Olympus Pen E-PL7 - Reviews

(4.6)

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29.9.2014

I was at a National Trust property the other day. I'd been there before so had chosen to leave my big-boy DSLR (a Sony A-58) at home and travel light. I regretted this decision when a squadron of bi-planes flew over and all I had to hand was a smartphone. If I'd had the small but (almost) perfectly-formed E-PL7, the moment wouldn't have been lost.So, I come at this from the perspective of a DSLR fan. My beloved Sony A58 has now been kitted up with a range of lenses and produces top notch photos on a modest budget. It's fair to say, after using the E-PL7 for a couple of weeks now, that if I could only have one of the two,it'd be the A58 - but I remain impressed with quite how well this little camera performs and it's now replaced my smartphone as my tool of choice for casual photography and an able substitute for more challenging shots.Let's start with the positives. The E-PL7 is the size of a standard compact camera but surprisingly heavy - due largely to its metal frame. This camera is the epitome of portable durability, especially when equipped with the svelte pancake lens (although whether this makes the pancake lens worth a £100 premium over the alternative, I'm not so sure).The combination of a Micro Four Thirds sensor, top class lens and in-body image stabilisation results in excellent photos in all conditions. Whilst it might look like a standard compact camera, the sensor in the E-PL7 is much, much, larger - something that's most obvious in low light conditions where it performs admirably in comparison with its cheaper cousins (and smartphones). To me, performance seems comparable to my A58 in low light - both helped by the fact that you can open the aperture wider and gather more light due to the image stabilisation.The pancake lens is beautifully constructed, although it took a while for me to understand the zooming method which uses a spring-loaded mechanism. The pancake lens ranges from 14-42mm, although at the upper end it was equivalent to my Sony kit lens at 55mm so the range is a bit wider than it might appear.The box contains a nice shoulder strap and a detachable flash attachment (along with its own bag). Personally, I think the flash would have been better built-in - it's hardly going to help take that spontaneous shot if you have to fish around for this little gizmo, remove the blanking plate and plug it in.The box also contains a charger and battery - my advice is to charge it up fully before use because, in my case at least, the onboard clock lost its time and date settings while the battery charged the first time. One thing you won't find in the box is an SD Card (which seems a little mean, given the price of this camera) but at least it does take standard cards so I can reuse those I already have.The display is bright (you can turn it up and down in the settings) and, once you get the hang of the mechanism, easy to turn upside down to make taking selfies simple - if that's your thing. The display uses touch inconsistently - some menu items can be invoked by touch, others require you to use the more traditional buttons. I'd prefer it if they chose one or the other.To get the most out of the camera, you might want to download the Olympus Image Share app. This allows you to very easily make a private wifi connection with the E-PL7 to transfer photos to your smartphone and even add geo-tags (although, to be honest, I still haven't got my head around how this is done - it's far from intuitive). The app also includes a remote control function which allows you to set up and take photos from a distance, making it much easier to take family group photos with you in it.When it comes to processing the photos you can edit them on-camera, on your phone or your computer. In my view, the on-camera options are worthless - after all, there are plenty of apps available to touch up your photos at this sort of basic level. My preferred method of editing is to import the images into Lightroom in RAW format so I have the maximum latitude to work on them. The good news is that Olympus has its own RAW equivalent (ORF) so they can be saved to the SD card without any form of compression. The bad news is that these formats vary slightly between cameras and, at the time of writing this review, Lightroom doesn't support ORF files from the E-PL7*. Furthermore, the supplied image editing software is very limited and doesn't offer the option to save the ORF files to RAW so you could then import them into Lightroom. No doubt Adobe will issue an update at some point to support these ORFs but, for now, I can't make a detailed judgement on the image quality compared with my DSLR - only between jpgs from both systems which seem, to me, to be largely comparable.In summary, the E-PL7 offers many of the advantages of a DSLR including high image quality and interchangeable lenses, in a much more compact and convenient package. On the other hand, it's also more expensive than a number of budget DSLRs (including the Sony A58) whilst offering fewer photographic opportunities. But then, as the old photographic trope says, 90% of taking a great photo is simply being in the right place with a camera and this compact little beauty is likely to go more places than a chunky DSLR.UPDATE 20th November 2014The latest update to Lightroom includes support for this camera's ORF/RAW format. I'm now able to see that the camera's performance is excellent - pretty much a match for my DSLR. I'm using it for product photography and results are indistinguishable from my A58. Absolutely superb.

25.10.2014

I will say upfront that I am completely new to the world of photography so if you're wanting a comprehensive technical review I would suggest reading one of the other reviews as they're really helpful. My review will basically cover how I felt about the camera having only previously used a point and shoot and a mobile phone! I'll mention the features I've used so far, but am hoping to do a photography course to understand it better - I'll update my review once I've done the course!So as far as unboxing goes, this is a great looking piece of kit. It feels sturdy, it looks stylish and, even with the lens on, it's not as bulky as other DSLRs I've looked at. Mine came with the 14-42mm pancake lens though,so if you buy the kit with the standard lens it'll be bulkier. Included in the box with the camera and lens are the battery and charger, basic instructions and software DVD, a flash (with a soft pouch for storage) and a shoulder strap. The battery charger is for the battery only, so you'll need to remove it from the camera in order to charge it. Other reviewers have mentioned that they find this to be an inconvenience, however I have been used to this with my previous camera and so it didn't bother me. For me it's actually a plus as it means I can have a spare battery and use one while the other is charging! The shoulder strap is ok, but it's a bit thin so I'll probably buy a thicker one for comfort.In terms of the camera itself, I'm really impressed. As I mentioned, I have nothing to compare it to that is like-for-like so I can't really say how it stacks up against other DSLRs; it seems, however, to be a good choice to start with if you're looking to upgrade from a point and shoot camera. There's a fully auto mode for those like me who don't really have a clue what they're doing, or for those moment when you just need to take a photo quickly, and there are other modes that range from partial to full customisation, so will be suitable for most. The menus are pretty self explanatory and another reviewer has mentioned that you can enable advanced menus if you wish, so you really do have full control over your photos if you so wish. There's also an `artistic' mode, that has some great filters - and it gives a preview of these filters too, so you can see what you're getting before you take the photo. I've used some of these and been really happy with the results. Other than this I've just used the camera on auto, so I can't comment on the customisation aspects.There's no electronic viewfinder on this camera, which didn't really mean much to me as I've always had a camera with just a screen, but I'm told that this is a negative as having a viewfinder really does count with a DSLR. You can buy one as an add-on, but this would then mean that you can't attach the flash, as for some reason they haven't built a flash into the EPL-7. This is a definite negative for me, as I want to be able to take spur-of-the-moment shots! Still, at least the camera is supplied with a flash. A massive plus point for me is that the camera has built in 3-axis image stabilisation. I have slightly shaky hands but the stabilisation here is brilliant - not a blurred image in sight! The camera also seems to be good in low light, although I haven't had many opportunities to test this out.The lens that the camera is supplied with seems pretty good to me - the images are high quality and the detail is fantastic. As I learn more though, I'm probably going to buy another one with a longer zoom range. Being a Micro Four Thirds camera, there's a pretty big range of lenses to choose from - if only I knew where to start! The shutter and zoom noise is also pretty quiet, which is a plus point.The screen on the camera is a touch screen, but it would seem only for certain things. I wish there was a little more consistency with it. That said, when it is a touch screen the sensitivity is great and it's very easy to use. The screen can be rotated 180 degrees downwards in order to take selfies, and when the screen is rotated this becomes touchscreen so that you don't need to fumble to try to hit the shutter button while your arm is out in front of you! The only problem with the downward rotation is that you couldn't sit the camera on a tripod with the screen down, however the phone app can be used as a remote viewfinder, which may fix this issue although I haven't tried this particular function yet. The screen seems to fare relatively well in sunlight, certainly better than my previous camera, but I suppose it can't really replace a viewfinder.I have used the app to transfer images from my camera to my phone, and I love it. This is a massive selling point for me, as it makes it so easy to share my photos with friends, on Facebook, wherever I want to really! Where before I would have had to use my phone if I wanted to share it immediately, now I can use the camera and have better quality images.Finally there are options for onscreen editing. I haven't used these as yet, and can't really see that I'll use them much as I have photo-editing software, however I can see that it would be useful if I wanted to quickly edit a photo that I was then going to send to my phone to share.As I said, this isn't a technical review but I hope that it will have been helpful to someone like me who's making the leap from point and shoot to DSLR. I'd definitely recommend this camera and I am really looking forward to exploring just how much it can actually do.

25.9.2014

This review is for the PL7 with pancake lens - other reviews may appear under the same page.Firstly, I would like to say that I am by no means a professional photographer and I do not have an in depth knowledge of the inner workings of a camera such as aperture, shutter speeds, ISO ratings etc. This review is assumes that like me, you want to get to know more about photography and taking some new steps, or are happy using the full auto mode and let the camera choose what it thinks is best. If you are looking for more than that, then I advise you skip my review to save wasting your time. I currently have a Samsung NX2000 and I will draw upon a few comparisons.This camera has a very solid feel to it.The body is a little heavier and thicker than an NX2000. However, with the pancake lens fitted, it actually fits better into my camera bag than the NX2000. Oddly enough, the slightly larger size gives it a little more comfort in the hand. It has a good build quality to go along with its fashionable look. When attaching the lens it makes the NX2000 feel a little flimsy in comparison and likewise all other parts feel robust. The function buttons on the rear panel are a little on the small size but they are responsive even to my sausage fingers.Where the Samsung NX2000 takes the edge is in the size of the sensor, this is the same size light gathering chip as an entry level DSLR where as the PL7 has a slightly smaller chip. For most situations it won't make a lot of difference and of course it is still a whole lot better than a compact which is tiny in comparison. However, if the light capture capability is important then you will need to take this into consideration.A complaint about the NX2000 was that the screen was not very clear in bright sunlight. The PL7 doesn't seem to suffer as badly as it is clearer in these situations (thankfully the sun held out a little longer for me to test this). The touch screen is filled with functionality and it is as responsive as any other touch screen I have handled. Also you can tilt up out to give you a look down view or tilt down to raise the camera over your head to get a shot. If you continue tilting the screen will face forward for that all important selfie - personally I prefer taking them blind - much more fun!Big advantage over the NX2000 is that it takes SD/SD-HC/SD-XC whereas the NX2000 only takes micro-SD. Why is this important? In my experience you have a better range of faster and more reliable cards in the SD range.The flash comes with a soft pouch for storage on the strap when not in the hot shoe. In dark rooms on full auto I have had better results with less noise using the PL7 than the NX2000 - granted in experienced hands this could go the other way.As for taking pictures and video - both are very good. The NX2000 has a higher resolution and with 20 megapixels, but video output is the same. Agreed, higher mega-pixel count and resolution isn't the mark of a better camera, I am just putting it out there. Both cameras give crystal sharp pictures in good light and easy to use when in point and click. It is difficult for me to say which is better in these circumstances - both are as good as each other. The PL7 seems to focus faster and with a smooth quiet lens action. I tried to focus on a distant plane in the sky, the PL7 locked onto it after panning past it once, but the NX2000 had to pan in and out a few times before realised something was there and locked on to it.In terms of extras, the NX2000 has some good firmware being able to directly upload images to, Facebook, Picasa, YouTube and a Microsoft one drive account. Maybe with a firmware upgrade the PL7 will be able to do the same. Both cameras will allow you to use a phone as a view finder and control the camera. Both were easy to set up and connect to a wireless network.The bottom line for me is that the PL7 is a superb camera and for me the auto mode gets me fantastic looking pictures, so in the right hands and with experience it can only get better. At this time the body and pancake lens is currently £500 (£400 for the non-pancake lens) whereas the NX2000 I bought for £180. The NX2000 has some disadvantages over the PL7, but I think in terms of functionality, quality of pictures and of course the all important price, I think the NX2000 wins the race albeit the PL7 is right on its tail.Despite my preference to the NX2000 I can't see any reason not to give this 5 stars. I was tempted to take it down to 4 stars on VFM, but I do realise that the pancake lens is what bumps the price up as it would on any other camera. The model without the pancake lens is currently £400 and I think you could get more bang for your buck. I have no doubt that in about 6 months the price would have fallen and then the PL7 will become a heck of a lot more competitive.

10.10.2015

I'm a lifelong (at least 30 years) Olympus 35mm SLR & now a DSLR user and this is now my go to camera..........Why? The flexibility of a an SLR format without the weight, plus I use a 14-140mm zoom on the camera - thanks to the micro four thirds format this translates to a 28-280 zoom but only a fraction of the weight. The current lens replaced the two kits lenses & is better quality (Panasonic Lumix Vario 14-140mm), so there are fewer chances of missing the moment by never having the right lens on. I also have the 9mm pancake/bodycap lens for the camera but seldom take that out of the bag.I do not use the "selfie" functions, and sometimes will pack my DSLR over this camera (airshows etc.)

29.10.2014

I'm going to review this product as a total amateur camera user. Basically this is my second ever digital camera and probably the most advanced camera I'll ever use. I use it for taking family photos and have no professional use for it. This camera is beautifully built and stylish to look at and use. I love the nude colour panel as I think it makes it very chic. You get a number of different bits in the box: strap, lens, flash and the battery charger. The flash comes in it's own little case which is so cute. The camera is pretty heavy but it takes fantastic pictures really clear and bright so I don't mind it's weight. The touchscreen is so easy to use especially for those of us who have no idea about backgrounds/lighting/effects etc and the little 'selfie'

15.6.2016

What a gem! Beautifully made, and once you have set it up so that you can access the 'Super Control Panel' it becomes an OM-D, just without the viewfinder. In fact it is more capable than my EM5 in several respects. It does take a little while to stop yourself lifting the camera to your eye if you're used to a DSLR of any sort, and the screen can be difficult to see in very bright conditions so you must adapt to this, or buy an EVF to fit (can't afford this just yet!)Instructions to use the @Super Control Panel' can be found here: [...]

2.8.2016

Fantastic camera, the meter is superb delivering perfectly exposed shots every time. Working without a viewfinder is taking some getting used to, particularly in strong light, but results have still been good. I will probably buy the optional VF-4 viewfinder which fits in the flash hotshoe, as I prefer to shoot with available light with a fast lens and high ISO. Features and buttons are highly customisable - and best of all, it's so small and light! A capable replacement for the bulkier DLSR.

10.8.2015

My main camera is an OM-D E-M1 and this compliments it perfectly as a light weight alternative when I don't need the features or viewfinder of the E-M1. It's a great little camera. It's best feature is being able to touch the screed where you want it to focus and take the photograph, it means you can put a fast lens on it, set it on auto ISO and give it to others to take photos without worrying about having to explain how to use it.

10.11.2014

I am not a professional photographer. I'm just a traveler who loves taking photos and I do take a lot of it. My previous camera was Olympus Pen E-PL2 which is still good, but mostly used by my father. So I decided to buy this new one for my own, and was not disappointed at all! :))Compact size with great picture quality as usual (or even better). Love the new design and colour. Perfect!

27.12.2015

Beautiful, light and so advanced - I love it. The pictures are clear and there are loads of fun shots and more adventurous if you want to learn more. If you want there are some very handy hints the come on at the back when you change from Auto to Art, and other settings. This isn't just for beginners but handy if you are just wanting an alternative to an SLR with it's weight.

18.1.2016

There are a ton of people (esp travel bloggers) who ask me for camera recommendations; these people really only care about taking great pictures without the desire to sort through the whole shebang of photography, i however always without hesitation recommend The Olympus pen 7, simply because it isn't only a travel friendly camera, but it is also suitable for beginners.

2.5.2015

This is a really fabulous camera. I'm a beginner, but so far I have taken some superb pictures with this camera. The shutter speed is so fast, you don't miss a moment. I'll just need to take more time to explore the rest of the features on the Pen PL7. Thank you Olympus!