A New OM System PEN Camera?

credits: OM System

OM Digital Solutions has once again talked about the future of the PEN series, this time a bit more directly than before. In recent interviews with Photolari and Phototrend, company executives confirmed that a new PEN camera is actually planned. Kazuhiro Togashi, Senior Vice President, stated clearly that while there is no specific release date yet, the company does have plans to launch a new PEN series under the OM System brand. Compared to earlier comments, that is a more concrete statement than what we have heard in the past.

At the same time, details are still pretty much nonexistent. When asked specifically about a successor to the PEN-F, Togashi acknowledged that the company continues to receive a lot of requests for it and that the PEN line remains important. However, there is still no indication of what kind of camera this will be, whether it is a direct PEN-F successor, something closer to the E-P7, or something entirely different. That lack of clarity has been a recurring theme. Over the past couple of years, OM System has gone from saying it was “exploring the possibility” of a new PEN camera to now saying it has actual plans, but without adding much else.

Looking at the bigger picture, the demand has definitely been there. The original PEN-F came out in 2016 and was discontinued in 2018, and since then, there has not really been a proper replacement. Technically, OM System has the pieces to make one. the sensor and processor from cameras like the OM-1 Mark II or OM-3 could easily support a modern PEN-F-style body, while something like the OM-5 line could form the basis for a simpler model. There is also the ongoing question of whether OM System might go even further and build a compact Micro Four Thirds camera, given the renewed interest in compact cameras overall. For now, though, it is still all talk, and the main question has not changed much: when will it actually show up?