Most modern cameras are designed to be highly functional and some even succeed in this ambition. Rarely do you find one that is not only functional but also a thing of beauty too.
Enter the Olympus Pen-F. This elegant little machine has been around for some time now and is known for its very high quality construction, for example there is not a single external screw to be found anywhere on the outside of the camera body. So how did they do that then?
It also has great ergonomics, a well thought out layout and contains a great set of functional technology all of which allows you to make fab photographs.
You just want to pick it up, carry it around with you, use it and not put it down again. It is beautiful, feels great in the hands, is feature rich, is easy to use and allows you to make lovely photos. We are now over due the announcement of a Pen-F II but in the present state of affairs with the market and at Olympus itself this seems highly unlikely to happen, which is a very great shame indeed. So for now I shall continue to use mine until, far down the line, the digital technology fails as all such things eventually do.
Functional and gorgeous with no foreseeable development path, this is typical of what so often happens to a truly great and innovative product. It gets killed through corporate shenanigans, misjudged timings, fuzzy brand positioning and the vagaries of the market. Bugger!