Olympus hasn't done much to change the tech of its entry-level mirrorless camera over the past few years.
The E-PL series typically gets an annual update, and the latest iteration, the E-PL9 ($599.99, body only), isn't much different from the E-PL8 we reviewed last year.
The biggest additions are an in-body flash, an improved image processor, and 4K video capture.
It's a solid starter camera, but not our favorite in the category.
We continue to recommend the Sony a6000 as our Editors' Choice.
Design
The E-PL9 follows the design cues of earlier models in the series.
It's a slim mirrorless camera without a built-in EVF or an add-on option—if you want an EVF, buy a different camera.
It does have an in-body flash, which isn't available on older models.
The flash is mounted on a hinge and can be tilted back and pointed up for softer bounce illumination.
The PEN measures 2.7 by 4.6 by 1.5 inches (HWD) and weighs 13.4 ounces without a lens attached.
It is finished in silver, with a plastic exterior and your choice of black, tan, or white leatherette.
The grip is a bit more substantial than the one on the E-PL8, improving ergonomics without adding any real bulk to the body.
Olympus has churned through a number of grip designs in the E-PL series, including a fleeting experiment with interchangeable grips, but this one, more similar to what we saw with the E-PL7, is a good design.
In addition to the body-only option, which we're reviewing, Olympus sells the E-PL9 in a kit with its basic 14-42mm power zoom lens.
The kit comes at a $100 premium, a solid value when you consider that the 14-42mm EZ is priced at $299.99 when purchased separately.
The kit also includes a 16GB memory card and carrying case.
The top plate houses the aforementioned pop-up flash and a hot shoe to mount a larger external flash or wireless trigger.
There is no accessory port, so you can't use the clip-on flash included with older PEN models, nor can you add an EVF, external microphone, or any of the other accessories that Olympus offered for previous PEN models.
I can't blame Olympus for dropping the accessory port now that there's a flash built in, but I would have liked to see a standard 3.5mm microphone included to make up for its absence.
As an entry-level model, the E-PL9 isn't rife with on-body controls, but it does have enough for you to take control over settings while making photos.
The Mode dial is next to the hot shoe on top, and it's joined by a combination control dial/shutter release and the On/Off button to its right.
Rear controls include the Shortcut/Zoom Out and the Fn/Zoom In buttons, both angled above the rear thumb rest.
Below the thumb rest you get a dedicated Record button for videos, along with Delete, Menu, Info, and Play buttons.
At the center of those is a directional pad, with OK in the middle and directional presses to set the drive mode, exposure compensation, flash settings, and the focus area.
The E-PL9 supplements its physical controls with a few different on-screen displays.
Pressing OK while shooting brings up a menu to quickly adjust the file format, focus mode, ISO, JPG settings, video resolution, and white balance.
The Shortcut button brings up a more detailed on-screen display of settings that relate to exposure and autofocus—there's some overlap between the two on-screen menus, with the Shortcut screen diving into more detail and adding adjustments to things like face detection and the metering pattern.
That's not the only thing Shortcut does.
Set the Mode dial to AP (Advanced Photography) and you can use it to change between Live Composite and Live Time (for long exposure work), and options like multiple exposure, HDR, silent shooting, in-camera panoramas, keystone distortion removal, and various bracketing options.
The addition of in-camera panorama stitching is a plus for photographers who want to shoot a quick, wide shot.
You just need to move the PEN from left to right, with an on-screen arrow as a guide, as its electronic shutter captures the scene.
As with all multi-shot panorama modes, you'll want to avoid subject movement to get the best shot.
The PEN also has a ton of Art filters, accessible via the Art setting on the dial.
You can set one and shoot with a Bleach Bypass or other stylized look.
If you shoot in Raw format the filters can be applied after the fact from the playback menu.
The image above shows nine different filter effects applied to the same image.
The LCD is a 3-inch, 1,040k-dot design with touch support.
It's bright enough to use on a sunny day—necessary for a camera without an EVF—and can tilt to face up, down, or all the way forward.
The hinge could be a bit better designed; you need to push straight down on the LCD in order to angle it downward.
It's easy once you get used to it, but not the most intuitive design I've seen.
Selfie fans are going to be surprised to see that the screen flips under the camera, rather than above it, when facing forward—so you can still see the frame when the flash is popped up.
I'm not a big fan of the design as it limits your options when vlogging from a tripod.
During shooting you can tap a part of the frame to set the focus point (or, if you prefer, focus and fire off a shot) and to navigate menus.
The screen works during playback too; you can swipe through images or pinch to zoom in and out of a photo.
The interface is as responsive as a flagship smartphone, a big plus for photographers moving up from a phone camera.
Connectivity and Power
The E-PL9 adds Bluetooth, absent from the E-PL8, but it doesn't do a lot to improve the wireless experience.
Setting up the camera is easy—the rear LCD shows a QR code and you photograph it with your smartphone.
On my iPhone I was prompted to install an (unsigned) Wi-Fi profile to save the E-PL9's SSID and password in my phone, as well as complete the Bluetooth pairing process.
Once set up the camera works like any other modern model with Wi-Fi.
You connect your phone to its network to view a live feed from the lens and control it remotely, or to transfer images (either at full resolution or downsized) and 1080p videos (4K is sized down to 1080p to speed up the transfer process).
It's implied that the camera can use Bluetooth to transfer photos automatically—you just need to flag them first, using the Record button in the playback screen.
But that didn't work for me.
I got an error message that told me to connect the PEN to my phone via Wi-Fi for the automatic transfers to go.
Wi-Fi is faster, but less convenient.
At press time Nikon has the best Bluetooth file transfer experience with its SnapBridge system, which is included in its least expensive SLR, the D3400.
The E-PL9 only has two data ports—micro HDMI and micro USB.
It does not support charging via USB.
Instead Olympus includes a battery charger with a removable AC power cord to replenish the battery.
It is rated for 350 images or about 80 minutes of video recording per charge.
Performance and Autofocus
The E-PL9 is a little faster than its predecessor.
It starts, focuses, and fires off a shot in about 0.8-second.
It locks focus in 0.05-second in bright light and 0.3-second in dim light.
The E-PL8 starts in about 0.9-second and requires 0.1-second to lock focus in bright conditions, but matches the 0.3-second market in dim light.
Burst capture is also faster, by about 1fps.
The E-PL9 shoots images at 8.5fps, and can keep up that pace for 10 Raw+JPG, 11 Raw, or 31 JPG shots before slowing down.
Buffer clear times are quick, about 5 seconds for a Raw burst and 3 seconds for a JPG, so you won't have to wait long to start shooting again.
I tested the camera with a Sony 300MBps memory card, although the E-PL9's memory card slot cannot take full advantage of that speed—you'll be fine using a more affordable 95MBps card.
See How We Test Digital Cameras
The top speed is only available with focus locked on after the first frame.
If you want to keep moving subjects in focus you'll need to switch to the low-speed drive mode.
It's also improved from the E-PL8, now clocking in at 4.4fps (versus 3.5fps), and delivering pretty good, but not perfect, accuracy in testing.
If you want an affordable mirrorless camera that does a better job tracking subjects, look to the Sony a6000—it tracks at 11fps.
There is an electronic shutter option for silent shooting, but it's only available via the AP dial setting.
That means you don't have manual exposure control, just EV compensation adjustment, when using it.
In standard modes the mechanical shutter is used.
If you are concerned about blur from shutter shock there are a number of anti-vibration settings available, and because of the small sensor and mirrorless design the mechanical shutter is pretty quiet in its own right.
Imaging and Video
The E-PL9 may look sleek and pretty on the outside, but its image sensor is showing signs of age.
The 16MP Micro Four Thirds sensor lags behind the more modern 20MP design that both Olympus and Panasonic use in pricier models, but is still the standard for entry-level options.
Compare this with competing mirrorless systems that use the APS-C sensor size and have (for the most part) standardized on 24MP—the Sony a6000, Fujifilm X-A5, and Canon EOS M100 all boast 24MP resolution.
The sensor boasts 3-axis stabilization, a rare feature in cameras at this price point, so any lens you attach benefits from stabilization.
When shooting JPGs the PEN keeps noise under 1.5 percent through ISO 6400, which is a solid result for low-light photography, but noise reduction does cut into image quality when pushing the camera that far.
In practice you can capture images through ISO 1600 with very little loss of quality.
There's a little smudging of detail at ISO 3200 and ISO 6400.
You'll want to avoid shooting JPGs at ISO 12800 or 25600, settings at which photos show a bit of blur, but you won't have to worry about the camera ranging that far on its own.
When you enable Auto ISO control the PEN won't range above ISO 6400.
If you want to take more control over images you can shoot in Raw format and either process photos in camera or using desktop software—we use Adobe Lightroom Classic CC.
When shooting in Raw the camera doesn't apply noise reduction to images, so high ISO shots show more detail, but also more grain.
Detail is stronger at the high ranges of the Auto ISO range, and I'd feel comfortable opting for ISO 12800 if needed.
Grain is very heavy at ISO 25600, but it's still a viable option in very dim light.
Most photographers who opt to shoot in Raw are going to look at more featured models, however, and would be better served moving up to one with a newer sensor.
In the Micro Four Thirds world the 20MP Olympus PEN-F and Panasonic GX9 are both solid options in this form factor.
The E-PL9 adds one new trick to its video toolset—4K capture.
But, as with the recent E-M10 Mark III, the feature is inexplicably buried, to the point where you might not realize it's even there.
You need to set the Mode dial to its Movie position in order to shoot in 4K, and also tap the Shortcut button to change to 4K mode.
The footage is strong, with 24, 25, or 30fps capture options and the crisp resolution you get when each frame is 8MP, but you're limited to in-camera audio as there's no way to use an external microphone.
In other modes the camera is limited to 1080p capture, although you can push the frame rate to 60fps if you'd like.
When shooting at the lower resolution you can apply Art filters and the like to video, something you can't do at 4K.
The footage is quite good, for 1080p, but at just one-quarter the resolution of 4K, it doesn't have the same amount of pop.
Conclusions
I'm being a bit kinder to the E-PL9 than I was to the E-M10 Mark III, which I reviewed earlier this year and gave a lower rating.
Price is one factor, as the E-M10 is $50 more.
Market is another; the PEN's appeal is to entry-level shooters, while the E-M10 competes with slightly up-market cameras due to its ergonomic design and integrated EVF.
Plus, I do give Olympus some credit for adding the in-camera panorama stitching and Bluetooth, neither of which were included in the E-M10.
That said, the PEN E-PL9 is only a modest improvement over last year's E-PL8, and the yearly update cycle plays a part in that.
(The E-M10 series typically goes about two years between new models.) It's a little bit faster to focus and shoot burst images, and there's 4K video now, though you do have to jump through a hoop to access it.
I'd like to see Olympus push the boundaries a bit further as to what to expect from entry level.
A more modern, 20MP sensor would be a good step, although even with the older 16MP chip you'll enjoy a significant upgrade over the best smartphones.
The in-camera Art filters are something Olympus has long included and are a definite plus for the Instagram crowd, as is Wi-Fi capability.
And there are plenty of lenses available, even though first-time shooters tend to stick with the kit lens.
Olympus has a number of compact, affordable prime lenses that pair well with the camera, and the PEN can use Micro Four Thirds lenses from other brands including Panasonic and Sigma as well.
The Sony a6000 has been our Editors' Choice in the entry-level mirrorless category for close to four years.
Its performance moved boundaries in 2014, and a combination of 24MP imaging, 11fps image capture, and integrated EVF still make it the best buy in the category today, especially when you factor in its $500 (body-only) price.
But it is showing its age, mainly due to a lack of a touch LCD, in-body stabilization, and 4K video.
If those features are high on your want list, or if you're already invested in the Micro Four Thirds system, it's not the best fit.
For a bit more money I like the Panasonic GX85, which boasts 5-axis stabilization and an EVF, but is $150 more.
There's also the GX850, which is smaller and omits stabilization, but sells for $550 with a lens.
At the end of the day the Olympus PEN E-PL9 is a good camera, one that will please snapshooters, vacationers, and family documentarians, but it doesn't do much to stand out from the crowd.
The Bottom Line
The Olympus PEN E-PL9 is, for the most part, the same mirrorless camera as the E-PL8, but adds a built-in flash and 4K video.
