OM System PEN schwarz mit Objektiv M.Zuiko digital 14-42mm 3.5-5.6 III

The PEN can be the kind of travel companion that you will, on occasion, find somewhat irritating. The kind that sometimes won’t always do exactly what you want to do. But also the kind that you’re so glad you took with you. And with whom you’ll create memories you wouldn’t otherwise get to keep.

The OM System PEN is a good-looking and fairly affordable camera for those wanting to take their photography beyond a phone or as an everyday companion to a larger model. Sure it’s essentially a reskinned OM5 Mark II, with the same 20 Megapixel Four Thirds sensor, but you’re getting a stylish and splash-proof design with lots of control, industry-leading stabilisation, great-looking images out of camera, and access to a wealth of compact lenses. It also encourages you to experiment with powerful long exposure options, a collection of good-looking effects, and a neat interface for adjusting colour and monochrome profiles. But the PEN also inherits limitations of earlier models, lacking 10 bit video, 4k 60p and a broader array of subject detection. All are present on most rivals, but to be fair how many of them are deal-breakers for the target audience? So while the OM System PEN may not have a new sensor, nor leading video or autofocus specs, I feel it’ll still appeal to a lot of people, and it’s certainly a camera I enjoyed using. All I’d need to decide is whether to go for its rangefinder style body or the SLR-styled OM5 Mark II.

The OM System PEN is the finest PEN ever made. It retains the series' timeless design, along with key features like the Profile Control switch on the front, and adds things like IPX1 weather sealing, subject detection autofocus, 30fps Pro Capture and brilliant computational photography modes. Its 8-bit video specs are a bit basic, though you do get S&Q at up to FullHD 120p, but this is every inch a photographer's camera – down to the right-hand 'on' switch for from-the-hip street photography gunslinging. For just $999 / £849 you're getting one of the most beautiful cameras on the market that takes even more beautiful pictures, while also packing weather sealing, stabilization and an electronic viewfinder. This is the ultimate everyday carry – and a better camera than the mighty PEN-F.

In a very simplistic and maybe cynical way of looking at it, the PEN is just a street-styled OM-5 II.