A chic and compact mirrorless camera, the black PEN E-PL8 from Olympus is a Micro Four Thirds system camera defined by its refined appearance, imaging capabilities, and in-camera creative controls. Revolving around a 16.1MP Live MOS sensor and TruePic VII image processor, a quick continuous shooting rate of 8.5 fps benefits working with moving subjects while a top sensitivity of ISO 25600 suits working in low-light conditions. Beyond stills shooting, Full HD 1080p/30 video recording is also supported. Benefitting both photo and movie applications, an 81-area FAST autofocus system is both quick and accurate, and works in conjunction with the rear touchscreen for touch-to-focus control. Additionally, 3-axis sensor-shift type VCM image stabilization is also featured to reduce the appearance of camera shake for sharper handheld shooting.
Beyond the imaging capabilities, the E-PL8 also distinguishes itself through its stylish exterior, which integrates a compact right hand grip, clean lines, matching leatherette accents, an included matching neck strap, and an embossed Olympus logo on the front. Matching intent of the opulent exterior, the camera is also configured for the selfie enthusiasts out there, with the inclusion of a 3.0" 1.04m-dot 180° tilting touchscreen LCD. For easier control when making front-facing portraits, new buttons have been added to the touchscreen interface for recording video selfies, making clips, adjusting exposure brightness, accessing Photo Story modes, and applying Art Filters. In addition to these selfie controls, the camera is also fitted with built-in Wi-Fi for wireless image sharing and remote camera control from a linked smartphone or tablet.
Included with the camera body is the M.Zuiko Digital 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 II R standard zoom lens, which provides a 28-84mm equivalent focal length range. It features quiet autofocus and zooming operation to benefit recording movies and also incorporates three aspherical elements to reduce aberrations and produce high image sharpness and clarity.
When working with manual focus, focus peaking is available to simplify attaining precise sharpness, which is especially useful when using selective focus or shallow depth of field techniques.
- A large 3.0" 1.04m-dot touchscreen LCD is available for intuitive control over image composition, settings, and playback, and the screen also has an 80° upward, 180° downward tilting design for making front-facing selfies, or just working from a variety of angles.
- The GUI of the LCD touchscreen now benefits selfie-shooting, and includes dedicated buttons for recording Clips, video, stills, and adjusting the exposure brightness.
- The exterior of the camera body has been updated with a sleeker grip, refined lines, metal control dials, and an embossed Olympus PEN logo in the leatherette on the front of the camera body. A matching strap is also included and the textured leatherette accents are designed to both complement and contrast the main body color.
- The FL-LM1 flash is included with the camera, and offers a guide number of 23' at ISO 100 to provide additional illumination when working in low-light conditions.
- The included BLS-50 rechargeable lithium-ion battery provides approximately 350 shots per charge.
- Built-in Wi-Fi connectivity permits seamlessly connecting a smartphone or tablet to the camera via QR connection, which then enables you to wirelessly share imagery and remotely control the camera.
- An anti-shock shooting mode lets you use an electronic first curtain shutter, in conjunction with a 60-1/320 sec shutter speed range, to reduce vibrations when shooting atop a tripod or other support.
- Digital ESP metering uses a 324-area multi pattern metering area, along with center-weighted average and spot metering modes, for accurate exposure metering control.
- Scene Select AE modes: Portrait, e-Portrait, Landscape, Landscape + Portrait, Sport, Hand-held Starlight, Night scene, Night + Portrait, Children, High Key, Low Key, DIS mode, Macro, Nature Macro, Candle, Sunset, Documents, Panorama, Fireworks, Beach & Snow, Fisheye Conv., Wide Conv., Macro Conv., Panning, and 3D.
- Picture Modes: i-Enhance, Vivid, Natural, Muted, Portrait, Monotone, Custom, e Portrait, Underwater, and Art Filters.
- Fourteen different in-camera Art Filters are available, and include Pop Art, Soft Focus, Pale & Light Color, Light Tone, Grainy Film, Pin Hole, Diorama, Cross Process, Gentle Sepia, Dramatic Tone, Key Line, WaterColor, Vintage, and Partial Color, and these modes can be further adjusted through the use of Art Effects, which include a Soft Focus Effect, Pin-Hole Effect, White Edge Effect, Frame Effect, Star Light Effect, Defocus Effect, B&W Effect (Yellow, Orange, Red, and Green), Picture Tone (Sepia, Blue, Purple, and Green), and Shade Effect (Top & Bottom, Left & Right).
- Photo Story mode lets you shoot a scene from different viewpoints, then compile these individual images into a single frame.
- Live Composite Mode lets you record a long exposure, between 1/2 to 60 seconds, and watch the exposure build in real-time for more accurate long exposures.
- Interval shooting is supported for up to 999 sequential frames with 1 second to 24 hour intervals. Finished shoots can then be automatically compiled into a time-lapse movie.
- Multiple Exposure mode lets you record two sequential frames over one another with auto gain for a balanced overall exposure.
- Movie Effects: One Shot Echo, Multi Echo, Art Fade, and Old Film.
- In-camera Clips combines short video clips into one short movie, which can then be set to background music in-camera, including the theme to Happy Days.
- Live Guide is a simple graphical menu for adjusting color saturation, color value, brightness, background blur, and how motion is portrayed, and can also display helpful shooting tips.
- iAUTO is an intelligent mode that automatically detects the subject in the image and applies one of 42 optimized settings to enhance the look of imagery.
- Language support: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Russian, Czech, Dutch, Danish, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Croat, Slovenian, Hungarian, Greek, Slovakian, Turkish, Latvian, Estonian, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Indonesian, Malay, and Thai.