OLYMPUS E-PL7

Review and Photo example of the E-PL7 digital camera.

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Review

The E-PL7 is a low-end mirrorless camera from Olympus (now OM-SYSTEMS).

The basic system has not undergone any major improvements since the E-PL5 released in 2012, and the series has continued with minor changes, from E-PL5 to E-PL7 to E-PL9 to E-PL10.

The basic components have not been updated, probably because the high-end Micro Four Thirds models are limited to 20MP, so this model has no choice but to remain at 16MP. It seems that the image sensor has changed since the E-PL5 and E-PL7, but since the number of pixels is the same, it would be difficult to tell the difference if you were to compare photos taken with the same lens.

It seems that they are trying to make some changes to the camera, but in the end, the changes are only minor, and it is unfortunate that it is difficult to feel that the camera has made any progress.
The E-PL9 no longer allows the attachment of an EVF, so I feel that the cost of the camera has been reduced. However, when you think about how many photographers actually attach an EVF to this camera, there should not be that many, so this change seems like a reasonable decision.

I tried the 14-42mm and 40-150mm that came with the double zoom kit, but the E-PL7’s in-body image stabilization was hardly of any benefit in dark scenes. Also, I don’t know if it’s because of the image stabilization function, but after pressing the shutter, the display on the rear LCD screen is delayed by one beat, and the image displayed on the screen moves out of place, so the shooting tempo is poor.

I also tried a Leica M lens, but the rear LCD screen is difficult to understand unless you enlarge it, and the EVF2 requires the trouble of pressing a button every time it is displayed, so I thought the E-PL7 is a camera to use with AF.

And, although it may be unavoidable considering the age of the camera’s release, one of its drawbacks is that it does not have an electronic shutter. The E-PL7’s mechanical shutter makes a fair amount of noise and can be noisy in some scenes, so it is not suitable for quiet shooting needs. The successor model, the E-PL9, is equipped with an electronic shutter and has a silent shooting function.

Although it is an older generation, I sold the E-PL7 because I couldn’t see any difference in image quality compared to the DMC-GM5, which also has 16 megapixels.

Specification

Items	E-PL5	E-PL7	E-PL9
Camera effective pixels	16.05 megapixels	←	←
Lens mount	Micro Four Thirds Mount	←	←
Image sensor	4/3-type Live MOS sensor, total pixel count 17.2 million pixels	←	←
Electric Shutter	none	←	Supported in “silent shooting” in SCN/AP mode 1/16000 to 60 seconds
Image Stabilization	Built-in (image sensor shift type image stabilization) Angular stabilization (XY axis)	In-body image stabilization (image sensor-shift type 3-axis image stabilization)	←
EVF	EVF-2/EVF-3/EVF-4	←	なし
Back LCD	3.0-inch movable LCD* approx. 460,000 dots (16:9), capacitive touch panel	3.0-inch movable LCD (approx. 1.04 million dots (3:2) capacitive touch panel)	←
Include flash	なし	←	Built-in TTL flash GN=5.4
Battery	BLS-50 Compatible battery (Ads by amazon)	←	←
Size W x H x D(mm)	110.5 × 63.7 × 38.2	114.9× 67 x 38.4	117.1 × 68.0 × 39.0
Weight(g body only)	279g	309g	332g
Body color	White, black, silver	←	White, black, brown
Release date	2012.10.12	2014.9	2018.3.9
Price(Yen/No-tax/only body)	¥90,000-	¥66,000-	¥70,000-