Olympus has just added a new, retro micro four thirds camera to its lineup, with the PEN E-PL8 adding a selfie-friendly option alongside the PEN-F. It replaces the E-PL7 as Olympus’ ‘gateway’ camera into its ILC system for people who have discovered their love of the photography through their camera phone and want to take the next step up.
The biggest difference from the E-PL7 is the E-PL8’s design. Olympus has just refined it all around — the camera is a little bit shorter, grip is smaller, and body is slimmer (or at least not as oblong as it was in the past). It really looks like Olympus is borrowing the design cues it established with recently released Pen-F, which is a modern, digital version of one of the company’s more iconic 35mm film cameras.
PEN E-PL8
The camera itself packs 16.1-megapixels, with contrast AF over 81 points and 37 phase detection AF areas. There is built-in 3-axis optical image stabilization, and ISO 100-25600. Olympus says the new PEN E-PL8 should do 8.5fps in high-speed sequential shooting.
On the back, the LCD is a 3-inch 1.037m dot touchscreen, that can tilt up 80-degrees or down 180-degrees. Tilt it down so that it is facing ahead of the camera, and the PEN E-PL8 automatically switches into the selfie mode.
WiFi b/g/n is included, and you can remotely control both stills and the movie recording – at up to 1920/30p and 24 Mpbs – from an iOS or Android device with Olympus’ app.
It will hit stores in Oct for $550 body-only, or $100 for the kit with a 14-42mm lens. Not bad if you want a stylish, compact camera.
