For about then same $, EP-5 or E-PL7 ?

My I am about to gift my E-PL5 to a deserving photo student. That student does not feel the desire to have a viewfinder, as they have become very adept (far more than I) in composing off of the back LCD.

So I am looking for an inexpensive 2nd body that would replace my E-PL5, and I already have a very functional VF-2 EVF. It looks like for about the same money - roughly $200 US, I can get a clean used EP-5 or a clean used E-PL7.

My other (main) m4/3 camera is an E-M1 mk i.  The E-P5 has the advantage of using the same BLN-1 batteries, and also I believe superior IS, and allowing flash while using the EVF, and possibly better control features. Video is not so important to me, although I see little difference in the video specs of the two cameras.

E-PL7 has the advantage of being lighter and smaller.

I'm leaning toward the E-P5. Any comments, recommendations, or contrary opinions?

LarsPolarBear wrote:

I think you summarized the differences quite well, but I went for the E-PL7 because of the anti-shutter-shock mode and the availability of an underwater housing by Olympus. From my understanding the E-PL7 is a little more updated regarding the software, but the E-P5 has clear advantages on control (buttons).

So, you have to decide what is more important to you.

Hope that helps,

Lars

E-P5 has anti-shock built into a firmware upgrade.  It was so significant an improvement in the camera that DPReview amended their review of the camera because of it.   And frankly, without that firmware upgrade, I would have discounted the E-P5.

My vote for E-P5.

Better control over the functions using 2 control dials.

1/8000 sec shutter speed

5-axis IS

Focus peaking for manual focusing

WiFi feature

For me, all the E-PLn cameras have the same unacceptable limitation: once the viewfinder is on, there is no way to trigger a flash.

The Olympus marketing strategy is to position the E-PL as an upgrade path from a smartphone, so why not incorporate a built-in LED flash so smartphone users feel at home right away? Carrying a clip-on flash that can't be used with the viewfinder is definitely unappealing to smartphone users. At the same time, the built-in LED flash would appeal to more serious users, because they would be able to trigger external flashes while the viewfinder was on the camera.

That said, I owned an E-P5 and I had terrible dial problems with it.  Olympus gave up and replaced it with a E-M5ii, which has been a great camera for me.  But recently, I bought a used E-P5 for $300 Canadian.  I couldn't resist, because when the E-P5 is working correctly, it is really a perfect camera for me.  It won't take me long to get $300 worth of fun out of the camera.  And I now know that in a pinch you can operate the E-P5 with just the four-way controller, and that made my purchase decision easier.

Bottom line:  go with the E-P5.

After a couple of years my E-PL7 started dying, and I have now got myself a nice second-hand E-P5 for the reasons mentioned above. It is a lovely camera, responsive as well as  (in black and silver) aesthetically far more attractive than the E-PL7, not that we let that kind of thing influence us at all It is still small enough for me, not much larger than the 7, and lies much more comfortably in the hand.

What did surprise me though, which I have not seen mentioned, was the difference in jpegs out of the camera. For purely raw shooters this will be irrelevant, but for me it was immediately obvious that the beatiful Olympus colours were back, just like from my first E-PL1 which made me fall in love with Oly to start with. I hasn't really noticed that the colours had changed in subsequent E-PLs, but there is a huge difference. The E-P5 gives those lovely saturated warm colours I love in portraits, in a way that I never got out of the E-PL7. And no, it is not because of the settings, I am quite familiar with the "natual", "warm colors", etc etc settings buried deep in the undergrowth of the Oly menus.

I'll look for an illustrative photo when I get home and add it. For now, just something to consider when choosing.

No comparison - the E-P5 is a beautifully made camera. However there are some known issues particularly with dysfunctional dials that you have to be careful about. $200 seems to be below the market price. I have a perfect functioning E-P5 now made redundant after I purchased a Pen-F before Christmas, but the camera is worth more than $200 and I think I'd rather have mine sit in the closet than give it away at that price.

If you have a line on a fully functional E-P5 for $200, I'd grab it.

traveler_101 wrote:

No comparison - the E-P5 is a beautifully made camera. However there are some known issues particularly with dysfunctional dials that you have to be careful about. $200 seems to be below the market price. I have a perfect functioning E-P5 now made redundant after I purchased a Pen-F before Christmas, but the camera is worth more than $200 and I think I'd rather have mine sit in the closet than give it away at that price.

If you have a line on a fully functional E-P5 for $200, I'd grab it.

+1 for me

Thanks to everyone who replied. I actually got both of them because I got a couple of screaming good deals:

I paid $185 for my E-P5, and I paid $150 for my E-PL7, which is the same that I was able to sell my very low use E-PL5 for.

So far, I prefer the ergonomics of the E-PL7, but the feature set and battery compatibility of the E-P5. Stay tuned for a final decision. I've been under the weather, so I haven't had a chance to seriously shoot with either one,

The photo student whom I was going to give my E-PL5 will now be getting whichever of these I don't keep.  When I realized I could get the E-PL7 for so little, I just bought it and put my E-PL5 up for sale, and got the same money for it as I paid for the E-PL7

dougjgreen1 wrote:

Thanks to everyone who replied. I actually got both of them because I got a couple of screaming good deals:

I paid $185 for my E-P5, and I paid $150 for my E-PL7, which is the same that I was able to sell my very low use E-PL5 for.

So far, I prefer the ergonomics of the E-PL7, but the feature set and battery compatibility of the E-P5. Stay tuned for a final decision. I've been under the weather, so I haven't had a chance to seriously shoot with either one,

The photo student whom I was going to give my E-PL5 will now be getting whichever of these I don't keep. When I realized I could get the E-PL7 for so little, I just bought it and put my E-PL5 up for sale, and got the same money for it as I paid for the E-PL7

Very nice! Don't tell me where to get an E-P5 for that price, after an E-PM2, E-M1 (with grip), and E-M5ii, I don't need another body lying around...

My vote is for the E-P5, for a few reasons:

- In silver, it is a very, very nice looking body. In terms of aesthetics, I prefer it to the Pen-F, even. Not so bad looking in black, either...

- Dual dials provides similar handling to the E-M1 you already have (but you've stated you prefer the E-PL7's handling)

- Crucial here: Same batteries as your E-M1. On my last vacation, carrying the E-M1 and the E-M5ii meant I only had to carry one battery charger with me, instead of two different ones. And the day that I had to leave the E-M1 at the hotel (3 days of rain = fogged viewfinder, though everything else worked), I just moved to the E-M5ii, and kept the same spare batteries in my camera bag.

aliasfox wrote:

dougjgreen1 wrote:

Thanks to everyone who replied. I actually got both of them because I got a couple of screaming good deals:

I paid $185 for my E-P5, and I paid $150 for my E-PL7, which is the same that I was able to sell my very low use E-PL5 for.

So far, I prefer the ergonomics of the E-PL7, but the feature set and battery compatibility of the E-P5. Stay tuned for a final decision. I've been under the weather, so I haven't had a chance to seriously shoot with either one,

The photo student whom I was going to give my E-PL5 will now be getting whichever of these I don't keep. When I realized I could get the E-PL7 for so little, I just bought it and put my E-PL5 up for sale, and got the same money for it as I paid for the E-PL7

Very nice! Don't tell me where to get an E-P5 for that price, after an E-PM2, E-M1 (with grip), and E-M5ii, I don't need another body lying around...

I got it on ebay from a seller who made the mistake of ending an auction that had a low starting bid  on a  Saturday night