Advertisement
SNAPCLOUDBack up every photoUnlimited RAW storage, 30 days freeTry freeSample ad
Advertisement
Advertisement

Olympus E-PL7: The first selfie-PEN gets officially announced!

The E-PL7 has been announced. And it gets aligned with the selfie-hype 🙂 Here is all the info you need:

Preorders, specs and price to all newly announced Olympus stuff:
Full special page at Adorama.
Silver E-PL7 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, GetOlympus, Wex UK.
Black E-PL7 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, GetOlympus, Wex UK.
Silver E-PL7 with lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, GetOlympus, Wex UK.
Black E-PL7 with lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, GetOlympus, Wex UK.
White E-PL7 at Wex UK.
Black 12mm f/2.0 lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Black LH48 Metal hood for the 12mm lens at Adorama.
Black kit lens lens cover at Adorama, BHphoto.
Brown kit lens lens cover at Adorama, BHphoto.
Black CS-45B body jacket at Adorama, BHphoto.
Brown CS-45B body jacket at Adorama, BHphoto.
Black E-PL7 CS-45B at Adorama.
Brown E-PL7 CS-45B at Adorama.
Olympus BLS-50 Lithium-Ion Battery at BHphoto.

Previews and early tests:
Full review by Robin Wong, First impression at Dpreview, Preview at Imaging Resource,

Image samples:
Robin Wong, Olympus Japan, Flickr.

Video samples:
Olympus E-PL7 AF Speed Test, Cnet, Italian Hands-on, Hands-on in Hong Kong.

Press releases:
43rumors, Imaging Resource, Engadget, OpnPn (French), MirrorlessRumors, ThePhoBlographer, Adorama, TheVerge, DSLRmagazine (Spanish), SystemKameraForum (German), LeMondeDeLaPhoto (French), Optyczne (Polish), PenAndTell (German).

Poll:
[poll id=”247″]

Images (Click on it to enlarge):

Share this story
Community

Join the discussion

483 Responses

      1. Admin, I assume you mean this? “I have been told the 40-150mm PRO lens and the Silver E-M1 will be announced right before Photokina and not tomorrow.”

        And I assumed it also meant the firmware update too? Is that right?

  1. yeah, pl7 will replace all pl/pm that good ,i think many model of m43 olympus look wasted.
    @admin ,LX1000 launch today maybe,please confirm right or wrong

  2. Clearly a Selfie feature is the break-through of the M43 market. The only thing that could make this better is a special edition model for $125 more with a black screen bezel. Can’t wait for the Facebook edition. Olympus marketing at it’s detached best.

  3. The DPReview first impressions article made me smile. A highly enjoyable piece.

    Looks like a well rounded little camera. I might recommend it to my dad, who still enjoys his E-P1.

  4. The only problem with “selfie” mode is it’s only really practical with a VERY limited range of lenses and focal lengths. Only at the wide end, maybe 20-25mm and below, which automatically eliminates a lot of lenses. Can you imagine trying to take a selfie with the 45mm 1.8, etc? Having said that, yes you could put it on a tripod and still use it for framing purposes standing several feet away (wait a second, since it’s downward facing NO YOU CAN’T); but selfies were intended as self portraitures holding the camera with one hand, etc.

    If you want to fit 2 people in the image, (common practice for selfies), then you’re REALLY stuck with needing something like the 12mm. So while I like the idea, the m43 format was never really optimized for selfies, like a point and shoot is.

    The best implementation I have seen of “selfie” screen has been on point and shoots such as the Sony Rx100. I love that this is an option finally in an Olympus, but how practical it will be remains to be seen. Kind of awkward too being BELOW the body instead of flipping above.

    1. The downwards-tilting screen is quite shrewd: portraits look better when shot from a slight top position, especially when a wide focal length is used (a problem for selfies regardless of the format).

      1. I can see that point, although the problem in both of these situations regardless of whether it’s top or bottom is that you have to tell your subject (if it’s other than yourself) to look at the LENS instead of the screen, otherwise their eyes won’t be looking right at the photo. It’s especially magnified when the screen is far away from the lens, or if the lens is less wide of a focal length. Ergonomically the selfie screen at the bottom poses problems also for not being able to set this on a flat surface or a tripod.

        I can also just tilt my camera down and hold my camera from a higher up position to achieve the “slight top position” you speak of.

  5. Why so thick? They should have made that screen removable for use as a remote. Lord knows it looks big enough to hold all the necessary electronics.

  6. It is a very uninteresting caméra… Not even a build in flash… Olympus, come on, make a rangefinder left EVF camera! There is no point to have the EVF in the axe of the lens as you dont see the lens when you are looking through the EVF!

    1. “There is no point to have the EVF in the axe of the lens as you dont see the lens when you are looking through the EVF!”
      Enough engineers don’t agree with your view.
      On small camera’s tough, it might be better if it’s in the corner, just to keep the height down.
      I have used DSLR’s for years and always shoot two eyes open, to follow the subject while panning.

      The biggest issue with this cam is that the LCD faces front only from the bottom. That’s not very usable when using a tripod.
      For the rest I have no issue with this cam looks like a nice incremental update to the PL line to get it upto the level of the other ones. The price may hold it down because it’s priced the same as an E-10. Would like to see it next to the E-10 to see if it is significantly smaller.
      Maybe the rumored GM2 will be a better choice if one needs a small take anywhere cam.

      1. In the meantime I’ve seen some video’s and I really have to come back on my statement that the flipping down screen is wrong.
        There’s actually a though behind it, you can use acessories in the AP2 port without blocking the screen this way. Also when mounted on the tripod you are supposed to use the remote controle function with a cellphone. Anyway still a nice incremetal update.

  7. Wow… A $700 selfies camera. From the bottom too… Olympus engineering at its finest. Do they have a selfies lens as well?

    But seriously.. expensive and akward. They had a chance to compete with the price, but no… Olympus price gouging as usual.

    Looking forward to Robin Wong and Steve Huffs glowing review, on how this is the only camera they’ll ever need.

  8. From press release, am I missing something: “The E-PL7’s built-in flash helps users take beautiful selfies against nighttime backgrounds (…)”

    1. Oh, that’s Olympus “spin”.

      A mild lie, nothing more. Trust me, Olympus lied about losing MILLIONS, This is nothing to them.

      And nighttime backgrounds? Did they mention the crazy amo I not of noise that will be in the Pics…?

          1. I prefer the comment above. 😉

            “MAllCaP has been abused by an olympus rep when he was a child. Please be nice to him.”

  9. Only thing that would convince me to purchase this camera is if Olympus also releases the 9mm 1.8 (perfect selfie lens with friends)

  10. Flipping LCD downward is not really practical. I mean it cannot be put on any surface for group selfies further than arm length.

    1. Olympus O.I.Share…… That is for group portraits/photographs. And NO! There is no such thing as “Group Selfies”.

      Get a small $3 tripod, place camera on surface and remote trigger with smartphone.

    1. It would be ideal if there was a ‘drop in frame’ type that held the camera with the display down as a bench top stand with a tripod mount in it too, like the flash stands are.

  11. Yawn. Basicaly a watered down E-P5 a year too late and priced where the E-P5 should have been priced last year.

    At least stop using that built on, tacked on looking, plasticy front grip pad Olympus! So ugly, not very ergonomic, looks cheap, gives it a 1980’s look instead of a 1950’s, 1960’s or modern look. Would you ever see something like that on a Leica?! On the original PEN? No! Just bad design. I took mine off my E-P1 and recovered it in leatherette. Probably will do the same on my E-P5. Olympus is trying to make a trade mark out of the worst exterior design/styling mistake on their modern cameras.

    1. It has a technical reason on EPL7 and EP5 – the Wi-Fi antenna is behind it.

      On E-PL5, it was removable anyway. The E-PL3 didn’t have it at all.

      1. I’m aware of that having been said by Olympus when the E-P5 came out. I’m not saying there doesn’t need to be some protrusion to cover the wi-fi antenna, I’m just saying using that pad first seen on the E-P1 is a very bad design decision. Well, we’ll see what shapes will cover that antenna when/if I take my E-P5 apart! 😉

    1. Pleasantly surprised by the size. No you can’t fit it into a pants pocket but you can probably fit it into a jacket pocket. Been trying to think of a way to sneak a nicer camera into concerts where they don’t allow “interchangeable lenses” or “SLR” type body. This you could fool people into thinking it’s just a point and shoot and you bring the zoom lens in another pocket or bag lol.

        1. A Pants pocket? I don’t know about that…maybe a jacket pocket. It would have to be the 14mm 2.5 or maybe one of the super small zooms as well. As shown in the video above that’s not going to fit into a pants pocket.

          1. Even E-M1 fits pants pockets with BCL (not large pants/pockets nor tight ones like small girls) but it isn’t comfortable or easy to take off.

          2. I don’t think you can blame the Olympus designers for having trouble taking off your pants with an E-M1 in your pocket.

          3. Depends on the pocket naturally, I can pocket my OM-D with a 25mm lense. But my ex-PL3 was waaaaaay smaller with a 17mm f2.8 pancake.

          4. Haha, you guys have to post some of these pictures of an OMD in a pocket (if you mean a pants pocket). It would look ridiculous IMO

    1. A walk around with 50mm F3.6??? Please get real. This thing looks quit big and has no flash or VF. Put small sensor and high price to the equation and you have a total failure. This can not compete with Sony, Fuji or Samsung.

      1. Eh? Why not? Lots of people walk around with a 50mm. Some people even use it at f/8 to get lots of things in focus (a disgusting, depraved practice, I know).

        Oh wait, I mean f/16 by equivalence. Can you even take a photo at f/16? I’m pretty sure there are laws against that…

        1. Another kid who ignores basic physics, but has enough disposable income to buy useless toys. Do you really buy these things or do you only write about them?

          1. The one who doesn’t seem to understand the physics is you. You should spend a few minutes with reading what the aperture is about and how it’s calculated. It’s always the ratio of focal length to effective aperture diameter and that’s a fact you can’t change or just multiply. What you try to do is comparing the depth of field of 2 different systems but that’s a whole different story.

            Trolls these days….

      2. Don’t forget that nano sensors have a special properties: the geeks lying about them (and not taking pics).

  12. Olympus seriously failed on pricing. The better specced a5100 is this camera’s direct competitor and the body is $50 cheaper. If anything, Olympus should try to aggressively price the new PEN to undercut Sony’s offering. If starting new, I can’t see why anyone would choose this over the Sony.

    1. Entry level Pens are designed with young Asian women in mind (sorry for the terrible chauvinism, but there is no way around it). This segment of the population does not care about specs half as much as it is interested in style and in some functional aspects. IMO the combination of “selfie”-friendly interface, efficient stabilization and vast variety of art filters is spot on for this segment.

      1. I totally agree. Some art filters might just be a bit too harsh for many people, although the new art filters they’ve added might be better. At least the examples on Robin Wong’s Blog look quite good.- especially the Vintage ones.

    2. Well the Sony definitely has the Oly beat on IQ and video (if that is your thing). ..but the Oly has the feel of a camera, not a computer with a lens, you can put a kickass VF4 on it and you also don’t have to walk around with the shame and embarrassment of a ? Button on the back of your camera! LOL!

  13. If the GM doesn’t exist , definitely I’ll consider this EPL7 as I almost get an EPL1 in my early time but end up with GF2 .
    No real breakthough in tech specs as Oly probably will debut their tech in OMD as their premier product .

  14. oh wow – a 180 degree flipping screen? That’s so last decade. Pana G1 has a tilt and swivel screen – Oly still playing catch up.
    Please Oly engineers, do your research if you want to move things forward.

    1. The E-PL5 also has it, but flipping up – I don’t think Olympus is claiming flipping it down is a way to move things forward.

      1. Look, I am a fan of Olly cameras, but this is just dumb, like others have said, yo cannot use it on a tripod or when setting the camera Dow on a surface. Flipping over the top or to the side is certainly more versatile. This is a dumb move. Not something I would ever use so Iit doesn’t matter much in my assessment of the camera.

          1. I never shoot selfies, sorry…but over the top is a much better way to go all the way around.. My EPL6 does it….it’s better, no?
            Olympus is becoming like Adobe and Apple…they are changing things just to change things and pi$$ing off their customers because the original design was better. LOL!

          2. I am not into selfies either but….I think the point is, you can hold the camera with one hand and use the touch screen (with some new controls on the EPL7) with the other. That would be much more awkward with a screen tilted up or to the side. It makes sense I think.

        1. I dont see it as such a problem, because with tripod self-shooting, you’d preferably stand farther away anyway, and in this case smartphone remote control (with view on the smartphone screen) is preferrable.

    2. The tilt and swivel thing has the big disadvantage that it sits on the side of the camera once you tilt it. Some like it, but there are also many who don’t like it at all.

  15. Just straight up priced wrong. I guess it’s just profit-taking for the people who really, really want it now, rather than in 2-3 months when the price should fall…

    1. It should be $300, then it would be a good selfie camera. My guess is your thoughts exactly. Release it for $600 and by the holidays it will have $200 taken off retail price and you can get it on ebay for $300 or less.

    1. Don’t need any tripod with IBIS: just throw the camera in the air, it’ll take the stabilized pic for you.
      No you can’t do this with another cam or smartphone as they don’t have IBIS 🙂

  16. Looks a lovely camera, but I can’t help thinking they’ve missed a trick.

    The bestselling m 43 camera prior to the OMDs was the epl1 (which I’ve just upgraded to an ep5 from). The epl1 had:keen pricing & a built in flash. The inclusion of the pancake zoom is great (but overdue) and bumps up the price a little (though the price will drop post Christmas)

    Forget a built in vf. The eyecup makes it not pocketable and that’s covered by the gx7 anyway.

    These are aimed at the mass market, drop the price of the ep5 (UK) and you’ll have the enthusiast covered. But please please please include a built in flash in the next one. The mass market #needs # one.

    1. I haven’t been interested in a single Olympus camera since the EPL1. The product planners seem helplessly out of touch.

  17. Interestingly, the price in Europe is – for once! – much better/lower: 399,- Euros (body), 599,- with the EZ pancake zoom. That’s 200 Euros below the E-M10 and actually a real bargain!

    1. Yes, if it was $400 for body only it would make much more sense. It is simply much too expensive right now for what it is. Hopefully, the price will soon fall as sales will probably be lackluster.

    2. Isn’t the E-M10 around 750€?
      Anyway it’s still a nice upgrade for someone having an old PEN model, lenses and accessories (EVF)…

      1. No. E-M10 is 599,- € (body) and 799,- € (with EZ pancake zoom) in Germany. So 200,- € less than that for basically only losing the EVF and 1 control wheel is really cheap, I think!

    3. Are you sure? If so many misunderstandings will stop, because across the pond they were buying and chucking cameras for a song, while we had to think twice. Now the time of sweet vengeance comes. I bought a new E-PM2 for 150 euros the other day, so no surprise.

      1. E-PL7 prices in Germany afe official! 399,- € (body), 499,- (with regular zoom) or 599,- (with EZ pancake zoom). A nice surprise!!

  18. The question is:
    If Oly advertises with selfie as key feature and Pana with 4K video, who will win?

    Actually I don’t know. Markets tend to be hard to understand.

    1. If people pay 1300US$ for such a selfie camera (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=db1K4qeS5NM) in some countries this might be a good success strategy for a camera that is more an entry level camera for the m4/3 system. Most people who go after those cameras might not even have the hardware to edit 4k content and I doubt that average consumers will care about 4k until they have affordable 4k monitors and TV’s.

  19. Is it the same size as the GM1 or does it just appear small because they aren’t doing any photos with people holding it? Nevermind: I saw the video someone posted below and it is much bigger than a GM1

  20. I was hoping for a small Olympus Trip D (Olympus Trip 35) with a super fix low light lens. I had the Trip 35 and loved it! It looks like the Olympus E-PL5 with a different tilt screen. The question is will it take a better photo than the Olympus E-PL5?

    1. It depends what kind of photo. It will definitely take a better “selfie”. But seriously, it has a better stabilizer, bracketing, time lapse and many other small features the E-PL5 lacks. If you add everything together it should be a more functional tool.

  21. The most exciting upgrade from the E-PL5/E-PL6 is probably the 3-axis image stabilization (which I hear is closer to the 5-axis than the 2-axis of the E-PL5/E-PL6).

  22. It’s a nice camera, but other than better IBIS and Wifi (which I don’t use), I don’t see the need to upgrade from my E-PL5. I’m not a selfie kinda guy.

  23. The E-pl5 had a tilt up screen for selfie photos, this isn’t a new feature, why the hype? Even with some Panasonic cameras it’s been possible for many years. But I do like the new Pen, it is a nice evolution from the 5 and 6 models.

    1. It’s because the screen tilts down instead of up. I didn’t get this either, but apparently the selfie crowd is pumped up crazy by this feature. Apparently, that means when you look at the screen, the camera lens will be a couple inches higher, and that couple inches makes selfie photos a lot more flattering. The E-pl5 was a poor selfie camera because the tilt up screen means that the lens would be slightly lower than eye level, which makes self photos look less flattering.

        1. You can’t use that ridiculously bulky flash, anyway. Why the heck can’t Olympus put in a pop-up flash, like Sony and Fuji? As someone posted earlier, the EPL1 had it.
          Still waiting for the fixed-lens 4/3 from Olympus.

          1. And there’s a very usable one built into the E-P5, too, all the more so because it can be used alone or as a wireless controller for an off-camera flash. All of which leaves the E-P5 hotshoe free and available for the excellent VF-4 viewfinder (or other accessory). It’s a big letdown that you’re stuck with a clip-on flash with the E-PL7.

          2. Damn, I will start to believe that everybody’s living in caves. How many times do you use flash? I mean a built in flash? Once or twice a year?
            And don’t come telling me that “the built’in flash is used to remote control flashes”: I won’t believe you hide those remote flashes in your pocket…

        1. There is not enough to warrant an upgrade from the E-PL5 unless it take a better photo than the 5.

      1. Thanks for explaining, I really did not think of that. Maybe E-pl5 owners can turn their cameras upsidedown? 😉

    1. If that is the extent of your analysis, then perhaps you’ll allow me to suggest that it didn’t need repeating?

  24. At $599 I’d expect weather sealing and a built in flash. But lacking those features the price is $100-150 too high. The E-M10 is a much better value with the flash and viewfinder.

    I appreciate the new product, the effort, and the apparent attempt to reign in the fragmented product line. This is a good compromise between the pen mini and pen, and if it is the only pen they offer then I say cool. But he price should be $549-599 with the POS 14-42 RII.

  25. I don’t want to spoil the party, but I always remember that the only time I broke a shutter after a very moderate use was with the PL1.
    So relatively to an OM-D remember that the lighter build make the PL series entry level, or a second camera. BTW Maintenance changed the camera, instead of the shutter.

    1. According to the first hands-on reports (as well as Olympus’ PR), the PL7 has a rather solid build quality, more like the excellent E-P5 than like earlier PLs/PMs. The added weight (in comparison to PL5) seems to confirm this.

      1. Yes, perhaps they decided to change tack, especially if this is going to ‘be the only Pen available. What happened however taught me that the Achilles heel is the shutter, especially if you use it intensively, in a time frame.

  26. I rather have an Olympus D Trip. A pocket camera with a fix fast lens that take great photos in low light. A camera to complement my 5.

  27. I found this article very engaging and thoughtfully written. The explanations were clear, and the overall tone felt honest and balanced. It’s always nice to read content that focuses on informing rather than exaggerating. This kind of approach builds trust with readers and keeps them coming back.

  28. Very informative and easy to read. The content flows smoothly, and the explanations are clear without being repetitive. I like that the article focuses on delivering value rather than trying to sell something. This kind of honest and straightforward writing is always refreshing.

  29. I’m often to blogging and i really appreciate your content. The article has actually peaks my interest. I’m going to bookmark your web site and maintain checking for brand spanking new information.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Search
Advertisement
SNAPCLOUDBack up everyphotoTry freeSample ad

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

*Please also check your spam folder if you don't get the confirmation mail. And mark the mail as "non-spam" to see the future newsletter.

Advertisement
SNAPCLOUDBack up everyphotoTry freeSample ad
Advertisement
GRIPLINEPro camerastraps &bagsDiscoverSample ad
Advertisement
PHOTOGEARUp to30% offcamerasSee dealsSample ad