Some (positive) thoughts about the E-PL7

I "upgraded" from an E-PM2 to the E-PL5 to the E-M5 to the E-M1 to the E-PL7. My main issue with the E-M1 was that it was no longer as fun to take pictures anymore because it felt too much like a serious camera. I had gotten it as an all-in-one solution for a problem that I never had. I sold my E-M1 and got a GH4 and E-PL7 instead, and now I'm happy.

The thing is, I really liked my E-PL5. However, the E-M1 gave me a taste of all the features I could be enjoying on my camera, so the E-PL7 is an important upgrade for me. It gets me all the features I need while giving me back the old E-PL5 form factor. I really like:

1) The true 180 degree flip screen. Flip screens aren't just for selfies. They're useful in many other ways. The E-PL5 only went to about 170 degrees. The E-PL7 actually goes to 180, though under the camera, which isn't too bad but took some getting used to. I wish the E-M1 had a 180 degree screen.

2) All the same processing that I'd grown to love from the E-M1.

3) Small thing but the Vintage ART filter is wonderful.

4) 3-axis definitely seems better to me than the 2-axis from before. I don't miss the 5-axis at all.

5) Video seems improved from the E-PL5. Not as good as the E-M1 or GH4, but 3-axis stabilization seems quite a bit smoother, too.

6) Wi-fi. I use this a lot and it's 2015, and I wouldn't buy a camera without it.

7) Anti-shock, not because shutter shock was ever really a problem for me, but it does ease my worried mind.

8) The biggest one of them all is that we finally lost the stupid rotating dial around the D-pad. Some cameras do this well (GH4, for instance), but most cameras don't.

I do wish that there were more improvements, though. I would love multi-touch on the screen. Pinch to zoom. I also wish the buffer was bigger and frame rate was faster. I wish the video was much better.

It's an incremental update but it's all the right updates.