My First Impressions on the Olympus PEN EPL-8

You might know from my social media that on my birthday I was able to get hold of the new Olympus Pen EPL-8 in white. Sorry for the excited Twitter overload, I was practically waiting by the door for the delivery man to arrive. This was quite a large purchase that I had been planning for quite a while now and after hunting around London for one and scouring the internet, I finally managed to pre-order one. If you have followed me for a little while you might know I did have a Sony Alpha 5000, which I absolutely loved. However, I decided it was time for a little upgrade.

I have been blogging for a while now and my camera is practically attached to me all the time. It’s also been really handy to take on holidays or trips away too; as it’s much lighter and smaller than a full SLR. I have also been playing around with the idea of getting back on Youtube recently and this was the final decision maker for the upgrade.

Ok so first things first, for a piece of photography equipment/something techy can we just take a minute to appreciate how aesthetically pleasing the packaging is. Everything down to the last little detail makes it beautifully packaged, which is something you don’t always get with these items. As soon as I opened the brown box and took it out, I knew I had made the right decision!

You can see a full unboxing over on my channel if you want to have a nose at what comes in the box.

Ok so first impressions and comparison to the Sony?

Wow where do I start? The interchangeable kit lens (14 – 42mm Pancake EZ Digital) is AMAZING! I was instantly surprised at how easy it was to take such good photos. The quality of the images is definitely up there with those taken on a SLR. I think it’s going to take so much less time and effort to get those perfect blog and Instagram snaps. The Alpha 5000 does come with an interchangeable lens (16-50 mm), however I didn’t find that there were many lenses available to swap it out for.

Of course one of the biggest differences is the price. The EPL-8 is almost double the price of the Sony, however I personally think the build and design is much more sleek and definitely better quality. The PEN is a little heavier, however again for the higher quality it’s not something that’s bothered me.

Both cameras have a movable LCD screen; the EPL-8 with a flip down and horizontal screen and the Sony with an upward screen. Both are great for being able to see what your vlogging and for those all important selfies. I personally prefer the downward screen as it’s a much more natural line of sight. The PEN also has touch screen auto focus which has been so handy! Both also have wifi capability, so you can send pictures straight to your phone and the Olympus also allows you to use your phone as a live view and as a remote.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved my Sony Alpha 5000 and I felt it was a great camera for the price. It was perfect for the budget I had at the time and did everything I needed it to do. It’s a great camera to start blogging or Youtube with and I really enjoyed using it. I had just decided over the past few months that I would like to up my photography game by learning a little more and investing in some decent kit. Now that I know I use my camera a lot and it wouldn’t have been wasted money I’m happy to pay that little bit extra. My plan now is to invest and build up a great kit for my EPL-8, which I felt I couldn’t do with my other camera. I have my eye on a 45mm lens next and then possibly the 75mm lens.

If you are looking for a new camera I cannot tell you how instantly impressed I was with the EPL-8! That being said, I think the most important thing is to remember to decide your budget, stick to it and buy the best option available for that price. Like I said, this was a larger purchase for me however, I knew that it would be a good investment and it would definitely get used. There is nothing worse than spending any amount of money of something that doesn’t get used. If you are looking to purchase the PEN I would really recommend buying direct from Olympus. They are fantastic for notifying you when items are available so you can order before everything is out of stock again (I would recommend this too, as it took me a while to get my hands on one). Plus their service is extremely fast and they keep you updated all the way!

Obviously I’ve only been using the camera over the past 10 days, so these are just my first impressions, but so far I am so impressed with the quality! I will definitely be doing a review in a few months time to let you know how I am getting on, so keep an eye out for that.

https://youtu.be/y-7Je8S_2PE