Olympus PEN E-PL7 camera test & review

Today I wanted to share with you guys my Olympus PEN E-PL7 review.

IN A FEW WORDS : I think that if someone decided to put a DSLR, a smaller digital camera AND a smartphone in a blender and mix them up, well they would probably get an Olympus PEN. The E-PL7 features some of the best qualities of all three devices. One of its main advantages in my opinion is that it is super blogger friendly, perfect for those on the run lifestyle shots that you'll need to make your Instagram feed look perfect.

I'd also say that for a "beginner" in the blogging world, in my opinion it is better to invest in the Olympus PEN than in a low end DSLR. It is very easy to use and intuitive, which makes it the perfect blogger camera if you do not have a regular/pro photographer with you everyday.

Now let's see what its best features are, shall we?

FLATLAYS : Flatlays are made super easy with the Olympus PEN E-PL7 thanks to the tilting screen, that you can actually put perpendicularly to the lense. So easy to use, and the result is definitely better than with a smartphone ;)

PLUS you can actually take a picture by simply clicking on the screen with the tip of your finger. No need to press a button that will make your device move and your picture blurry! How cool is that?

DEPTH OF FIELD : The depth of field is probably one of the things I was most impressed about when testing my E-PL7. I did NOT expect such a good quality, it honestly competes with Luca's high end DSLR!

I got to try the 45mm 1.8 and 25mm 1.8 lenses, and they allowed me to create those deep pictures with the oh so pretty bokeh effect that we're all looking for.

OUTFITS & SELFIES : As I said before, I think that this camera is great for outfit pictures, especially for bloggers that are beginning or that do not blog on a regular basis. While getting someone who's not familiar with photography to use a DSLR can be quite difficult, the E-PL7 is very intuitive and easy to use. You can put it in the hands of your mom, your dad, your sister or even your grandma: everyone can use it and the result will still look very pro. Plus it shoots in RAW, which offers so much more possibilities when it comes to editing.

As for the selfies: once again, so easy to use! you can turn the screen to 180° so that you have the best angle for your selfie without the usual 56 failed attempts ;)

LOW LIGHT : Once again, I was very impressed! A low light often makes it difficult to snap a good quality picture (I'm looking at you, iPhone) - however the Olympus PEN seems to be mastering the art of capturing a very small quantity of light without challenging the quality of the final result. I'll let you judge for yourselves with these few shots that I took.

Pretty impressive, right?

VIDEO : The last point I wanted to discuss with you is the video. As you may know I recently started my YouTube channel and I was very pleased with the Olympus PEN as a vlogging camera! You might have seen the video I recorded in Verbier a few weeks ago, and well guess what: it was filmed with the E-PL7 from A to Z. I thought it was really great because 1) the focus follows its subject (which is often problematic when vlogging: here the camera focuses on the main subject all the time) and 2) because I thought it was very ergonomic and light, which is once again very useful when it comes to vlogging.

All of the pictures in this article were shot with the Olympus PEN E-PL7. I did receive the camera from Olympus in order to test and review it, but the opinions expressed here are my own.