46 JANUARY2020|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE383
ABASICMODELat the bottom of Olympus’s
mirrorless line-up,the PEN E-PL9isdesigned
to tempt those lookingtoupgradefrom their
smartphone’s integrated camera. It includesa
full complementofautomaticand creative
modes, as well as more advanced options.
Olympus hasgonebig on styling,withthe
E-PL9’s gorgeous retrolook making it as much
afashion statementasaphotographic tool.It
doesn’t represent ahugeupgrade from the
olderE-PL8: manyofits specs andfeatures
areidentical, including a16.1-megapixel Micro
Four Thirds sensor,3-axis in-body image
stabilisation andthe 3in tilting touchscreen.
4K video is abig addition, andit’s
facilitated by an upgradetoOlympus’sTruePic
VIII image processor,the sameusedbysome
of Olympus’shigher-end cameras.
BLOCKINGTHEVIEW
TheE-PL9 hasroughlythe same dimensions
as the E-PL8, although the grip is deeper,
making it alittle more comfortable. The mode
dial has also beenslightlyenlarged, and the
flashisnow integrated; asmall, inconvenient
external flash wassupplied with the E-PL8.
This comes at aprice:there’sstill ahotshoe
forabeefier externalflash, butthe accessory
port is gone,sounlike the E-PL8, you can’t
addthe optional electronicviewfinder.
The size of thecamera –just 117mm wide
and68mm tall –meansitpairs well with
Olympus’s compact 14-42mm retractable zoom
lens,aswell as some of thesmaller primesin
theOlympus line-up,such as the 17mm f/1.8
lens. It’s aMicro Four Thirds mount,soyou
canattach Panasonic lenses, too.
As there’s no option to attachaviewfinder,
the tilting touchscreen is the only wayto
compose,soit’s agoodthing the 3in, 1.04
million pixeldisplayisdecent. It can be pushed
OLYMPUS
PENE-PL9
★★★★★
£522•From http://www.amazon.co.uk
MIRRORLESSCAMERA
to face all the wayforward,making it handy
forselfie composition,although because the
screenfaces forwardsunderneath thecamera,
youcan’t simultaneously mountitonatripod.
Arange of different exposure modes can
be accessed via themodedial on thetop of
the camera, including fully automatic,
semi-automatic and manual.Anew modefor
the E-PL9 is the ‘advancedphoto’mode,which
gatherstogether anumber of creative
options, such as multipleexposure,HDR,
focus bracketingand so on. Frustratingly,
silent mode is onlytobefoundhere; there’s
no waytoshoot silentlyinthe normalmodes.
Unlike some cameras aimed at travellers,
the E-PL9 doesn’t feature USB charging,which
seems abit remiss. Instead, you need to use
the dedicated chargerthat comesinthe box.
More happily, theE-PL9 has more
autofocus (AF) points than the E-PL8, whichis
goodnews forcatchingoff-centresubjects.
The E-PL9 usescontrast detection –rather
thanthe faster phase detection –AF, butit’s
prettysnappyinmost instances, perhaps
takingjustalittlelonger in darker conditions.
Beginners mayprefertoleave the camera to
choose an appropriateAFpoint and, in our
tests,the E-PL9 generally gotitright.
FLEXIBLEWORKING
The E-PL9can produce some very nice shots,
especially in goodconditions.Image quality is
slightly improvedover theE-PL8, perhaps
thanks to the newerimageprocessor,but it’s
not somethingyou’re likely to notice unless
pixel peeping to the extreme.
In good light, images are
bright and punchy,with a
pleasing level of saturation
resultinginattractive
colours. In lower light, the
smaller sensor revealsitself
compared to cameras with
bigger sensors.
The 14-42mm kitlens is
adequateasawalk-around
lens,and if your main
concern is grabbing holiday
snaps,it’s fine.Get abit
moreintoyourphotography,and you’ll crave
additional lenses. Apart from anything else,
better lenses will get morefrom thesensor,as
well as allowing you to fit lenses with bigger
apertures forbetter low-lightperformance.
There are also some nice creative options.
The multiple exposuremodeiseasy to use
andquick to gettogrips with, whilethe digital
filters arepretty fun. Being able to quickly use
things such as focusbracketingand create
longexposuresisgreatfor thosenew to
photography who wanttotry what might
otherwise be difficult-to-crack techniques.
As forthat newly added 4K video,the
cameracan produce good footage,but the
best resultscomeifyou swapthe kitlensfor
something better. There’s alsonomicrophone
input, which willlimit theE-PL9’s appeal to
more serious videographers.
HITTHE ROAD
There’salot to criticise about theE-PL9.No
viewfinder,noUSB charging andarelatively
modest set of specs mayhavesome sneering.
Remember,however,thatthis is specifically
targetingsmartphone userswho might never
have owned aserious camera; aviewfinder is
hard to miss if you’ve never used one before.
Its smallsizeand weight also makes it great
forthosetravelling light, whilestill allowing
userstoexpandwith additional lenses.
This is agreat little camera forthose who
are newtophotography,orthosewho have a
little more experiencebut want something
ultra-light and portable fortheirtravels.
DaveStevenson
VERDICT
This entry-level model from Olympus is afun
camera forvlogging and holidaysnaps
Battery life
0% -50 Reference + 50 + 100
Seepage84for performancedetails
SENSOR RESOLUTION16.1 megapixels•SENSOR SIZE
17.3x13mm•FOCALLENGTH MULTIPLIER2x•
VIEWFINDERNone•LCDSCREEN3in (1.04milliondots)•
VIEWFINDER MAGNIFICATION (35mm-EQUIVALENT,
COVERAGEN/A•WEIGHT380g•DIMENSIONS
68x117x39mm•WARRANTYOneyearRTB•DETAILS
http://www.olympus.co.uk•PART CODEV205092BE000
SPECIFICATIONS
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