OM interview at PetaPixel: ‘A New Pen is Still Coming’

And yet there is hope, people!

In a chat with the PetaPixel crew OM manager Kazuhiro Togashi said:

“The OM-3 is not a successor of the Pen series. So of course we are thinking the Pen series is an important lineup for our company. We are trying to study the success of the Pen series, but again, the OM-3 is not a successor of the Pen. The Pen series remains an important part of our portfolio, and we are actively exploring the possibility of a new Pen model, and are currently considering what Pen series model we can offer as OM System.“

When asked about the trend of manufacturers removing electronic viewfinders he said:

We are considering both sides for market demand,” Togashi says. “We want to make sure photographers actually enjoy operating the camera. We are really considering which kind of product may be better to expand to new users. Maybe they want to continue to use their smartphone but have some interest in standalone cameras. So we are now thinking about the new Pen concept [from this point of view]

PetaPixel added that they got the impression the new PEN camera is still in early stage of development. If that’s true it might take 2-3 years before this model hits the market. What do you hope to get? a new PEN-F successor, and entry level PEN or soemthing else?