The OM-3 Isn’t a Successor to the Pen F: A New Pen is Still Coming
When PetaPixel first laid hands on the OM System OM-3, it was easy to believe that this might be the best chance photographers could expect to see anything resembling a Pen series camera again. Luckily, that doesn’t seem to be the plan.
It has been nearly a decade since the Pen F was announced, the last new Pen series camera from Olympus (now OM System) outside of the Pen E-P7 which never touched the shores of North America, was announced. It is no surprise, then, that many photographers have given up hope that it will ever make a return. Compounding that with Olympus spinning off the camera brand into its own company, it is easy to believe that the Pen series is a thing of the past.
Luckily, OM System seems to have no intention of letting it die and, even better, the new OM-3 is not meant to be the successor, spiritual or otherwise, to that beloved camera series. Speaking to PetaPixel at the CP+ show in Yokohama, Japan last week, the company was surprisingly candid about its plans for the Pen.
“The OM-3 is not a successor of the Pen series,” Kazuhiro Togashi, Vice President of Brand Strategy and Product Planning at OM System, says.
“So of course we are thinking the Pen series is an important lineup for our company. We are trying to study the success of the Pen series, but again, the OM-3 is not a successor of the Pen. The Pen series remains an important part of our portfolio, and we are actively exploring the possibility of a new Pen model, and are currently considering what Pen series model we can offer as OM System.”
When asked about the trend of manufacturers removing electronic viewfinders from compact cameras or adjusting their interface to appeal more to smartphone users like the Sigma BF, OM System says it is considering both sides of that equation when looking at its next compact Micro Four Thirds camera.
“We are considering both sides for market demand,” Togashi says. “We want to make sure photographers actually enjoy operating the camera. We are really considering which kind of product may be better to expand to new users. Maybe they want to continue to use their smartphone but have some interest in standalone cameras. So we are now thinking about the new Pen concept [from this point of view].”
Based on how OM System spoke about the Pen Series, it seems all but assured that OM System is at least moving forward with revisiting the line at some point in the near future. However, given the language its team used, it seems like development is still in the very early stages. Even if photographers have to wait a bit for the next Pen series camera to be released, it should be a bit of a relief to those waiting patiently for nearly 10 years that OM System is, at least for now, planning one.
Image credits: OM System
