Olympus Pen-F digital Fashion or Function ?

Photo courtesy of Olympus
Lots of dials here, lots of round thingies too. Indeed, there is a strong 'round' theme going on all over this camera. I think one of the round things namely the viewfinder eyecup could actually be a good idea. It is more likely to match the human eye socket that the usual rectangular eyecup seen on mid range cameras.
As to appearance, if anything, I think it looks more like an early Leica rangefinder than the original Pen-F.

This is not a review but some personal observations and comments based on published specifications, photos and reviews of the Olympus Pen-F digital.

February 2016 Sales of digital cameras have been falling for several years. Presumably this has provoked manufacturers to search for a formula for sales success or at least some way to gain market share over competitors.

I would guess that many, maybe most, people who buy cameras are like those who buy cars. They can relate to and have a preference about the appearance of the product but have little interest in, or knowledge about the inner workings of the device. Many car buyers neither know nor care if their chosen drive has the motor in the front or rear or if it drives the front or rear wheels or both.

Neither do they have much idea about the placement and operation of the main controls. They just expect all that to work pretty much the same in all cars.

Car makers operate in a heavily regulated environment which ensures compliance with safety, economy and emissions requirements.

This is because cars are potentially lethal weapons which can and in fact do kill millions of people around the world.

Imagine the carnage if a car maker decided to reverse the positions of the accelerator and brake pedals for some unknown reason. The death rate would be worse than you could find in a war zone.

I doubt that a badly designed camera ever killed anyone, unless perhaps a frustrated user threw one off a high place and it hit a passer by on the head. So camera makers are free to do as they like, even if that involves imposing suboptimal or dreadful ergonomics on the user.

I design and make mockup cameras to test out my ideas about camera ergonomics. I showed one of these to a family member one day. Her immediate reaction was “That’s the ugliest camera I have ever seen”.

I suspect that many camera buyers neither know nor care if the thing is a DSLR or a MILC or a FZLC. They just want it to look really nice and work as expected.

Everything is a fashion statement these days.

Camera makers are clearly well aware of this and appear to be quite properly concerned about the immediate visual impact which their cameras make on prospective buyers. If a buyer doesn’t like the look of a particular model they will not investigate it’s capabilities any further.

Nikon Df. Another fashion show camera which turned out to be an ergonomic disaster. There dials stacked on dials and dials stacked on levers. And they are the wrong kinds of dials. The dials you see here are for primary and secondary exposure parameters which are adjusted in Capture Phase of use. The proper function of this dial type is adjustments required in Prepare Phase of use.
And look: this is a big heavy camera with a mini-handle to make sure you can't get a proper hold on it and a front dial right where the user's third finger wants to be.
Nikon usually makes decently usable DSLRs but they really messed up this one.

But what makes a camera good looking ?

I guess this is probably dependent on buyer demographics, with ‘Japanese-teenage-facebook-girl’ opting for something pink and cute. The most popular camera by sales is the Fuji Instax range which uses film to produce very small instant prints. The cameras are cute, colourful, cheap to buy and Fuji’s marketing appears to be directed towards girls and young women.

Likewise Casio digital cameras which are almost unknown in Australia but very popular in Japan.

But at the more ‘enthusiast’ end of the market the determinant of visual appeal seems to be dials.

Lots of dials. Open dials with some inscriptions writ, oops, not writ, engraved thereupon. Dials stacked on top of other dials. Preferably silver colored dials. Absolutely ‘real metal’ dials. Preferably festooning a ‘real metal’ body.

No dials or body cladding made from recycled car tyres thank you very much.

Why have silver dials become the fashion marker for enthusiast cameras ?

I dunno. It’s a mystery to me.

Maybe it is because dials are immediately obvious on first view of a new camera. They form a key part of the immediate visual gestalt of a potential new toy.

By way of contrast a user’s long term appreciation of a camera depends on ergonomic factors not necessarily evident on first inspection. These are holding, viewing (of the subject, not the camera) and operating.

But whatever the reason the reaction of some reviewers to the Olympus Pen-F digital camera has been like something you might expect in response to a reincarnation of Rita Hayworth.

The sycophantic gushing from some reviewers has been extraordinary.

Olympus’ marketing blurb makes much of a romantic connection between the half frame Pen F SLR cameras of the 1960s and the current Pen F digital.

In fact just about the only similarity between the old Pen-F film cameras and the new digital model is the presence of a dial on the front of the body.

Photo courtesy of Robin Wong
The accessory handle has been fitted. Notice how the user's third finger lays directly on and is forced to press into that front dial. If for some reason I had to use this camera my first act would be to cut off that front dial with a hacksaw.

Are ‘Fashion’ cameras a good thing or not ?

I guess it depends on whether fashion compromises function. Unfortunately it often does.

For instance that front dial on the Pen-F digital fouls the middle finger of the right hand as it tries to hold the camera. I wonder what will be the response to this camera from users who actually use the thing on a regular basis as opposed to owning and looking at it.

The Exposure Compensation Dial is redundant. EC is a secondary exposure parameter which requires adjustment in Capture Phase. This is better carried by the front and/or rear control dials, leaving the EC dial free for other uses such as Drive Mode in Prepare Phase.

The thing comes without a handle. Olympus has been rolling out some quite big heavy lenses of late with rumors of more to come. And no handle ??

Oh, you can buy one separately.

But why not build it in there like the EM-1 ?? The reason is fashion. The handle spoils the styling.

The tripod socket is right at the front of the baseplate. There is even a little forward extension of the baseplate to accommodate the tripod socket. That will be fine for small, light lenses but not for larger, heavier ones which could put excessive strain on the tripod socket. The heaviest such as the 300mm f4 and 40-150mm f2.8 have a tripod foot but the 75-300mm does not. It’s mass of about 450 grams with filter and hood is well in front of the socket and might cause problems.

I am guessing that the tripod socket is at the front to make room for the IBIS module. Presumably if the socket were further back where it should be the camera would need to be taller.

I could go on about the ergonomics, this is after all the camera ergonomics blog.

But my point is that fashion often does compromise function.

Fashion cameras are saying …lookatmeeee..!!

They are all about the camera when good design should be all about the user.

Not lookatmeee !! but Get to know me. I can deliver an excellent holding, viewing and operating experience when you learn how to use me.

The camera makers certainly have a problem. If buyers are not attracted to their products in the first place they will sell none.

But too much reliance on fashion can lead to poor function with the user eventually feeling disillusioned, maybe even cheated.

This can only be bad for the industry as a whole.

There must be a balance to be found here somewhere. If not I predict a dismal future for the camera industry and those of us who appreciate cameras with good ergonomics.