Some (positive) thoughts about the E-PL7

I've noticed that there have been a few slightly negative posts about the E-PL7, mostly that it is a very insignificant update, costs too much, and of course there has been the rather odd, slightly patronising advertising campaign (at least in the UK) which isn't entirely helpful, at least not for readers of this forum. Obviously the pricing varies according to market - in the UK, it's been priced quite well from the outset (between the E-M10 and the E-PL5, which seems appropriate) and presumably the price will drop in due course as normally happens. Hopefully the US price will get more sensible, too.

Mainly, I just wanted to point out that it is a very nice camera, and more of an upgrade to the E-PL series than people perhaps assume. As does get mentioned, it is basically an E-M10 without built-in flash and EVF in an E-PL body, and that relationship to the E-M10 brings a lot of positives. For people who want an Olympus as compact as possible and don't, for whatever reason, want to buy an E-M10 (or an E-P5), there's quite a lot that is new compared with the E-PL5.

- A really nice, 3:2 high resolution screen - more than twice the number of dots than the E-PL5 (and E-PL6 where available), and larger too - especially when shooting in native 4:3 aspect ratio.

- It has the 3-axis IBIS system of the E-M10, which I have found to be really good, whereas the 2-axis version in the E-PL and E-PM series has caused me intermittent problems. It also has the 0-second anti-shock feature introduced on the E-M10, which can make things even better.

- Whatever you think of the downwards-folding forward-facing mechanism, it IS easier and smoother to position and reposition, due to the redesign of the mechanism.

- The newer generation of image processor, shared with the E-M10, does give faster responses.

- The new metal control dial around the shutter release button is a big improvement on the ring around the multicontroller (not that I minded the latter personally) - it is more positive and can be used with either the forefinger or thumb, quite comfortably.

- New features carried over from the E-M10 such as in-camera HDR are very useful.

- It has such features as interval shooting, level gauge, 100 ISO and compatibility with the eye sensor of the VF4 - features only the E-PL6 had in the Pen Lite range before (and the eye-switching operates noticeably faster than on the E-PL6).

- It has built-in wifi for those that want it, which was absent from the E-PL models till now.

- It has some nice little touches that have crept in mostly unnoticed in the E-M10 and carry on in the E-PL7, such as the ability to double-tap items on the Super Control Panel to drop straight into their interfaces if required (and retains the single-tap to make the item interactive with the dial that its immediate predecessors had), and the sensible touch that if you tilt the LCD whilst using the VF4, the VF4's eye sensor will temporarily de-activate, to stop you from constantly blacking out the LCD if you try to use its touch functionality (the E-M10 has this too).

- Err, there's another couple of Art Filters(!). Actually, it's taken this long for Olympus to include a "partial colour" one, which seems to have been popular in practically every other brand.

- Though the grip is no longer interchangeable/removable (thanks to the wifi, presumably), the covering of the entire front with leatherette is very helpful regarding grip. There's more room for the buttons on the right side of the back, now, and the tripod socket is central under the lens. For some reason, the battery chamber opens back to front now - not an advantage or otherwise, just puzzling!

It comes with a fully backwards-compatible new battery, the BLS-50, with slightly increased capacity.

I probably forgot something and this probably seems like a pointless "advertorial" but I do think the camera is actually a pretty useful evolution of its line, so thought it might be worth listing the changes that I noticed, just in case it is actually useful for somebody who assumed it was just a minor cosmetic revamp.

Helen wrote:

Mainly, I just wanted to point out that it is a very nice camera, and more of an upgrade to the E-PL series than people perhaps assume. As does get mentioned, it is basically an E-M10 without built-in flash and EVF in an E-PL body, and that relationship to the E-M10 brings a lot of positives.

Former e-pl bodies were mostly made of plastic and this new e-pl7 is made of metal and have much better direct control (control dial under shutter release button). So in reality it is now more similar to e-p bodies than former e-pl bodies.

Helen wrote:

Dayd3 wrote:

Helen wrote:

Mainly, I just wanted to point out that it is a very nice camera, and more of an upgrade to the E-PL series than people perhaps assume. As does get mentioned, it is basically an E-M10 without built-in flash and EVF in an E-PL body, and that relationship to the E-M10 brings a lot of positives.

Former e-pl bodies were mostly made of plastic and this new e-pl7 is made of metal and have much better direct control (control dial under shutter release button). So in reality it is now more similar to e-p bodies than former e-pl bodies.

Agreed about the dial. Slight difference of opinion about construction, though: the E-PL1 and E-PL2 had plastic rear panels and metal fronts (like the E-PM2 also), but the E-PL3, E-PL5 and E-PL6 (and, oddly, the E-PM1) were metal at the rear as well as the front. All the E-PL models with metal fronts/backs do have a raised polycarbonate "island" protruding from the top, including the E-PL7.

Sorry my mistake, I didn't know later e-pl series were also made of metal. I had only those plastic versions.

I've got the PL5 and it has done a lot of work for me, including a year of weekly freelancing for a small town paper — but the PL7's anti-shock and wifi are very appealing to me.

I have just received mine and think it is one of the easiest and smartest looking cameras I've owned and operated, once you get the super control panel activated and the fn buttons configd. to what you want your shortcuts to be, you end up with a very responsive and pocketable camera. I also think the build quality is a big step up from the earlier pen lite models too it feels nice and solid in your hands i would definitely recommend trying one out, i will be getting the oly. 17 f1.8 to go with my oly 45. then i will have a pretty flexible lightweight csc to always have with me.

I still intend on keeping my G6 and 14-140 but for something small and light i think the little EPL7 is a fantastic camera.

Totally agree with your assessment Helen. I've had mine for about a month and love it. It's an upgrade from the EP-3 for me. Thought I'd miss the second control wheel but haven't. The sensible use of function buttons really takes care of that for me. I splurged and got the VF4 with mine. It's a nice upgrade if you like to manual focus. It's so good that focus peaking isn't necessary for me at all.  The new control wheel can be turned with the thumb when using the LCD to compose and with the forefinger when using the EVF. It's a great design.  Really works equally well for either application. Only really thought this one out well.

A very nice review with which I concur.  I recently purchased an E-PL7 and am learning the menus.  With a previous rental E-M10 I found I could set the IBIS to be active only during exposure, not continuously during half shutter.  I can't find any way to do this on the E-PL7.  Do you know if it is possible?

Helen wrote:

Guy Parsons wrote:

Firstly, thank you for an excellent evaluation of the E-PL7, in my view the women on this forum are ten times more sensible than the men, so please stick around.

That's very kind, Guy (your expertise and guidance on Olympus cameras is always incredibly useful and much appreciated). I've been lurking around for years now due to my obsession with Olympus (and other cameras, but Olympus remains my favourite brand) so am unlikely to wander off.

Question: Did the Mode dial improve on the E-PL7? My only long term complaint about the E-PL5 was that the Mode dial is so easy to bump off position due to its very light detent action.

Yes it did! It is much firmer (without being too firm) and doesn't have that slightly disconcerting bounce that the E-PL5 dial does.

Actually, Helen's description suggests a much improved camera -- lots of nice tweaks that take the E-PLx line the next step. Nice to see it now has a level -- I find the level a magic thing in my G6; without it, I almost always shoot 0.7 degrees off horizontal. I kid you not! Actually, when I think about it, that was the consistent error with the E-PL3; with the G6 it has been much less consistent and when I us the level, of course, it is right on correct.

Cheers, geoff

Thanks again.  I am having a terrible time getting control of the Olympus menus.  To help myself, I have now printed out all six pages of your web menus and will study a half page at a time and try to memorize it.

I hope you have activated the Super Control Panel (SCP).

It changes everything — for the better. If you haven't got SCP ON, follow Guy's instructions — and if the activation is the same process as for the PL5 — you should be much better off.

SCP wouldn't help with the IBIS adjustment you require but it handles many typical functions without making you menu dive.

Upper-level Olys come with the SCP already activated. I believe this started with the E-330, in about 2005(?)

clemcam wrote:

Thanks again. I am having a terrible time getting control of the Olympus menus. To help myself, I have now printed out all six pages of your web menus and will study a half page at a time and try to memorize it.

Much of the Oly menu is not worth messing with. Or at the very least it's set it and forget it. Once I get my camera set up I have very little reason to go outside of the Super Control Panel. Oly just allows you to set everything possible on all it's cameras. Much of which the average photographer will never need to do. My approach was to just start shooting with the darn thing and learn the menu a bit at a time as needed. Worked well for me.