Earlier in the year, Olympus sold its imaging division to Japan Industrial Partners. Now the first product since the formation of new company OM Digital Solutions has been announced. The PEN E-P7 micro four thirds camera goes on sale in Europe later this month, but will not be available in the US or Canada.
The new retro-styled PEN camera is built around a 20-megapixel 4/3 (17.4 x 13-mm) Live MOS sensor and TruePic VIII image processor combination for light sensitivity of ISO 100 to 6,400 (which can be extended up to 25,600), up to 15-frames-per-second (fps) sequential shooting in silent mode, and 121-point contrast autofocus with eye and face priority algorithms trickled down from pro OM-D models. It also comes with in-body 5-axis image stabilization with up to 4.5 stops of compensation.
The lightweight PEN E-P7 – it tips the scales at a body only 337 g (11.8 oz) – is capable of recording stabilized 4K/30p video, with a bump down to Full HD offering 60 frames per second and even further to 720p for 120 fps. And the compact travel camera comes with a stereo microphone for 16-bit/48-kHz audio, and a wind reduction feature is included. There's no viewfinder here, so framing up for images and video will need to be undertaken using the tilting 3-inch LCD touch monitor.
OM Digital Solutions has included a dedicated Profile Control dial to the front to enable quick access to different photo modes, with users able to take advantage of 12-color/10-step saturation control, highlight/shadow adjustment, and apply filter effects, with fine tuning available via the monitor panel.
Elsewhere, there's 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2 for wireless data transfer and remote operation, limited movie and image editing cooked in, a built-in flash (though you can attach an external unit to the shoe mount), and a UHS II SD card slot.
The PEN E-P7 will go on sale in Europe from mid-June for a body only price of €799 (that converts to around US$970, but as mentioned previously, OM Digital Solutions says that this camera won't be available for sale in the US), or with a M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 EZ kit lens for €899 (~US$1,095).
Product page: PEN E-P7