I take it everywhere, every day – if I could only keep one camera, it would be the Olympus PEN E-P7. And it's just £800!
(Image credit: James Artaius)
It's always there, next to me, and now it's £799.99 for Cyber Monday! The Olympus PEN E-P7 is quite simply the one camera I can't live without, and now it's at an attractive price too.
The answer may not satisfy some, but it is simple: this camera is small yet mighty. It punches well above its weight. It's not big but it is clever. And other such clichés.
Olympus PEN E-P7 + lens | £799.99
Buy at Amazon Small enough to fit a pocket, powerful enough to print for a wall. The E-P7 packs a beautiful mono shooting mode, superb stabilization, 4K video and a 180° flip screen.
Why do I love the Olympus PEN E-P7 so much? You can read my love letter of a review but, in short, it's one of the smallest, sleekest bodies on the market. More importantly, though, so are its lenses. While APS-C, and even full frame bodies, can be small, their optics will never be as small as they can be on a Micro Four Thirds system.
Take the M.Zuiko 14-42mm EZ Pancake lens: it's the size of a pocket tin of Vaseline, yet I think it's the best pancake lens ever made. I always bring along a prime, but I shoot 90% of my E-P7 shots on it.
The flippy-down selfie screen makes this a great option for when I want to take a selfie with better quality than my phone. And I can even control the camera from my phone, for remote shooting or triggering, then zip my photos back to it via Wi-Fi in an instant. It's a genuinely viable replacement for the immediacy of my phone camera.
But it doesn't compromise on quality. Is there as much detail or dynamic range or depth of field as there is on my Canon EOS R5? No. But I don't need there to be. Photos from this camera are more than good enough for double-page spreads in magazines. And they're certainly more than good enough for Instagram and Facebook.
If I only get to keep one camera for the rest of my days, it's this. And I love it so much that, for just £799.99, I'm seriously thinking about buying the gorgeous white one!
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The editor of Digital Camera World, James has 21 years experience as a journalist and started working in the photographic industry in 2014 (as an assistant to Damian McGillicuddy, who succeeded David Bailey as Principal Photographer for Olympus). In this time he shot for clients like Aston Martin Racing, Elinchrom and L'Oréal, in addition to shooting campaigns and product testing for Olympus, and providing training for professionals. This has led him to being a go-to expert for camera and lens reviews, photo and lighting tutorials, as well as industry news, rumors and analysis for publications like Digital Camera Magazine, PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine, N-Photo: The Nikon Magazine, Digital Photographer and Professional Imagemaker, as well as hosting workshops and talks at The Photography Show. He also serves as a judge for the Red Bull Illume Photo Contest. An Olympus and Canon shooter, he has a wealth of knowledge on cameras of all makes – and a fondness for vintage lenses and instant cameras.
