Olympic PEN E-PL7 or Olympic OM D E M 10?

Missb87

Missb87

Messages
5
Name
Lara
Edit My Images
Yes
Hello,

I am very new to photography and am looking for some help please! Currently I am using a compact camera but have decided to upgrade and buy a mirrorless.
I have narrowed it down to either a Olympic PEN E-PL7 or Olympic OM D E M 10 (I like the look of the Sony A6000 but it's a little out of my price range).
I am looking at buying the camera with a 14-50mm lens as well as a 40-150mm lens.
But, I can't decide which one! Does anybody have any advice as to which is better?
The Pen is £360 where as the M10 is £390 so not a huge difference in price.
The M10 has a viewfinder, but I'm not sure how much use I'll get out of it?
To put it in context, I live abroad and travel frequently. I mainly take pictures of landscapes, cities I'm in (buildings), people and sometimes wildlife.

I am really confused about which one to get so any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!
 
The cameras are basically identical. Both use exactly the same sensor and take the same lenses and have identical specifications so it's up to you to choose whether the appearance of one is more appealing.

Have you looked at the Fuji models? The XT-1 is great, I much prefer them over the olympus offerings.
 
Ok thanks. I've had a look at the Fuji XT-1 and it seems to be quite a lot more expensive! I'm already at the top of my budget.
They are so similar which makes it tricky! Do you think that having a viewfinder will make much different? Or the separate flash?
 
I had the same choice to make back in the summer.
In the end it was a no brainer for me, OM-D10 for its viewfinder alone, a godsend in bright sunny conditions!
Teamed up with the EZ14-42 lens, makes it pocketable if you want to travel light.
 
I find a viewfinder less necessary with mirrorless systems. I never really used live view when I was shooting with canon dslrs due to it being very uncomfortable holding a 5d2 with extended arms for any length of time. When I swapped to fuji that all changed and I found myself using the viewfinder less (but I still did use it at times) I know have an Olympus EM1 and whilst the viewfinder is useful, i wont use it that often.

I don't know the size difference but I'm assuming the pen is a fair bit smaller so you may want to sacrifice the viewfinder to have a more pocketable camera. You could always get the viewfinder accessory to have the best of both world but that does up the price a bit

If it were me it would depend if it was the only camera I was going to own. If it was then I would go for the EM10. If I was going to get something a bit further up the range at some point like an em5ii or em1 I would get the Pen
 
I found the screen on my E-PM1 was hard to read in bright light and so did end up buying a secondhand VF-2 viewfinder for £100. Viewfinders seem to go for about £80 upwards at the moment, although the cheaper ones tend to be the lower resolution VF-3. I would go for the EM-10 every time because of the integral viewfinder out of these 2 cameras, although I ended up going to Lumix G and GH series cameras because these were substantially cheaper at the time compared to the OMD series.
 
When Panasonic first brought out the GF1 I bought it and loved everything apart from the arms length shooting. Having learned from that experience I'll never buy another even half serious camera without a VF.
 
My e-pL7 is excellent, but ONLY because I own viewfinders for these things. One sunny day without my viewfinder and I was cursing!
The E-M10 is the more complete camera, but I was under the impression the Sony A6000 kits were also good value ...

(And it is Olympus not Olympic )
 
Unless size is an issue not that the difference i smuch go for the E-M10. If you buy the E-PL7 I recomend the VF2 I use one on my XZ-1 compact in the sun.

Are you talking about the 14-42 or 14-42 EZ (pancake zoom) or the 12-50 lens
 
Last edited:
Thank you so much for all of your help.
I guess I've underestimated the importance of a viewfinder as I haven't used one since I was about 14 and using film cameras!
Logically, I know I should go for the E-M10 as it has the viewfinder, it's just whether or not I get swayed by the compactness and selfie screen of the E-PL7!
Thanks for all your feedback- I'm very excited for getting my new camera this weekend!
 
Oh no- I'd decided you were all right and I should get the E-M10 for the view finder and integrated flash.
But then I saw that the the E-PL7 has a 'colour ring' so that you can pick out certain colours in the photograph. I've seen this done before and love this effect and as I'm not very good at editing on the computer, I'd really like that feature. I assume that the E-M10 does not have that feature?
 
I thought the e-pL7 and E-M10 had basically identical abilities which would mean the "colour ring" you speak of would also be available in the other camera ... I could be wrong.
 
CliveNX said:
Hi, is this what you meant

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=olympus+om-d+e-m10+colour+ring&source=video&cd=4&ved=0ahUKEwiG8469ocjJAhVI8RQKHYoqCsEQjzgIMjAD&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjaW9acRmwQ&usg=AFQjCNEMnZgDV9jMY1Wq5l7UJp1LF278gQ&sig2=bsQNAw_f38CVFArLmWkJ6A
Click to expand...

I think the EPL7 has built in selective colour effect (which I never found on my EM10 but I didn't exactly go looking) which is a big draw to the Instagram masses, less so more serious photographers. There is a time and place for it but those instances are far far far fewer then most people realise.
 
On the E-PL7 it's an art filter called "Partial Color Art Filter" but i don't know if it is on the EM10 Mk1 (according to some reviews, it is on the mk2)
 
alsuser said:
On the E-PL7 it's an art filter called "Partial Color Art Filter" but i don't know if it is on the EM10 Mk1 (according to some reviews, it is on the mk2)
Click to expand...

My son has the E-PL7 and showed me the effect, you cant do it on the E-M10, but I think you can do it in the Oly software.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top