Olympus OM System Pen E-P7 Camera Review 

My absolutely best camera ever. As a filmmaker I do not use EVF at all, record audio always separately, no need for fully articulated screen (I need to see what is happening in the scene, not my actors 😉). What I really love is that I can practically color grade inside the camera and even save 4 color and 4 b/w profiles, kind of like film emulsions. This allows me to light properly as I am shooting to get exactly the atmosphere I want even in 4K on a 20MP sensor. Having said that I can also create my own flat profiles if I want to color grade later. I use only manual lens, so AF is not important to me at all. Last, but not least, it has no crop in any resolution and the bitrate is very high even in 1080p, about 52mbps. Most competitors give you about 18-20mbps in that resolution.

i appreciate this review quite a lot. i was in japan recently and i saw this camera and had a weird urge to buy it. i have only ever shot on a analog film camera when i took a highschool class and i missed having a camera around on me. i picked up hoping it would be good look and shoot camera, and I'm glad to know my money wasn't wasted! thanks for all the info!

Just ordered one as an EDC to live alongside my OM1. Thank you for the review, you helped me make up my mind... It seems that this is the least reviewed camera on all of RU-vid so your contribution was really valuable.

Your content is always interesting, your reasons for your EP 7 purchase make a lot of sense, and I love the images too, thank you for yet another entertaining video David.

A great choice of EDC camera, I went down a similar route just over a year ago, wanting a decent camera with me, or in the car, all of the time. However, I took a more budget friendly approach with a pre-loved E-PL7; built like a tank, excellent handling, with the specifications of the much more expensive cameras in the Olympus range, but above all, able to provide superb images. At just over £100 including a 14 -42mm zoom, these older Olympus cameras are screaming bargains and make a perfect perma-companion. Indeed, since acquisition, the Olympus has most certainly dialed-in some occasional redundancy for my Full Frame kit ........

Very good little camera that David, way better than any smartphone on the market to date.

Stunning images sir. Very impressive little camera by the looks of it. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

A clear informative review, just starting out in photography 😊...thank you

My first Olympus M43 was (and is still with me) the 16MP EP5 with the VF4 swivelling EV that plugs into the flash mount. I was tempted to upgrade to the 20MP EP7 but the absence of a flash/accessory port stopped me in my tracks. Once used with a VF4 there's no going back, it's so versatile and so small. Easy to carry (and lose!).

Great blog. You show that all you need is a camera to make great images. I do similar to you with the Pen F and the same lens you use when walking the dog. Nice.

Great pics there. There is a painterly quality to them that I love.

Thanks for your thoughts on the camera!

Great review sir .... I carry an Olympus omd 10mk ii everywhere with 14-42 pancake lens ...tis a great combo

I've had trouble finding reviews in English in this camera, so thanks for the video! I just ordered one from Japan to the USA. It should be a nice upgrade from my E-PL8 with the better sensor, image processor, and improved stabilization.

Great Review of the camera and love the images. I was looking for something compact with good image quality and this ticks all the boxes. Managed to buy a refurbished model from an ebay seller for £525 very pleased with the camera and lens.

Thanks for the helpful review.

Great images from such a small camera, good information as usual, use a Fuji xt4 and was looking for something better than my lumix tz200 point and shoot for every day walk around, with those images it’s made my mind up, thanks for your opinion

to anyone tempted, grab a e-pl7 to e-pl10 used, they go for 100 bucks and you get the same experience at 16mp and often the kit lens is included too. Their ibis is also really good.

Would love to hear a follow up on this camera if it’s been what you hoped.

It’s a great camera. Underrated & very useful with the tilting screen. My go-to travel camera.

than you. GReat hands on review! nad a preview for me... I just ordered mine and expect to have it in my hands any day now. My EM5 3 gets to be e little bulky for everyday use and my E-PL7 died so this is it...

Great video, if you don't have the 20mm Panasonic 1.7 I can very very strongly recommend getting one. I've used Micro Four Thirds since the original EP-1 and that 20mm lens is my absolute fav. It's fast, it's sharp, it's very small/pancake and the 40mm equiv has become my favorite for street and walk-around. The only downside is that autofocus can be a bit slow when focusing from near to far.

Love the older 16megapixel brother of this camera, the e-pl7. Would like to try its younger sibling after seeing your review.

I’ve a E-PL1. The E-P7 is out of my budget’s range. All I hope for is an E-P5. It also has 5-axis IBIS, twin control knobs, and touchable tilt screen. 16MP is enough for me.

Hi having just got back from a few days in the Peak District I’ve revisited your channel for inspiration for landscapes. Always enjoy your video content , although I don’t think the em5 mkiii is that much larger or heavier than the P7 and you get the benefit of an EVF if required. Keep up the great work your images are inspiring.

The images are beautiful, especially the one of your dog.

Had similar thoughts to you - wanted a compact and lighter camera than my E-M1 MkII - so have just got a E-PL9 as still wanted silent shutter, 4K video and the 9fps for some action shots. And can still use all the other M43 lenses. Great to have option of PEN and OM-D.

I've used several PLs and even the first of the PM series cameras but never a full-fat PEN. Personally, I could never get comfy with the grips on the Pens so bought a Lumix GX80 for my walkabout camera. And I did miss the EVF on the Pens I tried. The Lumix EVF is very small but in bright light it's invaluable. For street work, I prefer the 17 and 45 primes over the pancake but for day-to-day use the pancake zooms are great.

Nice review I’ve just ordered one today in the Olympus Halloween sale & got a free 30mm macro lens free with it

Beautiful images, it seems quite capable camera thats really underrated for some reasons.

I've no interest in Olympus cameras, but I watched this anyway, because I figured it would be well done. Good point about faffing around with phone cameras. Would much refer this camera option. After watching, I quite fancy one myself. 👍

Hi! Excellent review really. How does the 14-150mm lens fit on the Ep7? Is it too big or manageable? Thanks

Thanks for that. I really like the E-P7, my only gripe is that it costs too much. The E-M10 IV is usually cheaper. Crucially the GX9 is cheaper. I have a GX9, fantastic camera. I hope OM and Panasonic continue to make these range finder style bodies.

Thank you for this video. As you said, not many videos about this camera. From what I read, it seems to be an alternative to using your phone. So they've made it light and pocketable. Is that true? How does it compare to the 2016 PEN-F? And how are the color profiles in it? Have you shot JPGs with the profiles?

I think it will be give more if combine with premium pro series like 12mm f2 or 17mm f1.8

Why aren’t new pens electronics viewfinder compatible? I just got ep7 and has ordered vf2 too only to find out new pens don’t take in evfs.

This camera is ideal for JPG shooters with the Mono/Color dial (just like the Pen-F, but with an updated interface). Using the built in color wheels you can fine tune any B&W filter (even dark magenta or light cyan!) or any mix of colors/intensities for Color images. Really gives you more options than Fujifilm's famous "film sims" with an easy to use interface. You don't buy this camera if you shot RAW, this is intended for JPG shooters who want to do it all/mostly in the camera. Perfect for someone who learned photography shooting Kodachrome or any other positive film... you can dial in "that look". Also amazing Monochrome options, for those Tri-X shooters or film-sim experimenters.

nice review, I has this kit coming next week here in USA. will be my first evert Micro third system. YOur one of the few taking bright sharp picture with this pen, other videos they are all darkish and not sharp. Maybe they want that look. Anyway, I have the manual PDF and seems like a mess to set-up. I am selling all My Fuji System. keeping My Nikon Z ff system and for street or walk around This P7 looks like a keeper.

Nearly bought one of these but in the end went for an ex-demo 5 mk iii for similar money. I know you said you wouldn't do a review, but would appreciate your thoughts on the upgrade from the 1 mk ii to the OM1 as a landscaper. Is the IQ noticeably better and does it actually offer an increased dynamic range? I've been considering the same upgrade and those are the things that really matter to me. Most of the reviews I've seen are from non-landscape photographers, or from slightly biased OM system visionaries, and 2K is a lot of money for a M43 camera!

We have not got the EP7 in the USA. Darn it! I may have to settle for an EP5. I don’t really like the EPL cameras. I should just stick with the PenF, I suppose. The TG6 has not got the flexibility of a EP7. Wish it would have been available with an EVF like the EP5. So, that settles that. Great seeing you again.

Very interesting! Did you sell your EM5? I’m with you on phone cameras. I use mine more as a memory aid than as a means of taking images.

I'm very tempted to get this camera, I had an om10ii but the 16Mp was really too small and dr limited when adjusting in camera raw. It broke twice, now i have no interest in trying to fix it. I need it as a phone replacement, phones the more advanced they get the more artificial and saturated the image gets and you can't get rid of the hdr. I need it to be ready all the time, the phone if it's not the latest and greatest can get laggy and waste a lot of time till you open the camera app, making you lose the moment. Do you think the dr is improved from the 16mp cameras?

Have used Olympus cameras since 2002. All have used viewfinders, or been able to Yes it will take great photos, but for those of taking photos outside in bright sunlight, not bieng able to see what one is photographing is a very disturbing prospect. That is why I skipped the first Pen, way back when. Can't understand Olympus skipping the ability to add thier excellent external viewfinders. Thanks for the review and happy shooting.

How do you set ISO on the command dial? It only gives me the option to use aperture (FNo.) and Shutter... I'm in Manual mode.

You have some big Mole hills there David, the camera works for you and I know what you mean about the phone, they are a bit of a faff, just not the same user experience.

Does anyone know if this is compatible with the Panasonic Lumix G series lenses? Thanks

I have a EPL7 now. Would it be worth it to upgrade to the EP7? ☺️

Could you please recommend a flash for this camera please?

I had that camera... unfortunately it had a faulty ISIS system. I sent it in and Olympus and they sent me back an E-M5 iii due to them being out of stock of E-P7's. The ABSOLUTE headline feature of this camera is 330g with great IBIS (when it works).

I can't get my OM10 s2 screen to point down while lit, it goes off? Is that correct?

Looking at getting this, but not sure if they make zoom lens of 300mm or larger..

Is it possible charge body with micro usb? :-)

Sadly, no longer available here in the U.S. Oh well. Good review. 👍

Can you do handheld high resolution shots?

It doesn't have the same sensor as the EM1X and EM1III because it doesn't have PDAF. It's still a wonderful camera

Do you still Own this camera? How are you still liking it?

Why can't Olympus revive the pen F as a genuine rangefinder for micro four thirds. People are just waiting for that camera while keeping the pen alive ...

I love my old E-P5 because I can use it with or wihout EVF, which is basically the reason I wont buy this EP7. Olympus being Olympus.

Is this not an E-PL7? Was an e-p7 ever made?

Your review made me curious how the E-P7 compares to previous Pens, especially the E-P5 as the obvious comparison. Quite disappointing actually: The E-P5 has a MUCH better build quality, with a more solid, heftier body build based on metal parts. The E-P5 is 83g heavier than the E-P7 as a result - testament of the better, more solid build. The E-P5 has the accessory port, allowing usage of the excellent VF-4 electronic viewfinder. The E-P7 does not have the accessory port and no option for an electronic viewfinder at all. The E-P5 is rated by Olympus for 5 full stops of IBIS compensation while OM Digital Solutions rates the E-P7 at only 4.5 stops of IBIS compensation. IBIS in the much older E-P5 is better. This may very well be because the E-P5 is a more solid, heavier camera with more inertia to stabilize it when hand-holding. You can probably get even better results out of the E-P5 when using the electronic viewfinder and the camera to the eye against the body. The built in flash on the E-P5 has a guide number of 7 at ISO 100 while the E-P7 only ships with a built in flash with a guide number of 5.4. Also, the E-P7 does lower the flash sync speed to 1/250s from 1/320s on the E-P5. Continuous drive on the E-P5 is also better with 9 frames per second versus 8.7 frames per second on the E-P7. The E-P5 can do 1/8000s with its mechanical shutter while the E-P7 tops out at 1/4000s. In so many critical areas, the E-P5 is a better camera than the E-P7. Most critically, it seems the focal plane shutter in the E-P5 is a lot more sophisticated and powerful than in the E-P7. The days of Olympus putting out professional grade Pen cameras are certainly over, what's left now is a retro-chic alibi camera without the pro internals (shutter!) and without the solid build quality.

Probably the last Pen ever.