This excerpt from the test on the Olympus Pen F, done by
Betternet, a German testing lab affiliated with TIPA (Technical Image Press
Association), gives a good indication of the features and capabilities of the
camera. The test was performed in March, 2016. I currently serve on the
Technical Committee of TIPA.
The Olympus PEN-F is a mirrorless system camera based on the
Micro Four Thirds system. It is the first MFT camera by Olympus that features a
20 MP sensor. The design features some homages to classic rangefinder cameras
and the original PEN-F of the 1960s. For example, the small dial on the front,
which has a very analog look, offers digital effects like color modes, a
special black and white mode and the “Art filters” used by many other Olympus
cameras. All dials and function elements offer quick and professional operation
of the camera even without using complex menus, which is full of additional
functions.
The camera has a bright and clear view finder system. Its
EVF offers 2.36 million RGB dots and a field of view of 100%. It also offers an
optional preview of exposure adjustments. The color temperature of the EVF can
be adjusted separately. Compared to an optical SLR viewfinder (50mm lens/focus
setting to infinity) viewfinder size is 1.23x, which is quite large.
The camera has a 3-inch LCD screen with a resolution of
1.037 million RGB dots and is touch-sensitive.
Images can be taken by a fingertip touch on the screen. The LCD is fully
articulated. This is very helpful for recording videos, photo shots near the
ground or when taking selfies.
The large number of dials and buttons offer a very direct
and fast operation of the PEN-F. The main mode dial offers the usual auto-,
movie-, P-, A-, S- and M-modes and can also be used for four custom modes. An
additional dial is used for exposure compensation by 3 f-stops.
Just like a professional SLR system, the new Olympus camera
offers two parameter dials. The rear dial is located near the photographer's
thumb; the front dial can be found near the shutter release button. In addition
it has two customizable buttons on the back and an Olympus-exclusive, a button
that allows the photographer to set up the gradation or tone curve before
taking images: options include high contrast and separate settings for
highlight and shadow.
The Olympus PEN-F has two remarkable features: It offers a
very powerful 5-axis-image stabilizer system based on sensor shift
technology. Its performance during the
tests was very good. Due to the built-in system the image stabilizer can be
used with every lens system. In combination with its fast autofocus system it
nearly guarantees sharp images. The stabilizer system is also helpful when
recording videos.
The second special feature of the Olympus PEN-F is its “high
resolution mode.” This uses the sensor shift system of its image stabilizer to
take eight photos, which are shifted by half of a pixel. The PEN-F image
processor combines all images to a single 50MP shot. The detail reproduction of
these images can be compared to photographs taken with a medium format camera
system. Note: Due to the pixel shift technology this mode can only be used for
still scenes without any moving objects or elements.
The camera has a USB 2.0 interface for data transfer to PCs
or Macs. This combi interface also allows for establishing a connection to a TV
via an AV-cable. In addition, the Olympus PEN-F offers an micro-HDMI interface
and, for wireless transfer and remote control, it has a Wi-Fi-module.
Comments on Image Quality
Color: The automatic white balance system of the
Olympus PEN-F tends toward a cooler color reproduction with a little shift into
the blue areas of the color space and little over emphasized magenta rate. Some
mentionable color errors are visible in red and deep blue areas. Skin tones are
reproduced very naturally. The saturation of all colors is slightly
raised.
Sharpness: All technical test images were shot with
the M.Zuiko Digital 17mm f/1.8 lens. Using this, the PEN-F reproduced the ISO
12233 chart with 3641 of 3888 lines. This is an excellent result. In some cases
we noted in our charts that aliasing and moiré effects could occur in very fine
structural image elements. The overall look of the Olympus photos in the field
is natural and sharp, albeit with a little artificial look created by the image
processing in the camera. By using raw files and fine-tuning the image settings
you can get highly differentiated reproduction of fine details/structures, all
with a very natural look.
Noise: The Olympus
offers ISO speed settings between 200 to ISO 25,600. In lower speeds, from ISO
200 to ISO 800, the camera showed excellent, quite SLR-like results. The
luminance noise factor crosses 1.0 percent line only at ISO 12,800. In
addition, the noise spectrum is very low. Below ISO 3200 the look of the images
is very clean. Luminance noise gets visible in images taken with ISO 800 to
1600 settings but is acceptable for real-life-images. At ISO 6400 and above
darker areas become more diffused; at ISO 25,600 too many details become lost
due to the anti noise filtering.
Nevertheless, the dynamic range tests are on a high level.
The PEN-F achieved a maximum of 11.7 f-stops and keeps a high level of 10
f-stops up to ISO 3200. At ISO 6400 there are 9 f-stops but above this line dynamic
range drops to 8 f-stops at ISO 12,800 and 7 f-stops at ISO 25,600.
Scorecard
+ stylish body with retro-design
+ excellent noise-results especially in lower ISO speed
settings
+ realistic and natural color rendering
+ fast AF system
+ additional high resolution mode (50 MP using pixel shift
technology)
+ excellent image stabilization system
Con
- very compact; perhaps too small for photographers with
large hands
- no built-in flash system (note: a very compact flash
system is supplied with the camera)
