Olympus E-PL7 Review - With a compact body and 16.1MP sensor, as well as a tilting LCD screen, the E-PL7 is targeted towards the 'selfie' generation who are looking to travel light.
Olympus E-PL7 Review
The E-PL, or Pen ‘Lite’, range is now in its sixth generation. The ‘Lite’ moniker is in reference to the smaller, more rangefinder style of design in comparison to the larger OM-D series.
As the sixth model in the range, the E-PL7 benefits from a rich history and has an attractive specification. This includes a 16 MP sensor as seen in the OM-D E-M5, as well as a vari-angle LCD screen and extended connectivity.
So does it continue this rich tradition? Let’s take a closer look…
Olympus E-PL7 Review – Features
At the core of the E-PL7’s imaging capabilities sits the same 16MP Four Thirds sensor as utilised in several other Olympus CSCs.
The sensor offers an ISO range of 200-25,600 with a low setting of ISO 100, while it also caters for the videographer with 1920 x 1080 HD video capture at 30p in both H.264 and MPEG 4 formats.
This sensor is accompanied by Olympus’s current top-end processor – the TruePic VII, complete with Fine Detail II technology aimed at correcting for lens aberration and distortion. As well as helping to deliver the best image quality, the processing engine also helps to deliver some solid continuous shooting speeds of up to 8fps.
Despite these serious imaging capabilities, Olympus is keen to stress the style credentials of the camera and as such its suitability to entry-level market.
Rear LCD
One such feature is the camera’s 3in, 1.04m-dot LCD touchscreen. What marks the screen out its vari-angle functionality which allows it to be rotated to a front-facing angle 180-degrees below the camera’s lens.
As well as featuring full manual exposure controls, and the obligatory automatic shooting modes, perhaps another sign of the entry-level appeal of the camera is the presence of some 25 scene modes as well as 14 art filters.
That’s not to say that the E-PL7’s serious imaging credentials end there, as the model also sports full Wi-fi functionality for simple wireless sharing of images and exposure control.
Also, although the model doesn’t feature a flash as standard a hotshoe facilitates the use of the small flashgun which arrives in the box. There’s also an accessory port on hand if you want to attach the optional external viewfinder.