Well E-P7 is here today!

BruceRH wrote:

Thank you for this thread, I’ve been waiting for you to receive your EP-7! The EP-7 is almost my perfect camera but for the lack of an EVF, even an external one just kills it for me. I wear cheaters so an EVF is much more convenient for me, I adjust the built in diopter and I can see my settings etc. I gave an E-PL9 a try but sold it off because I always had to have my glasses handy and then of course the sun made composition difficult at times. Then there is the GM5 which is a beautiful and well built camera but for me, it was just too small and fiddly. I have the Pen-F which I love if not for the dismal AF but that is really just a minor issue for me but I really wish the Pen-F had the tilt out screen rather than the FAS. Ugh, no perfect camera!

So this week I took delivery of a refurbished OMD EM10 MKiv from the recent sale. So far I really like it but of course it is not perfect. If it had the Pen-F JPEG engine that the E-P7 has, well…

The 10.4 is truly great. AS you may have read I recently also had bought it because I had given up on OM Digital to do an E-P7. You won't regret your purchase one bit, I find myself liking it more and more to the point it made me doubt getting the E-P7 the first day I played with it.

Some EM10.4 shots from last weekend:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/65307797

The 10.4 is really a wonderful body though despite that one missing piece. It seems very well built, solid in the hand, flippy screen, 20mp sensor, and a really nice grip particularly for the size, which is smaller than the EM5 MKiii. I do wish OMDS would add some more customization of the buttons so that I could set it up like my other Olympus bodies, particularly I would love to have ISO be assignable to to the AEL/AFL button.

I would have preferred at this point they had phase detect or a higher refresh sensor to make AF even better even if contrast only, though the AF is better over previous generations of contrast only.

I also would like the option of YES to the delete image question. Minor niggles but these are not what separates a Pro body from a beginner and just gives some usability continuity across bodies for those of us who have way too many bodies in the first place 🤪 It is a software change, come on OMDS!

I am glad you like the E-P7 but the 10.4 will have to do for me for now. For those debating these two bodies, you can’t go wrong with either IMHO. And for those complaining that Olympus/MFT has lost its way by going too big with the Pro bodies/lenses, you couldn’t be further from the truth.

Well, I have been one of those "complainers!" To the point that I do think this is the way m43rds would go the way of 4/3rds- extinct.  The EM10.4, EM5.3, EP7 are the way to go in my book for the system.  They should focus on craming the best tech on small and that way no FF mirrorless camera and to a big extent ASPC would touch them at all.

With Olympus I can use my EM1.3 with the large lenses or walk around with a tiny EM10.4, a small, or should I say tiny prime or a small Pro zoom (12-45/4) and still get the same image quality! Amazing in my eyes! MFT truly is an incredible and versatile system.

The EM10.4 had a couple of surprises I didn't expect out of an entry level

- As you said, very welcome little grip

- It's smaller/lighter and cuter than you may think

- the IBIS rated at "only 4.5" is actually more like 5.0.. it's really good. I didn't expect that (so is the EP7's).

- The little attention to detail in having the tilt LCD "tilt & lock" towards you a notch, so when you look to the waist down the EVF protrusion is not in the middle of that view. *THAT*S attention to detail.

- The mechanical shutter is surprisingly quiet/dampened particularly more so at this tier class of camera.  I was expecting a louder nastier shutter.