Olympus Pen E-PL7: review, specifications, reviews

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:46

The market for compact cameras is in decline. Small companies that do not have a so-called credit of trust quickly go bankrupt. Only giants like Sony, Samsung, etc. remain on the market. Firms are trying to beat their competitors by squeezing all the juice out of their optical devices. Relatively recently, the notorious Olympus company introduced its new compact mirrorless camera called PL7, which is a direct continuation of the PEN series. In this article we will discuss the new brainchild of Olympus. Want to learn more about the new PL7? Then read the article to the end.

Olympus

Olympus is a famous Japanese company that has been delighting consumers with its optical equipment and photographic equipment for over 90 years. The trade brand "Olympus" was registered back in 1921. Initially, the company specialized in the production of microscopes. However, the company grew rapidly. Accordingly, the range of goods began to expand actively. As early as 1934, the company was manufacturingoptical products for cameras.

Now "Olympus" is one of the largest companies engaged in the production and sale of cameras and other optical products. Products under this brand have always been famous for their reliability and quality. Thanks to this, the company has earned a certain credit of trust and a huge consumer base.

Olympus Pen E PL7 Review

Company "Olympus", as a rule, is not in a hurry to update its own mirrorless line. OM-D models live on the market for two years and remain on it as an inexpensive alternative even after the release of a new device. New models of the PEN E-P line are also released every two years. And the production of miniature E-PMs has completely stopped. Only the most popular and, one might say, mainstream mirrorless E-PL series is updated with enviable regularity. The line is updated annually with new devices. New cameras come out so often that you can set your watch by them. So, relatively recently, a brand new Olympus PEN E-PL7 was released. How is this camera different from other devices in the E-PL line? You will learn the answer to this question by reading this article.

Build & Design

The first thing you should pay attention to is the appearance of the device. In the era of digital cameras, Olympus made a rather bold and daring decision. Specialists have relied on the so-called neoclassical style, and retrostyle was used in the design of the camera. Even the very first model of the PEN line gave off a taste of the 70s of the pastcentury. Consumers embraced this style with enthusiasm. The trend caught on and spread to subsequent cameras.

Olympus PEN E-PL7 is no exception. Stylish retro design qualitatively distinguishes PL7 from competitors. The appearance of the camera seems very sophisticated, noble. If we talk about the material, then the body is completely lined with metal. This greatly increases the "survivability" of the device in the event of a fall from a height. Along the perimeter, the camera is sheathed with special plastic dressed under the skin. Thanks to this, the Olympus PEN E-PL7 14 42mm is quite pleasant to the touch and a pleasure to work with. Although the PL7 belongs to the middle class devices, this does not affect the design in any way. The brainchild of the Olympus company looks better than many top-end and expensive cameras. In addition, I am pleased with the presence of other colors. Tired of black and dull mirrorless cameras? Not a problem. Get the Olympus PEN Lite E-PL7, which comes in an unusual white color scheme.

Ergonomics of the PL7 is also all right. The camera does not slip, lies well in the hand. The device weighs only 465 grams. Such dimensions allow you to carry the PL7 in a simple bag. Especially for the thumb on the back of the panel there is a platform. Thanks to all this, the camera is convenient to shoot from any position. This, in turn, allows you to take pictures from almost any angle.

Control and interface

Device controls have changed slightly for the E-PL5. But, thosehowever, the E-PL7 lives up to the canons of the PEN line. Thus, the selector ring moved up, closer to the shutter button. Other buttons have also been rearranged. This rearrangement in no way affected the overall ease of use.

The Olympus PEN E-PL7 inherits the touch screen from its predecessors (E-M1 and E-PL5). The interface of the new gadget has not changed. But it is worth noting that the PL7 model has an updated matrix menu that allows you to access the settings in a matter of seconds. You can call it using the Info key.

Touch control is implemented quite well. Through the display, you can focus, shoot by pressing, view photos, scale them and apply various effects in i-Auto mode (for example, blur the background or a moving object, adjust brightness, contrast, etc.). Unfortunately, multi-touch did not appear in the Olympus PEN E-PL7. In addition, small icons are disappointing, which are quite difficult to hit (especially for a person with large fingers).

The main menu hasn't changed either. Therefore, if you have used previous devices in the PEN line, you will not have any problems with control. First of all, I am pleased with the huge number of settings, thanks to which you can customize the camera to your personal preferences.

Screen

The display in the new Olympus PEN E-PL7 has been greatly improved. It is noticeable in the first minutesoperation. Although the diagonal remained the same (three inches), the resolution was almost doubled (from 460 to 1037 thousand pixels). In addition, the camera was equipped with a special mechanism that allows you to make turns 180 degrees down and 90 degrees up. This allows you to see your face while taking a self-portrait. The mechanism is made quite reliably, so it is unlikely to break it inadvertently.

Functionality

The touch screen has not been modified. The PL7 uses the good old 16-megapixel CMOS that many people are familiar with from the E-PL5. The processor has been upgraded. A rather powerful and efficient TruePic 7 is installed on board the new camera. Thanks to this filling, the camera is quite fast. PL7 does not require additional time to start working, almost instantly processes images, applies effects, etc. The camera is capable of shooting at 8 frames per second. For such a device, this is a pretty good indicator.

The PL7 uses contrast autofocus (about 81 points). It works very fast, it is able to recognize faces. In addition, the camera has the ability to set specific points on which you want to focus. In addition, you can focus the camera manually. For example, using the Focus Peaking system, which highlights sharpness contours. There is also the ability to focus the touch screen. This function is carried out by touching the display with a finger at a certain point.

There is no flash in the Olympus PEN E-PL7 Kit 14-42. But instead of it, if desired, you can install a complex flash. In addition, a three-axis matrix stabilizer is built into the camera. It allows you to compensate for up to three EV steps. This allows you to shoot at slow shutter speeds without any blur.

Wireless functionality

One of the main features of the new Olympus PEN E-PL7 EZ is the Wi-Fi module. Thanks to this, you can link the camera to your mobile phone. This opens up a lot of possibilities. In addition to the usual Live View, you can transfer photos directly to the memory of your tablet or smartphone, edit the received images using built-in filters, etc.

Memory card compatible

Like other PEN cameras, the new PL7 supports SD cards. However, additional memory is unlikely to be needed. Indeed, thanks to the Wi-Fi module, images can be dropped directly on a smartphone or any other gadget. Images are automatically saved in JPEG or RAW (12-bit) format. The maximum resolution is 4608 x 3456 as in the E-PL5.

It is also worth noting that the camera has a USB interface (version 2.0) and a micro-HDMI connector for wired high-speed data transfer. In addition, there is a special port for branded accessories from Olympus.

Video

In terms of video recording, the PL7 is not far behind its predecessors. Like the E-PL 5, the new camera shoots video in HD quality (about 30 frames per second). Autofocus works during recording. Also availablebuilt-in stereo microphone for clear sound. You can add various effects to the video, apply unusual filters. In addition, PL7 allows you to use several filters in sequence in one video. Transitions between them can be set manually.

Creative Tools

Olympus PEN E-PL7 also boasts a huge set of diverse creative tools and interesting features. For example, a shooting mode called Panning Shot, which allows you to take incredibly beautiful panoramas. This also includes the Hand-Held Twilight mode, which combines eight frames into one, which reduces noise and improves image quality.

It's also worth saying a few words about e-Portrait. This mode, together with the self-timer, allows you to set the shooting interval. This is very useful when taking selfies. The resulting self-portraits can be processed without any problems in the built-in program called Photo Booth.

Battery

The Olympus PEN E-PL7 comes with a BLS-50 battery with a capacity of about 1210 mAh. This is enough for more than 300 shots. At first glance it may seem that this is quite small. But for a compact mirrorless camera, 300 shots is a pretty solid figure. In addition, other manufacturers care little about the autonomy of their device. Therefore, in today's market it is quite difficult to find a mirrorless camera that would have more autonomy than the PL7.

Result

In the last few years on the marketcompact photographic equipment, a fierce struggle is unfolding between manufacturers. Companies are forced to lure customers not by quantity, but by quality. The current trend is perfectly supported by the Olympus PEN E-PL7. Feedback on this model is extremely positive. According to buyers, it is characterized by an attractive design, high-quality materials. According to them, at the moment PL7 looks much more solid than the same E-PL5.

As for functionality, everything here is also on top. Specialists from the company "Olympus" did their best. The owners of this camera emphasize that the new processor, filters, improved video camera with a special swivel mechanism, a lot of software features, Wi-Fi - everything is done at the highest level. Perhaps the main shortcomings of the camera in terms of functionality are the lack of a built-in flash and viewfinder. However, these problems are solvable.