Olympus has announced the successor to late 2016's PEN E-PL8 micro four thirds interchangeable lens camera. The retro-modern E-PL9 has been treated to a flagship image processor, a video recording boost and improved autofocus. And it's said to be lighter than a 500 ml bottle of water, including the Zuiko kit lens.
The Olympus PEN E-PL9 combines a 16.1 MP Live MOS sensor with the TruePic VIII image processor from the company's flagship OM-D E-M1 Mark II, for 8.6 frames per second continuous shooting, an autofocus system with 121 AF points that cover most of the image area, low light-friendly ISO100 to 25,600 sensitivity and in-camera stabilization that's available for both stills and video. And that video recording capability has gone up from Full HD to 4K.
The 117.1 x 68 x 39 mm (4.6 x 2.67 x 1.5 in) micro four thirds camera has a body-only weight of 332 g (11.7 oz) and gains a modified grip for improved ergonomics. It has combined Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity for wireless image transfer or remote control, a built-in pop-up flash and is compatible with more than 20 M.Zuiko lenses (and hundreds more legacy lenses with the help of adapters).
![The PEN E-PL9's 3-inch touchscreen panel can be tilted up or down for photography flexibility](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/7dbc854/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1200x577+0+0/resize/1200x577!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Farchive%2Folympus-pen-e-pl9-micro-four-thirds-7.jpg)
Olympus is promising to make it easy for those new to camera photography or folks who are used to snapping shots with a smartphone. Users can start with a selection of creative programs, choose from 23 scene modes or change common settings like brightness and contrast using the tilting 3-inch touchscreen panel to the rear before gradually diving deeper into the PEN's settings. There's a collection of 16 art filters to choose from, with effects available to view onscreen prior to selection, and the OI.Share mobile app is home to a number of "how to" video guides to ease users under the camera's hood.
The new PEN is due for release in the UK and mainland Europe next month for £579/€549 (body only), or £649/€699 with an M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 EZ kit lens. US pricing and availability are to follow shortly. Has the E-PL9 got what it takes to tempt you away from your smartphone camera?
Source: Olympus