My husband bought me a DSLR for my birthday a few years ago. It was my first “pro” camera and I was excited to learn all of the settings and to start taking my own photos for my blog. While I absolutely loved that camera it became a bit of a pain to lug it around especially when I wanted to go to an event and wear a cute small bag or for travel. I ended up leaving the camera at home and started taking iPhone photos only at events and eventually even left it at home when I traveled.
I missed the quality of my DSLR and was itching to find an alternative. I started looking into mirrorless cameras and the Olympus PEN E-PL9 caught my eye. I loved the vintage feel of the body and the fact that this small camera had an interchangeable lens, I thought to myself this has got to be a game changer! And it was! This past February I left New York for a week and headed to Portugal- (one of the most beautiful places I have been to) and my Olympus camera never left my side. It was so easy to sneak in and out of my crossbody purse and took the most fantastic photos and videos along the way.
Are you looking to make the change?
These are the two lenses that I have for the camera:
the kit lens is M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm EZ the photos are sharp with great bokeh (the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in the out-of-focus parts of an image produced by a lens) it's a 28-84mm full frame equivalent focal length.
M.Zuiko 17mm F1.8 wide angle with fast aperture- great for capturing low light photos.
For starters- this is an amazing way to take your pictures to the next level minus all the fuss while still allowing you to use your own creative freedom while shooting. The mode dials are easy and simple to use and the touch screen allows you to pick the right setting for your scene, you can see the range of different settings I shot using different Scene Modes from my favorite photos from Portugal included in this post
Modes to choose from:
Auto Mode- This is pre-set for you, the camera takes in the light and decides the shutter speed & aperture for you in order to get your best photo.
P- You control the exposure allowing you to take control of your photo
S- Shutter priority- you decide the shutter speed when taking a photo
M- Manual, you are in control! You set the shutter speed & aperture to control the setting for your photo.
SCN-your interactive LCD touchscreen shows you 6 different shooting modes (people, motion, indoors, nightscapes, scenery, close-ups) and then will use the best settings for that type of shooting situation.
AP- Advanced Photo Mode with access to 9 advanced photography methods (live composite, live time, multiple exposure, HDR, silent, panorama, keystone compensation, AE bracketing, focus bracketing) These are a bit more complicated but I have been playing around and am excited to get more creative with my photography!
Some other features:
-3 inch touchscreen LCD-Art Filters- 16 filters to choose from providing instant films for your photos
-4K 30P video recording with the option to extract 8-megapixel still images direct from movie footage.
-Body image stabilization
-Pop up flash
My favorite feature for travel is the bluetooth, Wi-Fi connectivity to the OI.Share app on your phone making this camera the perfect one for anyone on the go. As soon as I got to the hotel each night I would hook into the internet and via the Olympus app I was able to download all of my photos from that day so I was able to add it to my feed and share with you all throughout my trip. Oh! And I was beyond ecstatic when I found out how easy it was to take selfies on this camera! The screen flips down and the in-camera image stabilization allows you to take great selfies (especially important on vacation) - I am not sure how happy my husband was when I found this feature but he played nice and let me take a few selfies of us! Instant happiness!
SO what's the verdict? The Olympus PEN E-PL9 has been the perfect replacement for my DSLR. I love the high quality of the photos and the professional look that it gives them. The fact that it's compact has allowed me to use it more often as I am able to stick it into my bag and bring it along with me to fashion events across NYC. Are you thinking of going mirrorless? Let me know what you think!
**Disclaimer, this camera and lenses were gifted by Olympus however all of the photos and opinions are my own**
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