Pen-F digital - Discontinued?

[Hibbs]

Hi...just wondering if it official that Olympus plans to cease production of the Pen-F Digital?

There seems to be a lot of rumours to this affect...but also rumours of a next generation.

Can someone enlighten me on this?

Thanks.

 

[peterm1]

I cannot answer your question, but you know, its odd. I frequent camera shops and always thought that if I saw one of these second hand I would undoubtedly be seriously tempted to buy it - they are such a nice camera. But I do not believe I have ever even seen one for sale. Either they do not sell well (which I do not believe) or more likely they are tightly held by those who do own them.

 

[JeffS7444]

This is pure speculation on my part, but I think that the Pen F was designed as a "boutique" product, it's not sold on the basis of features/$: It costs more than a new Sony A7-2! Who can say whether there will be a successor mode?

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

https://www.43rumors.com/olympus-japan-confirms-the-pen-f-has-been-discontinued/


I have a Pen-F that I bought in February last year. I bought it because I wanted to switch to Micro Four Thirds from my Canon fullframe gear. My health problems were making it harder and harder to handhold the heavy Canon equipment, and to carry it in a bag.

I really should have bought the OM-D E-M1 Mark II, but couldn't afford it. I wanted a 20mp camera, and most m4/3 cameras then were 16mp. The Pen-F is 20mp, and the small size is awesome. I always felt like it was 'almost there, but not quite' as a camera. It cost me $1000, and a camera that expensive ought to be weather-sealed. That ended up a problem for me because I do like to do landscapes in the rain. I couldn't do that with the Pen-F, and a month ago I finally bought an OM-D E-M1 mark II. It is a little bigger and heavier than the Pen-F, but it is still tiny compared to most cameras out there, and it is weather sealed!

Another thing is that I began using small primes with the Pen-F and pretty quickly changed to Olympus's big f2.8 Pro zooms. I have the 12-40mm and 7-14mm Pro zooms and they're BIG on the Pen-F, but they are perfectly sized for the E-M1 mk II.

I have not used the Pen-F since buying the E-M1 mk II. I may end up selling it; there is a lens I want that I could use the money for.

 

[Freakscene]

Another thing is that I began usin...m interested. I need a hiking camera. Marty

 

[Ko.Fe.]

If BH doesn't show it as discontinued, it isn't🙂.

I quit from using Canon FF DSLR outside. But my plastic film Rebel is same size as RP.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Did you switch to zooms for optical quality or flexibility reasons Chris? I'm interested. I need a hiking camera.

Marty

Flexibility mostly. My work is mostly social documentary and architecture. For architecture it is hard to 'zoom with your feet' because the place you stand determines relationships between different objects at different distances in the photo. With a prime, the place I'd have to shoot from to get the composition I wanted often threw off subject relationships. Zooms let me stand where I need to be then zoom to get the angle of view I want.

Olympus's Pro f2.8 zooms are INCREDIBLE. They're sharper than the Canon L zooms I used before and fully equal to all but the very best prime lenses.

The Olympus 45mm f1.8 lens is about equal in sharpness to the 12-40mm f2.8 zoomed out to 40mm, but the Olympus 45mm f1.2 Pro lens is sharper than the zoom. BUT that 45mm f1.2 is a $1200 lens. It costs more than the 12-40mm Pro zoom. The 45mm f1.8 is delightfully cheap, and tiny. I have one I use for portraits because the bokeh is slightly nicer then the 12-40 zoom. I'd love the f1.2 lens but can't afford it; I wouldn't use it enough to justify the cost.

Olympus has one prime that is awful; the 17mm f1.8. It is the worst modern lens I have ever used from any manufacturer. Very sharp in the center, even wide open, but becomes very soft even a small distance from the center. I tried and returned 5 of them and all were identical; its just a poor design. 2/3 of the way out from the center and it looks like a holga, absolutely ZERO fine detail resolution, which is worthless for architecture work. The 12-40 Pro and 7-14 Pro zooms are both incredibly sharp at 17mm all the way to the corners.

If you want tiny primes, then the aforementioned Olympus 45mm f1.8 is wonderful. So is the Olympus 25mm f1.8; I sold mine and kind of regret it. I might buy a new one soon. The 17 sucks, so I had the Panasonic Leica-branded 15mm f1.7 and it was wonderful too. I sold it because as good as it was, it was no better than the Olympus zooms I had, and it sat unused for months. Its a $500 lens, I freed up the money for something else I needed. But if you want to stick to a set of small primes, it is a very good lens.

Interestingly, the small primes are almost too tiny for the OM-D E-M1 mark II; that camera balances better with the big pro zooms.

 

[Ste_S]

Did you switch to zooms for optical quality or flexibility reasons Chris? I'm interested. I need a hiking camera.

Marty

If you don't mind loosing a manual focus ring, the Panasonic 12-32mm pancake zoom is great. Turns most smaller bodied m4/3 cameras pocketable.

 

[Huss]

If you don't mind loosing a manual focus ring, the Panasonic 12-32mm pancake zoom is great. Turns most smaller bodied m4/3 cameras pocketable.

I just used that lens - and the 25 1.8 - on a studio shoot with a Pen-F. The 12-32 missed focus on a few shots while the 25 nailed every shot. The environment was tough - model in black spot lit - but still the 25 has no problems.
In regular outdoor use I find the 12-32 to be most excellent.

 

[jsrockit]

I'm a bit sad that they won't be making another one... I never bought it but always thought it was cool. I'm not a big fan of SLR shaped mirrorless cameras (though I do use one sometimes). IMO, you can never have too many RF shaped mirrorless cameras. 🙂

 

[Huss]

I did not like the way the Pen-F felt or handled until I put the grip on it. Transforms the camera.
Now I find it hard to put down, and the jpegs from it with the in-camera curves control are just unbeatable.
Forget the Leica Monobrow, the Pen-F is the ultimate digital B&W kamera for me!

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I did not like the way the Pen-F felt or handled until I put the grip on it. Transforms the camera.
Now I find it hard to put down, and the jpegs from it with the in-camera curves control are just unbeatable.
Forget the Leica Monobrow, the Pen-F is the ultimate digital B&W kamera for me!

I agree on the grip. Makes the camera much easier to hold.


A tip: Don't buy Olympus's overpriced grip. Its around $130. I bought a Meike grip on Amazon that is virtually identical to the Olympus grip, but it only cost $50.