Completely new Color Concept from Olympus - Part 1

Last update: 9th April 2021

The revolutionary Olympus PEN F - the camera that separated creative photographers from the group

When I did my research for this 6 part series on color and digital photography, I saw many YouTube videos and read many reviews on the new Pen F camera. I was interested in the reaction from the photography establishment to the unique Color Concepts Olympus introduced with the Pen F. We already saw part of that with the EM5 II which means it wasn't completely new. To my surprise, the reaction looked something like, "have you seen the Creative Dial?" It was only a few that saw beyond the dial and the official Olympus news release to realize that this could truly be the start of an exciting new Color and Creative Photography Experience for digital photographers.

In this 6 part series, we are going to take a closer look at photography and color. To help us discover the new color story from Olympus, we will focus on the Pen F and the OMD cameras. This current update to this 6 part series is also 3 years after I wrote this first article of the series in January 2018. In these 3 years, my own experience with these new color concepts increased so much and I learned so much more about the significance of what Olympus dreamed about for photographers.

Now that the Pen-F is discontinued, I cannot help to think, will the Pen F with its unique color concept ever reach its full potential, or will it just stay a dream that never really made it. Could it be that the secondhand market discovers this unique camera? 

Judging the popularity of this 6 part series, I can only confirm that these articles on creative photography, are also my most read articles.

A quick peek at some of the features in WorkSpace & Olympus Cameras

Also, see my how-to page (Tip No. 17) for more about the above image. If you are new to the "artists" color wheel, also see the video at the end of this article.

Most reviewers concluded and praised the PEN-F with summaries like "Gold Award Product, Great Product, Editors Choice, Remarkable, Great Design" or "Retro Design". That said, as much as 98% saw the Penf F through the lens of established "must-have" features like the size of the sensor, image noise, dynamic range, the display resolution, the resolution of the EVF, complaining about the Olympus menu structure, 4K video, and the absolute "must-have"...  the all-important making or breaking MIC input.

One can also say that Olympus didn't do a good job of promoting the Creative Dial and the new Color Concepts. The Pen F really had the potential to be the biggest enabler for truly creative photographers. Sadly, the Olympus camera business was sold to a new company, OM Digital, and we will have to wait and see what this new company will focus on in the future. What do you think, will this once amazing camera brand disappear into the history books?

Olympus PEN F Creative Dial

Olympus was always known for its jpeg colors, Canon for its colors and silky smooth images, and Nikon for the D4 and the D850. Sony became popular for its amazing A7 series full-frame mirrorless cameras with excellent image quality and high ISO capabilities. Fuji had a strong comeback with its mirrorless camera offer and quickly became one of the most exciting manufacturers.

Olympus never supported the sensor technology hype and decided to focus on photography and to develop better Color and Creative control. If you recall, it was also Olympus that took IBIS and made something with it, Olympus was the first to introduce Hi-Ress imaging on mirrorless cameras or a working Live View on the now older E330. Olympus and Panasonic were the ones with the vision to pioneer the mirrorless segment. Today all manufacturers sell mirrorless cameras while DSLR sales are plummeting year on year. Olympus had a history of pioneering new technologies and trends.

EM1 II image edited with WorkSpace

How did forum dwellers react to the Pen F? One can summarize their reactions with... Please NO!... or my friend what are you talking about? They would cry out, I see no value in Olympus Art Filters. Many tried the Creative Dial and said, the dial was placed on the wrong side of the camera and it's at best a gimmick with NO value for real photographers. Others grunted, "I prefer editing my images with Lightroom". Others wanted to re-assign other camera functions to the Creative Dial. This sad state of mind just keeps escalating each time the Pen F is mentioned...

Creative People love working with Color

As this series on color continues you will learn more about how Olympus implemented the different color features like the Color Creator, the Color Profile, and the Monochrome Profile function in Olympus cameras and in WorkSpace. Photographers will also agree that color is important with both Black & White and Color photography. To better understand color and digital cameras, we need to take a look at the image sensor and how the image is recorded.

How does the image sensor record the digital image?

Only a few photographers know that the sensor records a "black & white" image and not a color image. To explain this let's take a closer look at the image signal path from the subject to the sensor:

1. The image signal will enter the lens and travel through the lens to the sensor.
2. At the sensor, it will first pass through an RGB filter that removes all the colors
3. The image sensor records the remaining grayscale image and sends it to the CPU
4. The CPU package the WB, and RGB filter info, plus the sensor data in the raw file
5. The camera or CPU will process this raw image to create a digital color image

Digital Camera Sensor and RGB Filter

Let's summarize, what happens between the sensor and the memory card? In essence, the recorded grayscale image is converted to a digital color image. It is then saved on the memory card. When you have all the data, you can also back-calculate it to the original color image, right?

If you think about it, we explained the RAW file. The basic RAW file consists of a recorded grayscale image, the RGB filter information, and the WB reading. The TruePic Image Processor (CPU) controls the process of recording the grayscale image to the sensor, calculating the digital color image, and saving it as JPEG and raw files to the SD card.

One of the biggest industry secrets is the details about the Color profiles manufacturers use when they convert the raw sensor data into a digital color image. This is where the magic happens. The Olympus TruePic Image Processor processes the raw file and RGB color data to which Olympus owners believe are the best jpeg colors in the industry.

That said, after intense study, actively working with the Pen-F, and experimenting with WorkSpace and other Olympus cameras, I learned so much more. How Olympus manages color and the unique access to the TruePic raw processing stage, Olympus opened to photographers. Generally known as Live View, this was probably one of my most exciting discoveries with the Pen-F. When you are done reading this article, I can encourage you to go read the Live View section in this article.

Knowing this, it is now even more interesting to know that Olympus connected functions like the "Creative Dial" directly to the image processor. It enables photographers to insert their own image style or profile into the digital color-making process. Something that was never done before.

To appreciate this amazing new concept it is important for digital photographers to re-discover B&W photography and the early days of color photography. Photographers really need to do a 180 and walk away from what basically became specifications photography. See this article.

Olympus added the Color and Monochrome profile functions directly into the camera image processing process. This will have a huge impact on how photographers develop their photography styles in the future. Tools like the Color Profile, ART Filters, Multiple exposures, Curves, Color Creator, will now enable all creative photographers in a completely unique way.

The OMD and PEN-F new color and monochrome functions are now also part of WorkSpace. In fact, we have learned that WorkSpace and Olympus cameras have the same image-processing engine. This is really great news because it gives photographers the ability to develop, test, and fine-tune profiles on their computers instead of doing it on the display of the camera. 

Taken with the PEN F at island Mainau, Bodensee

To help you improve your creative know-how when working with Olympus cameras you need to do a mental shift to include Creative thinking and Color in your photography process. It is important to go back to basics. When working with Color, photographers need a good understanding of how colors interact with each other. The first step is to study the Color Wheel and to learn how artists use the color wheel.

There are many videos on YouTube with information on the Color Wheel. Please familiarize yourself with the color wheel. Also, see the interesting video below. The presenter is a well-known Photographer....have fun!!

Very powerful video explaining the Color Wheel and photography (must-see video)