents the sparkle look. The camera is 4/3 system so it’s quite small, easy to carry. But if you have a big hand or you need to hold it for long, it may kill your hand, less ergonomics perhaps.
“Dial, dial, and dials”
One thing I can’t take my eyes off when I first saw the camera is dial. There are a lot dials honestly. It’d be a good thing because you can direct access dials and buttons to change all manner of settings.
The unique one is on the front of camera which allows you quickly change the creative options and would love to say Mono (monochrome) is my favorite.
Above the camera, you still have an exposure compensation dial(3 stops), and aperture priority and shutter priority in the same dial, plus the big dial that allows you to switch P/S/A/etc modes. Still there is a last one at the back, for shutter speed if you need.
All dial is working great in my hand but the front one is not easy to switch, anyway it’s great to have.
“Sexy back”
Yes I like the touch screen it may help you a lot when you try to focus something quick. Furthermore it’s tiltable, you can turn it to the left first and then turn up/down as you want which is good when you try to shoot something in different angles. For the EVF, a built-in electronic viewfinder is a 2.36M-dot OLED that offers very clear, crisp readability and very little lag time for me though it’s quite small. Other buttons at the back is nice layout but I prefer the “play” button swap with the “delete” button at the right down corner but it may not a problem for others.
“Prince street”
The Pen F is very quick to use and it’s perfectly match for the street shooters. I’m impressed its autofocus, it is able to lock on to a subject quickly and accurately in the majority of situations, of course it will be struggling ever so slightly if the subject is very dimly light. I prefer the fix lens and 17mm f1.8 offer me a good deal for normal using. Integrated 5-axis image stabilisation system is great in real life and that means it allows you an excellent handheld shooting capabilities at slower shutter speeds.
“Nailed it”
A new 20MP sensor, it is the highest-resolution Olympus camera to date. For me image quality is outshines. But honestly, not that great if you compare to those full frame units. Anyway, Pen F does a great job overall in the image quality and also be highly customisable creative image functions. You will have a lot of fun to try these art filters.
“Verdict”
I can deny that the Olympus PEN F is a great camera, which is for the main part being sold on its gorgeous good looks. It has a beautiful in the shape of desirable performing sensor, and a range of features that appeal to many photographers.
What I like
- A design | I’m a fan of rangefinder shape and I like dials with classic looks
- Built-in stabilisation | You have more chance to get picture on various situation
- Image quality | Though it’s not superb but I’m surprised & fascinated
- Touch screen & electronic view finder | It’s comfortable to use, EVF is crisp but a bit small
What I don’t like
- Battery life | It’s quite short, I get under 300 shots
- Ergonomics | Perhaps I need a grip
- Autofocus | It’s actually great but others use hybrid autofocus which offers more quality
- Video | In this era and this price, we need 4K
“Samples”
