Olympus Pen-F color and monochrome

Last Update: 7th September 2021

In this article, we will take a look at the different Color and Creative Photography features available with the Olympus Pen F. I will also discuss the new functions Olympus added to the Monochrome, the Color Profile, and the Color Creator functions with the latest V3 firmware upgrade. We will study the Pen-F integration with WorkSpace and how one can share and upload profiles. We will discuss how to create and change profiles and finally, we will have a look at the new Pen F gallery on the official Olympus website.

These images were part of the ad campaign introducing the Pen F as a definition of style and substance in 2016

The Pen-F is one of the most radical and elegant mirrorless cameras ever designed. That said, it was received amidst "unexpected" hostility as most reviewers and forum experts immediately complained about the menu, and then demanded an OMD type "Pen F". These M43 experts also rejected the Pen F, claiming the Creative Dial had no real purpose, it's in the wrong location, and the Creative Dial and ART Filters have no place in modern digital photography. 

Search "Pen F" on the DPReview and the Mu-43 forums and you will be blown away by the negative reactions and the gossip from Olympus and M43 photographers. The most surprising was that none of these "experts" figured out that Olympus was really in the process of introducing a completely new and future Color and Creative Photography concept.

We also saw how the Pen F enabled street photographers and how they welcomed the EVF placement. The unique MonoChrome and Color features made the Pen F special and one of a kind. They could simply select from a list of up to 32 different Color and Monochrome Profiles without having to spend the time on location to select individual camera settings.

Something I discuss in my WorkSpace "how-to" article, is the unique Live View feature of WorkSpace. This feature enables photographers to develop their Color and Monochrome Profiles on any WorkSpace "Live View" display. Photographers can now develop and test their new profiles before entering them into the Pen F. Also see Part 6 in my Color and Creative Photography series.

See this launch video of the Pen-F (less than 5 minutes)

Street Photography with the Olympus Pen-F

The interesting Pen-F video with the POV Photo Guy (Highly Recommended)

The Pen F had two firmware updates, see the details below:-

• Olympus added the "Bleech Bypass film" ART filter to the Pen F
• Custom settings C1 to C4 are now included when saving the camera configuration
• This makes it possible to share Pen F configurations with C1 to C4 with friends
• The ability to extract color and monochrome profiles from jpeg images
• You can now share color or monochrome profiles by sharing your jpeg files
• Shading effects have been added to the color profile and the color creator
• The ISO auto settings have been expanded and are the same as the EM1 II
• The monitor AF Targetting Pad performance has been improved
• ART filter selection and the touch function operation have been improved

Below is the User Manual (V3.1) page #, and the related creative Pen F functions:-

• Page 38 - Creative Dial operation
• Page 39 - The Color Profile Tool
• Page 40 - Monochrome Profile Control
• Page 66 - Monochrome Profile Grain filter
• Page 41 - The Color Creator
• Page 42 - Art Filters
• Page 67 - Color filter effects to the Monochrome Picture Mode
• Page 116 - Assigning photo story to C3 and SCN modes to C4
• Page 116 - Photo Story
• Page 118 - SCN Modes
• Page 33, 88 - How to set up Custom Modes
• Page 179 - 182 - A summary of the Firmware updates V2 & V3

I wrote a 6 part color and creative photography series. Please go see parts 3 & 6 if you are new to the color wheel, color harmonies, and how to work with color and your Olympus camera. Also, see my article on how to use the Color Creator.

Setting up the Pen F to its full creative flexibility?

Your Pen F should always be ready for maximum creative use. It's really a mistake to wish the Pen F was some kind of OMD camera. For example, camera manufacturers will carefully select the image sensor for each camera to match the camera concept. This is why Olympus selected a different image sensor for the Pen F and not the same sensor found in the EM1 II. The EM1 II was designed for high performance and speed, whereas the Pen F was designed for street photography and ultimate creativity. The EM1 II and the Pen F are completely different cameras and together they cover a wide range of photography applications.

A = Creative Dial / B = Mode Dial (Custom Modes) / C = Lever

The Mode Dial on the Pen F is different from the EM5 II, the EPL9, or the EM1 II. For example, you will not find Photo Story or SCN Modes on the Pen F. You need to first configure the Custom Modes C3 and C4 for Photo Story and SCN Modes before you can use these features on the Pen F. See the above user manual summary and the relevant pages in the user manual. That leaves C1 and C2 open to save your preferred camera configurations and any additional color and monochrome profiles. This enables you to save up to 9 additional colors and 9 additional monochrome profiles.

Tip:- If you like to save new color or monochrome profiles to the custom modes C1 and C2, start by selecting your preferred exposure mode like Aperture Mode (A-Mode).  Now you can configure the Pen F as you like, plus the 3 Color or the 3 MonoChrome Profiles. When done save the configuration to C1 or C2. It is not possible to save a new configuration directly to C1 or C2.

The Olympus Pen-F main creative modes?

It's sometimes difficult to picture the complete creative magnitude of Olympus cameras and especially, the Pen F. The reason is the different creative features and options are linked to more than one function. For example, looking at ART filters you might say no they are not that interesting. 

It's only when you select ART filters that you see that each ART filter has several more options. Some of these options you will also see when you work with the Color or Monochrome Profile. You could be in a situation where you quickly want to record a series of images with Photo-Story. You do not want to edit the Photo-Story images when back home, so you decide to use a Pop ART filter with Photo-Story. As you can see these cameras are truly creative masterpieces.

One can summarize the Pen-F creative modes in 6 groups:-

1. The Color Creator
2. The Color Profile (One can save up to 9 profiles in C1 & C2)
3. The Monochrome Profile (One can save 9 profiles in C1 & C2)
4. Monotone "Picture Mode" (different from the monochrome profile)
5. ART Filters, SCN Modes, Photo Story, and HDR
6. Live Composite, Live Time, Panorama, Stacking, Timelapse

Each of these creative groups has access to more options like curves, grain filters, color filters, and shading to assist the photographer to create the perfect image look and feel in the camera.

The Color Profile Tool

A = You can select 1 of 3 factory set Profiles (Profile 1 is neutral)

Olympus describes the above color profile presets as:

"Of the three color profile presets, Colour Profile 2: Chrome Film Rich Colour provides rich, deep tones, and Colour Profile 3: Chrome Film VS gives rich film colors with high levels of saturation. You can make adjustments to these two presets, or you can create your own color profile from scratch using the Colour Profile 1 preset."

The first color profile (Profile 1) is neutral and available to the user. Profiles 2 & 3 are factory preset color profiles. If you assigned your preferred camera configuration to custom modes C1 and C2, you have 6 (3+3) more options for saving your own profiles. Set up your different color profiles for C1 and C2 and you will have a total of 8 preset color profiles and profile 1 for unique situations. I keep a summary of all my profiles on my mobile phone with a brief description of each profile.

The following variables are included and saved with color profiles:

• Color Profile tool with 12 different color selection
• The Shading function
• The Highlight/Shadow & Midtone function (Curves)
• Sharpness and contrast settings (See the SCP)
• Exposure compensation (Exposure Comp dial on the Pen F)

These are the main settings when creating your own color profiles. Keep profile 1 at the factory setting so that you can quickly adapt colors when out doing photography. Save your own or any shared profiles in the Picture Modes C1 and C2 (6x Profiles in total). Always practice your color awareness. 

For example, practice your color awareness by doing the following:-

• Practice scanning your surroundings, identify colors and build color harmonies
• When paging through a magazine identify the main colors and the color harmonies
• Be aware of the people's clothes (colors) and check their selection of colors
• Practice using different color harmonies (Complementary, Analogous, and Triadic)
• In time you will find your color awareness and creating harmonies will improve
• See this interesting photographer and his article on working with color - link

With practice, it will become second nature to scan your surroundings, select colors, and build harmonies. Adjust your target colors with profile 1 using the Color Profil. The more you do this the easier it gets. The secret is to apply small adjustments at a time. In most cases, subtle chances are more effective than extreme color effects.

For example, you are out visiting a historic city with the family. Your partner is dressed in a bright yellow shirt with jeans. The sky is clear so you decide to focus on the complementary colors yellow and blue. You like these colors to stand out with the blue skies above the buildings. Highlighting these complementary colors, you can increase the vividness of yellow and blue with +2. Next, you will reduce the vividness of all the other colors with -2. Next, you will increase the contrast with the curves function, and in the final step, you can create a slight pinhole look with the shading function.

Monochrome Profile

A = Monochrome Profiles / B = Grain filter setting or selection

Olympus describes the above monochrome profile presets as:

"Of the three monochrome profile presets, Monochrome Profile 2: Classic Film B&W provides a grainy monochrome look, and Monochrome Profile 3: Classic Film IR emphasizes red color filter effects for the look of infrared film. You can make adjustments to these two presets, or you can create your own monochrome profile from scratch using the Monochrome Profile 1 preset."

The first Monochrome Profile (Profile 1) is neutral and available to the user. Profiles 2 and 3 are factory preset monochrome profiles. If you assigned your preferred camera configuration to custom modes C1 and C2 you have 6 (3+3) more options for saving your own profiles. Set up your different monochrome profiles for C1 & C2 and you will a total of 8 preset monochrome profiles and profile 1 for unique situations. I keep a summary of all my profiles on my mobile phone with a brief description of each profile. All said, with a little practice it's often faster to evaluate the scene and adapt Profile 1.

The following parameters are saved with each monochrome profile:

• The Monochrome Profile with 9 target colors with 3 levels each
• The Shading function settings
• Highlight/Shadow & Midtone settings (Curves)
• Sharpness and contrast (SCP adjustments)
• Film Grain Effect in the (See the SCP)
• The Monochrome base color (found in the SCP)
• Exposure compensation (Exp Comp dial on the Pen F)

When creating your own monochrome profiles follow the steps below:-

• Like with color profiles, be aware of your surroundings and dominant colors
• With monochrome, you only focus on the target color and the opposite color
• When adjusting the blues in the sky, blue will darken and yellow will brighten
• With landscapes, one typically targets the sky, clouds, trees, fields, or structures
• With monochrome or black & white scenes, focus and work on strong contrasts
• The first step is to select your target color and adjust it with the profile tool
• The next step is to activate the SCP
• Select a monochrome base color (T) or leave the base color neutral
• From the SCP you can also select black & white or monochrome grain settings
• Finally use curves to add more contrast and the shading function as required

See the examples below:

Original image on the left and the Monochrome profile using a yellow base color on the right

Again the original image w a color profile, then a monochrome only profile, and finally adding a base color

The monochrome profile tool is not the only monochrome or monotone option on the Pen F. All Olympus cameras have the monochrome picture mode. To activate the monochrome picture mode, turn the creative dial to the "OFF" position and press the OK button to activate the SCP. Move the cursor to picture modes and turn the front dial until you see monochrome. The different monochrome options will be available in the SCP.

Olympus Pen F with 50mm f1.8 - ISO200, f4.5, 1/800 (MonoChrome Profile plus a little Photoshop)

How to create/manage and share your color or monochrome profiles?

See my WorkSpace, how-to page here. Go to how-to technique #7 for a detailed explanation of how to manage your profiles. Olympus added a new gallery with color and monochrome images created by different Olympus visionaries. You will find the collection here. Each image can be downloaded and the Exif data is included. Each image also has additional information about the profile. This is a great resource for Pen F photographers looking for ideas and inspiration... 

You can now lift any of these profiles with WorkSpace and transfer them to your camera. You can also open the image in WorkSpace, open the Exif Info, and manually transfer the settings to your Pen F.

Part of the Olympus Pen F collection of color and monochrome profile images

The available information for each image in the gallery

A more advanced technique for developing profiles is described in this article.

For example, it is possible to use color cards to copy and create your own profiles. I created a series of color cards with different DXO film profiles applied to them. Each image has another DXO film profile applied to the color card. This is a little more advanced and you need to be patient and ready to practice. The color cards are also a great help to develop a feel for color and to identify what the other person did when creating profiles.

Then finally visit my Pen F Profile page where I regularly add new profiles I developed or profiles I see on the web. You are also welcome to let me know when you developed a new profile you like to share with others...

I have added a few videos below. They offer more information on additional Pen F creative functions. Sometimes it's enough to apply a basic ART filter, it's not always necessary to look for complex solutions. Unfortunately, I had to remove several links, it seems Olympus is deleting videos from YouTube, I do not know if it is linked to Olympus selling the camera business.

Live Composite

See this link for 7 interesting TIPS on how you can use the Live Composite function. You can also subscribe to this Olympus webpage.

Photo Story

Rob Trek showing how to enter a version of the Kodak 25 profile

Photowalk and 2-Step Exposure Technique

Last Update: 9 October 2020

My wife and I were driving past the old town Rapperswil at the far end of Lake Zürich. Returning from our appointment, we decided to stop over at Rapperswil and spend an hour or two in this lovely old town. My wife with her EM10 III and myself with my Pen F with my 12-50mm lens.

I also wanted to test the Gossen light meter. The idea was to try the Gossen with more demanding exposure settings like ETTR for street/city photography. (Walimex is a Gossen)

Olympus EM1 II w 30mm Macro, 2x FL600, mini studio, RC Mode set-up the w Gossen

Regular visitors to my blog will know that I have been on a journey studying exposure, the image sensor, and focusing techniques.

While I was searching for information on my Gossen, one thing led to the next and I came across the Sekonic YouTube presenter, Joe Brady. In his videos, Joe demonstrated the benefits of using external light meters with modern cameras. Joe convinced me to add the Gossen to my exposure toolbox.

In the past, my Gossen was tucked away in my photography "to-do" box. This was until I saw Joe's videos. The video below is the first in a 4-part series.

It is now 3 years since I started researching the image sensor. In that time I studied different articles on DPReview and I participated in various (some heated) forum discussions. I always compared the information I learned with theoretical and technical articles published by schools, image sensor manufacturers, the European Machine and Vision Association, and other enthusiast websites. 

Like in all situations, to get to that one thing that matters most, you need to first remove all the smoke and talking. Without getting too much into the sensor size debate, those who did consider changing from one camera system to another, know its way more than sensor size. Three basic factors to consider are buying/selling costs, the size/weight of equipment, and the available lens range.

Pointing out that one thing, I discovered the key to optimum image quality is to operate the image sensor at its ideal SNR. (Figure 1) It was clear, the digital camera is not an artistic paintbrush. The ideal SNR is specific and it happens in a small operating window only. This moved me to re-adjust my artistic expectation of the digital camera. The artistic part of digital photography can be considered as the pre-recording and the post-processing phases of creating the final digital image. 

The image recording phase is simply a data collecting phase and nothing more. The goal is to select the "right" exposure settings that will push the sensor to its ideal performance. This "ideal" performance happens at the sensor full SNR or full Saturation point. (See Figure 1) At full saturation, the sensor will record maximum tonal data at the lowest noise levels.

Even though I like to write more about all the benefits of recording more tonal data, the challenge is, it will quickly grow into a full separate article. (See this article I wrote)

Figure 1

Traditionally I prefer to use Aperture Priority Mode. That said, our photo walk in Rapperswil took about 2 hours. Based on the conditions I knew it was safe to manually select ISO200. Next, I will select my "starting" aperture. For this kind of city scenes, I used f5,6. From here on I will carefully select my focus points, always check the histogram, up the exposure compensation if needed, and then take the image. This is a quick process that will literally take seconds. As you learn more about the 2-step Exposure Technique discussed in this article, the question is, is there any benefit changing to Manual or Shutter Priority Mode?

Olympus Pen F with 12-50mm f5.0, ISO200, 1/500 - Raw file edited in PS (only basic settings)

The above image was taken using my Gossen exposure readout. See the histogram. The Gossen exposure reading was the equivalent of the camera reading plus 0,3EV. The dynamic range the camera will "see" is influenced by the percentage of clouds in the frame. For example, pointing the camera up a little will increase the percentage clouds in the frame and vice versa. When the camera exposure reading is weighted more towards the clouds, the street level shadows and noise will increase. 

Not that shadows generates more noise, what happens is less exposure (image signal) results in a smaller SNR, a drop in tonal data, and more noise. Interestingly, my Gossen was less impacted by how much clouds were in the "frame" and capable of measuring the overall exposure more accurately. 

This is the same image edited in Luminar 4 - As you can see the camera handled the DR well

The above image is an edited version of the RAW file. While editing the RAW file in Photoshop, I knew the RAW file had maximum tonal data, enabling me to push the RAW file a little harder. 

I increased the exposure by applying the aperture "gain" principle with the image below. As the exposure increased, I monitoring the histogram shifting to the right plus how the image brightness increased at the tree and street level. The final exposure compensation I selected was +1(EV).

When you move the histogram to the right, the darker areas also benefit from recording more tonal data. An increase in tonal data does not only happen in the highlights. If you think about it, this is one of the reasons why it's so interesting to work with HDR. I also used the camera over/underexpose warning system to check for any clipping. The sky had a few warnings (red spots), which was OK. 

I am rarely aiming for no clipping. In this example, the clouds did clip a little in some of the white areas. I was OK with that. I will do the same when I have dark shadows. When having no choice, I found it's better to clip select dark shadows to black and prevent having non-critical dark "details" with noise. This is a simple technique Panasonic has been applying to video recording. Below you see the jpeg, directly from the camera. 

This is what the jpeg looks like when applying an ETTR of +1EV

The image below is the edited RAW version of the above jpeg image. I knew the RAW image had maximum tonal data which was reassuring when editing the RAW file.

For those preferring their jpeg files ready out the camera, read the following. The secret is to treat the RAW and the jpeg files differently. The RAW file can be pushed to record maximum tonal data and the jpeg readjusted to mimic the scene. To get a better jpeg result, you might have to tap down the ETTR to +0,3 or +0,5EV. Keep in mind, using a smaller ETTR will give a smaller SNR, and risking more shadow noise. Tip:- Check out the exposure shift function on Olympus.

The next settings will help you "prepare" a jpeg profile for your camera. Use mid-tones (camera curves) to pull back the ETTR compensation (effect). Set your Picture Mode to i-Enhance (not the Mode Dial, leave that on Aperture Priority). You could also add a "safe" contrast using an S-Curve. (Highlights +1 and shadows -1 or -2) The key is to experiment. One will obviously NOT get the same results in the camera as in Photoshop.

Olympus Pen F with 12-50mm f5.7, ISO200, 1/250 (+1EV) - Raw file edited in PS and Luminar 4

Final thoughts on pushing the image sensor and the 2-Step Exposure Technique

If you want to learn more about the basics of ETTR or what "flooding" the sensor is, see this article. When you study the 2-Step Exposure Technique, the first step setting up your camera exposure is to select the right depth-of-field (DOF) and shutter speed in terms of aperture and movement. The second step is to optimize the exposure you selected in step 1. When you completed step 1, you will see the settings below, displayed on your camera:

• ISO200 (Manual setting - see intro text))
• Shutter speed of 1/400 (Aperture-Mode - shutter speed selected by the camera)
• An aperture of f5,6 (Selected by the photographer in Aperture Mode)
• With this example, the Gossen showed +0,5EV "ETTR" for max SNR
• My histogram confirmed that it is safe to shift the histogram with +0,5EV
• Finally, I use the under/overexposure warning function on the camera

In the second step, you will focus on the actual image signal reaching the image sensor. The aim is to expose the sensor optimally using techniques like ETTR. Which one of the above settings will you adjust if you do not want to impact the DOF and shutter speed you selected in the first step? As you know, I manually set the ISO to 200. We also know that ISO does not control the amount of image signal reaching the sensor. The next 2 options are to increase the shutter speed or the aperture.

Something we haven't discussed much is to 

think of aperture as gain.

When you adjust the aperture as "gain", you specifically targeting exposure and not DOF. When you increase the aperture with 1 stop, you basically doubling the exposure on the sensor. This is seriously exposing (flooding) the sensor. The question is, how will this affect the DOF you selected in step 1. Something not talked about much is the flexibility M43 cameras enjoy in terms of DOF. 

When your "starting" aperture (DOF) has been set for city scenes, it's safe to 

slightly increase the aperture "gain" to expose the sensor more. 

An interesting analogy of the camera DOF is the motorcar steering. The "full-frame" steering is direct while the "M43" steering is indirect. We know this M43 flexibility varies from application to application, think of macro or insect photography. Always experiment and compare your own unique photography style first. 

M43 photographers tend to select higher aperture values than necessary. Instead of selecting f5.6 for a landscape, they will select f7.1 or higher. The difference between f5,6 and f7,1 or higher is the "indirect" steering flexibility I am referring too.

Pen F with 12-50mm, ISO200, f5.1, 1/200 and +0.3EV (ETTR)

The same advantage full-frame photographers enjoy on background blur, they lack on DOF. We know Full-frame owners will strongly disagree on forums, while it's nothing new to see serious full-frame photographers use focus stacking on critical DOF applications like with macro or landscape photography.

When you break free from "background blur", you will learn the M43 aperture is one of Micro Four-Thirds cameras' most exciting strengths. The key to unlocking this benefit is to re-think how you work with aperture when using crop sensor cameras. The depth of field you will have at f4,5 is enough for most landscapes, the key is to select the right focusing point. See this article.

This means it was safe to open the aperture with a half-stop in my first image of Rapperswil. This brightened the image plus added 50% more image signal (exposure) onto the sensor without affecting my original DOF (acceptable sharpness).

Take a moment and think about this, for years full-frame marketers successfully distracted photographers by focussing on equivalence and background blur. In the process, they effectively distracted crop sensor Photographers from exploring this exciting DOF versus "gain" technique.

If you really want to see the full impact of using gain to impact sensor performance, apply this technique on small sensor cameras like the Olympus Stylus 1.

The takeaway is to think of aperture not only as DOF but as both DOF and gain. When you expose to the right (ETTR) use aperture (gain), especially in poor light conditions when you already using slower shutter speeds or higher ISO settings. You need as little as half a stop to "flood" the sensor. A full stop gain will seriously flood the sensor. A better-exposed sensor results in a higher SNR, more tonal data, and less noise. This explains why it's so important to also think in terms of gain.

When you practice this simple 2-step exposure technique, it will quickly become second nature. Once you master this concept of working the M43 aperture setting as gain plus DOF, your photography and especially low light photography will improve.

It is a good idea to start practicing with older 12 or 16MP MFT or compact cameras. The benefits are more visible with older image sensors plus it will help you to master the DOF versus gain principle. 

Will the latest and greatest 20MP cameras also benefit from this technique? Absolutely, the only difference is the visible benefits will be less obvious. On some more recent OMD's, like the EM1 III, the camera auto-exposure appears to automatically measure for maximum SNR.

The possible expiry date

Yes, it is correct, the 2-step exposure technique does have an expiry date. The reason is simple, as more M43 photographers learn how to select the right aperture, the window for flooding the sensor will disappear. That means if you currently use f8 for your landscape images, you have a large window for using this gain benefit technique. If you typically using f4,5 with your landscape images, you have no gain window available. That said you could always decide to create this "gain" window for yourself by selecting f6,3 in step 1 of the 2-Step Exposure Technique. The advantage with crop sensor cameras is they have this unique "build-in" DOF flexibility and this has no expiry date.

I posted a brief summary of the new 2-Step Exposure Technique over at the Mu-43 forum trusting that M43 photographers will appreciate any new information that will help them improve their M43 image quality. I am a little surprised by the aggressive response. You will find it here. It makes you wonder who is really interested in helping other M43 photographers get great results.

Pen F with 12-50mm, ISO200, f5.0, 1/350 and +0.3EV (ETTR)