I owned a Pen-F once. Bought it in late 2019, shot street work through Hong Kong with a 25mm f/1.8 and a 45mm f/1.8, added a 40-150mm f/4-5.6 R later for landscapes, eventually sold it. So when OM System announced a camera called the OM SYSTEM PEN in September, I sat up. Rangefinder-shaped body, electronic viewfinder, Micro Four Thirds sensor, $999.99.
The camera has been on sale in America since mid-October. What's new this week is that it's now actually purchasable in the UK as well. So the PEN's rollout is complete in the US and the UK — while its home market is still a month behind and some Japanese orders won't arrive until spring.
That's a strange way for a camera launch to finish, and it's the story here.
The launch that went out of order
The PEN was announced on September 9 for late October delivery. US pre-orders opened immediately and the camera started shipping in America in mid-October, on the original schedule — PhotographyTalk checked three US sellers on October 16 and found the silver body in stock at OM System's own US store and the silver kit with the 14-42mm in stock at B&H, while the black body was still reading Coming Soon at B&H and backordered to mid-November at OM's store. The camera sold.
Japan did not get that. OM System Japan issued an apology statement saying pre-orders had exceeded what it had anticipated, and moved its official release date from October 30 to November 28, 2026. Some black and silver body, kit and battery configurations are quoted as slipping into spring 2027 or later. The statement said that postponing the launch would at least get everyone who ordered before September 10 their camera on the new date, and that later pre-orders had no announced shipping date at all.
Meanwhile Europe was still showing the PEN as a pre-order at several retailers as of late October, and the UK only opened this week.
So the same camera is in stock in New York, on sale in London, a month behind in Tokyo, and possibly five months behind for whoever ordered black.
That's a demand story and a supply story at the same time, and I'd rather not pretend the second one is entirely OM System's fault. But the sequencing is odd: the market that got the camera last is the one the brand is home to.
What it costs, and where
Body alone is $999.99. With the new M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 III it's $1,099.99, and the double kit that adds the M.ZUIKO ED 40-150mm F4.0-5.6 R is $1,299.99. UK pricing starts at £849 for the body and £949 with the 14-42mm. You can buy through OM System's US store, B&H, Adorama or Amazon, and in the UK through Wex Photo Video, Amazon or Park Cameras, though DCW notes several UK retailers were still awaiting stock.
Two details worth knowing if you're ordering. The new 14-42mm III is also sold on its own at $349.99, and OM System says it collapses with a click-style retractable mechanism so it doesn't need a switch flipped to pack down. And it's explicitly supported by the camera's Focus Stacking mode, which matters on a kit aimed at people shooting close-up detail and landscapes on a tripod.
The BLS-7 battery is $99.99 separately, the BCS-7 charger $119.99, and there's a limited-time offer bundling a free Clever Supply leather wrist strap, valued at $54, while supplies last.
What I'd want to know before buying
My old Pen-F had a 25mm f/1.8 and a 45mm f/1.8 and that was it. I'd want to know what the 14-42mm III does at the long end before I trust the $1,099 kit over the $999 body, and I already own primes that fit this mount.
The first thing I'd want to test is the colour presets against my own eyes, because the Pen-F's look was part of why I kept shooting it. The Film Rich Color and Film B&W profiles with grain are the ones I'd try first, and the physical Profile Control Switch on the front is a nicer answer to this than a menu. Second is the 5.5 stops of stabilisation in a body this light — my Pen-F never had IBIS, and I remember how still you had to be at 1/15s in the dark.
I still shoot M43 every day. My GH7 with the 12-40mm PRO II is my daily driver because it's small, tough, and it goes everywhere in Hong Kong without thinking about it. What I've never had is a small camera with a viewfinder that goes in a jacket pocket on days when the GH7 is too much. The PEN is 393g with a battery and card.
I'd also want to know how the used market looks six months from now. When a camera ships late to some regions and on time to others, the price gap between a new one and a nearly-new one gets weird fast, and that's usually where the actual buying opportunity sits.
Until then it's a price and a delivery date. But a $999.99 body with a viewfinder and IPX1 sealing actually reaching British shelves, while Tokyo is still a month behind, is worth knowing about.