Olympus PEN E-PL7 Black 2015

The Olympus PEN E-PL7 is a compact mirrorless camera with surprisingly good image quality and a great flip screen for vlogging. The autofocus struggles with moving subjects and the build feels cheap, but at the low end of its $321-425 US price range, it's a solid deal. Buy it if you want a small, affordable stills camera and don't need 4K video or fast action tracking.

The 16.1MP sensor delivers genuinely nice image quality, especially in good light. Owners consistently praise the colors and detail, and high ISO performance is better than you'd expect from a sensor this old. The 3-axis IBIS is rated for about 3 stops, which is solid for handheld shooting but not class-leading. Autofocus is a mixed bag. The 81-point system is quick and accurate for static subjects, but it struggles with anything moving fast. Burst shooting at 8fps is respectable, though the buffer fills up quickly. Video tops out at 1080p/30, which is fine for casual clips but nowhere near modern 4K standards. The 3-inch touchscreen is a genuine highlight, landing in the 86th percentile for displays, and the 180-degree flip makes framing selfies and vlogs painless.

Against the competition, the E-PL7 is a budget play. The Panasonic Lumix G9 II and Nikon Z5 are in a completely different league for autofocus, video, and build quality, but they cost several times more. The Fujifilm X-T30 III and Sony a6300 are closer in spirit, both offering better sensors and faster autofocus, but you'll pay more for them. The OM System OM-5 is the natural upgrade path if you want to stay in the Micro Four Thirds ecosystem with modern features. The E-PL7's real advantage is price and size. It's smaller than all of these and cheaper than most. If you want a pocketable second body or a cheap entry into MFT glass, this makes sense. If you need reliable tracking autofocus or 4K video, look elsewhere.

Pricing is all over the place depending on where you look. In the US, listings range from $321 to $425, a $104 spread for essentially the same camera. The lower end of that range is a genuinely good deal for what you get. In Canada, the spread is even wider at CAD 586 to CAD 1,003, so you really need to shop around. The cheapest US listing is the one to grab if you're stateside. At $321, this is a lot of camera for the money. At $425, you're getting close to newer used options that might serve you better.

The Olympus PEN E-PL7 is a tiny mirrorless camera that punches above its weight for stills. It's got a 16.1MP Micro Four Thirds sensor, 3-axis in-body stabilization, and an 81-point autofocus system packed into a 357g body. The flip-up touchscreen makes it a natural fit for vloggers and selfie shooters, and the Micro Four Thirds lens mount means there's a huge pile of cheap glass out there waiting for it.

But this is a 2014-era camera, and it shows in places. No built-in viewfinder, no weather sealing, and the build quality lands in the bottom 14% of our database. The sensor is also showing its age at 13th percentile. Still, owners love this thing, with a sentiment score of 88/100 and a 4.2-star average across 79 reviews. It's a case of an old camera that just works for the right person.

Skip this if you shoot action, sports, or fast-moving kids. The autofocus just can't keep up with moving subjects, and you'll end up frustrated. Also skip it if you need 4K video, weather sealing, or a viewfinder. And if you're the type who drops things, the flimsy build quality and that fragile battery door are going to be a problem. For the same money, a used Sony a6300 or Fujifilm X-T30 will give you better autofocus and video, though you'll sacrifice the flip screen and compact size.

The E-PL7 is for people who want a small, affordable camera that takes genuinely good photos. It's perfect as a first serious camera, a travel companion when you don't want to lug a full kit, or a vlogging tool thanks to that flip screen. The image quality holds up surprisingly well in 2024, and the Micro Four Thirds lens ecosystem is a huge plus. Just know what you're getting into. The autofocus won't track your kid's soccer game, and the build quality won't survive a drop onto concrete. If you can live with those trade-offs and find one at the low end of the price range, it's an easy recommendation.