Olympus PEN E-P7 vs PEN E-PL10 vs Panasonic

[ArchiMark]

Hi,

Been a Panasonic guy for about 10 years now.....FX150, LF1, LX7, and recently picked up a GX1....

Stumbled across the Olympus PEN series the other day, the EP-7 and E-PL10, and prior models....

Anyone have experience they can share about the digital camera PEN series?

And how do they compare to their similar Panasonic counterparts?

Thanks for any and all input.

Best,

Mark

 

[Pete_W]

I had a similar progression through some of Panasonic's point-and-shoots up to the LX5 and then decided to upgrade to M4/3. I preferred the "rangefinder" style body and back in 2016 I narrowed my choice down to the PEN-F and the GX85.

In the end I selected the GX85. My reasons were my familiarity with the Panasonic menus and ergonomics, my preference for a tilting viewscreen on the back rather than the PEN-F's fully articulating screen, and the lower price. I bought the silver-top version of the GX85 to get the same retro look of the PEN-F.

Panasonic later released the GX9 which upgraded a number of specs of the GX85 including a 20MP sensor, tilting EVF, dedicated exposure comp dial, dedicated AF-mode lever, etc. However it has now been discontinued although still seems available in some stores.

I can't help you with PEN series cameras as I've never owned one.

 

[AlbertM43user]

I assume you realized that the EPL series is more or less similar to the class of GF of Panasonic, more like an entry class model of lowest spec among other line of Products.

In terms of P (except the Pen which is a premium model in retro design), it is more of a upper entry to mid range line of product as it's sibling EM10. Ps are in flattop rangefinder form factor design whereas EM10 is in DSLR form factor design. The P shouod be equivalent to the GX of Panasonic (save for GX850 which indeed is GF9, and GX880 is GF10).

Due to the different path of development, the earlier P or EPL models of Olympus are using IBIS. As Panasonic started using lens IS and therefore models before GX85 do not support IBIS (GX7 has very primitive IBIS). So for older models, IBIS and lens IS had been a factor on selecting Olympus or Panasonic.

GX1 is the oldest GX, which does not support IBIS. If you have GX1, IS lens could be one of the critical factor on choosing lenses.

If you have no GX1 yet, please do not over concentrate on its lower cost. Although it is a very good camera at its time, it's earliest 16Mp sensor might produce usable SOOC JPG (to my acceptance) upto ISO400~800 max. At ISO800 noise could be very grainy. It also has a hard M-shutter which could cause shutter shock (on a few lenses). No P/S/A/M video but auto only, the Touch operation is very primitive too. In fact due to its age, not few reports on the LCD of GX1 are delaminating.

If you could extend your budget, at least look for a GX7, which is a substantial upgrade from GX1 on IQ and feature...

 

[ArchiMark]

I had a similar progression through some of Panasonic's point-and-shoots up to the LX5 and then decided to upgrade to M4/3. I preferred the "rangefinder" style body and back in 2016 I narrowed my choice down to the PEN-F and the GX85.

In the end I selected the GX85. My reasons were my familiarity with the Panasonic menus and ergonomics, my preference for a tilting viewscreen on the back rather than the PEN-F's fully articulating screen, and the lower price. I bought the silver-top version of the GX85 to get the same retro look of the PEN-F.

Panasonic later released the GX9 which upgraded a number of specs of the GX85 including a 20MP sensor, tilting EVF, dedicated exposure comp dial, dedicated AF-mode lever, etc. However it has now been discontinued although still seems available in some stores.

I can't help you with PEN series cameras as I've never owned one.

Thanks for sharing your experience, Pete.

 

[ArchiMark]

I assume you realized that the EPL series is more or less similar to the class of GF of Panasonic, more like an entry class model of lowest spec among other line of Products.

In terms of P (except the Pen which is a premium model in retro design), it is more of a upper entry to mid range line of product as it's sibling EM10. Ps are in flattop rangefinder form factor design whereas EM10 is in DSLR form factor design. The P shouod be equivalent to the GX of Panasonic (save for GX850 which indeed is GF9, and GX880 is GF10).

Due to the different path of development, the earlier P or EPL models of Olympus are using IBIS. As Panasonic started using lens IS and therefore models before GX85 do not support IBIS (GX7 has very primitive IBIS). So for older models, IBIS and lens IS had been a factor on selecting Olympus or Panasonic.

GX1 is the oldest GX, which does not support IBIS. If you have GX1, IS lens could be one of the critical factor on choosing lenses.

If you have no GX1 yet, please do not over concentrate on its lower cost. Although it is a very good camera at its time, it's earliest 16Mp sensor might produce usable SOOC JPG (to my acceptance) upto ISO400~800 max. At ISO800 noise could be very grainy. It also has a hard M-shutter which could cause shutter shock (on a few lenses). No P/S/A/M video but auto only, the Touch operation is very primitive too. In fact due to its age, not few reports on the LCD of GX1 are delaminating.

If you could extend your budget, at least look for a GX7, which is a substantial upgrade from GX1 on IQ and feature...

Thanks for sharing all your comparison info, Albert....

I did get the GX1 from someone locally and it came with the 14-42mm zoom. Haven't taken a lot of pics with it yet, but so far, it takes pretty good pics. But need to go through the menus again and make sure I have all the right settings.


Meanwhile, if anyone has experience with the Olympus PEN E-P7 or E-P5, would be interested to hear.

Mark

 

[Felice62]

I have the Pen-F and the gx80. Apart from the terrific look and 20mp sensor of the Olympus, most everything else is more likeable in the little gx80. The latter is snappier, has a much better AF, it offers nice features like 4k photo and post focus and boasts an usable touch LCD screen.
The PEN-F had an overall marginally better IQ and jpeg engine than the GX80, which remains an adorable cam.

 

[ArchiMark]

Thanks for your input, Felice62.......

Good info, although my question is about the PEN E-P7 or E-P5......