PEN-F

Released February 2016

A 20.3-megapixel Micro Four Thirds mirrorless camera with five-axis stabilisation, an electronic viewfinder, a vari-angle touchscreen and front-dial colour and monochrome profiles.

Type: Mirrorless
Sensor: Four Thirds
Megapixels: 20.3
Lens: Micro Four Thirds
Video: 1920 × 1080 at 60 fps
Body weight: 373 g

What reviewers say

Both praise the metal construction, customisable controls, creative profiles and effective stabilisation, while questioning the price. Photography Blog finds operation intuitive; Digital Camera World encounters control glitches and less reliable tracking. Both see good image quality but softer default JPEGs. Digital Camera World also criticises the plastic rear buttons and tripod-only high-resolution mode.

From photographyblog.com and digitalcameraworld.com

Specifications

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Image and sensor

Camera type: Mirrorless
Sensor format: Four Thirds
Sensor type: Live MOS
Sensor dimensions: 17.4 × 13 mm
Effective resolution: 20.3 MP
Largest image: 5184 × 3888
RAW recording: Yes
Standard ISO range: 200–25600
Sensor detail: Approximately 21.77 total megapixels; no optical low-pass filter; Supersonic Wave Filter dust reduction
Image formats: JPEG, 12-bit losslessly compressed ORF RAW and RAW+JPEG; High Res Shot combines eight shifted exposures into 8160×6120 JPEG or 10368×7776 RAW, separately from ordinary native-resolution photographs
ISO detail: ISO 200–25600; expanded LOW equivalent to ISO 80
Image processor: TruePic VII

Lens and shooting

Lens mount: Micro Four Thirds
Stabilisation: Sensor shift
Maximum continuous burst: 20 fps
Autofocus: 81-area contrast detection; single, continuous and tracking AF, manual focus, face and near-eye priority; touchscreen AF targeting pad, magnification and four-colour focus peaking
Shutter: Mechanical 1/8000–60 seconds; electronic 1/16000–60 seconds; electronic first curtain 1/320–60 seconds, switching to mechanical at faster speeds; Bulb/Time up to 30 minutes and Live Composite up to three hours
Burst detail: Silent H+ electronic shooting up to 20 fps; mechanical high up to 10 fps with focus and exposure fixed at the first frame and stabilisation off; low up to 5 fps with continuous autofocus. Maker mechanical-high buffer approximately 39 RAW or 45 large-normal JPEG with specified Toshiba UHS-II card and lens
Stabilisation detail: Five-axis sensor shift, rated up to 5 CIPA stops with M.Zuiko Digital ED 14–42mm F3.5–5.6 EZ at 42 mm; compatible with Sync IS lenses. Movie M-IS1 adds electronic correction and a crop; M-IS2 uses sensor shift alone
Flash: No built-in flash; supplied camera-powered FL-LM3 bounce flash, guide number 9.1 at ISO 100 or 12.9 at ISO 200; mechanical synchronisation up to 1/250 second and electronic up to 1/20 second; hot shoe and wireless RC flash control
Exposure controls: P/A/S/M, four custom mode-dial positions, HDR, exposure and focus bracketing, Live Composite and Live Time; front Creative Dial accesses monochrome profiles, colour profiles, Art Filters and Color Creator; no in-camera focus stacking

Video

Highest video resolution: 1920 × 1080 at 60 fps
Video detail: MOV H.264 Full HD 60/50/30/25/24p; 60p is 59.94 fps. ALL-I Full HD up to 30p at approximately 77 Mbps; maximum MOV clip approximately 29 minutes. 4K 5 fps is assembled time-lapse output, not ordinary 4K video; VGA high-speed capture up to 120 fps
Audio: Built-in stereo microphone, 16-bit 48 kHz linear PCM, recording-level control and wind-noise reduction

Screen and viewfinder

Viewfinder: Electronic
Screen size: 3″
Screen dots: 1,040,000
Touchscreen: Yes
Tilting screen: Yes
Display detail: Vari-angle display with forward-facing selfie position; Japanese maker table rounds resolution to 1.04 million dots, while both reviews specify 1.037 million
Viewfinder detail: Approximately 2.36-million-dot OLED, 100% coverage; 1.08× magnification in styles 1/2 or 1.23× in style 3 with a 50 mm lens at infinity; simulated optical-viewfinder display remains electronic

Connections and design

Wi-Fi: Yes
Battery life (maker's claim): 330 photographs
Body weight: 373 g
Release detail: Maker announcement scheduled Japan sale for 26 February 2016. The Society of Photographic Science and Technology of Japan's retrospective records actual February 2016 release; month precision retained because a worldwide first-sale day is not established
Recording media: One SD slot; SDHC/SDXC and UHS-I/UHS-II support
Ports: USB 2.0 Hi-Speed proprietary multi-connector for USB, AV and optional RM-UC1 remote; micro-HDMI Type D and hot shoe. Photography Blog's mini-HDMI wording differs from the maker's Type D specification
Wireless connections: Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11b/g/n; smartphone remote shooting, image transfer and location tagging through Olympus Image Share
Battery life detail: BLN-1 rechargeable battery; approximately 330 CIPA photographs with stabilisation on and specified Toshiba SDHC card. Movie life approximately 80 minutes under JEITA conditions or 140 minutes without zoom and other operations, repeatedly recording maximum-length clips
Charging: Supplied BCN-1 external battery charger
Dimensions: 124.8×72.1×37.3 mm, excluding protrusions
Weight detail: Approximately 373 g body only or 427 g with supplied battery and memory card
Materials: Magnesium top and front covers, aluminium bottom cover and machined dials; synthetic leather covering. No weather sealing, reported by Photography Blog; plastic rear buttons, reported by Digital Camera World
Colours: Silver with black covering or black
In the box: Body, FL-LM3 flash, BLN-1 battery, BCN-1 charger, USB cable, shoulder strap, software and documentation

Pros and cons

Pros

Five-axis sensor stabilisation
Built-in OLED viewfinder
Customisable colour and monochrome profiles

Cons

No weather sealing
High-resolution mode requires a static subject and tripod
No built-in flash

Closest rivals

Model	Type	Sensor	Megapixels	Lens	Video	Body weight	Released
PanasonicLUMIX G100	Mirrorless	Four Thirds	20.3	Micro Four Thirds	3840 × 2160 at 30 fps	303 g	Jul 2020
SonyAlpha 6300	Mirrorless	APS-C	24.2	Sony E-mount	3840 × 2160 at 30 fps	361 g	Mar 2016
SonyAlpha 6500	Mirrorless	APS-C	24.2	Sony E-mount	3840 × 2160 at 30 fps	410 g	Nov 2016

Sources

Photo: olympus-global.com

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