New Pen F thoughts

Got a new silver Olympus pen F and Panasonic 25mm f1.7

The camera overall is excellent and it will take quite some enjoyment time before I am used to all its functions and capabilities

After owning it for only a few hectic days, only a few obvious ‘negatives’ are apparent:

1. The power switch is on the wrong side
2. The bottom plate is plastic and scratches easily
3. The battery opening slide is very poorly designed and would seem to be suitable on a cheap camera
4. Why on earth is focus stacking not available in this camera ( I understand it is on the omd E-M5ii?)
5. The flippy screen is horrible to use quickly or to go unnoticed. You can use it flat against the body— great. But if you want any other perspective, you have to fold it out and twist it etc. Plus the idea of turning the screen inwards against the body for ‘protection’ is horrible because it takes even longer to flip it out etc
6. No 4K video
7. No pop up flash

The positives however are overwhelming and why I got one and yet still have a pen ep5

1. Far more functions and features than the ep5. The list is quite long, and it is due to the faster processor
2. Creative dial on the front is such a great tool! This alone will keep someone quite busy to find their special formulas. The first two monochrome settings are what I would spend a lot of time trying to get from raw files anyway. The customization here is vast
3. 4 custom dials! This is great to setup scenario settings etc etc
4. Little flash unit can bounce and twist etc

I haven’t processed or printed from it yet, but according to dxomark it is marginally better than the ep5– so I got it not for the better picture quality but for the newer features

Also I am surprised at how much I am using the evf—!likely because I hesitant for now with the flippy screen. I think evf’s are an antiquated thing and a good lcd screen is better to use

The Panasonic 25mm f1.7 overall is impressive, however a ‘negative’ is that it is quite large— much larger than the Olympus 45mm f1.8 for example.

But the lens has a great view and seems to be sharp on the little lcd screen, and they do look sharp on a 4K tv. No printing or pixel peeping yet

The Oly 25 1.8 is not that big and is a cracker of a lens.  I would suggest getting it in silver with the lens hood.  The price is fantastic too.  The only thing I didn't like about the PenF was the small EVF.  So I sold it.  BTW if you use the LCD rear screen instead of the EVF you'll save battery power.

https://camerasize.com/compact/#770.411,770.685,ha,t

The Panasonic version is noticeably bigger but much cheaper. Tough choice.

Note that the Pen F and GX9 are very similar in size.

Mark

with the 25mm f1.4 and 25mm f1.2 pro as well

https://camerasize.com/compact/#770.411,770.685,770.844,770.614,ha,t

Mark

BluenoseNS wrote:

Got a new silver Olympus pen F and Panasonic 25mm f1.7

The camera overall is excellent and it will take quite some enjoyment time before I am used to all its functions and capabilities

After owning it for only a few hectic days, only a few obvious ‘negatives’ are apparent:

1. The power switch is on the wrong side
2. The bottom plate is plastic and scratches easily
3. The battery opening slide is very poorly designed and would seem to be suitable on a cheap camera
4. Why on earth is focus stacking not available in this camera ( I understand it is on the omd E-M5ii?)
5. The flippy screen is horrible to use quickly or to go unnoticed. You can use it flat against the body— great. But if you want any other perspective, you have to fold it out and twist it etc. Plus the idea of turning the screen inwards against the body for ‘protection’ is horrible because it takes even longer to flip it out etc
6. No 4K video
7. No pop up flash

The positives however are overwhelming and why I got one and yet still have a pen ep5

1. Far more functions and features than the ep5. The list is quite long, and it is due to the faster processor
2. Creative dial on the front is such a great tool! This alone will keep someone quite busy to find their special formulas. The first two monochrome settings are what I would spend a lot of time trying to get from raw files anyway. The customization here is vast
3. 4 custom dials! This is great to setup scenario settings etc etc
4. Little flash unit can bounce and twist etc

I haven’t processed or printed from it yet, but according to dxomark it is marginally better than the ep5– so I got it not for the better picture quality but for the newer features

Also I am surprised at how much I am using the evf—!likely because I hesitant for now with the flippy screen. I think evf’s are an antiquated thing and a good lcd screen is better to use

The Panasonic 25mm f1.7 overall is impressive, however a ‘negative’ is that it is quite large— much larger than the Olympus 45mm f1.8 for example.

But the lens has a great view and seems to be sharp on the little lcd screen, and they do look sharp on a 4K tv. No printing or pixel peeping yet

I had the E-P5 but wanted built in EVF. Got the Pen-F. Love the viewfinder.

Can't help but agreeing about the LCD screen. It was an incredibly stupid decision to include a fully articulating screen in this type of camera. The advantage is that I find I enjoy shooting more by not using a screen at all. I have the screen turned into the camera. Just shoot and check the results later.

I think the lack of small high quality primes is something of a problem. 25/1.8 in my view is good, but not excellent. I am tempted to reacquire the Panasonic 20/1.7 pancake - which is an excellent lens. For wide angle I really like the Panasonic 14/2.5 as a cheaper and smaller alternative to the Panasonic 15/1.7 or the Olympus 17/1.8. The 15 has a stellar reputation, but I never managed to acquire one. I like the 17 in many respects but I often find resolution wanting.

James Pilcher wrote:

BluenoseNS wrote:

Got a new silver Olympus pen F and Panasonic 25mm f1.7

Excellent! Great camera. Not sure why a Lumix lens, but it’s a good combination nonetheless. On the other hand, I suppose I should not press your lens choice. My first µ4/3 camera was an Oly E-PL5 and I immediately purchased the PanaLeica 25mm f/1.4.

The camera overall is excellent and it will take quite some enjoyment time before I am used to all its functions and capabilities...

... I am surprised at how much I am using the evf—!likely because I hesitant for now with the flippy screen. I think evf’s are an antiquated thing and a good lcd screen is better to use

I’ll go out on a limb here and assume you do not wear glasses, or that you do and you have bi/tri focals. There are a lot us out here with excellent distance vision, but need reading glasses. A rear LCD for all framing is a disaster for us. An EVF (or OVF for that matter) are far more useful for daily shooting for people in our group. I’m just sayin...

Jim Pilcher
Summit County, Colorado, USA
Don't trust anyone under 9100 feet

Hi the Panasonic 25mm f1.7 was perfect as I wanted that focal length for group photos etc and the price was $188 Canadian. So much cheaper than the Olympus version

I ordered a Panasonic 14mm f2.5 for only $126 USD I believe off of a refurbished eBay site. That will take over from my Olympus 17mm f2.8.

I wanted a wider option there and the price was great

James Pilcher wrote:

BluenoseNS wrote:

Got a new silver Olympus pen F and Panasonic 25mm f1.7

Excellent! Great camera. Not sure why a Lumix lens, but it’s a good combination nonetheless. On the other hand, I suppose I should not press your lens choice.

I use 3 Panasonic lenses on my Pen-F the 25/1.7 is one of them.  If I were to wager a guess, I bet he purchased it because it’s very sharp and cost next to nothing.  It’s not the ideal FL for me for some things, but the lens is sharp corner to corner wide open and $150 or less new sometimes - can’t argue with that.

My first µ4/3 camera was an Oly E-PL5 and I immediately purchased the PanaLeica 25mm f/1.4.

The camera overall is excellent and it will take quite some enjoyment time before I am used to all its functions and capabilities...

... I am surprised at how much I am using the evf—!likely because I hesitant for now with the flippy screen. I think evf’s are an antiquated thing and a good lcd screen is better to use

I’ll go out on a limb here and assume you do not wear glasses, or that you do and you have bi/tri focals. There are a lot us out here with excellent distance vision, but need reading glasses. A rear LCD for all framing is a disaster for us. An EVF (or OVF for that matter) are far more useful for daily shooting for people in our group. I’m just sayin...

I’m nearsighted, the LCD screen is just as nice for me to use.  Generally I prefer tilt screens but about 40% of the time I need the flippy screen... what Inreally want is the X-T3 LCD screen.

Jim Pilcher
Summit County, Colorado, USA
Don't trust anyone under 9100 feet

Thanks for the overview. Very helpful.

However, serious question: Is the Pen-F worth buying now that the OM-D EM-5 mk3 is out?

BluenoseNS wrote:

The flippy screen is horrible to use quickly or to go unnoticed. You can use it flat against the body— great. But if you want any other perspective, you have to fold it out and twist it etc. Plus the idea of turning the screen inwards against the body for ‘protection’ is horrible because it takes even longer to flip it out etc

Manufacturers are damned if they do or damned if they don't w/respect to the fully articulated screen. Personally, the finder is so good that I use it all the time, and only use the LCD to access the menu. I even access the SCP through the finder.

For my use, though, I would have preferred a simple tilt-out screen for street photography, so now I'm looking at used GX-7s and G85s for that purpose. But I wouldn't ditch the Pen F for anything from Panasonic. I have a GX-8 and it's clear to me that they didn't understand still photography when they designed that model.

Still looking for the perfect camera...

The Silver Fox wrote:

Thanks for the overview. Very helpful.

However, serious question: Is the Pen-F worth buying now that the OM-D EM-5 mk3 is out?

Hi, for me I was never going to buy the Omd em5iii, as it is very expensive and I have no use for the phase detection on the sensor

Plus I don’t like the mini dslr look at all and the creative dial on the pen f is perfect for me

BluenoseNS wrote:

The Silver Fox wrote:

Thanks for the overview. Very helpful.

However, serious question: Is the Pen-F worth buying now that the OM-D EM-5 mk3 is out?

Hi, for me I was never going to buy the Omd em5iii, as it is very expensive and I have no use for the phase detection on the sensor

Plus I don’t like the mini dslr look at all and the creative dial on the pen f is perfect for me

Thanks for the answer. Not trying to be devil's-advocate here, but just wondering if you'd elaborate. The OMD EM-5iii is only $200 more. Is the creative dial on the Pen-F enough to warrant skipping out on better focusing and weather-sealing? Very curious, because I'm trying to decide which to get in the next few days. I love the look of the Pen-F, but am concerned with its "age." Plus, I can't find any silver ones anymore, and for me, the black is less attractive.

The Silver Fox wrote:

BluenoseNS wrote:

The Silver Fox wrote:

Thanks for the overview. Very helpful.

However, serious question: Is the Pen-F worth buying now that the OM-D EM-5 mk3 is out?

Hi, for me I was never going to buy the Omd em5iii, as it is very expensive and I have no use for the phase detection on the sensor

Plus I don’t like the mini dslr look at all and the creative dial on the pen f is perfect for me

Thanks for the answer. Not trying to be devil's-advocate here, but just wondering if you'd elaborate. The OMD EM-5iii is only $200 more. Is the creative dial on the Pen-F enough to warrant skipping out on better focusing and weather-sealing? Very curious, because I'm trying to decide which to get in the next few days. I love the look of the Pen-F, but am concerned with its "age." Plus, I can't find any silver ones anymore, and for me, the black is less attractive.

Hi I think the omd is better on paper for sure— faster  processor, phase detection, the sensor scores about 1/3 stop better on dxo mark for iso etc etc.

I got the new pen f for $1000 Canadian and the omd here is $500 more.

I’m not spending that kind of money and losing out on the creative dial but gaining things I don’t care about.

Plus I think $1000 Canadian is crazy amount of money for a camera anyway!

I love the creative dial so much, and I am starting to use it assigned to custom dials and bracketing all sorts of filters. The degree of customization is incredible. You can even change the degree of vignettes in some of the filters!

I shoot raw and jpeg and I find the jpegs (especially the black and white) to be pretty much what I would be going for in an edit anyway— plus I get to send the pics easy through my phone app to my parents friends whomever very quickly.

I’m not sitting down at the laptop firing up some specialized black and white programme when I want to edit a raw to be black and white.

I don’t have a lot of time to spend editing raw files but I will for projects

The craftsmanship on the pen f is top— the dials are solid and chunky And considerably better than the pen ep5.

I haven’t even tried the high resolution mode or the hdr modes!

This would be a perfect camera (especially for street) if it just had a tilt screen, but I will adapt.

Thanks for the answer; very helpful. This is what I feared; funny, isn't it? Like you and the OP, I just don't like the look of the OM-D's, and the PEN-F seems to me to be a thing of beauty. But as I sat here on the computer today contemplating a purchase of the PEN-F, I couldn't help but think if I wasn't being swayed by my heart to make a decision that photographically didn't make sense.

And once again, you tug at my heart-strings! lol

That creative dial sure seems like a strong draw to overcome all the rest of the EM-5iii's advantages.

The Silver Fox wrote:

Thanks for the answer; very helpful. This is what I feared; funny, isn't it? Like you and the OP, I just don't like the look of the OM-D's, and the PEN-F seems to me to be a thing of beauty. But as I sat here on the computer today contemplating a purchase of the PEN-F, I couldn't help but think if I wasn't being swayed by my heart to make a decision that photographically didn't make sense.

Well every camera now seems to have flippy screens so no choice there.

But I knew as soon as I understood the creative dial and saw the improved controls and features over the ep5 I knew it was a worthwhile upgrade

I don’t need better iso or dynamic range performance or continuous auto focus performance— I just shoot family, friends, normal nature and city scenes as well as more experimental pictures.

I will say though that the ‘watercolour’ filter should be renamed the ‘ruiner’.

I thought I was able to see some positive use for any type of filter (however small), but the watercolour filter is the dog’s breakfast

But yes the new omd is a bit better in the measurables but the differences are not important to me.

Plus the evf is off to the left instead of in the centre

BluenoseNS wrote:

After owning it for only a few hectic days, only a few obvious ‘negatives’ are apparent:

1. The power switch is on the wrong side
2. The bottom plate is plastic and scratches easily
3. The battery opening slide is very poorly designed and would seem to be suitable on a cheap camera
4. Why on earth is focus stacking not available in this camera ( I understand it is on the omd E-M5ii?)
5. The flippy screen is horrible to use quickly or to go unnoticed. You can use it flat against the body— great. But if you want any other perspective, you have to fold it out and twist it etc. Plus the idea of turning the screen inwards against the body for ‘protection’ is horrible because it takes even longer to flip it out etc
6. No 4K video
7. No pop up flash

The positives however are overwhelming and why I got one and yet still have a pen ep5

1. Far more functions and features than the ep5. The list is quite long, and it is due to the faster processor
2. Creative dial on the front is such a great tool! This alone will keep someone quite busy to find their special formulas. The first two monochrome settings are what I would spend a lot of time trying to get from raw files anyway. The customization here is vast
3. 4 custom dials! This is great to setup scenario settings etc etc
4. Little flash unit can bounce and twist etc

Cons:

1. Personally, I don't find it a problem.

2. Neither of mine are scratched.

3. Agreed, the catch on my E-M5 mk1 is a better design.

4. Focus bracketing is available, but have to be stacked in PP software.

5. I find the FAS quite useful, but use the viewfinder for street.

7. They're pretty much useless anyway, mine are still in their boxes.

Pros:

1. Agreed.

2. Agreed.

3. Agreed, C1-C4 on the top plate are great, which is why, when I played with the new E-M5 mk3, their absence made me buy another PEN F.

I pair one body with Olympus 17 and 45 1.8's for use in town and the other with a 9-18 and 14-150 for use in the countryside.

All, IMHO, of course.

Peter Del